These innovations are on the verge of a breakthrough

An innovation that could well find its breakthrough in the next few years - the solar car.Self-driving cars that drive on roads that store solar energy, or Babelfish, the multilingual real-time translator: These dreams will soon come true. This is shown by the new Disruption Map of the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, which was developed together with Cisco in a workshop with international innovation experts.Why these inventions in particular? Because they are technically feasible and socially acceptable. The Disruption Map makes it clear that innovation doesn't just happen in the lab, it has to be embraced by people. Conversely, inventions such as in-vitro meat, which are already feasible, will take longer to come to fruition because social resistance is still too great. "The innovation backlog originates in the mind," says GDI research director Karin Frick.

This graphic shows a new approach to the study of innovation: along the two dimensions of technology and awareness. Technological and social feasibility thus divide innovations into four areas:1. Neither technically nor socially feasible e.g. direct brain-to-brain communication called "Global Brain "2. Technology is ready, humans not yet e.g. fully robotized companies3. Technically not yet feasible, socially already desired e.g. human organs from the 3D printer4. Technically feasible and socially accepted known disruptions e.g. the InternetCisco and the GDI have identified the 33 most important innovations with potential for disruption on the map. In principle, however, the model works as a forecasting tool for any product and even for companies.The "Disruption Map: From Innovation to Disruption" can be found as a web graphic as well as a PDF download at: http://www.gdi.ch/i2d/index_de.html