From superhero vision to labs on a chip: IBM reveals its five predictions for life in 2022 

  • Technology will improve mental health, pollution and help organize data
  • Placing labs on chips and superhero vision are also devices being built
  • Predictions were made by looking at technology IBM is currently building 
Entire medical labs built on a computer chip, humans with superhero vision and smart sensors that can detect pollution at the speed of light are just a few predictions IBM has made about life in 2022.
The New York firm has released its '5 in 5 list', revealing new innovations that could change the way we work live and interact with each other over the next five years.
Humans should expect to see advancements in artificial intelligence, smart sensors, telescopes, sensors and medical devices.
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IBM predicts that technology that will 'listen' to speech patterns and then analyze them with a text analysis algorithm that can identify any issues. This will help doctors and individuals better prepare for the disorders
IBM predicts that technology that will 'listen' to speech patterns and then analyze them with a text analysis algorithm that can identify any issues. This will help doctors and individuals better prepare for the disorders

IBM PREDICTIONS 

1. With AI, our words will be a window into our mental health
 Technology will analyze patterns in speech and text that could hold clues to mental illness.
2. Hyperimaging and AI will give us superhero vision.
The technology combines AI with millimeter wave imaging, a camera and other electromagnetic sensors.
3.  Macroscopes will help us understand Earth's complexity in infinite detail.
 This will let us gather data from all over the world into one place. 
This data will give us more intelligence about satellites, smart sensors and weather stations, in addition to helping us organize in ways that are easier for humans to understand. 
4. Medical labs 'on a chip' will serve as health detectives for tracing disease at the nanoscale. 
This technology would will let doctors know if you're not well before symptoms arise and allow for quick access to bioparticles such as the virus and your own DNA. 
5. Smart sensors will detect environmental pollution at the speed of light.
 This can be setup in a wireless network or autonomous drones to detect and report leakage of pollutants at the moment they happen.'With advances in artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, we aim to invent a new generation of scientific instruments that will make the complex invisible systems in our world today visible over the next five years,' said Dario Gil, vice president of science and solutions at IBM Research, in a statement.
The firm focused its annual list around making the invisible world visible -from the macroscopic level down to the nanoscale. 
Innovation in this area could enable us to dramatically improve farming, enhance energy efficiency, spot harmful pollution before it's too late, and prevent premature cognitive decline. 
IBM makes these predictions about current technology and research that it is developing right now.
And although other innovations may creep out of the shadows over the next five years, the firm is sure that the five it shared in in its '5 in 5 list' are sure to make a huge impact on the world.
The first predictions is that 'with AI, our words will be a window into our mental health'.
IBM predicts that in the next five years we will use machine learning and natural language processing to predict and monitor mental diseases.
This includes depression, schizophrenia and other disease like Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's – all by using mobile devices.
The firm foresees this technology having the ability to 'listen' to speech patterns and then analyze them with a text analysis algorithm that can identify any issues
'What were once invisible signs will become clear signals of patients' likelihood of entering a certain mental state or how well their treatment plan is working, complementing regular clinical visits with daily assessments from the comfort of their homes,' IBM explained in a blog post.
Currently at IBM, scientists are using transcripts and audio recordings from psychiatric interviews, combined with machine learning techniques, to find patterns that could help specialists predict and monitor mental health disorders.
'Today, it only takes about 300 words to help clinicians predict the probability of psychosis in a user,' explained IBM.
The second prediction for 2022 will be superhero vision.
Experts suggests imaging devices will be equip with cutting-edge hyperimaging technology and AI that will let humans 'see microwave, millimeter wave and infrared images from the world around us'.
IBM explains that these devices will let us see beyond human perception such as peering through fog to spot hidden obstacles.
The second prediction for 2022 will be superhero vision. Experts suggests  devices will let us see beyond human perception such as peering through fog to spot hidden obstacles. The chip is a wave phased array sensor, a device used to experiment with hyperimaging technology
The second prediction for 2022 will be superhero vision. Experts suggests devices will let us see beyond human perception such as peering through fog to spot hidden obstacles. The chip is a wave phased array sensor, a device used to experiment with hyperimaging technology
The technology combines AI with millimeter wave imaging, a camera and other electromagnetic sensors.
The first of these devices are designed to help those who are color blind see what the world really looks like around them – in color.
The only problem is that these devices are focused on specific functions and can be very expensive.

IBM'S PREDICTIONS IN 2013

According to the IBM 5 in 5 report in 2013, by 2018 we should have all of these.
The classroom will learn you - smarter classrooms will use cloud data to learn about students and identify learning disorders immediately
IBM predicts that in five years classrooms will adapt to students
Buying local will beat online - shops will combine the convenience of online shopping in physical stores and same-day delivery will improve.
Doctors will routinely use your DNA to keep you well - By using advancements in DNA research, doctors will be able to uniquely identify how a certain cancer or disease will affect a person. Treatments and medications will become more tailored and waiting times will drop.
IBM predicts that in five years cities will help you live in them
A digital guardian will protect you online - Passwords will be replaced by devices that learn who a person is, how they behave and what sites they use. They will grant access automatically to that person, but also be able to identify unusual or suspicious activity automatically.
The city will help you live in it - Governments will be able to use data about its residents movements, needs and more to improve cities and towns, including schools and transport routes. IBM also predicts that by 2022 'Macroscopes will help us understand Earth's complexity in infinite detail'.
The firm believes that a system of software and algorithms will bring together all of Earth's complex data together into one place in order to analyze it by space and time for meaning.
This data will give us more intelligence about satellites, smart sensors and weather stations, in addition to helping us organize in ways that are easier for humans to understand – such as climate change and global food shortage.
IBM also predicts that by 2022 'Macroscopes will help us understand Earth's complexity in infinite detail'. The firm believes that a system of software and algorithms will bring together all of Earth's complex data together into one place in order to analyze it in new ways
IBM also predicts that by 2022 'Macroscopes will help us understand Earth's complexity in infinite detail'. The firm believes that a system of software and algorithms will bring together all of Earth's complex data together into one place in order to analyze it in new ways
At the moment, IBM collects exabytes of data about the world around us, but most of it is disorganized.
However, in the next five years, macroscope will change all of this and transform many industry by providing new insights about the problems.
In five years from now, IBM also predicts that entire medical labs will be built on a single computer chip.This technology would will let doctors know if you're not well before symptoms arise and allow for quick access to bioparticles such as the virus and your own DNA
In five years from now, IBM also predicts that entire medical labs will be built on a single computer chip.This technology would will let doctors know if you're not well before symptoms arise and allow for quick access to bioparticles such as the virus and your own DNA
'By aggregating, organizing and analyzing data on climate, soil conditions, water resources and their relationship to irrigation practices, for example, a new generation of farmers will have insights that help them determine the right crop choices, where to plant them and how to produce optimal yields while conserving precious water supplies,' IBM explained.
In five years from now, IBM also predicts that entire medical labs will be built on a single computer chip, which 'will serve as health detectives for tracing disease at the nanoscale'.
This technology would will let doctors know if you're not well before symptoms arise and allow for quick access to bioparticles such as the virus and your own DNA.
The goal is to shrink down to a single silicon chip all of the processes necessary to analyze a disease that would normally be carried out in a full-scale biochemistry lab.
Today, IBM is able to extract a patient's health from tiny bioparticles in bodily fluids.
The final prediction for 2022 is that 'smart sensors will detect environmental pollution at the speed of light'. IBM is currently working on silicon photonic technology that transfers data at the speed of light
The final prediction for 2022 is that 'smart sensors will detect environmental pollution at the speed of light'. IBM is currently working on silicon photonic technology that transfers data at the speed of light
In the next five years, lab-on-a-chip technology will be packaged in a handheld device to allow for easy and fast access.
And it will have the ability to be combined with real-health data from other IoT-enabled devices.
The final prediction for 2022 is that 'smart sensors will detect environmental pollution at the speed of light'.
IBM is currently working on silicon photonic technology that transfers data at the speed of light.
This can be setup in a wireless network or autonomous drones to detect and report leakage of pollutants at the moment they happen – instead of the traditional weeks or months.
Data taken by the smart sensors could be combined with satellite and real-time wind data to design models on how pollutants travel through the atmosphere in order to learn how they can be stopped.