The last decade saw the development of electric vehicles. The next may very well become known for introducing self-driving cars. Tesla is already developing a vehicle that can drive on “Autopilot” mode and actually take over some driving controls.

There will probably come a day where car manufacturers develop completely hands-free vehicles. Perhaps flying cars are not just something reserved for a certain futuristic cartoon family.

In the coming years, technology improvements will ensure that solar becomes even cheaper. It could well be that by 2030, solar will have become the most important source of energy for electricity production in a large part of the world. This will also have a positive impact on the environment and climate change.

At 27%, solar energy systems such as solar farms and Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants would become the world’s most valuable energy resource, generating more energy than fossil fuels, wind, or hydroelectric systems, as well as reducing carbon emissions by 6 billion tonnes a year.

Another Elon Musk backed company, Hyperloop is a high-speed underground transportation system that is currently being built and tested in America. The first route planned will go from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Another route is planning to go from New York to Washington D.C. in 29 minutes rather than the 2 hours 56 minutes it takes at the moment. 

Hyper-fast trains that go underground and underwater could revolutionize not just public transport, but international travel too. Imagine being able to speed from one country to another at the same time.

The potential of 3-D printing technology has many people excited about new applications. But current printers have important limitations. Up until recently, most 3-D printers can only use plastic.

A group of researchers at Harvard University, led by Jennifer Lewis, have started to develop new 3-D printer inks. Her team prints intricate objects using materials that are chosen based on their mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, or optical traits. Eventually, new inks will enable a wider variety of functions, including artificial organ creation.

Regenerative medicine is the branch of medicine that develops methods to regrow, repair, or replace damaged or diseased cells, organs, or tissues. Regenerative medicine includes the generation and use of therapeutic stem cells, tissue engineering, and the production of artificial organs.

Though it may sound like science fiction, doctors are already producing made-to-order body parts. To get started, doctors scrape cells off the body part in a question and grow them in a petri dish. In time, the body part grows strong enough that it can be implanted in the patient.

Li-Fi has been experimented with for the last few years and has some interesting potential for uber-fast data transfer speeds. Li-Fi uses light to transmit data rather than Wi-Fi radio waves. This technology is theoretically capable of transmitting data at much higher speeds and is also less prone to interference. 

Because the visible light spectrum is around 10,000 times larger than the radio spectrum, there's a lot more potential for bandwidth. It's also thought that if Li-Fi does manage to take off it will be considerably cheaper than Wi-Fi. 

Some of the world's biggest brands are increasingly turning to automation in order to better serve customers and to reduce costs. Big-box retailers use automated warehouses to sort and ship products, while social media networks use automation to moderate comments, and credit card companies use automation to detect fraud.

For example, Synapse is building a network that gives anyone the ability to contribute his or her data and train automation and machine-learning models. AI will change the way business is done.