press release

Annual 10 Breakthrough Technologies List from MIT Technology Review Explores the Most Remarkable Innovations of 2017

Cambridge, MA – February 22, 2017 – Today, MIT Technology Review released its annual 10 Breakthrough Technologies List (www.technologyreview.com/10Breakthroughs2017). For the 16th consecutive year, the global media organization has a published its list of innovations that are a clear advance in their field. With guidance and input from companies, investment firms, and research labs around the world, MIT Technology Review identifies the technologies that will have the biggest impact on businesses and society.

The 2017 List:

Breakthrough

Key Players

1) Reinforcement Learning
An approach to artificial intelligence that gets computers to learn like people, through trial and reward.
  • DeepMind
  • Mobileye
  • OpenAI
  • Google
  • Uber

2) The 360-Degree Selfie
Consumer cameras that produce 360° images, providing a realistic sense of events or places.
  • Ricoh
  • Samsung
  • 360fly
  • JK Imaging
  • IC Real Tech
  • Humaneyes Technologies

3) Gene Therapy 2.0
The first gene therapies are on track for approval in the U.S. More are on the way.
  • Spark Therapeutics
  • BioMarin
  • BlueBird Bio
  • GenSight Biologics
  • UniQure

4) Hot Solar Cells
A solar power device that could theoretically double the efficiency of conventional solar cells.
  • David Bierman, Marin Soljacic,

and Evelyn Wang, MIT

  • Vladimir Shalaev, Purdue University

5) The Cell Atlas
A master catalogue of every cell type in the human body.
  • Broad Institute
  • Sanger Institute
  • Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

6) Self-Driving Trucks
Long-haul trucks that drive themselves for extended stretches on highways.
  • Otto
  • Volvo
  • Daimler
  • Peterbilt

7) Paying with Your Face
Face recognition technology that is finally accurate enough to be widely used in financial transactions and other everyday applications.
  • Face++
  • Baidu
  • Alibaba

8) Practical Quantum Computers
The fabrication of stable qubits, the basic unit of quantum computers.
  • QuTech
  • Intel
  • Microsoft
  • Google
  • IBM

9) Reversing Paralysis
Wireless brain-body electronic interfaces to bypass damage to the nervous system.
  • École Polytechnique Fédérale
    de Lausanne
  • Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • Case Western Reserve University

10-) Botnets of Things
Malware that takes control of webcams, video recorders, and other consumer devices to cause widespread Internet outages.
  • Whoever created the
    Mirai botnet software
  • Anyone who runs a poorly secured device online—including you?

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