From Virtual Shopping To Virtual People: 6 Tech Breakthroughs Coming Soon

3D printing will soon revolutionize manufacturing.

Send the blueprint to the 3D printer and the thing comes out fully assembled, whether that's a hairdryer (complete with working electrical cord) or a bicycle (complete with wheels).  By 2020 and beyond, companies will be printing planes, homes and, one day, replacement human organs.

Household 3D printers are already here. MakerBot (funded through Kickstarter) has a 3D printer on the market that costs under $1,800.

This ball is a single, continuous, interlaced piece of metal. It was made by a 3D printer and just couldn't be produced today by today's regular manufacturing methods.

Interactive billboards are on their way. This one can let you virtually try on clothes. Stand in front of the billboard, select the piece of clothing. It is operated with gestures, like Microsoft Kinect video game system.

Business Insider's Julie Bort tries on a blue dress. As you can see, it's not the same as using a dressing room. It only gives a general idea of the fit. The dress moves around as the person moves.

Meet the predecessor to Siri. This "virtual human" understands voice commands and is sort of like a futuristic remote control. She can adjust the air conditioning, the blinds, change the TV channel, control your schedule and so on.

Evans says that people are psychologically comforted by friendly, human-esq tech.

A robot, like this one from company Anybots, can connect to a videoconferencing system, like Cisco Telepresence.

Managers with workers in lots of remote offices may park one of these bots in each office and be (almost) physically hanging out with every team.

The bot has wheels so it can roll around the room and interact. It's controlled over the Internet.

Stores can also use interactive billboards in other ways, such as through smart kiosks. Hold up an item and the kiosk recognizes it via video camera, not a barcode.

Let it link to your home's "virtual human" and now the kiosk can tell you if you are buying the right replacement filter for your actual appliance. It can also give installation advice.

The car of the future will be a programmable device. Your dashboard can be like your laptop computer, filled with your personal software choices and settings.

It can be linked to your key fob and when you get in the car, your dashboard loads, moving with you if you change vehicles.

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