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Note: All predictions are based on a firm understanding of current technologies and the popular trends that seem to be prevalent. It is only by assuming that these trends will continue, that any actual predictions can be made. There are no real guarantees that anything will happen for certain, there are only conjectures.
I should also note that the following is in a particular order, and is meant to be viewed together, as separate pieces of one whole picture, assembled one at a time. Some of them need to be explained first in order to understand others.
1.Computer Imbedding– There will come a time, and I’m sure it’s not hard for you to imagine, where computer technology will become so flexible, that we will go crazy trying to figure out what we should integrate with it next.
Some probable solutions that I think will last will be the clear glass computers, such as in mirrors, shower walls, and cars. I suspect toilet will be a winner, and also probably even the walls of our homes, hopefully being merged with something like Rachel Armstrong’s Metabolic Materials.
Imagine waking up in the morning and watching your news while in the shower, or getting a jump on your emails, making a list, or putting in a coffee order down the street, all using much improved voice to text. Computers in everything? There may just be a point when we say “Why not?”
2. Free Streaming Content – This is a subject I talk a lot about. I know this is possible because I’ve designed a solution that creates an environment where the more users access and share the content, the more ad revenues the content creator gets. This is done using more creative ad model methods than the currently standard, annoying and obtrusive ad model used online. My model also includes a similarly reciprocal process of promotion, like an automated word of mouth between friends on a social network.
3. Open Browsers – The browsing experience online will be completely different. Everything will be super organized, and super custom. Since intellectual property will no longer be an issue, remixing and sharing of things like apps, whole websites, and of course any entertainment media, will be completely open to the public. The best content and apps will rise and get shared a lot, and the not so good ones won’t, kinda like a virtual Darwin evolution. People will be able to combine the pieces of their favorite sites into one site and be able to share their breakthroughs in efficiency, with better designs arriving all the time, and with the people doing the work getting rewarded justly for their efforts. Innovation, efficiency, and developing the most useful and valuable tools will be full time, self-employed jobs online, along with all aspects of entertainment, in the not so distant future.
4.3D Virtual Environment Integration – Once virtual technology advances a little bit further into the mainstream, you will see a huge shift in how our societies are structured. This is where you might really start feeling like you’re in the future. With 3D virtual environments, and something as simple as peripheral vision glasses with some sort of amazingly clear fractal image technology, interacting with the world will be completely re-defined.
Say hello to the Matrix, or Avatar meets Grand Theft Auto(without the gangs – course, you can’t die anyway). With amazingly real graphics, everyday tasks can be transformed. A person’s movements could be tracked (again maybe using Rachel Armstrong’s technology fuzed with wall censors) which could be cool for things like sports or other games. You almost can literally do anything you want. You can be on a roller coaster, while in your living room, or you could walk over the middle of the grand canyon looking down, if you had the guts. Almost anything is possible, including 3D social networks and teleportation or worm-hole graphic travel from website to website.
For practical purposes, Virtual 3D technology could put an end to retailers having to have actual stores. In addition to movement and touch, eventually even smells and tastes will come into play, and already have begun to. Store clerks & cashiers at the stores can still be real people, and they can simply oversee the transactions and help people with any specific questions.
One of the coolest possibilities is whole city maps that can be re-created in a virtual environment using pictures, building plans, maps, and infrastructure schematics. People can walk down the same streets, can gather for events in a city from ANYWHERE In the world, walk into the same stores, get the same experiences, but more efficiently. If this happened there would be no need for the sheer number of business related buildings.
Going green can mean going virtual for a company. It cuts down on overhead, cuts travel expenses, its makes the company look good, it’s more efficient and convenient for customers by a lot, and it expands access immensely. The result would be the land once occupied by business, to be occupied only by people and people dependent services like food, mail, doctors, ect. The land could be cleared of concrete and can open up space for much more nature, gardens, farms, protected lands, or recreational areas.
Traffic to high profile areas will be cut, thus less death due to travel, and less pollution. People would not need to walk home from work, or take a taxi, or really leave their houses other than to travel, meet with friends, eat out, enjoy life, ect. If the hour is bad for a run, the option to stay at home and do it safely is there. City crime will cut tremendously, also due to the surge in jobs online, which will also cut stress, and the greener landscapes will provide better scenery. “Inner Cities” will go from being claustrophobic, to completely out in the open. Also with this technology, you would see the true meaning of World Trade, as shopping in different countries becomes incredibly easier and more reassuring.
The home office will rule. You can go to work and even realistically interact with co-workers, all while at home. People already use second life for things like school and retail. This transformation to 3D Virtual worlds I believe will begin in the next 20 years, but let’s hope that when it does we don’t leave a bunch of empty skyscrapers sitting around rotting.
5.Same-Day Delivery Online Shopping – With everything now being purchased virtually, from food to clothes, it will all have to get delivered right to your house. The biggest problem right now is shipping time and cost. I suspect the solution to this lies in big warehouses. With retail businesses already not needing physical stores, warehouses are the only necessity. I visualize a model where local delivery services like FedEx or DHL start renting out stock room space and delivering to every street everyday, like regular mail. Imagine the time this could save. You could put in a grocery order from lunch at work, and have it at your house in time to get home and make dinner. You wouldn’t have to waste the time stopping by a store, waiting in line, and getting stuck for a second time in rush hour. This would also have a positive effect on the environment, leaving cars off of the road for longer, and it could cut down on accidents. The delivery vehicles could also be electric or some sort of hydrogen harnessing water powered vehicle. Another way the internet can literally save lives, and maybe even our planet.
6.Flying Automated Cars – This will represent another huge breakthrough for our society. It would free up any time spent traveling for other, more productive things, and it also would mean faster speeds, faster arrivals, and more practical long distance trips. People would never really get lost, and accidents would be reduced dramatically. There’d be no rush hour or no traffic. The world really would be a less stressful place.
You’ve seen the Discovery Channel show.. Cars would all talk to each other and would be able to make sure they never come in contact with each other, like automated air traffic controlers. These technologies are already being realized. Rumor has it that the U.S. government has even already started designing air vehicle licenses, but who knows for sure. With this notch on our belts, I’d say we’d be pretty deep into future culture at this point.
7. Blogosphere Awakening – Basically this is an information revolution that begins by bloggers taking over as the main source for news worldwide. I believe this will happen as better technologies are developing in the fields of home production, film and sound recording. I see there being a trend more towards vlogging as time goes on. Having bloggers be the main source of news would just mean more sources. More choices and opinions represented, rather than the usual 2 or 3 that are represented on traditional news networks, and more information for which to base one’s own opinion.
The premise for the new model is simple. It’s like books on tape. Listening to a book is always faster than actually reading it. It’s no different with a blog. Blogs transformed into Vlogs would allow users to get through more information faster, and actually feel a relief from the overwhelming flows of information that they want desperately to absorb in a manner that will one day be referred to as “as old school as an actual book.”
Just right now I have about 16 tabs open in Chrome, all blogs that I want to read later. Imagine if I could press play, and all of them would play in the order I put them in, and I could be listening to them now as I type this, instead of having to read it all later, each on a different website. Trust me, this technology will be out sooner than you think 😉 (don’t be surprised if you see some vlogs coming from this blog in the future).
8. Wirelessly Charging Devices – There are rumors of Apple creating an iPhone that is powered by solar technology. This is truly the wave of the future. There are also some crazy technologies that supposedly allow you to get a charge from a WiFi connection somehow. And who knows, Tesla could have been up to something when he built those big towers to harness energy from the earth’s magnetic fields. This technology could prove to be so important, especially for emergency situations, that it’s my guess that we will gain significant ground in this area within the next 20 years, and the solutions are already beginning to emerge.
9. Global Wireless Internet Access – This is something that’s benefits are so tremendous, that 20 years from now, with all of our capabilities, we would be negligent not to do it. Especially with wireless devices charging from solar or magnetic fields, having a working device with global wireless not only would mean the TV show Lost wouldn’t have lasted more than a week, but even while they were waiting to be rescued, they would have been pretty well entertained. In addition to emergency situations, global WiFi could help connect a range of devices together to talk to one another, further the reach and expanse of knowledge and information all over, and especially transform areas mostly cut off, into areas with new opportunities and resources. It’s the World truly connected.
10. Wireless Everything– I’m sure you’ve all seen the TED video about Wireless Electricity. If not, give that a look. This technology really isn’t far off. It’s hard to think of now, but just take a look around the room. Look at all of the wires coiling and protruding from every corner. If you’re like me and are into music recording and production, you know, when you move a studio, or need to re-set one up, you’re literally up to your neck in cords. We don’t think about it now, but we really are in the dark ages still relatively speaking. 20 years from now they’re going to be looking at wires with looks as baffled as when we look at old telephone switchboards from the 50’s and 60’s, with the huge matrices of connections horribly branched out all over the place and the terrible inefficiency and complication. Wireless…is just a no brainer.
So that’s it; a great look at what our future holds in store for us if we continue down the roads that we are currently following. It’s a much safer, more in-tune, healthier, more efficient, and much more pleasant place to be. I for one cannot wait until all of these amazing technologies are truly recognized. I encourage everybody to do their part in supporting the growth and ongoing development of these technologies, and I hope to see you on the front lines leading the way. Until then, that’s where you can find me. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and please, offer your thoughts. Here’s to a great future.
Written by: Dante Cullari Founder & President Beat-Play, LLC