Every year, IBM releases its “5 in 5” — five technologies that it predicts will change the world in the next five years. This year, IBM is taking on the five senses and how we can make our computers work more like a human being. Touch, sight, hearing, taste, and smell are all on the table, and IBM has five profiles of its employees researching how computers will use these senses going forward.

Robyn Schwartz, an Associate Director at IBM, explains sense of touch, and how vibrations on handheld devices like smartphones can be used to convey texture. Simply by having a predefined and widely understood conversion of real-life touch to vibration patterns, we can simulate touch digitally. While it’s not as crazy as problem-solving Jeopardy computers, this does have obvious benefits, especially in the world of gaming and augmented reality (and the fledgling sphere of lovotics).

These technologies aren’t just for fun, though — they can save lives. The sight technology focuses on computers being able to distinguish important information in images. During a disaster or tragedy, people posting smartphone pictures to services like Twitter could actually be used to help emergency agencies analyze the problem, and work out better solutions. The sound technology could analyze the creaking of buildings and bridges, and predict failure before anyone is harmed. Based on the odors your body creates, your doctor could use the smelling technology to diagnose a whole range of diseases before traditional methods could detect them. These are important technologies, and these researchers are absolutely changing the world.

The sense of taste technology is perhaps the most interesting out of the five. The developed world has an obesity issue, and the taste research is being used to fight this. Instead of just expecting people to eat healthily and reject junk food, this research is examining how humans taste and experience food on a personal level. Genetics and environment drastically alter how individuals taste different types of food. When we completely understand what drives humans to want certain foods while rejecting others, we can tailor our meals in ways that satisfy our individual cravings while providing balanced nutrition. The video focusing on taste (below) specifically brings up children at school cafeterias. Using this technology, and introducing it to children at a grade school level, could help solve our severe obesity problem. Adults are often difficult to influence, but the next generation can truly benefit from computer-optimized meals.

IBM does make a compelling case, but if you’re skeptical about these predictions, you can view the current progress of IBM’s previous ones. Even last year’s predictions are well on their way to becoming reality.

For more information, check out IBM’s list of the five technologies, which has an article and video available with details for each one.

Now read: IBM creates first cheap, commercially viable, electronic-photonic integrated chip

[Image credit: SparkFun Electronics]