NEW YORK — To celebrate its 125th anniversary, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) recently assembled a panel of technology experts to discuss emerging research technologies that the group believes have the potential to change the world. Among them are multimode biometrics, intelligent computing, and wireless power.

"For 125 years, IEEE and its members have influenced the creation of nearly all the technologies we now cannot imagine life without," said 2008 IEEE President Lewis Terman at an event here. Terman, IBM Research Emeritus, predicted that development of emerging technologies will be "for the betterment of humanity."

Katie Hall, CTO of startup WiTricity Corp., said the company's goal is to make its wireless electricity technology "as commonplace as batteries and extension cords."

WiTricity is an exclusive licensee of Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the technology which takes off where today's inductive systems utilizing "charging cradles" fall short. Even though the inductive systems eliminate the need for a power cord, current systems require that the device being charged be in close proximity to the power source.

By contrast, WiTricity technology, based on resonant magnetic coupling, can operate over a broad range of distances and power levels.

Typically, a power source will wirelessly transfer electricity to a a mobile phone or laptop that has a wireless power-capture device built into it and is tightly integrated with its rechargeable battery. WiTricity is also working on wireless charging of electric vehicles and lighting. Products expected to reach the market as soon as next year. "It is designed to bring the benefits of wireless power to consumer, industrial, medical, military and transportation markets," said Hall.

IBM Almaden Research Center researchers detailed their work on the SyNAPSE project. Dharmendra Modha, manager of cognitive computing, described how his team has engineered computers that simulate the brain's abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition.

A $4.9 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is enabling IBM researchers to reverse engineer the computational function of the brain while leveraging advances in supercomputing and nanotechnology. "My team seeks to build intelligent business machines that rival the small size and low power consumption of the human brain," said Modha.

Modha added that IBM's research has the potential to greatly improve the functionality and response rate of everyday computers.