Gartner has published their annual Hype Cycle, a roundup of which technologies are where on the inevitable expect-too-much-too-early curve of technology hype. Gartner has characterized the typical curve along which most all technologies travel, beginning with high expectations, proceeding to disillusionment when these technologies, and then completing with a slow climb to productive use of the technologies as people recognize the few things that they are truly good for.

Source: Gartner 2010

Technologies they predict have lapsed into the Trough of Disillusionment this year are Virtual Assistants and Public Virtual Worlds, both of which they say are 5-10 years from becoming adopted by the mainstream. Further along the curve are things like Pen-Based Tablet computers and Location-Aware Applications, both of which are beginning to be realized for what they can do and are about 2-5 years from mainstream adoption. Predictive Analytics is even closer to mainstream adoption, another technology with bearing on our and others’ work in education for online assessment. The analysis of the report describes that 3D printing, another topic we’ve discussed here recently, is “not yet widely used,” but can “provide significant value when used appropriately.”

In light of Google’s surprise announcement yesterday, it’s also interesting to note that autonomous cars are listed as barely climbing the initial curve, and more than 10 years from mainstream adoption.

Read Gartner’s release about the 2010 Hype Cycle to learn more.