Phone could be able to smell, hear and taste by 2018

If you've only just got used to talking to your phone, get ready for a major change.
IBM has revealed its predictions for the computer we will all be using in 2018 - and it believes they will have all five senses, and will communicate with us in radically different ways.
'Infrared and haptic technologies will enable a smart phone's touchscreen technology and vibration capabilities to simulate the physical sensation of touching something,' the firm said.

IBM's vision for the future of touch - it claims that in five years we will be able to touch objects through our phones

'So you could experience the silkiness of that catalog's Egyptian cotton sheets instead of just relying on some copywriter to convince you.
'It’s amazing when you look back over the 60+ years of the computing revolution and see how far we have come in such a relatively short time,' said IBM's Bernard Meyerso.
'The first electronic programmable computers, built in the 1940s, were essentially really fast electronic calculators.

 

Then came the mainframe, the PC, the Internet and social networking.
Today, we’re entering the era of cognitive computing–machines that help us think.'
'One of the most intriguing aspects of this shift is our ability to give machines some of the capabilities of the right side of the human brain.
'New technologies make it possible for machines to mimic and augment the senses. '
Today, we see the beginnings of sensing machines in self-parking cars and biometric security–and the future is wide open.

The firm claims in five years machines will be able to see, and understand, images

'These five predictions show how cognitive technologies can improve our lives, and they’re windows into a much bigger landscape –the coming era of cognitive systems.
'But the point isn’t to replicate human brains.
We humans are no slouches when it comes to procreation.
'And this isn’t about replacing human thinking with machine thinking.
'Once again; not necessary.
'Rather, in the era of cognitive systems, humans and machines will collaborate to produce better results–each bringing their own superior skills to the partnership.
'The machines will be more rational and analytic. We’ll provide the judgment, empathy, morale compass and creativity.'

IBM also says machines will be able to hear in five years and know when we are talking to them

Computers will also be able to taste - and even predict what food we like based on out eating habits.

Computers will also be able to smell - and have sensitive enough noses to be able to detect infections on our breath and tell us if the food we are about to eat has bacteria in