The pace of innovation has quickened. Companies are investing billions of dollars into research just to keep ahead of the pack. Colleges and Universities are working hard to instill inventiveness and intellectual curiosity into their best students.

It is difficult to predict which technologies and innovations will become the mainstays of the future. For an invention to “catch on” in a big way it needs to have a niche to fill, to be cheap enough for the masses, and to have the support of the right people.

If any of these three are missing, good technologies may wither and die. Consider the computers that produced odors. An upstart company developed this technology a few years ago. The idea was that you could smell the products that you saw on your computer screen. The devise was interesting, but the product really didn’t have a niche. Do you remember the Internet appliances that appeared a few years ago? A dedicated Internet appliance was a great idea, but the machines never became cheap enough to attract enough buyers.

  A few months ago I had the privilege of visiting the Media Lab at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) where I met Saul Griffith, a doctorial candidate. Saul invented a “desktop printer” type of machine that makes eyeglass lenses. His machine can produce almost any prescription lens from a single-mold surface in five to ten minutes at a cost of only a few dollars a lens. Anyone who wears glasses knows how expensive they are. Many people in poor countries around the world have to go without glasses because the lenses now must be produced in a lens manufacturing plant that requires expensive molds for each lens type. Griffith’s invention certainly has a large niche to fill. It is cheap enough to bring eyeglasses to the masses of people who need them, but it does not, as yet, have the support of the right people. In fact, the powerful eyeglass industry who doesn’t want to jeopardize their lucrative business may be a thorn in the side of this new invention. Mr. Griffith and colleague Neil Houghton have started a company called Low Cost Eyeglasses to manufacture and market the product. Hopefully they will find the support they need.

At MIT, I found others working on projects that are sure to be winners. The aging of the baby-boom generation has created a large niche for high-tech equipment that can improve the health, longevity, and self-reliance of these individuals. These products have the backing of the right individuals as health insurers are clamoring for ways to keep their costs down as this generation approaches old age. Projects include band aid-like devices that will take a person’s vital signs and even dispense medication when needed. Expect to see a plethora of devices that will help people assess and control their own health problems with the help of doctors and nurses used only as third party overseers.

Other futuristic projects may or may not succeed, but they give a fascinating glimpse of our future. Perhaps someday we may not need computer screens and our newspapers may magically appear on the blank paper in our kitchen. MIT researcher Chad Dyner has invented a Heliodisplay which projects a video image that appears to float in mid air and can be viewed with the naked eye. IO2 Technology is the company that is developing the Heliodisplay that is already in the testing stage.

The E Ink Corporation is another MIT spin-off. Electronic ink is a material that changes the image it displays when exposed to an electric field. Surfaces coated with electronic ink can be constantly changed and updated. An electronic device in your kitchen or den could make your daily newspaper appear on paper that has an electronic ink surface. The same paper could be used every day, but the news would change automatically. Progress being made by this company may change your daily newspaper as well as communications in general.

What technologies will be a part of our future? Only time will tell. But you can be sure that there are a lot of exciting things poised to make our lives better than ever before.