Futuristic Concepts

Case Book: Future Technology

                Technology grows extremely rapidly in our world. In just forty years, we’ve gone from the first, simplistic computers to tiny smartphones and touch-screen projections that supremely surpass any previous device. Even now we are developing objects that use hologram-like functions and incredible sensory adaptations. Maps have gone from flat, two-dimensional objects to interactive panoramas. The shopping process is becoming more and more detached from the physical world. Computers in general have gone from physical, bulky objects to handheld devices and are making their way to sensational projectors.

                The SixthSense is a creation that has recently been developed. This device hangs from the neck and scans the surrounding world, working with finger-worn sensors to bring up applications and data. One can take an actual picture by making a box with one’s fingers and holding the “frame” until the shot is taken by the device. The SixthSense also projects product info upon scanning an item, personal info after scanning a person, and creates items like phone keypads and watches on the user’s body in reaction to physical movements ("TED: Ideas Worth Spreading"). 

                In Seoul, South Korea, there is a virtual grocery store in a subway. Isles of products are projected along the walls, hologram images that allow the user to scan desired products with their smartphones. Once scanned, the product is added to the user’s cart and when the cart is complete, the products are paid for online then shipped to the consumer’s home ("Spot Cool Stuff: Travel"). 

Hologram projections instead of physical computer mass and one being about to manipulate a computer with physical movements of one’s own body are two ideas that have been produced many times in film. With the rise in technological advancement, we are starting to create such devices. Microsoft has produced an interactive projecting computer system that does both of these things. It is called surface computing. This type of technology “is based on the idea of natural user interface (NUI) that enables people to manipulate content directly with touch gestures and motions” ("Altexsoft"). 

                The birth of projection-touch devices has begun. Items like the Sixth Sense and surface computing have been born, the technology set in place. These items will no doubt give birth to others; technology, I believe, will follow the interactive hologram path. I believe we will see computer systems like those in Minority Report, Cloud Atlas, and the anime series RIN. The two live action films feature extremely advanced gestural computing that uses a series of interactive holograms instead of screens.

In the anime series, the computers function in the same way, but the virtual technology goes further. In a particular scene, a character shops online and purchases a shirt, which she literally pulls from the screen and onto her body—the piece of clothing a hologram itself. The quality of the image is so good, it covers her body perfectly and appears to be real clothing. The character’s father sighs and says, “I wish you would wear real clothes.” The character giggles and replies, “Virtual is real, dad.”  I believe this is where our world is headed technologically. 

                The effects such technology will have on society will be both good and bad. Positively, the amount of computer waste (which cannot be yet safely broken down and is hazardous to the environment) will drastically drop as the actual physical mass of products keeps shrinking. The negative side is that the more we integrate reality with cyber technology, the more the world becomes blurred in regards to what is real and what is not. The future may consist of people that are constantly submerged in the virtual world, even while existing at their jobs or at school. With the increasing merging of the internet and the physical realm, there comes a risk that society will care less and less about the quality of their environment because they can transport themselves to a perfect fake one, or otherwise alter the reality of the one they exist in.

"Microsoft Surface Development for Multi-Touch Display Systems." Altexsoft. Altexsoft, n.d. Web. 2 Dec 2012. <http://www.altexsoft.com/technology/microsoft-surface-development-for-multi-touch-display-systems/>.

"Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense." TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. TED Conferences, LLC, n.d. Web. 2 Dec 2012. <http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html>.

"Seoul’s Virtual Subway Supermarket." Spot Cool Stuff: Travel. Page 17 Media, LLC, n.d. Web. 2 Dec 2012. <http://travel.spotcoolstuff.com/seoul-korea/unusual-shopping/virtual-homeplus-subway-grocery-stores>. 

For more visual info regarding surface computing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE3x8M4hvkk