Recent Publications
Throughout 2010, IFTF systematically researched and synthesized this view of the future of robotics. We distilled all of that information in the materials now at the tips of your fingers, or perhaps your gripper. Delve into these ten domain papers analyzing where we think the largest transformations are imminent and the impact will be greatest. In each domain, we consider how machines may...
In the next decade, we will share our offices, hospitals, schools, battlefields, nursing homes, and homes with a new breed of companion. A robot renaissance is underway.After decades of hype, false starts, and few successes, smart machines are finally ready for prime time. As part of its 2010 research, IFTF's Technology Horizons program has created the Robot Renaissance: the...
We're pleased to release the Technology Horizons' Mind in a Designed World report, examining the emerging applications of neuroscience research and its significance to both individuals and organizations. We are expanding our understanding of the mind, and this new understanding will lead us to re-design the world. Mental processes once thought to be contained in the head are now seen spilling out...
We're pleased to release IFTF's Future of Persuasion report (PDF). This report journeys through the future of persuasion, looking at “forces of persuasion”—the core drivers of change in how we will both 1) be persuaded, and 2) persuade others—along with related strategies for designing more persuasive experiences and defending against unwanted kinds of persuasion. Our report also explores...
IFTF is pleased to announce the public release of the Technology Horizons Program’s 2009 publication, The Future of Video: Becoming People of the Screen. The report provides a deep exploration into our research on the future of video as a new medium for entertainment, information, and communication. As video becomes increasingly ubiquitous, we will all soon become people of the screen. ...
At each stage of human evolution we have used the tools and knowledge of the day in our efforts to achieve control of our bodies, our minds, and our surroundings. Now on the horizon are new kinds of tools for programming our world, from the micro to the macro-scale, from our minds and bodies to our cities and ecosystems.
The When Everything is Programmable Technology and Forecast Deck is a tool...
A Map for the Programmable World
The map created for our Technology Horizons Fall conference in 2009, When Everything is Programmable is now available to you!
Millennia ago, young couples in Egypt prayed to fertility gods with the hope of receiving the gift of a child. Much later, Native Americans performed ceremonial dances to pray for rain and a bountiful harvest. In the middle of the 19th...
As a part of the year-long Technology Horizons Program research task, When Everything is Progammable: Life in a Conmputational Age, the research team created a digital story—a scenario of of the future—in three parts to accompany the research released for the 2009 Fall Exchange. The story follows "Omar"—a doctor working at Seattle Grace in about 2019—as he moves through his day and interacts...
Millennia ago, young couples in Egypt prayed to fertility gods with the hope of receiving the gift of a child. Much later, Native Americans performed ceremonial dances to pray for rain and a bountiful harvest. In the middle of the 19th century, the Central European monk Gregor Mendel selectively crossbred pea plants to control the characteristics of their offspring. While the approaches differ,...
What is the future of real-time video communication and what will it feel like to live and work in a world where real-time video is ubiquitous?
Skype commissioned IFTF to research and start a conversation about this question and much more in this newly-released report.
Video technologies are improving dramatically and rapidly, supporting mobile and ubiquitous real-time video experiences. Low cost...
