Wildly speculative predictions...

With technology constantly pushing forwards, and some fairly remarkable ideas starting to reach the consumer level, it increasingly feels as though we are experiencing what could be a very significant period in scientific and technological breakthroughs.

For example, augmented reality is coming on in leaps and bound and with the impending google goggles could be on the verge of becoming a widely adopted technology. Similarly the possible inclusion of haptic feedback in the iPad 3 could mean tactile response becoming more and more common place.

Then you have numerous advances in transplant and prosthetic science. Replacement limbs and organs becoming increasingly advanced not only in power but integration with the wearer.

So many fields seem to be taking bold strides forward, one can't help but feel that the next few years could be an incredibly important time, and we might see some truly incredible advances.

I thought it might be interesting to see what forum members think we can expect from the future, and what we'd like to see in the future. Since this forum is pretty stable and will hopefully still be around 10 years from now, it could be interesting to look back and see if any of it comes true.

A time capsule for ideas almost.

Personally, I think we may start to see real advances in cellular augmentation. Hopefully providing new and more efficient ways of interacting with technology. Haptics is cool and all, but incredibly crude compared with what could be possible. Similarly, transparent screen augmented reality will maybe be surpassed by corneal implants or even optic nerve modification.

I also think we might start to see the first steps towards increased brain efficiency like synapse amplifiers. Better memory and faster processing speeds, maybe even longer cell life and the disappearance of things like Alzheimer's disease.

I also think the traditional concept of a home computer will become obsolete, maybe not in 10 years but soon enough. The idea of having mass storage devices sat on your desk will become a thing of the past, replaced either by minute storage of infinite capacity, or more likely something not dissimilar to cloud storage, all the information in the world constantly available to everyone, everywhere.

anyway, this is probably all wildly speculative and nonsense, but that is the point.

So yeah, what do you think we might expect to see, what would you like to see, and what would you like to see become obsolete?

probably another analogue bubblebath 4 reissue

world war III

Ipads with legs.

HL3

Lots more war and hunger and stuff.

a confrontation between USA, China and Russia

oh wait thats not technology just depressing possible world outcomes, whoops

Ice cream that never melts. Patented.

I'm callin' it (N)Ice Cream

remote electronically controlled around-corners-projection of deadly touch tarantula spiders

  On 3/7/2012 at 10:55 PM, patternoverlap said:

remote electronically controlled around-corners-projection of deadly touch tarantula spiders

With or without Frankenstein earphone radio slavery?

my speculative prediction is that nothing extraordinary will happen in the next decade or two

The ability to cause arbitrary human cells to change to different cell types, at will (possibly including cancerous cells)

I imagine the mobile phone evolving a personal piece of high technology where you can do what you want when you want it and the desktop PC will become a thing of the past like the landline telephone as soon as 4g and above becomes the norm. Also the cloud philosophy for storage will become an eventuality with profit for possession becoming profit for access, it's often easier now for me to select songs on youtube than bury deep into my record collection.

The downside of this virtual info bank/network is that ultimately you'll have no control over its access if you don't play the game and everything you do will leave a digital trace making any real privacy in your life very limited i.e. big brother or the all seeing eye.

Music wise it will be touch screens on a performance multimedia scale with the usual retro cool aesthetic of real hardware as performance/gigs will be where the real money spinning happens for careers in this style of art. I see more solo artists becoming the norm rather than big bands given the technology.

More than anything, I see the divide between those who have access to said technology, and those that do not, becoming increasingly large.

I certainly am a fan of technology, and the possibilities they provide, but realistically, most of us won't have access to the majority of it. Most people can barely pay their bills.

At a certain point, you have to start realizing that the advancement of technology needs to take a backseat to the well being of the human race. If you spend your time waiting for, and hailing the next advancement in tech, but fail to see the decline in the quality of life of the majority around you, there is a depressing disconnect in your life.

And the you's and your's in this post was not directed at anyone in specific, just to be clear. I'm just ranting.

  On 3/7/2012 at 11:19 PM, Kcinsu said:

More than anything, I see the divide between those who have access to said technology, and those that do not, becoming increasingly large.

 

I certainly am a fan of technology, and the possibilities they provide, but realistically, most of us won't have access to the majority of it. Most people can barely pay their bills.

looking at the past decade or even more you can easily see the exact opposite of what you described, is your predictions that this tendency will break up for some reason ?

this for example : http://www.google.co...rue&hl=en&dl=en

Access to the internet != access to Cybernetic implants.

the guiding principle is the same - hi tech becomes cheaper with every year. what's the cost of say 500mhz intel cpu now and what it was in 2000 ?

Complete eradication of physical currency.

The Mayan Emperor will emerged from the 7th sea and make the white men work like slaves and live like swine.

i think religion will hold back any serious human modification, as it always has.

  On 3/7/2012 at 10:21 PM, Ivan Ooze said:

probably another analogue bubblebath 4 reissue

lol

  On 3/7/2012 at 11:19 PM, Kcinsu said:

More than anything, I see the divide between those who have access to said technology, and those that do not, becoming increasingly large.

 

I certainly am a fan of technology, and the possibilities they provide, but realistically, most of us won't have access to the majority of it. Most people can barely pay their bills.

 

At a certain point, you have to start realizing that the advancement of technology needs to take a backseat to the well being of the human race. If you spend your time waiting for, and hailing the next advancement in tech, but fail to see the decline in the quality of life of the majority around you, there is a depressing disconnect in your life.

 

And the you's and your's in this post was not directed at anyone in specific, just to be clear. I'm just ranting.

A very valid point in all fairness. One can hope that eventually everything will be available and affordable to all, but this is a long long way away.

I think eventually (although certainly not in the next couple decades) we might expect to get tech like molecular construction, cold fusion or some other super efficient energy source. Hopefully even increased dependance on natural energy sources like solar, geothermic etc.

This would, imo be the biggest leap technologically at least. While in our current state, wealth and access to tech is something of a great divider, haves and have nots. However it can equally be the great leveller, enabling all to survive and flourish. sufficient power and resources for all.

I think the more likely cause of a divide would be through choice. It seems almost inevitable that the human race, and the world we live in will advance so far as to make it almost impossible to exist without some form of augmentation and complete reliance on technology (we're getting very close in many ways already imo) and so I think there will be people who will make the conscious decision to withdraw, shun advanced technology, and remain "pure" if you like.

I would point out though, you mention quality of life, haves and have nots. While I would totally agree that there is a huge gap in so far as ownership of luxury gadgets, nice laptops, phones and so forth. In terms of medical and agricultural sciences, or any far reaching fields, huge advances are being made all the time, and most of those are available to all. Not nearly as exciting (subjectively) as sub-dermal implants, nano tech, or quantum computing, but probably more significant to more people.

I guess it's just important to make some distinction between luxury gadgets and truly significant technologies.

  On 3/8/2012 at 12:02 AM, Gary C said:

Complete eradication of physical currency.

This, definitely would not surprise me. In many ways I would welcome this. The main concern would be security, but that's just as relevant now. It dawns on me frequently how rarely I use cash these days, nearly always just pay with my card unless the place I'm buying something doesnt accept them.

What about virtual currencies like bit-coins? Is it feasible to imagine more and more people using a world wide borderless currency, or are we stuck with exchange rates for a while yet?

  On 3/7/2012 at 11:16 PM, soundwave said:

The downside of this virtual info bank/network is that ultimately you'll have no control over its access if you don't play the game and everything you do will leave a digital trace making any real privacy in your life very limited i.e. big brother or the all seeing eye.

This sort of touches on another thing I've been thinking about. Humans being tagged or implanted with some type of chip or ID device. An all purpose personal ID carrier. Medical records, bank details, employment history, and so forth. No doubt the possibility it could be a GPS location beacon too.

I'm really in 2 minds over that kinda thing. The potential uses are remarkable, home security which only deactivates when it senses your presence. Complete medical history could save your life if you were taken into hospital unconscious. Crime would take a nose dive as such a device could provide irrefutable evidence as to who was present at the scene of a crime. So many possible benefits, but so many concerns over privacy and security. People over here got incredibly concerned over the proposed introduction of mandatory ID cards, who knows what the response would be over such a thing. And it's already been proved how insecure pre existing smart tags like RFID are...

I have to say, it's really a strange quirk of the time, the real hypocrisy of people on the one hand getting concerned over invasion of privacy, and on the other hand sharing pictures, memories, and often personal details all over social networking sites. Or getting up in arms over celebrity phone tapping whilst simultaneously trusting Google, Apple or Microsoft with all their most personal information, and willingly doing so. It's actually quite baffling! I guess some of it comes from the slightly bizarre opinion that privately owned companies are less imposing or influential than governments.

I think that's certainly something we can "look forward" to... The rise of super corps, governments playing an increasingly small role in world decisions, and multinationals calling the shots. I don't mean to say that that isn't already the case, but I think it will become far more visible.

I predict 97% wildly incorrect speculation, 3% lucky people.

a movie......... that's, wait.............3D!

An all in one handheld electronic device.

Basically a smartphone that doesn't suck and has mass storage and solid battery life that lasts more than 4 days. Has the usefulness of a desktop pc. Can interface this device with any set of monitor/keyboard/mouse when you need to do lots of typing or a big screen to game or watch movies on or whatever. That same monitor can function as a tv as well, separately from the device. This device powerful enough to play current video games on as well.

I'm also wondering when we'll end up having autopilot on vehicles.

A physical medium for music that isn't terrible. Is it even possible?

World War II 2

  On 3/7/2012 at 10:28 PM, logakght said:

world war III

  On 3/7/2012 at 10:39 PM, Awepittance said:

a confrontation between USA, China and Russia

 

oh wait thats not technology just depressing possible world outcomes, whoops

  On 3/8/2012 at 6:24 AM, gmanyo said:

World War II 2

World War 2s

iWar...