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Table 1 Technology codes that emerged from the analysis, grouped into categories. In addition, illustrative examples, number of occurrences and percentages of positive and negative framings are given (any remaining occurrences were coded as ‘neutral’)

From: Young people’s technological images of the future: implications for science and technology education

Category

Code

Example

n

% pos/neg

Everyday devices (39%)

Transport, travel

We have shifted to electric cars

54

72 / 0

Smart home

Overnight, robots would have cleaned and organised my apartment

25

88 / 0

Computers, phones…

We would have powerful and light computers

21

76 / 14

Wearables

People have smartwatches (…) to collect various types of information about our bodies

18

44 / 0

New interfaces

With the help of the restaurant's facial scanner, the payment process is effortless

15

73 / 7

VR, entertainment tech

many people prefer to live in the virtual world in their own homes

15

53 / 35

Digitalisation & automation (31%)

Automation, robotics

Manual labour is almost entirely done by machines

38

39 /32

Internet, digitalisation

Data security on the internet has improved

32

41 / 25

Communication tech

Itʼs easy to get in touch with friends and family through 3D video calls

28

61 / 7

AI

My biggest concerns and fears include the speed at which artificial intelligence evolves

24

71 / 4

Technology in general (29%)

Technology in general

I would like to live in a place with highly advanced technology

111

62 / 18

Production (10%)

Energy production

The development of renewable energy sources has been rapid

26

85 / 4

Production, recycling

Many of our everyday items would be made from recyclable materials

13

85 / 8

Miscellaneous (14%)

Medicine, biotech…

various cancers and HIV, were cured by quantum chemistry

23

73 / 18

Space, geoengineering...

Mars would be home to the first human settlement located on another planet

8

75 / 0

Science instruments

Advanced technology would be found (…) in state-of-the-art laboratories

7

100 / 0

Others

Ex. 1 Nuclear and hydrogen bombs would also still be a problem

Ex. 2 Customs control may [use] new types of devices

14

64 / 14