Computer processing power, as you know, has been growing exponentially for decades. Our means of interacting with computers, however, have changed little since they first appeared.

Computer still convey information to users almost exclusively through sight and sound, speakers and screens. We still give information to computers mostly through keyboards, track pads and mouse devices.

It has long been predicted that this would change.
 
 
Nanotechnology is at the heart of a great number of breakthroughs that will power the future economy.  Materials that will be manufactured using atomically precise technologies will offer performance and prices far superior to conventional materials.
 
For example, the state of the art in semiconductor technology is photolithographic manufacturing.  Photolithography uses light to remove material on a chip wafer, layer by layer.  It has been done that way for decades even as the chip density has increased and chip size has decreased.