People Power Will Come to Life

IBM Research is leading a pilot program alongside Swiss utility provider EKZ that will enable consumers to charge their electric vehicles and monitor energy costs using a small device and a Web-based application that can run on most smartphones, tablets and Web browsers. Also, a group of academics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a report on parasitic power collection-for example, the concept of collecting power from the motion of humans walking.

IBM scientists have developed technologies that use speech recognition to determine and authenticate user identities based on voice analysis. Now they are incorporating other biometrics such as face and iris recognition and gesture for security. Referred to as multifactor biometrics, smarter systems will be able to aggregate this data in real-time to secure your information. To be trusted, such systems should be able to opt in or out of whatever information you choose to provide.

IBM scientists believe that within five years, people will begin to see early applications of mind-reading technology in the gaming and entertainment and health care industries. PC games are an obvious choice for such technology, IBM officials said, but doctors could use it to test brain patterns, assist in rehabilitation and help in understanding brain disorders, such as autism. Working with EmotivLifeSciences, IBM scientists are developing software to link the headsets to devices, such as computers and smartphones, so users just need to think about emailing or calling a colleague and it will happen. If they want to type something, there will be no need to say a word or hit single key. They only need to think it.

In the short term, digital stimulus investments will expand broadband Internet access in rural areas and create immediate jobs in construction. Longer term, IBM officials have said that investing in broadband networks, technologies and services will lead to new industries and drive economic growth. The growing reliance on mobile phones in mature markets will follow in emerging economies as they rapidly move online and adopt mobile phones. Given that, in five years there will be no digital divide, IBM said. Increasingly, the world-from government and health care agencies to office workers and consumers-will turn to mobile technology for all their needs. IBM is working with clients, businesses and communities to expand mobile phone services around the globe. For example, IBM has announced it is working with Indias Bharti Group to run IT operations for mobile phone services in 16 African countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana.

In five years, unsolicited ads may feel so personalized and relevant it may seem that spam is dead. IBM scientist said that soon machines will be engaging in perpetual sense-making-looking for information without the human. When such systems come across new information of specific relevance, that information will be presented to the user. With that, emails or ads delivered to users on their smartphones will no longer feel like spam. Instead, each one will feel relevant and personalized. This will all be possible through IBMs advanced analytics and big data technology, along with new innovations such as analytic sense-making engines, IBM officials said.