2010 Horizon Report Preview of Emerging Technologies

The Horizon Project, an initiative of the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative, tracks emerging technologies for teaching and learning.

The Project has published a preview of its 2010 report. The final official report will be out sometime in January 2010.

Among the technologies examined in the Preview are:

• mobile computing
• open content
• e-books
• simple augmented reality: "The idea is to blend, or augment, primarily location-based data accessed on the web with what we see in the real world. Wireless mobile devices are increasingly driving this technology into the mobile space where the applications offer the most promise. Initially, AR required unwieldy headsets and kept users largely tethered to their desktop computers. With the rise of smartphones and other increasingly powerful mobile devices, many equipped with high-quality cameras and GPS capabilities, AR is showing its legs in a number of applications."
  
• gesture-based computing: "Devices that can accept multiple simultaneous inputs (like using two fingers on the Apple iPhone or the Microsoft Surface to zoom in or out) and gesture-based inputs like those used on the Nintendo Wii have begun to change the way we interact with computers. We are seeing a gradual shift towards interfaces that adapt to—or are built for—humans and human gestures. The idea that natural, comfortable movements can be used to control computers is opening the way to a host of input devices that look and feel very different from the keyboard and mouse."
  
• visual data analysis

There is a Horizon Report Wiki where one can follow the discussions about what goes into the upcoming report. The Wiki provides links to Horizon research themes, earlier reports, press clippings, RSS feeds for top tech news sites, and delicious tags relating to the project itself.

For tech predictions relating to the legal world, Steven Matthews from Stem Legal Web Enterprises in Vancouver posted his Web Law Predictions for 2010 on the collaborative legal site Slaw.ca a few days ago.