It's a pretty common phrase nowadays: "I forgot my phone." Hear it quite often, as a matter of fact. Everyone has cellphones, everyone's life is practically tied to them, and they're little, often misplaced, items. Along with that phrase, you'll also hear ones like "my phone died," or even "I lost my phone." Happens all the time.
The technology is on the way to make those phrases obsolete, to throw them right in with "I would have called, but I didn't have a quarter," "I couldn't get a hold of you because your phone was busy," "I couldn't find a pay phone," and "I can't find the number because I don't have a phone book."
Pictured below, what we use today to write messages, take pictures, watch videos, read books, buy items, pay bills, retrieve information, and play games. Among other things, such as actually talking to someone located elsewhere.
I think the end result will be a merging of several technologies, the first of which is "wearable, depth-sensing perception." We're also seeing more of these sorts of advances with contact lenses supporting alternate reality. Soon the two will merge, creating the first non-device-centric communication ability.
The next data point in this progression is implantation. It's bound to happen. We're seeing how this can be integrated with surgically implanted intraocular lenses. Now imagine this, but fused with cellular phone, Internet, and GPS technology. You'd quite literally have the virtual world available in front of you at all times. Your phone would be with you at all times, because it would be a part of you, accessible with the touch of an imaginary button.
Of course, not everyone likes that. Many would love to be able to escape from connection, to disappear into the woods on an extended camping trip, or go on vacation, without the need for a constant link to home, work, friends, or family. Like it or not, we're connected, and that connection will only get stronger.
It's the future of communications, the forefront of the virtual world. The only question is, how soon will it get here? How soon will that connection fuse with us, allowing us to skip the devices and connect on our own? Do we even want that? And if we don't, how long will it be before we do want it?
There are a ton of cool technological advances out there, with seemingly hundreds more every day. Every time I turn around, I'm amazed by what I see. Our knowledge of what's possible scientifically is expanding at an exponential rate. What was impossible yesterday becomes a reality tomorrow.
So in light of that, here are a few fun ideas, things we need to develop from the infant technology we have already discovered. They're concepts we will likely see at some point in the future. The technology is already sound; all we have to figure out is the logistics.
MagLev Transit
MagLev is magnetic levitation, the science of levitating something by using magnets. Now, imagine that as a full-sized locomotive, pulling cars filled with passengers, merchandise, foodstuffs, natural resources, you name it. Japan is already working hard on this technology, creating bullet trains that have achieved speeds of over 581 KPH. This could easily take over as a viable way of moving people place to place in the future, and could replace air travel for many domestic destinations.
3D Printing
We've seen the advent of 3D printing using a specially engineered composite material to create semi-functional objects, accurate to within 40 microns, or smaller than the width of a human hair. We've seen it expanded to include 3D metal printing, where metal powder is layered into the form needed and then forged at high temperatures. It's grown to include everything from ceramics to chocolates. The next step seems to be identifying a process that's cost-effective for mass use. Just think of how this could change the dynamics of merchandise as we know it, how we purchase what we need. And as soon as we make the leap to printing food items and human organs, it will completely renovate the business of living.
Augmented Reality
We've seen this in its infancy already. Mobile virtual information available upon need. Augmenting such things as eye glasses and phones with this information. In the future, saturation is the key: the ability to reach any and all information needed instantly. Couple this with technology below, and we'll have the ability to integrate the virtual world seamlessly with ourselves.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology now allows us to view things on a scale smaller than that of the microscopic, down to the level of single atoms. We're already working on nanoengineering, designed to create anything atom by atom, as small as imaginable. In just a few years, we could be able to create fully functional engines, electrical circuits, and complex machines, the size of just a few molecules. Imagine doctors with the ability to inject a camera into your blood stream and send it completely through your body, even through capillaries, looking for diseases or other health issues. Imagine the ability to create specially adapted devices allowing us to remove tumors, cancerous cells, etc., all without cutting a patient open.
Wireless Power
This is not a new concept. Nikola Tesla imagined the technology around a century ago. And we're finally seeing practical applications. You can buy wireless phone chargers, where you can charge your phone without actually plugging it into the source of power. The next step is unplugging completely, providing wireless power around the globe, allowing us to unplug for good.
Mind-Controlled Bionics
It's already possible. It's already been done. And the ceiling doesn't have to end with recreated body parts. Integrating these prosthetic appendages permanently into the human body is the first step, but from there, this technology can be adapted and expanded to exploration and discovery, controlling machines to go where humans can't, and yet controlling them as though they were extensions of our own bodies.
Invisibility
It's the stuff of science fiction, the Holy Grail of science, but it's getting a lot closer to reality than fiction with recent technological advances. Although this appears at first blush to have more military and government applications, it's something that would benefit many areas of society in practical application.
Holograms
The applications for this go beyond business meetings and teleconferencing. Think of this in educational terms, where students could go beyond seeing an illustration of something in a textbook to actually seeing it, actively participating in something, no matter where they were. And the prospect of this as a logical evolution of entertainment is pretty exciting too. If you thought 3D changed movies, just watch as this sort of technology replaces it.
Force Fields
This has more applications than just space travel. Sure, the immediate evolution is that to protect astronauts, but here on earth it could be just as effective, and advances could provide the ability to more effectively protect against radiation.
Machine Translation
Although this is showcased in a military setting, the possibilities of it are endless. From here, it's quite possible we'll see this technology grow smaller, and even embedded or implanted in us, creating the ability to speak in one language and be understood in another. In the future, it may be entirely possible to go anywhere in the world and face no language barriers whatsoever.
Yea, folks, we live in some exciting times, and I'm stoked to be a part of them! What are your thoughts? How do you see these technologies adapted to our future?
1872: "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." - Pierre Pachet, Psychology Professor, Toulouse University
1873: "The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon." - British Surgeon-Extraordinary Sir John Eric Ericksen
1876: "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union officials via an internal memo
1895: "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." - Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society
1943: "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM
1949: "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." - Popular Mechanics magazine
1957: "I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." - Prentice Hall, Editor of Business Books
1977: There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp.
1981: "640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and CEO
We've been laughably wrong over and over throughout history regarding technology and science. Nothing illustrates this better than viewing the exponential growth in new technology since 1899, when the commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents said, "Everything that can be invented has been invented." My apologies to any of his decedents viewing this blog, but just wow! Talk about short-sighted! Last year alone, the United States issued 244,341 patent grants. What's more, there has been a steady increase of patents, and considering the breakthroughs we see every day, it's not likely to peak any time soon.
Just in my lifetime, the growth in technology has been astounding. I don't mean to make you feel old, dear reader, but it's likely you remember a time of rotary telephones, slide rules, and giant square televisions. And what the hell was the Internet back then? Now it's an inconvenience not to be able to take care of business, pay bills, and buy merchandise online. In fact, the National Retail Federation projects consumers will conduct 36% of their holiday shopping this year online, up from 32.7% in 2010. It's not hard to imagine that people who didn't even grow up with a computer in the house will soon conduct almost all of their commerce online.
Our children take for granted the constant technological innovation. Even as the latest innovations roll out for sale, they nod and smile, and wonder when the next model is coming out. And they're right in their complete and total numbness to the speed of progress. After all, just a couple of years after you buy the shiniest, fastest computing machine on the market, it's already well on its way toward obsolescence. In fact, wait a few years more, and it will be hard to find current programs that even run on it.
In 1991, 14.4K dial-up modems were the state-of-the-art way to connect to the Internet. Twenty years later, if we don't have 4G capability with our little wallet-sized phones, we're behind the power curve. My current phone has two hundred thousand times the memory of my first computer! That isn't a typo. Two hundred thousand times the memory capacity!
So how far into the future will we be able to look back and laugh at how impossible we thought time travel was? How long will it be until we just send an object via the Internet to someone? How long before we travel that way ourselves? How about viewing a virtual overlay of augmented reality through our own unaided eyes?
Science fiction writers try to predict the future. It's what makes their stories believable. The better they are at it, the longer their stories remain valid, and the more real they seem.
We've seen stories get it disastrously wrong. The Terminator series, for example, has predicted a number of doomsday scenarios. In the original, released in 1984, artificial intelligence becomes self-aware in 1997. They pushed that prediction forward to 2004 and then 2011 with subsequent sequels, and even prompted BBC News earlier this year to ask "How close were the Terminator films to the reality of 2011?" Even with an amended timeline, one can easily make the argument they were way, way off in their predictions. In fairness though, that wasn't the only thing they were off on.
Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey was actually pretty close to the mark with its predictions of the future. Released in 1968, it's known in part for scientific accuracy. The film shows a space station orbiting Earth, a moon outpost, and a mission to Jupiter. While we're behind schedule on some of those accomplishments, we've been working with space stations in low Earth orbit since the mid-1980's. And it's not hard to imagine we'd have an outpost on the moon if we'd kept the interest up. We haven't been back to the moon since 1972, but certainly not for lack of ability to do so. The possibilities of missions to Mars or Jupiter might also be far closer to reality if we hadn't seen such a high mishap rate with the Space Shuttle program.
Another interesting facet of the film was the computer technology. HAL, a "heuristic algorithm" of artificial intelligence, is rather similar to advances in the field we're seeing with such AI forms as Cleverbot and Apple's Siri. While 2001: A Space Odyssey was a decade early in predictions of such intelligence, those predictions were eerily accurate in terms of the applied technology. Compare:
Yep. Eerily similar. Of course, that does beg the question, does art imitate life, or is it the other way around? In either case, Kubrick was fairly close there, way back in 1968. It's hard to imagine a science fiction storyteller getting any closer with predictions of the future.
So how do we predict the future that accurately in stories? I've opined on the subject before, but the truth is, if we were that good in predicting the future, chances are we wouldn't be in the economical mess we're in right now, facing the worst recession since the Great Depression. No, we're not that good at predictions at all.
But I'm going to take a stab at it. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict where the future of technology leads. We've seen the trends in the past. Technology is shrinking in size, becoming more portable and more interactive. We're seeing the demise of physical media and the rise of the virtual world. That is nothing new. In fact, chances are, you'd agree we're going to see the death of almost every physical form of media such as CD, DVD, BluRay, and even newspapers, magazines, books, and other such formats. Maybe not right away, but they're all facing a very dire future, and will likely be as popular with future generations as the 8-track is to today's. But that's the easy prediction.
Harder to predict is the future of bio-medical engineering and its applications. Nanotechnology is expanding by leaps and bounds, and it will only be a matter of time before nano-surgery becomes standard practice, not the exploratory science. Doctors will be able to construct or reconstruct anything within the human body without even raising a scalpel.
We've seen recent advances with wearable computing and screen-less computers. We've seen technology such as geo-tracking and wireless information transfer expand exponentially over the past few years. The computer industry is redefining itself at such a rate that its advances seem almost like magic.
It's all going to come together, in ways we would think very intrusive today. In another few decades, we will have media channeled to us individually, channeled via constructed relays from our brains to wireless connections embedded and integrated into our very flesh. Want to watch a movie? You won't watch it on a screen, or even projected in front of you. It'll be relayed to your eyes, played neurologically to your mind via your own biological connection to the virtual world. Want to listen to music? You'll be able to access it and play it back to your own mind, completely unheard by anyone but yourself.
A decade or two after that, we'll see the extinction of all physical memory. Using that same connection, we'll be able to tap into our minds and utilize those areas of the brain we don't actively use, and use them for memory storage or computing applications. The mind is exponentially more powerful than the technology we use for memory today. Tapping into the human mind for that will give us an unlimited amount of storage capacity, as one mind is far more powerful than the computing needs of a single person.
Eventually, we'll all be connected as much in the virtual world as the physical one. The Internet will disappear, replaced by nothing physical at all. We will simply have a virtual mirror of the physical world, available any time we need it, able to connect to media and one another with a simple command, or even a thought. They say imagination is one of the most powerful things in the world, and we will see the fruits of that with a very real virtual world, melded completely with the physical one.
It's a scary concept, in terms of how we view society today, but a very real possibility. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Technology expands exponentially. Innovations seem to explode onto the scene overnight, and in seemingly no time at all, what was once the realm of science fiction is reality. In fact, we're already living in a world that rivals the speculative worlds of great science fiction writers of the past, and there is no end in sight to the advances we'll see in nuclear studies, medicine, physics, space exploration, and other areas of scientific study.
Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) implants have been around since 1998. We've seen them used commonly in pets. They have even been implanted with success in humans. In fact, they've been in the news recently in Mexico, where kidnappings are on the rise. People are turning to them to aid in recovery efforts should they become a statistic in a crime that has jumped over 300% in the last five years.
While some of the claims made by companies selling these chips may or may not be valid, this does raise several interesting points of discussion. Much has already been debated about the ethics of this type of technology. There's the Big Brother aspect, and the potential for malicious theft of information, but there is also ability to more quickly and effectively save human lives, save money and time, and make aspects of our lives much easier and more convenient. The technology is neutral, neither good nor bad. And it is here to stay.
Quick Response (QR) Codes, first seen in 1994, have seen a recent explosion in their use and popularity. More and more we are seeing them pop up, used in everything from extra content to advertising. They've been called the future of marketing. They're the natural evolutionary step of the barcode, but with a 7,000 digit capacity in two directions, instead of 20 digits in a single direction.
This technology, coupled with advances in wireless technology, and the need for smaller, faster, more easily accessible information has led me to the next jump in logic in my own speculative world. In the future, we will be connected via ourselves to the virtual world. That's right. Devices will become a thing of the past. No longer will we have a phone or computer connecting us to each other in the virtual world. We'll do it through our own bodies.
All that's missing is the invention of an interface between the brain and this technology. A neural connector chip, implanted by nanobot technology, would be able to form a connection between the brain and wireless transmission architecture to the outside world, thus linking our brains directly with the virtual world. Once this is possible, how soon would we be able to implement a QR code-like interface where our very eyes would be the conduit sending information to this connector, which would then translate the code into usable format inside the brain. We could simply look at the code to watch the content, free from any handheld scanning or computation device.
Couple this further with other sources of input, such as sonar technology, or other such conduits to new perceptual realities, and our virtual world would become so much a part of reality, in time it would become virtually impossible to live without.
Better yet, imagine this, but through your own eyes, and populated with whatever content you wanted it to show:
It would be like augmented reality eyewear, but without the eyewear. Imagine the overlays from movies like the Terminator, or the technology of any number of recent science fiction movies, except for use in everyday situations.
Need to keep tabs on your kids in a crowded mall? Turn on their identification feed to track them.
Need to find a place you've never been to? Now you'll see it without seeing that little sign hidden in the corner of the window.
Looking for coffee? Turn on the virtual connection to that type of service via the augmented reality stream.
Already most of the civilized world is connected via at least one form of social media, and many of us keep up with several. Raise your hand if you've seen someone type that no one will hear from them for a while, as they are going on vacation, or will be away from the internet for a while. How about someone mysteriously vanishing for a few days only to resurface later with a story of how their internet crashed and it took forever to get back online. Yea, I thought so. This sort of thing would allow us to more easily manage that sort of thing, and would allow us to interact without the need to sit down at the computer and type something out, or not being able to tweet something because we left our phone at home.
It's coming, folks. In a world that revolves around portability, ease of use, and size, it's only a matter of time before innovation makes devices of any sort obsolete. It sounds like a scary thought, but then, the technology of today would look quite scary to anyone even as recent as the 1960's. Fifty years from now, the technology that surrounds us today will look to us then like the 1960's do to us today. And with the exponential rate of advance, it may be a fraction of that time before it happens. Personally, I can hardly wait.
