IBM has published it annual “Next 5 in 5” list, which highlights technologies that the company’s researchers feel, will make a big impact on people within the next 5 years. According to the survey of 3,000 IBM researchers, the next five years will bring 3-D holograms on cell phones that would allow you to interact with users in 3D, even letting people “walk down the street next to a holographic image of someone on the other side of the world.”

The other predictions are:

Batteries will get their power from a reaction between “energy dense metal” and air, lasting as much as 10 times longer than today’s models. At some point, kinetically charged transistors, powered solely by movement, could make batteries redundant in portable devices.

Mobile phone apps and portable sensors will be available to collate environmental data on a truly global scale, allowing individuals to play their part in tackling climate change or monitoring tsunami risks with minimal effort.

Navigation systems will make better use of data about both road traffic and public transportation so that users get advised about the best way to travel before they set off.

Data centers will be designed to better harness and reuse the heat produced in data centers and the energy used to cool the servers.

Dreams don’t have limits. So is the case with predictions too. No one knows about the possibility of these predictions in the real world. Last year IBM invested $5.8 billion in research and development, which comprised 6.1% of its revenue. IBM’s first list of predictions came out at the end of 2006. But none of the predictions have happened yet, but a 2007 prediction that mobile phones would act as a wallet, bank, ticket broker, concierge, and shopping assistant has emerged. So, here too we can wait and see.

Via techblorge