Only a few years ago, it seemed like science fiction:
· Immense, flat TV screens hanging from your wall.
· Devices to track where your children are at any moment.
· Instant medical reports at home.
According to technology experts at Battelle, these will be among the ten most successful technology-based products developed by the year 2009. Battelle's list, a follow-up to a forecast of the top basic technologies for the next ten years, focuses on specific products that will have the greatest impact on life at home and in the office in ten years.

1. Genetaceuticals. Genetics-based medical treatments will cure or mitigate the effects of various human diseases and disorders, including pharmaceutical treatments for osteoporosis, MS, cystic fibrosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, and Alzheimer's.

2. Personalized Computers. Your personal computer at home and in your office will be replaced by a very powerful "personalized" computer. It will recognize your voice and follow your voice commands, and it will include a variety of security and service tools to personalize the computer for its individual owner. The personalized computer will be as mobile and versatile as its user, sending and receiving wireless data and accessing information from remote sites.

3. Multi-Fuel Automobiles. To obtain maximum efficiency and meet stringent environmental standards, vehicles will use combinations of various fuels, such as reformulated gasoline, electricity, and natural gas. Vehicles may carry more than one fuel type, with an on-board computer that will conduct on-going analyses of travel conditions to calculate fuel mixtures for maximum fuel efficiency and performance.

4. Next Generation TV. In ten years, our television set will be large and flat and will hang on the wall much like a large painting. It will be a digital, high-definition model with clarity approaching that of a movie screen. This TV will be much more than just an entertainment device--it will also be used as a computer monitor capable of networking with other computers as an interactive, videoconferencing device.

5. Cyber cash. Electronic money will be used for everything from buying soda in a vending machine to making an international transaction over your computer. Pockets will rarely jingle in ten years as credit card-sized smart cards begin to replace cash, as well as house and car keys.

6. Home health monitors. These devices will be simple-to-use, non-invasive, and relatively inexpensive for use in monitoring health conditions at home. Many physical functions--liver functions, ovulation, and levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, sugar, hormones, water, salt, and potassium--may be monitored as easily as weight is now tracked by bathroom scales.

7. Smart maps and tracking devices. Getting "there" will be decidedly easier with the widespread use of Global Positioning Systems-"smart" maps that will show travelers, boaters, and hikers their exact position and direction. Global positioning systems also will be used to help prevent crime by tracking the exact location of cars and other valuables. People also will be able to track the exact location of their children and even their pets.

8. Smart materials. New materials for construction and other uses will be able to give off warnings when they detect excessive stress. For instance, materials in bridges or office buildings could change color before conditions become unsafe. Automobile parts could give a similar warning when approaching the point of breakdown.

9. Weight-control and anti-aging products. Though no Fountain of Youth is on the horizon, new products will make aging a little less traumatic. These new developments may include weight-control drugs that use the body's natural weight-control mechanisims, wrinkle creams that actually work, foods with enhanced nutrients, and an effective cure for baldness. Many of these developments will come from genetic research.

10. Never-owned products. Major household appliances, such as furnaces, air conditioners, washers, dryers, and water heaters will be leased instead of purchased. This trend will be spurred by environmental concerns and regulations, cost, and the increasing speed of technology, which causes products to become obsolete quicker.