IBM just issued its annual 5 predictions of how they believe technology will improve in the next 5 years. The “5 in 5” forecast, begun in 2006, although serving as advertisement for the company, is an interesting and daring point of view of the future of the world.“To predict the next five years, you have to have a deep understanding of the last 50,” said Bernie Meyerson, vice president of innovation at IBM to The New York Times.

As the world is already astonished with smartphones that talk to its users or televisions that don’t need a remote control or cars with broadband connection, the list sets a new level of great changes we usually see in Sci-Fi movies. Without further delay, the predictions are (click on the links to see how they work):

- Mind reading is no longer science fiction

Probably the boldest prediction, it says that some of our wishful thinking will come true. A system would be able to read your brain’s electrical synapses and recognize your wish to turn on the lights, change the channel, etc.  The fact is that there are already experiments involving moving things by thinking. They just need to be adapted for the general public.

- People power will come to life

Walking or riding a bike produces energy, right? This and other movements, such as the water moving through pipes, will be captured and stored to be used to power phones and cars and homes. “You generate 60 to 65 watts while walking. You could easily use that to power a phone forever,” said Mr. Meyerson.

- You will never need a password again

Remember all those movies when people use fingers and eyes to open things? Well, it will be used on your phone and other devices, which will be able to store your personal biometric information and use it as your password.

- The digital divide will cease to exist

80 percent of the global population will have powerful mobile devices by2017 and these devices will be able to know all the details of your life, ranging from what you eat, what you buy and what your blood pressure is. These phones will be capable of precise language translation and will be ubiquitous. “In five years we will see the massive introduction of machine-to-machine based services”, said IBM forecast. The systems will initiate communication and data to the mobile users.

 - Junk mail will become priority mail

Marketing will have to change its ways completely. Once mobile devices store all your biometric information, it will personalize the filters according to your needs and the information you seek will come exactly to you. Your phone will be able to recognize what is near and important to you and will get it.

Considering all this, you might be asking yourself: “Who wants to place bets?” 

Which of these technologies do you think are most likely to be around in 2017?