Science

These Beautiful Charts Show The Emerging Technologies That Will Change The World

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Biologically extended senses are likely to go mainstream in 2023.

High-altitude stratospheric platforms? 2026.

Nanofactories? 2027.

Policy Horizons Canada, a predictive planning organization within the federal government, compiled these and other emerging technology predictions through consulting with experts in a project called MetaScan 3: Emerging Technologies. As part of the report, the group partnered with futurist and data visualization specialist Michell Zappa and his organization Envisioning.

On Friday, the group published a giant graphic summarizing emerging technologies and showing when they could become scientifically viable, mainstream, and financially feasible. This follows more detailed graphics (pdf files) showing future innovations in agricultural and natural manufacturing, neurology and cognition, nanotechnology and materials, health, digital and communication technology, and energy.

We have embedded zoomable versions of all seven infographics below (the top one contains the most recent information). If viewing this on mobile, you should click the links in the previous paragraph. 

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Gus worked at Business Insider from 2009 to 2017. Starting as an intern, he did a bit of everything, launching sections covering lifestyle, science, personal finance, military, and more, eventually serving as executive editor of Business Insider and editor-in-chief of Tech Insider.As a writer, some of his favorite stories looked facial biasthe philosophy of Peter Thiel, Chinese ghost cities, self-driving car ethics, the average family on earth, Wikipedia hoax-hunters, income inequality, bleak futurismglobal communication patterns, and the worst hotel in New York.As an editor and executive producer, some of his favorite stories include photo essays from the Canadian tar sands to the streets of Cairo, features about Vine stardom and dog cloning, and a documentary on hacking the grid.Gus graduated from Dartmouth College. He interned at Boston Review, 826 Boston, and Yes! Weekly.