Language Extinction - The globalization, the Internet, media, and the increased movement of people which use English is the primary language, will threaten many local languages and dialects. It has been predicted that language extinction will become a major think of the future, and it will capture public awareness. We will see fund-raising concerts, cause-marketing programs and other activities normally associated with endangered species, for endangered small vulnerable languages.

Extinction Savings Bank - About 30,000 species of plants and animals are becoming extinct each year as a result of pollution, over-fishing and other environmental abuse. Genetic techniques can already allow be used to preserve the DNA of these endangered species, which can be preserved until the cloning and genetic techniques will allow them to be re-created. It has been predicted that extinction saving banks will be created by the leading scientific and environmental groups to both save the DNA and to fund research into cloning the extinct species.

Virtual Immigrants will become a major work-force in the future. Immigration restrictions will no longer hinder knowledge workers from providing services, work, as technology workers to U.S. companies from their native countries-such as China, Russia and the Philippines. The economic impact is huge since these workers can eb hired at low wages, but still earn much more than what they would have in their local countries.  A new employment-mediation industry is emerging to link employers with virtual immigrants that will work from the distance through computers and the Internet - a trans-border telecommuting program. This is yet another example of the efficiency-and complexity-of globalization.

The term mannies introduced by USA Today describes the unexpected growth of both domestic and foreign-born male nannies. The prediction is that a new breed of young, athletic male nannies will emerge, as more older men become fathers, to take on the more demanding aspects of the job … teaching a child to ride a bike, playing ball in the park. As men are increasingly seen in caregiver roles, young children will be less likely to fall into traditional male/female stereotyping, and this trend is therefore going to be healthy.

 Electronic, mechanical and biological technologies will be developed to increase the sensitivity of our senses (i.e. vision, hearing), cognitive abilities (brain power boosting with chemical drugs), physical abilities (biomechanical devices that provide bionically increased abilities).

 Privacy will be traded in for security in the future, and big brother will be watching and recording everyone and everything. The tradeoff here is security through the elimination of crime and violent illegal activities. Video and audio surveillance, biometrics and internet monitoring are some of the measures that will keep track on our activities.

Our future society and economy will to a large degree depend on the innovation capacity of individuals and organizations. Innovation is key for technological and societal change and advance. Innovation will be the key for business competitiveness and survival.

Major Factors That Will Influence Our lives In The Future are:

-Speed; things will happen very fast because of transportation and communications.

-Connectivity; everyone will be connected to everyone though electronic media.

-Complexity; the complexity of society, business and the lives of individuals will increase dramatically because of the many factors and forces that can influence events.

Nokia has predicted that a large proportion of entertainment consumed by people in the future be created, edited and shared within their peer circle instead of coming from traditional media groups. This is called ‘Circular Entertainment’. According to the predicted trend people will want not to create and share their own content, and also to remix it and pass it on within their peer groups. This will be a form of collaborative social media according to Nokia. It may work in the following way: a video footage shot on a mobile device from a night out with friends will be shared as an MP3 file. Someone then edits the footage by including some photographs into the movie and shares it with another friend, and so on. The content will continue to evolve and change as it is passed on.

We will see many different types of new airplanes in the future, and some concepts are already under development. The experimental concept aircraft from Boeing Phantom Works that will make every other plane look small. The wingspan is 500 feet and the total wing area that is greater than an acre. It will be able to lift 1,400 tons of goods as an ultra large transport aircraft.

Evolved from the age-old concept of matchmaking and blind date, online dating has progressed both quantitatively and qualitatively over the years, and is destined to continue to do so for years to come.  Whereas online dating originated as nothing more than scanning names and pictures of singles, popular websites such as MySpace and Friendster have demonstrated how features such as searchable databases, personalized pages, and blogs can benefit those searching for love online. 

There are other dating alternatives out there besides online dating, such as speed dating, being setup in a blind date by friends/relatives, or simply just meeting people in a bar/club.  However, because online dating is so convenient and easy to use it has become one of the most popular matchmaking services.  Clearly, online dating has come a long way since its inception.  What else can we expect from the industry as technology continues to advance? 

• Improved accountability - As the online dating industry expands and improves, we will see fewer instances of members not being who they claim to be.  A large factor is due to the fact that online dating sites are beginning to understand the necessity of performing background checks on their members.  However, a growing trend toward instant messaging and other forms of communication can be observed.  This trend is also predicted to turn to video and audio conversations online.  Ideally, being able to talk face-to-face via webcam such as using speed dating and blind date service provided by 15minuteDate.com will weed out predators and encourage members to be more realistic about who they are. 
• More mobility - People can now use cell phones to message friends, check email, and even browse the mobile web.  It is also predicted that cell phones also will become another major method of online matchmaking. 
• Better searchability – In recent years, websites with extensive and searchable databases have transformed online dating.  Sites such as MySpace and Friendster allow members to fill out a profile, which other members can search to find people with compatible interests and lifestyles.  This trend toward improved searchability will continue as technology and demand usher in new standards of online matchmaking.  Thus, when users are matched online, they will less likely to be matched up in a random blind date. 
• More personal interactions - Online dating sites are beginning to realize the importance of personalized interaction.  The trend toward personal expression — as evidenced in detailed online dating profiles, MySpace personal pages, and blogs — will continue, allowing members to choose their dates more and more on the basis of compatibility. 

It wasn’t very long ago that most people expressed suspicion of online dating.  Meeting people online posed a safety threat because they might not be who they said they were — not to mention marked you as desperate in the eyes of many skeptics.  However, as the Internet has become the basis for more and more personal, social, and business interactions, online dating has also become more acceptable — and, as a necessity, more safe.  It is predicted that these trends, triggered by technological advancements and the growing interest in online dating, will continue for many years to come.  Who knows — by the time your grandchildren are dating, perhaps online dating will be the standard, rather than the exception! 

15minuteDate is a new concept in online matchmaking that combines the best of blind date and speed dating. By using the service, users will be matched up in a 15 minute blind date/speed dating session where they can meet their blind date face-to-face via webcam.

Development by 2024 of the Cosmoplane - a successor to Concorde - will make it possible for adventurous travelers to go farther and faster. More traditional types of destinations won’t be crowded out of the picture. In fact they’ll just get more crowded as an aging population swells the ranks of folks with time and money to spare, looking for new places to wander. China is predicted to be the world’s number one tourist destination within 20 years. Elsewhere in Asia, countries along the Silk Road such as Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan are likely to see a dramatic rise in tourist numbers as backpackers seek out new destinations. Other destinations that can expect throngs include Qatar in the Middle East with its positioning as the ‘Real Arabian Experience’, Ljubljana in Slovenia as a city break, and Slovakia for its natural scenery and outdoor sports potential. Then there’s Brazil for its unbeatable combination of beaches, rainforest, nightlife and cities, according to the report.

The ageing trend is a megatrend that will have enormous influence on healthcare in the future as people not only live longer (life expectancy is expected to be 100+ by 2020 for many countries) but expect to be well for longer too. Obvious impacts include higher expenditure on pharmaceuticals and care for the elderly which are already at record levels in the US (healthcare spending in the US was US $1.7 trillion in 2003), but the type of diseases we’ll see will also change. We’ve already seen voice lifts and other forms of anti-ageing surgery. Expect to see more R&D dollars put behind things like memory recovery and enhancement and the replacement of body parts. Also expect to see more debate about subjects like euthanasia.

As much as 56% of men and 43% of women aged 18-24 still live at home in the US. In Japan young adults that won’t leave home are called parasite singles (because they pay little or no rent) while in Australia they’re called boomerang kids (because you throw them out but they keep coming back). The high cost of real estate and student loans means that this trend will accelerate causing all sorts of social problems including young adults with no independence or initiative.

Invention Probability by 2050*

Invisibility cloaks 85%
Emotionally aware machines 100%
Robotic soldiers 100%
Vertical city farms 90%
Fully sensory internet 100%
Childcare robots 90%
Robotic surgery 100%
3D printers 100%
Oceanic thermal converter 60%
Programmable matter 80%
Injections to treat addictions 100%
150 GB memory sticks 90%
Mobile phone implants 50%
Wireless speakers 95%
Everlasting chewing gum 5%
Everlasting gob stoppers 10%
Downloadable dreams 2%
GPS shoes 99%
Artificial eyes 99%
Body part farms 50%
Non-melting ice 10%
Transatlantic tunnel 5%
Implantable sense of humour 0%
Video wallpaper 70%
Virtual reality windows 60%
Fully sensory Internet 100%
Sleep hotels 100%
Just in time food shopping 100%
Powered exoskeletons 100%
Silent villages 60%
Quiet paint 80%
Spray on surgical gloves 20%
Disposable cardboard phones 70%
Wireless recharging 100%
Keyless home entry 100%
Digital wallets 100%
Self-repairing paint 100%
Real time road pricing 100%
Self-parking cars 90%
Single global currency 60%
Shy shields 10%
Flying Cars 1%
Oceanic mirrors 2%
Plastic bones 85%
Plastic bridges 75%
Face transplants 90%
Memory pills 25%
Artificial hearts 80%
Aerosol dirt 10%
Face recognition doors 100%
Plastic teeth 80%
Plastic planes 40%
Space Tourism 100%
Moon colony 70%
Space elevators 10%
Lists of inventions for 2100 100%

* Mainstream availability

The income per person (or GNI/Population) represents the well being of the population. According to the World Bank, the world economy is divided into the following income groups: Low Income= $825/year or less; Lower Middle Income= $826 to $3,255/year ; Upper Middle Income= $3,256 to $10,065/year ; and High Income= $10,066 or more/year. High and Upper Middle income groups will represent 61% of the world population in 2030 ( 25% in 2004). For example, China and India’s middle class will sharply increase (650 million expected in China by 2030). In turn, this greater middle class will mean a consumption explosion and will boost the world economy. As a result, the percentage of poor people (Lower Middle Income en Low income) will decrease from 75% to 39% and will concentrate in South Asia (Except India) and in Africa. Large segments of the world population will endure a greater poverty than in 2004. The inequalities will however rise; In 2004 the income of the hyper rich ( North America- More than $30,000 per capita ) is about 60 fold the average low income (500). In 2030, it will represent 140 fold.

 A UNICEF survey reports that more than 1 billion children are suffering of basic “deprivations” : One billion children means about 500 millions girls. These girls who are today 5 years old, will marry in 2010-2015. Since they are mostly living in Africa and the Middle East ( With high fertility rate), each girl will have an average of 3 children before 2030. It means that the expected increase of the population (1.7 Billion) will mainly come from these mothers who have been deprived of food, education, decency and so one: What is more, we have to recall that some surveys in the 70 released that children born from poorly-fed mothers would never get their full brain development.

Possibly the ultimate Next Big Thing in the history of computing, AI has been the dream of computer scientists since 1950 - when Alan Turing introduced the Turing test to test a machine’s capability to participate in human-like conversation. In the context of the Web, AI means making intelligent machines. In that sense, it has some things in common with the Semantic Web vision. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of AI on the Web. Amazon.com has attempted to introduce aspects of AI with Mechanical Turk, their task management service. It enables computer programs to co-ordinate the use of human intelligence to perform tasks which computers are unable to do. Since its launch on 2 November 2005, Mechanical Turk has gradually built up a following - there is a forum for “Turkers” called Turker Nation, which appears to have light-to-medium level patronage. However we reported in January that Mturk isn’t being used as much as the initial hype period in Nov-Dec 05. Nevertheless, AI has a lot of promise on the Web. AI techniques are being used in “search 2.0″ companies like Hakia and Powerset. Numenta is an exciting new company by tech legend Jeff Hawkins, which is attempting to build a new, brain-like computing paradigm - with neural networks and cellular automata. In english this means that Numenta is trying to enable computers to tackle problems that come easy to us humans, like recognizing faces or seeing patterns in music. But since computers are much faster than humans when it comes to computation, we hope that new frontiers will be broken - enabling us to solve the problems that were unreachable before.