Six next-gen disruptive technologies - Trends

Communications News,  August, 2002  

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Digital disruption--the arrival of a technology so radically superior that it has the potential to render entire industries obsolete--has happened more often in the last 100 years than in any other period of history, as the vacuum tube, LP record and countless other technologies have been swept from homes and offices into museums. The pace is accelerating, according to a new report from Computer Sciences Corp., El Segundo, CA, entitled "On the Edge: Exploring Next-Generation Digital Disruptions."

Six areas fostering the most significant change are:

* Evolutionary computing advances. Computers get smaller, faster and cheaper. Smart dust--devices, about the size of a grain of sand, contain sensors, processors, radios and power supplies--will eventually help monitor weather, determine the presence of chemical agents and protect personal property.

* Revolutionary computing advances in miniaturization, speed and storage. Researchers are seeking to create computer components--transistors, memory and wires-from individual molecules.

* Biotechnology. The use of high-performance computers has enabled researchers to identify the 30,000 genes that determine our physical traits and many of our behaviors, which will dramatically change drug development.

* Intelligent systems and robotics. Scientists can now embed intelligence in everyday objects, while robotics enable intelligent systems to reach out and touch the world.

* Human-computer interfaces. Computers are becoming more intuitive--they are able to tap into our senses and become part of our environment. The science of touch--haptics--allows individuals to handle digital objects exactly as they would in the real world.

* Connections between people, objects and information. A computer network could track a person's movement and allows him to connect to appliances via verbal/nonverbal commands.

For more information from CSC: www.rsleads.com/208cn-269

COPYRIGHT 2002 Nelson Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group