Emerging Trends in Technology

REUTERS/ Morris MacMatzen

Brain-computer interfaces will soon be a thing.

The World Economic Forum, famous for its annual Davos convention in Switzerland, has put out a new report identifying the top technological trends for the coming year.

"Technology has become perhaps the greatest agent of change in the modern world, " writes WEF's Noubar Afeyan. "While never without risk, positive technological breakthroughs promise innovative solutions to the most pressing global challenges of our time, from resource scarcity to global environmental change."

"By highlighting the most important technological breakthroughs, the Council aims to raise awareness of their potential and contribute to closing gaps in investment, regulation and public understanding, " he writes.

From wearable electronics to brain-computer interfaces, here are the big technologies to look out for this year.

1. Body-adapted Wearable Electronics

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"These virtually invisible devices include earbuds that monitor heart rate, sensors worn under clothes to track posture, a temporary tattoo that tracks health vitals and haptic shoe soles that communicate GPS directions through vibration alerts felt by the feet.

"The applications are many and varied: haptic shoes are currently proposed for helping blind people navigate, while Google Glass has already been worn by oncologists to assist in surgery via medical records and other visual information accessed by voice commands."

2. Nanostructured Carbon Composites

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"Emissions from the world’s rapidly-growing fleet of vehicles are an environmental concern, and raising the operating efficiency of transport is a promising way to reduce its overall impact.

"New techniques to nanostructure carbon fibers for novel composites are showing the potential in vehicle manufacture to reduce the weight of cars by 10% or more. Lighter cars need less fuel to operate, increasing the efficiency of moving people and goods and reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

Source: WEF

3. Mining Metals from Desalination Brine

REUTERS/ Eduardo Munoz

As freshwater continues to dwindle, desalinating seawater has emerged as an option. "Desalination has serious drawbacks, however. In addition to high energy use, the process produces a reject-concentrated brine, which can have a serious impact on marine life when returned to the sea.