Author Archives: Futures Broker

Augmented Reality Improv

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improv-everywhere-twins-rehearsing

It is prediction time again. Consider the following:

  • Improv comedy has many fans
  • Flash mobs still occur
  • Augmented reality glasses will be commonplace

At work, at a bar, at a sporting event, two members of #ARImprov are in the same space. Their glasses identify the other, and a role is assigned. Nobody else knows, except the participants and their private AR views.

They then play randomly assigned improv roles. They could be former lovers, long-lost cousins, or undercover agents. Could be anything. Then they play their unlikely roles totally straight-faced, for as long as they like.

I once lived in a backpacker hostel with lots of long-term residents. I was chatting with a newcomer, and a friend asked me “who’s your friend” and I made an impromptu lie – she is my sister. We were both from NZ but that was the only commonality. It was accepted by everyone, for months. And it was a fun little inside joke. Until we drunkenly pashes one night and the truth had to come out, and many people refused to accept that we weren’t related.

This is a powerful and subversive concept, and therefore I figure it will certainly become a thing in the near future. And if it doesn’t, I’ll start it.

Enhanced Hearing at Consumer Pricing

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The product is called Here, and you can learn about it at KickStarter…

$249 ear buds, so not too different to what people are paying just to listen to music with.

Using the computational power of your smart phone, you can:

  • turn up/down the volume of the world around you
  • equalize the music at a live concert to suit you – such as turning down the bass
  • turn down specific frequencies, like the rumble of a jet plane or train – or a crying baby?

More at Wired.

The Next PayPal – Micro-Payments & Rich Descriptions

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The first of two factors that I feel will be part of the payment system that topples PayPal’s crown is a no-brainer: make micro-payments a popular and real thing.

The other is something far less innovative.

When I look at purchases on my credit card statement, I see the name of a merchant and a dollar amount. Often the name is not one I recognise, and it can be difficult working out exactly where I made the transaction. And even if I know who the merchant is, there is nothing to tell me what I purchased.

Likewise, PayPal uses the same system. Yet in this data rich electronic age, there’s no reason why I can’t see the full details with one click:

  • the merchant’s trading name
  • their full contact details
  • list of the items I purchased
  • option to cancel (if it is a subscription)

Once we have all that, the data could be used for analysis – a home finance system.

Digital Implants (in your fingertips)

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Push hard on my skin, and you’ll find that the source is two lumps of glass, metal, and plastic embedded in my right hand: a years-old magnet in the ring finger and a newer NFC chip in my thumb webbing. Before getting the magnet, I read paeans to the coming cyborg revolution. After putting it in, I had people tell me my hand would fall off. Since getting the NFC chip in June, I’ve read that I’m carrying the Mark of the Beast and found instructions for how to disable it with a taser. Well, I come from the future, and I’m here to tell you: transcending the limits of the flesh can be downright dull.
Source: The Verge 

The woman writing above can sense/feel local magnetic activity – whether it is microwave ovens, hard drives, regular metal or other magnets. It has added another dimension to her senses, and likes it – although her friend who had the same magnet inserted is now over it.

And her NFC chip – it is pretty much useless at present, not enough uses for it. And situations where she would love to use it, like replacing her employer’s security keycard, aren’t an option because it is non-standard. Still it is interesting that she purchased the chip and installation kit online and inserted it herself.

You can guarantee one day there will be an Apple of implanted chips that will provide you with secure identification that can’t easily be stolen from you. Just not yet (except for that Spanish nightclub a decade ago!)

 

Real-Time Video Status Using Avatars

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I dreamt I was at a tech conference developing this service, so I thought I should share it.

Although FaceBook and Twitter have become sharing services, they became popular as a means of providing timely updates about your life.

The next step forward would be real-time video updates – literally push a button and people you are connected to online can watch what is happening.

For example you might be shopping for clothes, and looking for the opinions of friends regarding which to buy.

Now there are some downsides to this:

  • privacy of others in the vicinity
  • hard to film yourself

So the solution is to use sensor technology combined with spectacle cameras, avatars and 3D modelling.

This is what you do:

1. Activate your recording via voice or dedicated button, via your wearable smart device
2. Indicate the type of share it is – for example shopping

This is what the tech does:

1. Locates where you are in the world
2. Uses sensors to build a 3D description of the local environment
3. Generate a cartoon-ish video representation of where you are
4. Show you in 3D avatar form
5. Show anything specific (like an item of clothing you are holding up) as a real image within the cartoon-ish video

Your friends will see your avatar in a semi-realistic 3D world, hear what is going on, and see for real any objects specific to the type of sharing.

This is a continuation of my idea that mostly-realistic avatars will have a future online.

 

360 Degree Cameras on our Heads

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I’m really going out on a limb with this prediction – but to achieve some things with human bodies we will need to adjust.

Right now Google Maps has cars that drive down every road and capture street images. They achieve this by using a special camera mounted on a small tripod above the vehicle.

They also have a “self-driving” car which has a 64-beam laser on the roof:

The car has been driven for thousands of miles without an accident, but the key to this is 360-degree views.

When humans want to combine computers with their real-world activities, they might find that products like Google Glass are too restricted – that you need to look at something for the system to know it is there.

I suggest that the need will arise for a 360-degree sensor system, using cameras and/or lasers, microphones and so on. The only easy place for it is on top of your head (or perhaps a necklace of sorts.

Eventually ways will be found to make it look cool, perhaps like elongated skulls wearing beanies. There won’t be much use for it when you are at home, so it will be removable.

 

STAP Stem Cells for Clones and Body Part Replacements

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 “Who would have thought that to reprogram adult cells to a pluripotent state just required a small amount of acid for less than half an hour – it’s an incredible discovery.”

“It’s mother nature’s repair process.”

“The implication is that you can very easily, from a drop of blood and simple techniques, create a perfect identical twin”

By stressing regular adult human cells (30 mins in an acid bath), they literally curl up into a foetal position – they become the very same embryonic stem cells that have the power to become any human cell.

Now, Vacanti, along with Haruko Obokata at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, and colleagues have discovered a different way to rewind adult cells – without touching the DNA. The method is striking for its simplicity: all you need to do is place the cells in a stressful situation, such as an acidic environment.

Stem cells are already being used to repair humans. This new discovery means it is highly likely that within a decade or two we will be able to repair virtually any damage to our bodies. And create human clones. Although most non-scientists would prefer this to never happen, some scientists will find it hard to resist.

Source New Scientist Feb 1 2014, found online here.

Chip Implants for Drug Delivery

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Let us get the major negative out of the way first – the chip is the size of a scrabble tile. While smaller devices might be acceptable, many people would not like something so large embedded into their skin.


http://www.mchips.com/technology/technology.html

As you can see, the microchip is small, but it needs a reservoir beneath it to hold all the medicine.

The advantages are awesome:

  • Drug delivery for up to 16 years
  • Turn on/off wirelessly (via an app)
  • Never forget to take your medicine
  • No repeat visits to the pharmacy / drugstore
  • Available in 2017

Another disadvantage is that many of the target market would want multiple medications delivered in this manner – how many can you implant?

 

 

Chips in Contact Lenses, via Google

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We’ve heard this is the future, with experts claiming that one day Google Glass capabilities will be embedded into contact lenses.

Well the future has begun, with Google planning to get things started with a glucose monitor built into contact lenses. The circuitry is built into the outer edge on the lens.

We’re now testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. We’re testing prototypes that can generate a reading once per second. We’re also investigating the potential for this to serve as an early warning for the wearer, so we’re exploring integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed above or below certain thresholds.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/introducing-our-smart-contact-lens.html?m=0

 

The 180 Degree iWatch

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This image is the closest I have found to how I imagine the iWatch will look:

I think the screen will be 180 degrees long. Turn your wrist to see the bottom of the screen.

Actually it won’t quite be 180 degrees, because opposite the on-screen watch will be a fingerprint scanner (works best with the thumb of your other hand) that will double as an on/off switch. It will be at the place where you would check your own pulse.

The on-screen watch will be the only visible part of the screen (probably be a separate screen) unless you touch the scanner / or if an alert is being displayed along with a vibrate.

Regarding charging, I think the iWatch will come with a night stand that charges the watch while working as a bedside alarm clock. Many people take their watch off when they go to bed, and it isn’t hard to achieve.

Battery life will be one week, but much less if you use various apps. One week will be when you only use it as a watch and bluetooth connection to your phone.

Price will be $349-$399