IBM reveals five technological innovations that will change our lives in the next five years: mental diagnosis through speech recognition, vision abilities of superheroes, understanding the complexity of the earth in detail through computational learning, compressing medical laboratories onto a single computer chip and detecting environmental pollution at the speed of light using smart sensors .
IBM presents a forecast for five technologies that have the potential to change the way people work, live and interact within the next five years. The list that IBM publishes every year, "five in five" (#ibm5in5), has proven itself in the past to be a particularly accurate forecasting tool.
According to IBM's forecast, within five years it will be possible to assist in mental diagnosis through speech recognition, a combination of computer vision capabilities and images, will provide humans with vision similar to that of superheroes known in comic books; Sophisticated combinations of content sources, sensors, algorithms and computational learning systems will make it possible to understand the complexity of the earth in detail; Medical laboratories crammed onto a single computer chip will monitor diseases; And smart sensors will detect environmental pollution at the speed of light.
According to Dr. Aya Sofer, Director of Cognitive Computing at IBM Global, from IBM's research laboratory in Haifa: "The scientific community has a great tradition of creating devices that help us see the world around us. The microscope allowed us to see objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye, and the thermometer helps us understand body heat and the heat of the environment. The development in the field of artificial intelligence and nanotechnology allows us to invent a new generation of scientific devices that will allow us to actually observe objects and phenomena that are currently invisible - within five years." Sofer adds that "researchers at the IBM research laboratory in Haifa, for example, are currently building a system that helps radiologists identify abnormal phenomena in medical imaging images, while integrating information from separate sources to optimize and accelerate the diagnostic processes."
Innovation in this field may help in a substantial improvement in the world of agriculture, optimize energy systems, detect pollution in the environment before it causes irreversible damage, and prevent early deterioration in the physical condition and mental health of people at advanced ages. IBM's global team of scientists strives to realize these innovative ideas, in the research laboratories spread around the world - including in Israel.
1. Our words will become a window to our mental health
The cost of treating mental disorders in the world is higher than the combined cost of treating diabetes, respiratory diseases and cancer. The economic burden of mental illness is estimated at one trillion dollars per year in the US alone.
If the mind is in a sense a black box, which is not fully understood by us - speech is a key that allows to enter this box. In five years, the things we say and write will serve as indicators of our mental state and our physical well-being. Speech and writing patterns analyzed by cognitive systems will indicate early signs of mental and neurological diseases, and will allow the disease processes to be better anticipated, monitored and followed.
The company's research laboratories in Haifa are conducting several studies in this field. The researchers in Israel focused on detecting signs of dementia - and at the same time they are working to teach computers to recognize texts, manner of speaking, and human facial expressions, to understand moods and the emotional state of a person - and act on the basis of understanding these characteristics in various applications such as computerized customer service.
2. Hyper-images combined with artificial intelligence will provide the vision abilities of superheroes
Existing imaging devices are characterized by a high price, each adapted to a specific task and each focused on a specific segment of the electromagnetic spectrum. Within five years, imaging devices will offer hyper-imaging technology combined with artificial intelligence. These will allow us to combine images of several different wavelengths into one image - in order to present valuable insights and identify dangers that have been hidden until now between different photographs. The new devices will be portable, cheaper than the ones that exist today and accessible. Seeing physical phenomena, which are difficult or impossible to see today will help, for example, in improving the driving safety of drivers or in receiving comprehensive information about the nutritional values of food.
Researchers at the IBM research laboratory in Haifa are building a system that helps radiologists identify abnormal phenomena in medical imaging images, while integrating information from separate sources to optimize and speed up the diagnostic processes. Another type of "supervision" developed in Haifa, belongs to augmented reality systems, which use special glasses in order to show the user hidden information about objects or equipment they are looking at. The system guides, for example, a field technician regarding the structure of the equipment they are handling, processes the image he is viewing, identifies problems using a cloud application - and guides him in their solution.
3. Combinations of new tools will make it possible to understand the Earth in detail
IBM predicts that within five years we will be using machine learning algorithms and software tools that will help us capture and understand huge amounts of data collected from billions of devices connected to the network.
The integration, organization and analytical analysis of data about climate conditions, soil conditions, water levels and the relationship between them and irrigation methods, for example, will present insights to a new generation of farmers and help them choose the most profitable crop to grow, decide where to plant and how to ensure maximum yield - while saving water consumption .
Following the acquisition of The Weather Company by IBM last year, the company's software lab in Israel is now developing new tools based on the capabilities and data of the acquired company. These tools help one of the most widespread IoT platforms in the world to generate diverse insights for companies. For example, data from The Weather Company is being used by engineers in developing a solution, similar to Waze, that will help pilots avoid air pockets by creating a reporting network for pilots.
4. A medical laboratory on a single computer chip will enable the monitoring of diseases at the nanometer level
In the next five years, a "medical laboratory on a single chip" will make it possible to diagnose the state of health with the help of nanometer tools. The laboratory will analyze clues hidden in the body fluids, and will allow you to know immediately if there is a need to consult a doctor.
Combining this information together with data received from other IoT devices in the patient's environment, such as smart watches and sensors for monitoring sleep and analyzing the information with the help of artificial intelligence tools, will make it possible to present relevant insights: an in-depth picture of the state of our health and alerts in the face of the first signs of problems, in order to prevent their further development. This information will be sent directly to the computing cloud environment, which can be accessed from the home of the patient performing the test.
As part of the research activity at IBM laboratories, scientists are developing nanotechnology for the laboratory field on a single chip, on a scale that allows DNA tests, virus identification and disease detection even before the symptoms that characterize them appear.
In the research laboratory in Haifa, they are working on systems that can collect information directly from chips implanted in our bodies and update in real time recommendations for medication doses or warn ahead of time about medical events.
5. Smart sensors will detect environmental pollution at the speed of light
Most pollutants are invisible to the human eye - until the moment when their effects cannot be ignored. More efficient monitoring of pollutants ensures the minimization of harm to the environment and to people.
As part of IBM's research effort in the field of monitoring environmental conditions and their impact on humans, researchers at the company's research laboratory in Haifa are developing IoT sensors that monitor the behavior of workers in difficult-to-operate environments, and warn of the presence of toxins, exposure to extreme heat, or accumulated worker fatigue that could lead to dangerous mistakes.
