Inventions that could become part of everyday life by 2039

15 February 2009

Inventions that could become part of everyday life by 2039

An X-Ray vision; Invisibility cloak; Hand-held healing machine; Spiderman-like materials for gloves and boots; Human energy phone charger; Jet pack; Personal spaceship; Artificial diving gills; Translating machine - could become a part of your daily life by 2039 according to the list compiled by the New Scientist magazine.

See through walls could be possible, using X-Ray vision, because of advancement in ultrasound technology.

Invisibility cloaks could come into existence in real life because of fabrics, that researchers are developing, that deceive the human eye by distorting light waves.

Material replicating a geckos foot could be developed for gloves and boots, allowing people to stick to walls and climb like Spiderman.

Scientists also believe that by 2039 a handheld language-translating device could be developed, that can allow instant conversion of foreign words being heard by the user. It could be base on the technology already used by US soldiers in Iraq, which recognizes common speech patterns to translate Arabic into English.

A "handheld healing machine" was also included on the list. They believe it could be pointed at a user's body to discover internal injuries and encourage healing.

The list includes an affordable and readily-available jet pack, like that used by James Bond in the film Thunderball, which would allow users to travel short distances quickly and to avoid roads.

A device to harness human energy to charge devices like mobile phones and iPods could also be developed, scientists believe.

The magazine said: "Crystal-ball gazing is a fraught endeavour... but in 30 years' time these gadgets may change our lives as much, or maybe more, than cell phones, iPods and the internet."

The predictions were gathered by New Scientist magazine to mark the 30th anniversary of the first mobile telephone network.

Manmeet Singh, assistant to Izaz Ali (izaz.ali@lawdit.co.uk). Izaz Ali is a commercial lawyer who specialises in information technology law and intellectual property law with an emphasis on IT, escrow and buying and selling online businesses.