I think most futurists expect this to happen, and my only contribution is that I think it will happen very soon.

• We will have transitioned from smart speakers to smart speakers with little screens
• We have transitioned from cable and free-to-air TV / online videos to watching all of our video content on TV, operated by a separate device
• Operating out home via a hub
• Voice control

We all know what we want: a wall that is a giant TV, that is voice operated, and connects to everything. The wall can show any video from any service, play music, display our calendar, show the news and weather, look like wallpaper or show our photos, and operate our home.

All the components already exist, and are reasonably mature. And the winner in this space will either be by Google/Apple/Amazon or will license their technology.

All the components already exist, with the exception of the screen. A wall of screens isn’t the perfect look (so Apple won’t do it), and what we are waiting for is an affordable wall that can be custom ordered to fit all of any wall.

But wait!

The Mini Wall is where we will start. It does everything described above, but it comes in three versions:

1. Bathroom mirror, non-misting
2. Full-length mirror
3. Wide-screen TV

One of those will catch the imagination of the public. What is great about the full-length mirror, suddenly now, is being able to do group exercise from home. You can see the other people exercising, and your mirror image, on the screen.

Home Gym / Telemedicine

The pandemic has led to greater adoption of home gym classes, and telemedicine. Both can be provided via a full length mirror, especially if it can be a conduit for biometric data. For telemedicine a high resolution directional camera would be very important. For example, if I have a rash on my back and I want the doctor to see it.

Many services are already here that could utilise such a mirror. These could be partners with, or duplicated by, or bought out by, the mirror maker if it is a Big Tech company.

Examples:

From quick check-ins to group sessions, Krew provides a platform for PTs, physiotherapists and nutritionists to offer all of their services online. We complement the main livestream with motion tracking, heart rate detection from video, and exercise/meal plans – but is it browser based and uses laptop/phone cameras

Lululemon announced  last month it would spend $500 million to acquire Mirror, which sells a $1,495 reflective display so subscribers can exercise while simultaneously streaming workouts and watching themselves. And your biometric data appears on the screen. So much more can be done with this screen!

Meanwhile the OYO Nova Gym is a very small replacement for numerous resistance machines found in gyms.

Combine the three above products with telemedicine, and that is all of health covered.

The Winner

It’s a tough call, but I think Google will win this one. Apple is too cautious, Amazon doesn’t have tools like calendars, and Google is willing to work with other brands, already have a screen-based OS with Android, and are buying Fitbit.

Bonus TikTok Feature!

We will tend to do our workouts in a different part of our home to where we relax and watch TV, and to combine the two would require the screen to rotate.

I don’t see this product being a replacement for TVs. I do see a complementary TV product that uses the same OS but has different primary functions.

But the vertical orientation does suit watching phone-based apps like TikTok, and given that dancing is a huge part of TikTok… Imagine kids in the garage doing their favorite TikTok dances with friends live on the screen… Google probably wouldn’t even need TikTok’s permission to embed the videos in the mirror.

All they could be called Rich AMP.

Right now we have text-only type pages designed for fast loading, easy to read. Or we have bloated pages with 20 forms of tracking and numerous elements that make the page footprint longer as they load, shifting things about as you are trying to read.

SEO-first news sites like the Daily Mail are culprits.

And don’t get me started with continuous scrolling. Try reaching links in the footer when that is happening.

A future standard is one that could be announced at the very top of the page, so people learn to appreciate that faster loads and easier use.

I would include:

Placeholders for content not yet loaded, that leave a blank space of the same size, or preferably a symbol that means it has yet to arrive.

Minimal tracking. While this might sound hard for large companies that advertise on many channels, if all they are measuring is engagement, all they need is Google Analytics. Sometimes such things are overly automated for only marginal benefits.

No misleading ads. Too often the video you think you have come to see is an ad, and the actual video is further down the page. If the key content is a video, it should be the only video on the page.

“Related content” should be links to your own content, not ads.

No continuous scrolling that makes the page longer. It could be restricted to a frame, or paginated.

It is often said than the modern smart phone is 10 gadgets in 1. That decades ago we needed to lug around a video camera, gaming console and so on to replicate what we get from a single device today.

Ten years from now we might not have phones any more. Except for… typing. They could be called a tyoer.

Camera: The trend is towards cameras being everywhere. Having to hold a phone to take a photo or video is very limiting. Imagine if you were at a bar, that has cameras everywhere. You and your buddies huddle together, and don’t even need to say “group photo”. The AI of the bar recognises the situation, knows who you all are, and sends you 5 photos for you to choose from before sharing.

Combine that with your personal drone, a flying device that is always hovering above you, filming and monitoring, looking for friends, dangers and opportunities.

And first person views, which cannot be filmed using other people’s cameras or your drone, will be filmed by your AR glasses.

Phone: Your AR glasses will have that covered.

Social Media: Your AR glasses will have that covered.

Maps: Your AR glasses will have that covered. Or your car.

Texting: This is the problem. Just as people are talking on phones less, and texting more, I cannot see us dictating to our AR glasses in public. We will want to type. Maybe our AR glasses can project a virtual keyboard onto whatever close surface we look at? Or will we carry little keyboards with us – because we will still have bags. Maybe built into the outside of your bag? Or on top of a book cover?

I don’t own a smart TV. I have a regular TV with an Xbox One and Chromecast to send content to it. That is the smart option, because “smart” TVs tend to be clunky, slow, and will date too much before your next television purchase.

I know what I want – a really smart TV.

Google Nest Hub, and Amazon Echo Show do everything I want from a smart device except for one minor detail. The screens are too small, maxing out at 10 inches. I want the same functionality, but built in to a big screen TV.

It surely isn’t hard? The same devices already have everything you have, you just need the display to be larger, and the software to adjust to the screen size.

I guess the problem is that Google and Amazon do not make televisions. There is nothing stopping them – there are many TV brands that don’t manufacture the hardware, but simply market it.

I would like to think that both have a TV up their sleeves, and are simply waiting for a glut in hardware / lull in TV purchases. I recommend:

• 4K, with nothing fancy except for whatever makes blacks blacker
• wall mountable
• really good speakers built in
• cameras that can focus on who is talking – with an off switch
• screensaver of your choice, that turns off when nobody is home
• screensavers like security camera, news and weather, photos (yours or others) and social media streams, in general or a specific person/group
• has your wake up info in the morning – public transport, weather, appointments etc
• voice-operated shopping app – starting with clothing. Incorporate camera for fitting and previews.
• access to all content, from everywhere, with ease

TVs are cheap these days, if you ignore fancy features. Incorporating most of the above is not technically difficult. If you can sell a TV for $200 more that is really smart and has a killer feature, it will outsell every other TV.