Year end is always a time of forecasts and predictions, and
technology giant IBM is wading in with its fifth annual “Next
Five in Five,” its list of innovations that have the potential
to change the way people work, live and play over the next five
years. The list, according to IBM, is based on market and
societal trends as well as on emerging technologies percolating
in IBM’s global Labs. Here’s what Big Blue sees in our future as
part of its drive towards a “Smarter Planet”: Hanging out in
3-D. In the next five years, IBM says 3-D interfaces, like those
in the movies, will let people interact with 3-D holograms in
real time. The trend, enabled by more sophisticated and
miniaturized 3-D holographic cameras finding their way into cell
phones as well as new video chat capabilities along the lines of
3-D telepresence, will let give people new ways of interacting
with photos, browsing the Web or chatting with friends.
Scientists at IBM Research are working on new ways to visualize
3-D data, including technology