sources

• Parsons, Paul. 21st Century Toys. T3 Magazine, January 2000. pg. 82-92.
• Nussbaum, Bruce. Welcome to 2010. Business Week. March 13, 2000. pg. 68- 76.

Mr. Nussbaum's article is based on a study named "Project 2000" by the design firm IDEO, based in Palo Alto, California. They designed the Palm V and Visor. Furthermore, during the past decade IDEO has won more Industrial Designers Society of America awards than any other industrial design firm. Parsons is a writer for T3 magazine in London. T3 specializes in trend setting gadgets and electronics.

background
IDEO and T3 both see a future with customizable devices as part of a wireless society. Mr. Nussbaum points out that "Europe and Asia are clearly moving toward such a wireless society. But the U.S. is behind and unless it acts soon, it could find itself cemented into a more fixed, immobile future."

trends & forecasts
The following ideas for gadgets of the future are broken into three sections. First, a section with concepts from 2001-2010. Many of these concepts are already in development and will likely become commercially available within the next decade. The next section, 2010-2050, reaches out to explore concepts that could become a part of our lives within the next 50 years. The last section, 2050-2100, is a daring far-reaching look to challenge your own visions of the future.

2001-2010

• Ear mounted telephones are now available and will become even more lightweight and low-powered. They will connect to the net themselves or through a personal digital assistant.
• The development of flexible LCD screens will replace bulky laptop screens with ultra-portable roll-up displays. Home entertainment centers could also use this technology to replace conventional TV and computer monitor displays.
• Faster computer processors will allow for 3-D holographic images to be processed in real time.
• Speech recognition will become a necessity in mobile electronic devices.
• Special pens that capture writing and digitize your messages are available today. They will become more accurate and will connect to personal digital assistants and computers.
• Future personal digital assistants (PDA) will use "rudimentary artificial intelligence". The digital assistants will be highly customized, connected to the net and will communicate with other computers and earphones.
• Future PDAs will have fingerprint, voice, or retinal identification capabilities. They will start to replace ID numbers, credit card numbers and passwords. PDAs will also perform secure e-cash transactions.
• Eyewear will darken and lighten as voltage is sent thought variable-tint lens coatings. Eyewear will shield users from the hectic outside world and contain earpieces that can cancel noise or play sound.
• Cinema films will feature near-perfect animated replications of actors that are alive or already dead.
• Distanced colleagues, relatives and an increasing popularity of videophone sex will drive sales of videophones and internet videophones.
• Motorola is developing on-board vehicle supercomputers that will increase automobile engine efficiency up to 20%.
• Cyberpets, like Sony's AIBO, will perform useful tasks and grow in popularity starting around 2004.
• Analog TV transmissions will be completely replaced by digital broadcasts by 2010. Personal flying cars are currently being developed. They will cost about the same as a Ferrari by around 2006 and could become popular by 2020. Initial models will require only basic training and will provide adequate safety.
• A second-generation swing-wing Concord jet should arrive by 2010. It will attain speeds up to Mach 2.4.

2010-2050

• Quantum encryption will be used to safeguard data. Eavesdroppers will automatically alter a message just by listening to it, revealing their intrusion.
• A "sober-up pill" could be available by 2015. The pill would stop certain chemical reactions of the brain that cause intoxication.
• Communication systems could regularly use virtual reality interfaces by 2030. TVs will also incorporate holography and virtual reality programming.
• Internal combustion engines could be heavily taxed or become outlawed by 2040. Land transport will rely on environmentally friendly alternatives.

2050-2100

• Telepathy helmets will record your feelings and thoughts and broadcast them to a friend wearing a similar setup. Note: Basic telepathy is currently being used to restore muscular communication to paralysis patients.
• Electronic call-girls and call-boys will offer virtual reality sex that realistically stimulates the five senses.
• Quantum computer enabled video games will "achieve new heights of reality". Virtual reality games will tap directly into the brain's sensory system. Suits and helmets won't be necessary. Note: See the offbeat movie, Existenz, recently released on video.
• Teleporting machines could transport objects and live people atom by atom. Note: Teleportation of individual atoms through short trips was achieved in 1999. Also, you can read Michael Chrichton's book, Timeline.