'Human-centric' tech dominates Gartner Hype Cycle

Smart robots, 4D printing and 'neuromorphic hardware' among emerging technologies highlighted by analyst

Human augmentation, brain-computer interfaces and gesture-control devices are some of the hot technologies of the future, according to Gartner's latest Hype Cycle, which claims so-called human-centric technology will be a key trend.

Gartner's Hype Cycle tracks a range of emerging and developing technologies across a graph, placing them in one of five sections: innovation trigger, peak of inflated expectations, trough of disillusionment, slope of enlightenment, and plateau of productivity - according to their maturity and how mainstream they are, adding how long it will take for each technology to hit the big time.

Human-centric technology dominated this year's Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies.

In the innovation trigger category, tech such as "brain-computer interfaces" were listed. The innovation allows users to voluntarily generate brain patterns which can be interpreted by a computer to control an application or device, after an electrode is planted in the brain to pick up signals.

Joining the technology in the category is so-called affective computing, which consists of technologies that sense the emotional state of a user via sensors, cameras and microphones, in order to recommend appropriate online content.

The latter has been given between five and 10 years to hit the big time, while brain-computer interfaces will take more than a decade to mature.

Elsewhere in the innovation trigger section was technology such as 4D printing, smart dust, gesture-control devices, smart robots, and virtual personal assistants.

Augmented reality was placed in the trough of disillusionment, while virtual reality made it into the so-called slope of enlightenment. The tech differs in that augmented reality incorporates virtual reality into the real world.

Gartner said that technology will become more integrated with the human body in the future.

"Technology will continue to become more human-centric to the point where it will introduce transparency between people, businesses and things," said the vendor.

"This relationship will become much more entwined as the evolution of technology becomes more adaptive, contextual and fluid within the workplace, at home, and interacting with businesses and other people."