With the new decade under way, Sussex researchers have been looking ahead to developments in mobile technologies, environmental changes and a greater understanding of the human brain.
Professor Michael Bull, member of European thinktank the Future Trends Forum, says we will see “the final coming of age of voice recognition”.
“We will no longer have to type things on our mobiles if we don't want to, but will speak everything!” he predicts.
New body sensors, which help patients use their handsets to update doctors of their condition, will also become commonplace.
The environment will rarely be far from the news, according to Professor Martin Todd.
He explains that research will help us get a clearer picture about the magnitude and rate of future climate changes.
Martin says: “I expect climate change to become a mainstream part of our lives as society attempts to deal with these challenges.”
The south of England will enjoy hotter summers and London, he says, will face intense heatwaves. Other parts of the globe, those more affected by changing weather, “will see climate-related impacts increase in intensity,” he reveals.
As we face these changing weather patterns, it could be plants that come to our rescue, notes Professor Sue Hartley.
By further understanding how plants respond to climate change, she believes “we could increase food production, while using less land, less water and less fertiliser and pesticides.”
Dr Anil Seth, Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, will be asking how conscious experience arises from the complex networks of the brain, and about their interaction with the body and environment.
“Advances in brain imaging could help us understand psychiatric illness, and improve recovery rates from brain injuries,” he forecasts.