Adapting Emerging Technologies for Industrial Development

By Taofeek Oladiran Folami, PhD, FNSChe

Paper Presented at the Raw Materials Research and Development Council 2016 Techno-Expo, 10^th -12^th February 2016

Thursday 11^th February 2016

1.0 Definition

An emerging technology is one that is still emerging from, or has only recently emerged from, the research base. In simple terms it allows us to do something that was not possible before or was only possible in theory. Emerging technologies are capable of changing the status quo. They are generally new but may include older technologies that have not gained wide acceptance and/or characterised by the convergence of technologies from other fields.

2.0 Characteristics of Emerging Technologies

Emerging technologies typically have the following characteristics:

1. Radical novelty
2. Relatively fast growth
3. Potential to impact considerably on socio-economic domain
4. Uncertainty
5. Ambiguity

Potential impact lies into the future, so that there is always uncertainty. Some emerging technologies, such as gene therapy and stem cell research for example, have emerged decades ago have not wide acceptance because they are controversial, while advances in information and communications technology has dramatically changed the way people, businesses and governments engage with each other and radically changed manufacturing and production processes.

Prominent examples of emerging technologies include the following:

1. Information and Communications Technology (RFID, 4G,etc)
2. Biometrics
3. Nanotechnology
4. Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
5. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)/ Drones
6. Cognitive Science
7. Concentrated Solar Power
8. Biotechnology
9. Genetic Engineering
10. Stem cell Treatments
11. Robotics
12. Artificial Intelligence
13. Educational Technology

As explained earlier, emerging technologies are generally new but may include older technologies and/or represent the convergence of technologies from other fields. New technology fields sometimes result from technological convergence of different systems evolving towards similar goals.

For example, convergence brings previously separate technologies, driven by advances in digital technology, such as voice and telephony, data and video, sharing resources over the internet to create highly impacting efficiencies.

Another example is drone technology (unmanned aerial vehicles) which combines advances in ICT such digital communications, video, photography with auto piloting to provide cost effective solutions for aerial surveillance to achieve improved security, traffic control, remote sensing, to mention a few.

The purpose of this paper is to agitate the audience to generate a national discuss on what emerging technologies to adopt and how to leverage these technologies to meet our national goals of job creation, wealth generation and rapid industrialisation.

3.0 Our Strategic Sectors for National Development

Our challenges in Nigeria include job creation, the need to boost local manufacturing and production and support small scale industries to improve wealth generation and job creation.

Critical sectors through which we can explore deploying emerging technologies to achieve the stated objectives within the Nigerian context include:

1. Broadband Infrastructure
2. Agriculture,
3. Solids Minerals,
4. Power,
5. Small and medium scale manufacturing and production and

The main driving force is the need to diversify the economy and promote wealth creation, thus, job creation through industrialisation. Key challenges in these areas include extensive value addition to raw materials to stimulate local manufacturing and exports.

4.0 Emerging Technologies and Industry Sectors

What emerging technologies would potentially impact the sectors of current national strategic importance such as agriculture, solids minerals, construction, power and small scale manufacturing?

A brief of some emerging technologies of relevance to Nigeria is given below. A fuller list is attached in Annexure B showing emerging technologies in 12 sectors obtained from the World Public Library site in the Internet.

Agriculture

Increase food production, food security and profitability.

Challenges

Increasing of farm yields/outputs

Crop Storage

Disease and Pest Control

Irrigation

Access to markets

Emerging Technology of Relevance

Remote Sensing

Geographic Information Systems

Biotechnology (Genetic Engineering, Stem Cell Treatments)

Drone Technology

Solids Minerals

Challenges

Environmental Pollution and Public Health Concerns

Rising Cost of Mining

Emerging Technology of Relevance

Mining Automation

Geographical Position Systems (GPS) based Trucking and Dispatching

Computer Aided Mining Excavations.

Space born remote sensing

Numerical modelling and real-time visualisation ahead of mine face.

Automation and control systems

Geochemical and Geophysical technologies

Education

Challenges

Rising costs, pressure for students ill-equipped for competitive market

Emerging Technologies of Relevance

Electronic Textbooks

Computerised Grading

Simulation Technology

Distance Learning

Cloud Computing

Mobile Learning

Games and Gamification

3D Printing – Additive Manufacturing

Printing of 3 dimensional solid objects

Areas of potential Impact

Product design

Rapid product prototyping

Customised finished products

Automotive parts assembly

Electronics

Medical (tissue &organ fabrication, customised implants, dental industry)

Moulding Industry.

Drone Technology

Aerial Surveillance

Areas of Potential Impact

Traffic management; Security Surveillance;

Agriculture; Oceanography; Commercial aerial surveillance of livestock monitoring; Wildfire mapping, Pipeline security, home security.

Domestic aerial surveillance; Border Patrol; Oil gas and mineral exploration and production; Geophysical surveys; Geomagnetic surveys, transport of goods.

Automobile Industry

Challenges

Improving fuel efficiency, reducing environmental pollution, reduce manufacturing costs

Emerging Technologies of Relevance

Natural Gas Vehicles

Fuel cell Vehicles

Carbon Fibre

Power

Challenges

Ramp up power generation, enrich energy mix, and reduce environmental pollution

Emerging Technologies of Relevance

Concentrated Solar Power

Wind Power

Geothermal

Ocean Waves

Nanotechnology

Creating useful materials, devices and systems through control and manipulation of matter at atomic/molecular level

Areas of potential Impact

Energy, Medicine and Drugs, Cosmetics, Textiles, Optical engineering, Electronics, Information Technology, Environmental remediation, Food safety, Food Quality, Food processing, Food Packaging

5.0 Strategy

From this brief catalogue of emerging technologies mapped with some of our areas of strategic national importance, it is clear that what we need is to identify emerging technologies that holds promise and are of relevance to our vision of job creation, wealth generation and industrialisation. The goal is to create a national programme aimed at exploiting emerging fields and establish the strategic framework to help us adapt these technologies, combine them with current established technological trends, for industrial development.

The challenges are therefore to

1. Identify the emerging technologies to examine for their innovation potential and the industry sectors they are likely to offer beneficial impact.
2. Identify and prioritise the technologies to adapt and the target sectors.
3. Determine how to adapt the technologies to the sectors of strategic national importance.

Addressing these challenges calls for the following strategic approach:

1. Stimulate innovation to address local issues and devise local solutions based on our challenges.
2. Sustained government investment in research and development with strong focus on
   • devising practical adaptation strategies,
   • funding pilot projects and
   • developing relevant skill-sets to drive these adaptation strategies.
3. Strong collaboration and partnerships between academia, research institutions, industry and government to ensure investment and skills development converge with the governments directions.

In essence we need to nurture the emerging technologies of relevance and catalyse their adoption. The strategic theme to adopt is Innovate Nigeria through sustained investment in research and development.

6.0 Why this Approach

6.1 The Challenges

Extensive studies in literature have identified common challenges to the commercialisation of emerging technologies, including the following:

1. the potential applications are not always apparent at the outset
2. finding the best route to market for ideas that potentially threaten established business methods is inherently difficult;
3. companies are not always aware of the opportunities presented by emerging technologies, or how to manage the threats they might present to their existing business models;
4. support for early-stage, pre-investment, proof-of-concept work can be difficult to raise;
5. it is often not clear initially how costs will compare with existing solutions, which are likely to benefit from the economies of scale and experience;
6. establishing a unique selling point is not always straightforward;
7. the time taken to get products to market may not be easy to predict thereby making it difficult to raise capital;
8. people with the requisite skills and capabilities can be in short supply during the commercialisation process;
9. public sector support is not always aligned across the various stakeholders that can help.

6.2 Justification

No doubt, emerging technologies offer the prospects of immense wealth generation to society when it matures to its full capability, transforming the markets in which they are deployed and can be adopted by existing businesses or new/start-up businesses. However, the strategic approach proposed is driven by the accepted fact that commercialising emerging technologies, where there are so many unknowns, is always challenging.

Since no one can accurately foresee the future, it is hard to predict which emerging technologies will have the most impact in the future. Businesses, therefore, face the challenge of investing in turning emerging technologies into new products, processes and services because the commercial value is not apparent at the outset.

It is therefore rational that government spearheads nurturing and developing emerging technologies to the point of demonstrating its potential and facilitate their adoption. It is also clear that the key to commercialising emerging technologies is a strong research and development framework, which must be the put at the door step of government.

7.0 Conclusions

Government must invest in research and development to critically examine the potential of selected technologies, identify what technologies to adapt, where and how, by agitating the minds of our people through creating incentives for innovation.

Author:

Dr. Taofeek Oladiran Folami is a Chemical Engineer and ICT Consultant of several decades. He is the immediate past Special Adviser to The Governor on The Environment in Lagos State in the 2011 – 2015 administration of His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), where he was specifically tasked with Wastewater Management and Environmental Protection in Lagos State.

Annexure A: Drone Technology Usage

As concerns drone technology, below are awesome ways drones are being used today globally to resolve everyday issues innovatively and cost effectively:

1. Crime Fighting: Police departments in the US have deployed drones that they can use for surveillance and other protection-related activities. Even the FBI is using them.
2. Border Patrols: Drones are increasingly popular in being utilized to patrol remote borders.
3. Public Safety & Disaster Relief: As extreme weather becomes increasingly severe, technology will play a critical role in monitoring situations & supporting first responders. Drones are becoming indispensable in disaster relief operations and at other times during emergencies that call for timely distribution of medication and aid.
4. Oil & Gas Pipelines/Power Generation & Distribution: Oil & gas pipelines are notoriously tough to monitor & maintain and can be potentially dangerous & high risk. Given their ability to fly into hard-to-reach places, UAVs are able to better monitor oil and gas pipelines, which can be vast and tough for humans to track. This is also applicable to the power generation and distribution companies for inspection & monitoring.
5. Capturing Videos & Pictures. Given its aerial abilities, drones have been able to capture things in ways never before seen resulting some truly breathtaking videos & pictures. This can be applied to various activities including but not limited to the movie industry (UAVs have already been adapted by a number of filmmakers looking to capture more innovative shots), sporting events, real estate industry (aerial photos and videos are used to advertise properties for sale/lease thanks to the use of relatively inexpensive drones), mining industry, mapping industry, home security, construction industry, medical industry (using drones to deliver medical supplies & test results to remote areas) and the insurance industry (utilizing drones to take photos of devastation in areas that humans can’t safely reach and to help with processing claims faster) to name a few
6. Covering the news. When it comes to reporting there’s nothing more important than catching the action as it happens. In what may become the next trend in journalism, news stations are already using drones to help them better report stories and some reporters have already begun using UAVs to capture the day’s news.
7. Farming. With their aerial abilities, farmers can now see if their irrigation systems are working, how their crops are growing and even see if any of the plants are sick by using infrared technology. This enables farmers to make critical decisions about where and when to fertilize, plant or water. They can also be used to spray crops.
8. Putting out wildfires. Drones are becoming an incredibly useful tool for firefighters, especially those who have the seemingly impossible task of putting out wildfires. Not only are the aircrafts being used to spot the fire and tracking its movement, but they can actually fight fires as well, ultimately keeping people out of harm’s way.
9. Delivering other things, too. The easiest way to order the shopping is to simply load up a shopping app for next-day delivery, but drones mean you could end up having items the same day. That brings us back to Amazon and its plan to deliver your purchases with drones. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says, “It will work and it will happen, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun.” UPS followed suit and revealed that they, too, were working on a drone delivery system. Will it work? China has already gotten into the drone-delivery game with Shenzhen-based courier service, SF Express.

Attached are some examples of drones and their specifications.

24070997

ANNEXURE B: LIST OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

This is a list of currently emerging technologies, which contains some of the most prominent ongoing developments, advances, and innovations in various fields of modern technology. Emerging technologies are those technical innovations which represent progressive developments within a field for competitive advantage.^[1]

CONTENTS

1 Agriculture

2 Biomedical

3 Displays

4 Electronics

5 Energy

6 IT and communications

7 Manufacturing

8 Materials science

9 Military

10 Neuroscience

11 Robotics

12 Transport

13 Other

AGRICULTURE

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Agricultural robot[2]	Research and development, trial projects
Closed ecological systems[3][4][5]	Research and development, working demonstrators (e.g.Biosphere 2)	Agricultural science	Agriculture, scientific research,space colonization	Greenhouse, Eden Project, Bioshelter,Seawater greenhouse,Perpetual harvest greenhouse system
Genetically modified food[6][7]	Research and development, commercialization
Meat incubator	Research and development	Butchers, the meat packing industry[8]	Creating synthetic meat products
In vitro meat	Research and development[9][10][11]	Animal husbandry,fishing[11]	Humane, resource-efficient meat[11]	New Harvest
Precision agriculture	Research and development, diffusion
Vertical farming	Research, development, experiments, and diffusion[12][13][14]	Industrial agriculture	Crop and meat production

BIOMEDICAL

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies and/or industries	Potential applications	Related articles
Artificial uterus	Hypothetical, research	Incubator	extracorporeal pregnancy, Reprogenetics, same-sex procreation
Body implants,prosthesis	Trials, from animal (e.g., brain implants) to human clinical (e.g., insulin pump implant), to commercial production (e.g. pacemaker, joint replacement,cochlear implant)	Various fields of medicine	Brain implant, retinal implant	Prosthetics,prosthetics in fiction
Cryonics	Hypothetical, research
Expressive augmentation	Hypothetical	Plastic surgery, make-up, body painting and some parts of costumes	Reproduction, cosmetics, and genetic diversity	Parahuman,Human genetic engineering
Genetic engineering	Research, development, commercialization[15][16]	Animal husbandry,plant breeding	Creating and modifying species, bio-machines, eliminating genetic disorders (gene therapy)	Genetically modified food, genetic pollution
Hibernation or suspended animation	Research, development, animal trials[17]	Surgical anaesthesia	Organ transplantation, space travel, prolonged surgery, emergency care
Life extension, Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence	Research, experiments, animal testing[18][19][20]	Existing treatments for age-related diseases[20]	Increased life spans[20]	Resveratrol,SRT1720
Nanomedicines	Research, experiments, limited use[21][22]
Oncolytic Virus	Human trials (Talimogene laherparepvec, reolysin,JX-594), commercialisation (H101)		Cancer therapy, imaging	Oncolytic virus
Personalized medicine, full genome sequencing	Research, experiments[23]	Orphan drugs	Cancer management and preventive treatment; genetic disorders
Regenerative medicine	Some laboratory trials[24]		Life extension
Robotic surgery	Research, diffusion[25][26][27]	Surgeonsuntrained in robotic surgery
Stem cell treatments	Research, experiments, phase I human trial spinal cord injury treatment (GERON), cultured cornea transplants[28][29]	Other therapies	Treatment for a wide range of diseases and injuries	Stem cell, stem cell treatments, Skin cell gun
Tissue engineering	Research, diffusion[30][31][32][33]		Organ printing
Virotherapy	Research, Human Trials		Gene Therapy, cancer therapy	Virotherapy,Oncolytic Virus
Vitrification or cryoprotectant	Hypothetical, some experiments[34]	Ischemic damages	Organ transplantation,cryonics

DISPLAYS

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
3D displays	Research, commercialization[35][36]	other display technologies, CRT,  LCD	Television, computer interfaces, cinemas	Autostereoscopic display, stereoscopic display, volumetric display, holographic display, Light Field display, Nintendo 3DS, HTC Evo 3D
Ferro Liquid Display	Some commercial products
Field emission display	Research
Holography(Holographic display, Computer-generated holography)	Diffusion[37][38][39]	Display technologies
Interferometric modulator display	Development, commercializing[40]	Other display technologies, CRT, LCD, plasma, e-paper	Non-emissive displays with fast response times and potentially the most realistic colors of all display technologies	Interferometric modulator display,comparison of display technology
Laser video displays	first commercial Laser TV in 2008, Mitsubishi LaserVue TV	LCD and plasma displays	Displays with very wide colour gamut	Laser TV, Comparison of display technology
OLED displays	Diffusion[41][42]	LCD and plasma displays	Displays, lighting	OLED TV,Comparison of display technology
Organic light-emitting transistor	Development
Phased-array optics	Hypothetical[43][44]	Conventionaldisplay devices(e.g.,television)	Mass production of 3-dimensional imagery
Quantum dot display	Diffusion
Screenless display (Virtual retinal display, Bionic contact lens), EyeTap	Hypothetical, experiments[45]	Traditional displays	Augmented reality, virtual reality, EyeTap could allow the user to reference the blue prints like in a construction yard, in a 3D manner, Delivers the user constant up to date information on the stock market, the user’s corporation, and meeting statuses, visual disabilities	Head-mounted display, Head-up display, adaptive optics
Surface-conduction electron-emitter display	Abandoned	Traditional displays	Displays with high contrast ratio, fast response time and high energy efficiency
Telescopic pixel display	In development
Thick-film dielectric electroluminescent technology	Suspended
Time-multiplexed optical shutter	Commercialized
Volumetric display			3-dimensional imagery	Swept-volume display

ELECTRONICS

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Electronic nose	Research, commercialization[46][47]	X-ray and MRI scans for detecting cancer	Detecting spoiled food, chemical weapons and cancer
E-textiles	Research, diffusion[48]
Flexible electronics	Research, development, some prototypes[49][50]		Flexible and folding electronic devices (such as smartphones), Flexible solar cells which are lightweight, can be rolled up for launch, and are easily deployable	Nokia Morph, Flexible organic light-emitting diode
Memristor	Working prototype[51][52]	Some current integrated circuits, many other electronics devices	Smaller, faster, lower power consuming storage, analogue electronics, Artificial intelligence
Spintronics	Working prototypes[53]	Mechanical magnetic hard disk drives	Data storage	MRAM
Thermal copper pillar bump	Working prototypes in discrete devices	Conventional thermal systems, heat sinks, bulk thermoelectrics	Electric circuit cooling; micro-fluidic actuators; small-device thermoelectric power generation (see thermoelectric generator)	Ultra high definition holographic disc, Metal–insulator transition

ENERGY

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Vortex engine		Chimney, Cooling tower, Solar updraft tower	Power generation.
Airborne wind turbine	Research[54][55][56]	Fossil fuels	Producing electricity	KiteGen
Artificial photosynthesis	Research, experiments[57]growing interest in a macroscience global project [58]	Fossil fuel or ‘archived’ photosynthesis	Improve natural photosynthesis, so roads buildings and vehicles convert sunlight and water into hydrogen and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates	Sustainocene, Renewable energy, Nanotechnology
Biofuels	Diffusion[59]	Fossil fuels	Energy storage, more so for transport	Issues relating to biofuels
Concentrated solar power	Growing markets in California, Spain, Northern Africa[60]	Fossil fuels, photovoltaics	Producing electricity	DESERTEC, BrightSource Energy, Solar Millennium
Electric double-layer capacitor	Diffusion, continued development[61]	Chemical batteries	Regenerative braking; energy storage: generally faster charging, longer lasting, more flexible, greener
Flywheel energy storage	Some commercial examples
Fusion power	Hypothetical, experiments; for 60+ years[62]	Fossil fuels, renewable energy, nuclear fission power	Producing electricity, heat, fusion torch recycling with waste heat	ITER, NIF, Polywell, Dense plasma focus, Muon-catalyzed fusion
Generation IV reactor	Research, Experiments	Traditional nuclear power reactors, fossil fuels	Producing electricity, heat, transmutation of nuclear waste stockpiles from traditional reactors
Grid energy storage	Increasing use
Home fuel cell	Research, commercialisation[63][64][65]	Electrical grid	Off-the-grid, producing electricity	Autonomous building, Bloom Energy Server
Hydrogen economy	Diffusion of hydrogen fuel cells; Hypothetical, experiments for lower cost hydrogen production[66]	Other energy storage methods: chemical batteries, fossil fuels	Energy storage
Lithium-air battery	Research, experiments[67]	Other energy storage methods: hydrogen, chemical batteries, some uses of fossil fuels	Laptops, mobile phones, long-range electric cars; storing energy for electric grid
Lithium iron phosphate battery	Commercialization
Molten salt battery	Applications and continuing research
Molten salt reactor	Research, Experiments	Traditional nuclear power reactors, fossil fuels	Producing electricity, heat
Nanowire battery	Experiments, prototypes[68][69]	Other energy storage methods: hydrogen, chemical batteries, some uses of fossil fuels	Laptops, mobile phones, long-range electric cars; storing energy for electric grid
Nantenna	Research[70][71][72]	Fossil fuels	Producing electricity
Silicon–air battery	Experiments
Smart grid	Research, diffusion[73][74][75]			Smart meter, SuperSmart Grid
Solar roadway	Research[76][77][78]	Fossil fuels	Producing electricity
Space-based solar power	Hypothetical
Thorium fuel cycle	Research started in the 1960s, still ongoing	Uranium based nuclear power, fossil fuels	Producing electricity, heat
Wireless energy transfer	Prototypes, diffusion, short range consumer products[79]	Power cords, plugs, batteries	Wirelessly powered equipment: laptop, cell phones, electric cars, etc.	WiTricity, resonant inductive coupling
Energy harvesting	Experiments	Batteries	Constant energy source for mobile, wearable and ubiquitous devices

IT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
4G cellular communication	First commercial LTE networks deployed in Sweden December 2009; candidate systems LTE-advanced and IEEE 802.16m (Mobile WiMAX Release 2) in development	broadband	Pervasive computing	Mobile broadband, mobile TV, Interactive TV, 3D-TV,[80]holographic cameras[80]
Ambient intelligence	Hypothetical
Artificial brain	Research[81]		Neurological disease’s treatments, artificial intelligence	Blue Brain Project
Artificial intelligence	Hypothetical, experiments; limited uses in specialized domains[82][83][84]	Human decision, analysis, etc.	Creating intelligent devices	Progress in artificial intelligence, technological singularity, applications of artificial intelligence
Atomtronics	Hypothetical
Augmented Reality	diffusion
Cybermethodology
Emerging memory technologies T-RAM,Z-RAM, TTRAM,CBRAM, SONOS,RRAM, Racetrack memory, NRAM,Millipede memory	In development	Current memory technologies
Fourth-generation optical discs (3D optical data storage, Holographic data storage)	Research, prototyping[85]	Some mass storage methods/devices, magnetic tape data storage, optical data storage	Storing and archiving data previously erased for economic reasons	Blu-ray Disc, Optical storage
General-purpose computing on graphics processing units	Diffusion of non standardized methods	CPU for a few specialized uses	Order of magnitude faster processing of parallelizable algorithms
Machine augmented cognition, exocortices	Diffusion of primitive amplifications; working prototypes of more; Hypothetical, experiments on more substantial amplification	Libraries, schools, training, pocket calculators
Machine translation	Diffusion[86][87]	Human translation of natural languages, in areas where misunderstanding is non-critical and language is formalized	Easier and cheaper cross-cultural communication
Machine vision	Research, prototyping, commercialization[81]	Biotic vision and perception, including humans	Biometrics, controlling processes (e.g., in driverless car, automated guided vehicle), detecting events (e.g., in visual surveillance), interaction (e.g., in human-computer interaction), robot vision	Computer vision, pattern recognition, digital image processing
Mobile collaboration	Development, commercialization[88]	Traditional video-conferencing systems	Extends the capabilities of video conferencing for use on hand-held mobile devices in real-time over secure networks. For use in diverse industries such as manufacturing, energy, healthcare.[89]
Optical computing	Hypothetical, experiments; some components of integrated circuits have been developed[90]	Many electronics devices, integrated circuits	Smaller, faster, lower power consuming computing
Quantum computing	Hypothetical, experiments,[91]commercialization[92]	Atomtronics, Electronic computing, optical computing, quantum clock	Much faster computing, for some kinds of problems, chemical modelling, new materials with programmed properties, Hypothetical of high-temperature superconductivity and superfluidity
Quantum cryptography	Commercialization[93]		Secure communications
Radio-frequency identification	Diffusion of high cost[94][95][96]	Barcode	Smartstores – RFID based self checkout (keeping track of all incoming and outgoing products), food packaging, smart shelves, smart carts. See: potential uses
Semantic Web oranswer machine	Research, limited use	Web 2.0	Making the web machine-readable by annotating data on the web based on its meaning
Speech recognition	Research, Development, Commercialization	Mechanical input devices
Three-dimensional integrated circuit	Development, commercialization[97][98]	Conventional integrated circuit
Virtual Reality	diffusion	Television	Entertainment, education

MANUFACTURING

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
3D printing	Commercial production[99][100]	Manual prototype production, some methods of mass production that lack customizability	Rapidly prototyping and producing plastic objects and multi-material items, with potential to significantly customize products for individual consumers	RepRap Project,Contour Crafting, D-Shape
Claytronics	Hypothetical, experiment	3D printing, traditional manufacturing methods and tools
Molecular assembler	Hypothetical, experiment	3D printing, traditional manufacturing methods and tools		Replicator (Star Trek)
Utility fog	Hypothetical, experiment

MATERIALS SCIENCE

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Aerogel	Hypothetical, experiments, diffusion, early uses[101]	Traditional Insulation, Glass	Improved insulation, insulative glass if it can be made clear, sleeves for oil pipelines, aerospace, high-heat & extreme cold applications
Conductive Polymers	Research, experiments, prototypes	Conductors	Lighter and cheaper wires, antistatic materials, organic solar cells
Femtotechnology, Picotechnology	Hypothetical	Present nuclear	New materials; nuclear weapons, power
Graphene	Hypothetical, experiments, diffusion, early uses[102][103]	silicon-based integrated circuit	Components with higher strength to weight ratios, transistors that operate at higher frequency, lower cost of display screens in mobile devices, storing hydrogen for fuel cell powered cars, sensors to diagnose diseases[104]
High-temperature superconductivity	Cryogenic receiver front-end (CRFE)RF and microwave filter systems for mobile phone base stations; prototypes in dry ice; Hypothetical and experiments for higher temperatures[105]	Copper wire, semiconductor integral circuits	No loss conductors, frictionless bearings, magnetic levitation, lossless high-capacity accumulators, electric cars, heat-free integral circuits and processors
High-temperature superfluidity	Superfluid gyroscopes already exist but work at very low temperatures	Mechanical gyroscope	High-precision measure of gravity, navigation and manoeuvre devices, possible devices to emit gravitomagnetic field, frictionless mechanical devices
Metamaterials	Hypothetical, experiments, diffusion[106]	Classical optics	Microscopes, cameras, metamaterial cloaking, cloaking devices
Multi-function structures[107]	Hypothetical, experiments, some prototypes, few commercial	Composite materials mostly	Wide range, e.g., self health monitoring, self healing material, morphing…
Nanomaterials: carbon nanotubes	Hypothetical, experiments, diffusion, early uses[108][109]	Structural steel  and aluminium	Stronger, lighter materials, space elevator	Potential applications of carbon nanotubes, carbon fiber
Programmable matter	Hypothetical, experiments[110][111]	Coatings, catalysts	Wide range, e.g., claytronics, synthetic biology
Quantum dots	Research, experiments, prototypes[112]	LCD, LED	Quantum dot laser, future use as programmable matter in display technologies (TV, projection), optical data communications (high-speed data transmission), medicine (laser scalpel)
Silicene	Hypothetical, research	Field-effect transistors

MILITARY

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Airborne laser	Research and development, trials, discontinued	Missile defense	Tracking and destruction of tactical ballistic missiles	Advanced Tactical Laser, High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System
Antimatter weapon	Hypothetical	Nuclear weapons
Caseless ammunition	Field tests and some niche markets	Cartridges
Directed energy weapon	Research, development, some prototypes[113]	Firearms	Warfare	Laser Weapon System
Electrolaser	Research and development	Taser
Electromagnetic weapons	Research and development[114][115]	Firearms	Warfare	Coilgun, Railgun
Electrothermal-chemical technology	Research and development	Conventional ammunition	Tank, artillery, and close-in weapon systems
Particle beam weapon	Research and development	Firearms	Warfare	Strategic Defense Initiative
Plasma weapon	Research
Pure fusion weapon	Hypothetical
Sonic weapon	Research and development
Stealth technology	Research and development	Camouflage	Electronic countermeasures	Plasma stealth, Stealth aircraft, Radar-absorbent material
Vortex ring gun	Research and development	tear gas	Crowd control

NEUROSCIENCE

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Abolition of Suffering	Hypothetical			Humanity +
Ampakine			Enhance attention span and alertness, and facilitate learning and memory
Artificial brain	IBM Blue Brain project
Brain-computer interface	Research and commercialization	Video games, television, and movies	A revolution in entertainment, medicine, and computing.
Brain-reading, Neuroinformatics	Research[116][117][118]		Mind uploading, enabling individuals with brain damage to communicate[119]
Electroencephalography	Research, diffusion[120][121]	Keyboards and other interfaces	Controlling electronic devices via brain waves	Brain Gate.
Neuroprosthetics			Visual prosthesis, brain implant, exocortex, retinal implant

ROBOTICS

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Molecular nanotechnology, nanorobotics	Hypothetical, experiments[122]	Products and parts production, retail distribution	Machines (desktop, industrial) that can make anything given the materials, cheap planetary terraforming
Powered exoskeleton	Research, development, prototypes, diffusion, commercializing[123]	Electric wheelchairs, forklifts	Heavy lifting, paralysis, muscle related diseases, warfare, construction, care for the elderly and disabled.	LOPES (exoskeleton), ReWalk, Human Universal Load Carrier, fictional armor Iron Man’s armor, Future Force Warrior
Self-reconfiguring modular robot	Hypothetical, experiments, early prototypes	Other ways to form physical structures and machines	As a universal physical machine, SRCMR may change the way we make many physical structures and machines	Robot, swarm robotics, autonomous research robot
Swarm robotics	Hypothetical, experiments[124]	Distributed computing, complexity in behavior by simplicity in architecture	Autonomous construction, space construction	Swarm intelligence, autonomous robotics, nanorobotics, particle swarm optimization, multi-agent systems, behavior-based robotics
Unmanned vehicle	Research and development, some diffusion	Manned vehicles, human spying	Mass surveillance, eavesdropping, Oceanography, Commercial aerial surveillance of livestock monitoring, wildfire mapping, pipeline security, home security, road patrol and anti-piracy. Domestic aerial surveillance, patrol the nation’s borders, scout property, and hunt down fugitives, Oil gas and mineral exploration and production, geophysical surveys, geomagnetic surveys, transport of goods, Scientific research in areas too dangerous for pilots like a droid hurricane tornado hunter, Armed attack, Search and rescue, explosives and Bomb disposal, peacekeeping operations, ground surveillance, gatekeeper/checkpoint operations, urban street presence, enhance police and military raids in urban settings.	Unmanned aerial vehicle, AeroVironment, AeroVironment Global Observer, AeroVironment Nano Hummingbird, Unmanned combat air vehicle, Unmanned ground vehicle, Unmanned space vehicle, Unmanned surface vehicle, Unmanned underwater vehicle, Autonomous underwater vehicle

TRANSPORT

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Airless tire	Research, development, early prototypes[125][126][127]	Conventional tire[127]	Safer tires[127]	Tweel
Alcubierre drive	Attempting to create a warp field in lab tests[128]	Conventional space propulsion	Interstellar exploration and colonization	Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program
Alternative fuel vehicle	Commercialization, diffusion	Internal combustion engine	Reducing air pollution, decreasing oil consumption	Electric vehicle, Hydrogen vehicle, Compressed air vehicle
Beam-powered propulsion	Hypothetical			Laser propulsion
Driverless car	Research, development, prototypes[129][130][131]	Driver’s licenses, rules of the road, traffic lights, traffic sign, highway patrols, vehicle insurances	Reducing traffic collision, increasing road capacity, reducing air pollution, reducing traffic congestion	Google driverless car, General Motors EN-V, CityCar, MIT Car
Flexible wings (X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing, Adaptive Compliant Wing),fluidic flight controls	Experiments, prototypes[132][133][134][135][136]	Other flight control systems: ailerons, elevators, elevons, flaps, flaperons	Controlling aircraft, ships	Aircraft flight control system, BAE Systems Demon, fluidics
Flying car	Early commercialization, prototypes[137][138]	Automobile, road	More effective transportation	Terrafugia Transition, Moller M400 Skycar, Urban Aeronautics X-Hawk
Hovertrain, Ground effect train	Research, development[139][140]	Conventional trains	Trains with higher speed	Aérotrain, Duke Hospital PRT,Hovercraft
Ion thruster	In use
Jet pack or backpack helicopter	Early commercialization, prototypes[141][142]	Automobile	More effective transportation
Maglev train, Vactrain	Research, early commercialization[143][144][145]	Conventional trains, the wheel	Trains with higher speed	Transrapid, Shanghai Maglev Train, Linimo
Mass driver	Prototypes
Personal rapid transit	Early commercialization, diffusion[146][147]	Automobile	More effective transportation	Morgantown PRT, ULTra
Physical Internet	Research[148]	Conventional logistics
Propellant depot	Research, development	Heavy lift rockets	enabling deep-space missions with more massive payloads, satellite life extension, ultimately lowering the cost per kg launched to space
Pulse detonation engine	Testbed demos
Reusable launch system	Research, development	Expendable launch system	Surface-to-orbit transport	SpaceX reusable rocket launching system
Scramjet	Research, development[149][150][151]	Conventional jet engine	Hypersonic aircraft	NASA X-43
Solar sail	In 2010, IKAROS was the world’s first spacecraft designed to use solar sailing propulsion to be successfully launched		Space travel
Space elevator	Research, development[152]			Non-rocket space launch, Orbital ring, Sky hook, Space fountain
Spaceplane	Research, development[153][154][155]	Conventional airliners	Hypersonic transport	A2, Skylon
Supersonic transport	Commercialization existed, diffusion	Conventional airliners	Airliner with higher speed	Concorde, Tupolev Tu-144
Nuclear Launch Cannon	Hypothetical	Other cargo launch	Very cheap launch for cargo
High Altitude Platforms	Experimentation	Most satellites, cell phone towers	Communications
Orion Nuclear Starship	Hypothetical, Experiments	Chemical rockets	Fast Interplanetary Travel, with some possible Interstellar Travel applications
Fusion rocket	Research, development [156]	Chemical rockets	Fast Interplanetary Travel, with limited Interstellar applications
Aeroscraft	Prototype		Heavy-lift, high altitude platform
Float to Orbit	Hypothetical	Conventional space launch	Space launch
Hyperloop	Research, development	High-speed rail	Faster way to get somewhere

OTHER

Emerging technology	Status	Potentially marginalized technologies	Potential applications	Related articles
Anti-gravity	Hypothetical and experiments[157][158]
Arcology	Research, development, Commercialization
Artificial gravity	Research, development		Space Travel
Asteroid mining	Hypothetical, NASA has announced plans to capture and redirect an asteroid.[159]
Atmospheric carbon dioxide removal	Research and development	Fossil carbon sources	Climate change mitigation, closing the carbon cycle, input for carbon neutral fuel production	Carbon dioxide removal, Virgin Earth Challenge
Biometrics	Diffusion	Keys and ID documents
Bioplastic	Some products developed	Fossil fuel plastics
Cloak of invisibility	Successful experiments cloaking small objects under some conditions[160][161]	Camouflage[161]	Cloaking microscope tips at optical frequencies[161]	Metamaterial cloaking
Digital scent technology	Diffusion			Smell-O-Vision,iSmell
Domed city	NASA develops ageodesic dome for a moon base		Weather-controlled city, colonization of the moon
Force field	Hypothetical, experiments[162]	Armor	Military and law enforcement, space travel	Plasma window
Hypertelescope	Hypothetical		astronomy
Immersive virtual reality	Hypothetical, limited commercialization	Consensus reality	An artificial environment where the user feels just as immersed as they usually feel in consensus reality.	Virtusphere, 3rd Space Vest, haptic suit, immersive technology, simulated reality, holodeck(fictional)
Inflatable space habitat	Developed, prototypes built and tested	Traditional “aluminium can” space habitat modules	Space habitats	Bigelow Aerospace
LED lamp	Commercialization	Incandescent lights, compact fluorescent lights
Magnetic levitation	Research, development, Commercialization (Maglev Train)	Wheels, tires, conventional transportation systems	High temperature superconductivity, cryogenics, low temperature refrigerators, superconducting magnet design and construction, fiber reinforced plastics for vehicles and structural concretes, communication and high power solid-state controls, vehicle design (aerodynamics and noise mitigation), precision manufacturing, construction and fabrication of concrete structures,[163] maglev car, maglev based spacecraft launch	Vactrain, Levicar
Magnetic refrigeration	Already used for achieving cryogenic temperatures in the laboratory setting (below 10K)	Conventional refrigerators	Refrigeration without the need for compression and with more energy efficient which may be in refrigerators, air conditioners and spacecraft
Magneto-rheological fluid	developed and researched	Shock absorber	Magneto-rheological damper heavy motor damping, operator seat/cab damping in construction vehicles, seismic dampers positioned in building absorbing detrimental shock waves and oscillations within the structure making them earthquake-proof, enhance body armor fluid bullet resistant, Humvees, and various other all-terrain vehicles employ dynamic MR shock absorbers/dampers. Magnetorheological finishing was used in the construction of the Hubble Space Telescope’s corrective lens, shock absorbers of a vehicle’s suspension are filled with magnetorheological fluid.	Electro-rheological fluid
Miniaturized satellite	Research, development, some prototypes	Conventional satellites	Inexpensive satellites, constellations for low data rate communications, using formations to gather data from multiple points, in-orbit inspection of larger satellites.
Synthetic biology, synthetic genomics	Research, development, first synthetic bacteria created May 2010[164][165]	Chemical industry, petroleum industry, process manufacturing	Creating infinitely scalable production processes based on programmable species of bacteria and other life forms	BioBrick, iGEM, synthetic genomics
Tricorder	Research and Development	Medical examinations	Diagnosing medical conditions	Medical tricorder
Vehicular communication systems	Research and development, some diffusion	Automobile safety	vehicle safety obstacle inform others warnings on entering intersections, Traffic management Accommodating ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars to a specific situation such as hot pursuits and bad weather, Driver assistance systems, Automated highways.	Artificial Passenger, Dedicated short-range communications, Intelligent transportation system