Advances in Robotics.

Because their grasp of the world is still limited and requires huge processing power, fully autonomous biped robots that interact autonomously with their surrounding will be limited to dumb robots. The top of the line Asimo may make us dream of the day when we will have robots that interact with us like in the movies. However, even if such a robot comes out, it will be more expensive in the near future than recruiting an army of helper humans who provide each a smarter workforce.

However, in dangerous environments such as army fights or hostile environments such as nuclear reactors, an increasing number of simple robots on wheels will make an appearance providing insights such as getting rid of blindspots in danger zones or working where no human could survive. The cost of human life as well as bad publicity from death in dangerous professions will slowly drive the invention of simple robotic agents and render them unavoidable to avoid life threatening situations when possible.

 

Advances in other types of computing

In the next decade, nano computing in its various forms has very promising applications from lower energy consumption to swallowable smart medecine/ diagnostic tools. However, it is still too early to have tangible products, especially on a large scale. It will continue however to raise headlines because of its implications technologically as well as ethically. Because people have seen many horror scenarios of swallowable computing getting out of hands, the biggest slowing factor to adoption of nano technology will be people's minds. Yet, eventually, the goods provided by the technologies will end all scepticisms about it.

Quantum computing is a big buzzwords these days. Although it has its potential uses such as database indexing or cryptography, they are pretty limited for the average user. In the next decade we will see regularely advancements in the field, we might even get some potential experimental chips driven by desire to break cryptography/ provide stronger cryptography. However, even if such chips appear within the decade, their adoption will not be mainstream. There is no use (for now) for a quantic chip on your next generation game console or smartphone.