IBM predicts mind-reading gadgets within five years

By Andy Goldberg Dec 20, 2011, 0:45 GMT

San Francisco - Computers and smartphones will be able to read your mind within five years, IBM scientists predict in the company's annual list of five technology developments likely to become mainstream within the next half-decade.

Other advances foreseen by the boffins at the leading technology company include the end of passwords, the demise of junk mail, the use of body motion to power gadgets and the narrowing of the digital divide.

'If you just need to think about calling someone, it happens,' IBM said of its mind-reading gadgets. 'Or you can control the cursor on a computer screen just by thinking about where you want to move it.'

The list was released on Monday.

Mind-reading technology, known as bioinformatics, has already shown up in simple forms from toy makers such as Mattel, and engineers at IBM and other companies 'have designed headsets with advanced sensors to read electrical brain activity that can recognize facial expressions, excitement and concentration levels, and thoughts of a person without them physically taking any actions,' the report said.

'Within five years we will begin to see early applications of this technology in the gaming and entertainment industry,' IBM said.

Another big change in the tech world will be the obsolescence of passwords, which will replaced by biometric data, the company said.

Google has already shown the way in this with its use of facial recognition technology to unlock the latest version of its Android operating system.

'Your biological makeup is the key to your individual identity, and soon it will become the key to safeguarding it,' IBM said.

'Imagine you will be able to walk up to an ATM machine to securely withdraw money by simply speaking your name or looking into a tiny sensor that can recognize the unique patterns in the retina of your eye. Or by doing the same, you can check your account balance on your mobile phone or tablet.'

IBM also predicted that within five years those devices are likely to be powered by the slightest movements of your body.

'Anything that moves has the potential to create energy. In the next five years, advances in renewable energy technology could make it possible for us to draw on power generated by everything from our running shoes to the ocean's waves,' IBM said.

'The water running through your pipes could power on the lights in your house.'

It won't only be the rich and technologically advanced who have access to technology within five years. By then the digital divide will have disappeared, IBM predicted. 'In five years the gap between information haves and have-nots will narrow considerably due to advances in mobile technology.'

The company said that there would be 5.6 billion mobile devices worldwide within five years, covering 80 per cent of the world population. 'As it becomes cheaper to own a mobile phone, people without a lot of spending power will be able to do much more than they can today,' IBM said.

The technology pioneer was also bold enough to predict the perennially wished-for end to junk mail, something that manages to outlive all the forecasts for its demise.

'In five years, unsolicited advertisements may feel so personalized and relevant it may seem spam is dead. At the same time, spam filters will be so precise you'll never be bothered by unwanted sales pitches again,' IBM said.

'IBM is developing technology that uses real-time analytics to make sense and integrate data from across all the facets of your life such as your social networks and online preferences to present and recommend information that is only useful to you. From news, to sports, to politics, you'll trust the technology will know what you want, so you can decide what to do with it.'

IBM has been making the annual predictions for five years now and a glance back to 2006 shows an impressive track record.

That year it predicted the rise of telemedicine, location-aware mobile devices, real time speech translation and nanotechnology, all of which have become prevalent to one degree or another. The only prediction that was inaccurate was its vision that virtual 3D environments would become a major vehicle for real world commerce.