2028: Little green robots to the rescue

November 2028 is the 40th anniversary of ESD. Click here read other 2028 lookbacks.

Back in 2008, I had many discussions with some of our leading technologists at TI about what technology would be like in 20 years. As we approach the year 2028, I'm amazed at how clear our vision was. We correctly anticipated both the market drivers that spawned a new era of amazing products and the technological developments that made it possible. In a 2008 paper, we predicted that four main market drivers--robotics, green engineering, full immersion, and healthcare--would present insurmountable challenges to developers until advances in IC technology (price, performance, power, integration, development environments) made it possible to break down development barriers that had plagued embedded systems designers for decades. Well, we've accomplished all that and have seen these advances lead to new ways for designers to differentiate their products. The explosion of creativity and prosperity thanks to embedded systems has greatly benefited humanity.

In 2008, TI predicted that there would be four market drivers which would drive the embedded systems industry:

• Robotics systems exist to do things we don't want to do or can't do and to serve as interfaces between the human and machine. The key technologies necessary for pervasive robotics included developing natural interfaces based on voice and video I/O. Not only now in 2028 do vending machines understand what I say, they visually recognize me, remember what I purchase, and look out for my health. Best of all, they deliver! Of course, they dispense only the treats my doctor prescribes. I have to find an off-network machine to give me those circa 2008 Twinkies I love so much. (They just get better with age.) I hope none of the newer vending machines see me do this--they tend to tell on me.
• We predicted that green electronics would be big and that it would focus mainly on harvesting and conserving energy, a huge concern back in 2008 (remember Global Warming). Today our devices harvest energy on macro and micro levels: from renewable sources (macro)--in other words, the sources formerly known as "alternative"--as well as scavenging power from their environment (micro). These devices also conserve energy: compared with 2008, even though each of us have more electronic devices per square meter, we now use less energy in daily living (macro) and have ultra-low-power devices that are so power efficient (micro), they literally "put more green in our pockets."
• In 2008, we were just beginning to see the promise of full immersion systems to transform entertainment and communications from a passive to truly interactive experience. By then we had achieved higher resolution and greater color depth but were ready for the next technological leap that would take us from simply looking through a plate glass window to engaging all seven of our senses (the other two senses weren't discovered until 2014 when magnetic sensing began to manifest itself) to make these experiences real. Since these systems give us the illusion that we are really someplace else, we've seen, as we suspected, the rise in home-based "staycations" and changes in how we travel in general.
• Health innovations have focused on personal health and now use technology to do three things: manage chronic diseases, predict catastrophic illnesses, and make the last months of life comfortable at home. Healthcare has become more personal, redefining the concept of a doctor's visit through videoconferencing. House-based monitoring systems now track our blood pressure throughout the day, noticing trends and scheduling doctor's appointments on our behalf. One major triumph is that cancer is now much more preventable, detectable, and treatable thanks to implantable sensor systems. When I took part in this study 20 years ago I was nearing retirement. Now am I not only not retired, but I'm looking at options for my next career. This, I owe to the new life expectancy of 120 years. Our longer "senior years" are more productive and enjoyable thanks our robotic healthcare helpers and prostheses.