Tech giants predict future where sci-fi will merge into reality

Internet tycoons discuss how to build a community of common future in cyberspace at a forum during the 2015 World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang Province, Dec 17, 2015. From left to right: Youku Tudou CEO Gu Yongqiang, Qihoo 360 CEO Zhou Hongyi, Tencent CEO Ma Huateng, Baidu CEO Robin Li. [Photo/IC]

Imagine a journey in which you can travel to destinations while asleep behind the steering wheel because your self-driving car can "talk" to other such vehicles to maintain a safe distance.

Without using any devices, you can send an e-mail to a friend in no time simply through brain-to-brain communication.

This is not science fiction — this is the future predicted by China's technology giants, and it is closer to reality than you think.

Senior executives at the tech companies said on Thursday that the Internet of Things — a network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity — will further change lives in China.

They were discussing future technology trends at the 2nd World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.