10 things you'd laugh about if someone told you they'll happen in your lifetime
1. You'll blame your alcoholism on your car
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The 2020s could witness a spike in alcohol use. Knowing you have a sober 24/7 personal driver at your disposal could be to blame...
Autopilot will soon become as ordinary as GPS voice navigation. It seems inevitable: semi-autonomous cars already roll our streets,
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| Tesla Model S in autopilot |
...Finland has introduced in Helsinki the world's first self-driving buses
and Singapore has started commercial trials of its self-driving cabs.
and Singapore has started commercial trials of its self-driving cabs.
2. You'll go on a virtual Holiday
Virtual reality(VR) is the next big thing and Mark Zuckerberg knows it, that's why he recently bought Oculus for 2 billion dollars, the company at the forefront of VR.
The technology is already so immersive it's like nothing you've experienced before...
The technology is already so immersive it's like nothing you've experienced before...
You have to watch this amazing Oculus Rift ad!
As it progresses interaction with real world objects and spaces aka "augmented reality" will become commonplace. It'll open a portal linking the mundane with the extraordinary...
...allowing you to transcend "daily". Where would you go with every bite of breakfast? Where would you take your every step?
You could imagine "white canvas" arenas or sets specifically designed for virtual/augmented reality where, for a reasonable price, you'd get lost in wonderland for a day or two.
...allowing you to transcend "daily". Where would you go with every bite of breakfast? Where would you take your every step?
You could imagine "white canvas" arenas or sets specifically designed for virtual/augmented reality where, for a reasonable price, you'd get lost in wonderland for a day or two.
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| GIF by Beckett Muffson via |
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| Virtual praise. Scene from Minority Report |
3. You'll never have to do the laundry again
A team of researchers from Australia's RMIT University are testing a technology that breaks down the organic matter or "dirt" that accumulates on your clothes, when exposed to light.
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| via bestanimatons |
The magic is done by silver and copper based nano-structures that coat the clothes' fabric.
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| credit: RMIT University |
In the near future you'll only have to hang those floor laying garments on lighted hangers in lighted wardrobes and in six minutes your clothes will be as fresh as new!
A giant leap for last minute packing
...and smelly underwear
4. Having VR sex (finally)
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| Minority Report (2002) |
Not only for the solo performer, virtual reality goggles will give role playing a whole new and better meaning
As an inevitable result of kinkiness combined with this technology, you and your partner, will one day find it irresistible to render a little fun on each other (aka "cosmetic virtual reality").
Have in mind, however, that your visions of toned hills and valleys could sink into soft terrain the moment you touch
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so just embrace the technology with arms wide open
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5. You'll one day text a Martian
Believe it or not you'll very soon look up from your phone to the night sky, realizing you've just received a message from someone who is millions of miles away!
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Tesla, PayPal, Hyperloop and SpaceX plans to get human settlers there as soon as 2025
and he's got Proof of Concept.
SpaceX recently made it to the history books (achieving what was once thought impossible): landing vertically, all the way from space, a 14-story-tall rocket on a wobbly platform in high seas
If successful, whoever it lands on Mars would surely have one of the most popular Facebook and Instagram profiles on Earth and the solar system!
Matt Damon in "The Martian"
But before you start a long distance relationship with a Martian, know it would require much patience. It takes 4 minutes for a reply to reach Earth from Mars...
or more than 20, depending on the planet's position in space. More ala "You've Got Mail" style.
or more than 20, depending on the planet's position in space. More ala "You've Got Mail" style.
Even if you never talked to them directly, you'd be able to follow the thoughts, photos and videos they'd post, literally from another world.
How incredible would that be?
One June afternoon in 2032...
Skype already translates voice/video calls in real time. The technology will become so good and fast you'll probably have grandchildren, relatives or friends with who you communicate only via real time translators.
7. You'll have the POWER to STOP TIME
This goes back to the implications of Mark Zuckerberg having bought Oculus. Today we remember through photos; in the future Facebook will become a timeline of portals...
One Friday night, as we approach the second half of the century, you'll see Mike detaching from his phone a micro drone some mm across...
and as it raises up and flies over the party, it will 3D scan and record everything that happens. Building a virtual recreation of the moment.
You'll have to quit the celebration early but assured that back from work the next day, you'll be able to go back in time to the fun you missed...
And just as she was last night, there is Hannah talking to a group of friends...
You'll call her and ask her to join you, remotely from her living room, and relive the moment
As she comes in, a second copy detaches from her initial lively recreation
and it joins you as you seat together enjoying a drink with the party surrounding you, loud and indistinguishable from reality
One Friday night, as we approach the second half of the century, you'll see Mike detaching from his phone a micro drone some mm across...
A virtual memory.
With your VR headset on, you'll search for the memory in Mike's timeline and then: you'll restart it were you left.
As you walk around your living room the party comes back to life: A recreation so immersive, you feel the music bouncing amongst your friends' ethereal bodies
And just as she was last night, there is Hannah talking to a group of friends...
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| who looks a lot like Emma Watson |
You'll call her and ask her to join you, remotely from her living room, and relive the moment
As she comes in, a second copy detaches from her initial lively recreation
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| not this creepy, hopefully |
and it joins you as you seat together enjoying a drink with the party surrounding you, loud and indistinguishable from reality
8. You'll become omnipresent
Living in a state of terror and getting ever more used to VR, it is foreseeable that our society will welcome new and more invasive forms of The Surveilled World.
Safety first, we won't mind most aspects of our lives recorded by all seeing drones: seemingly inoffensive, you'll be used to them peeking into your windows, like the passing bird
and as amazing as google maps and street view would've seemed to someone in 1972
in 2060 you'll be able to remotely walk real-time recreations of the major cities of the world
while people, with blurred faces, go about their daily business, indifferent to the eyes watching and the software "virtualizing" every angle of their every move!
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| via bestanimations |
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| via bestanimations |
and as amazing as google maps and street view would've seemed to someone in 1972
in 2060 you'll be able to remotely walk real-time recreations of the major cities of the world
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| via bestanimations |
while people, with blurred faces, go about their daily business, indifferent to the eyes watching and the software "virtualizing" every angle of their every move!
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| Via bestanimations |
9. Retiring off-world (for 500,000 dollars)
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk also wants to give you the opportunity to retire on Mars.
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| Elon Musk with president Obama |
to the point where a ticket to Mars (with a guaranteed return if you wish to use it) would cost you "as little" as 500,000 dollars.
If he achieves that, selling all of your possessions might one day embark you on your greatest and final adventure.
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| Credit: SpaceX |
10. Waking up to reality
As virtual reality becomes indistinguishable from the real world you'll begin to wonder if you were in a simulation all along.
See it this way:
and there are billions of personal computers out there
by the end of the century these machines could have the processing power to simulate our own universe...
Then the chance we are in the original universe would be one in the billions!
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