MIT review’s yearly list is here. 2017 list includes –
Facial recognition has existed for decades, but only now is it accurate enough to be used in secure financial transactions. The new versions use deep learning, an artificial-intelligence technique that is especially effective for image recognition because it makes a computer zero in on the facial features that will most reliably identify a person.
Botnets of Things, thanks to a flood of cheap webcams, digital video recorders, and other gadgets in the “Internet of things.” Because these devices typically have little or no security, hackers can take them over with little effort. And that makes it easier than ever to build huge botnets that take down much more than one site at a time.
360-degree cameras. Once people discover spherical videos, research suggests, they shift their viewing behavior quickly. The company Humaneyes, which is developing an $800 camera that can produce 3-D spherical images, says people need to watch only about 10 hours of 360° content before they instinctively start trying to interact with all videos. When you see 360°imagery that truly transports you somewhere else, you want it more and more.
Self-driving trucks, the technology is not just a way to make the job more attractive to human drivers; it’s potentially a way for trucking companies to fill in for drivers who aren’t available. And if self-driving systems someday become accepted as capable of standing in for drivers, why keep human drivers on at all? After all, drivers account for a third of the per-mile costs of operating a truck.
see full list here including Gene therapy, reinforced learning and more.