In his technology future article our tech guy Colin Moors dabbles in a bit of futurology.
Not really, no – but as we say “hello” to this, the 100th issue of Together, I thought it might be fun to have a wistful gaze into the future and to what technology holds for us in the next ten years, or 100 issues of Together. I imagine I will be looking back at this issue on my brain-implanted video chip while hovering above Brussels in my flying car. Well, that’s what I imagine. I wonder what people whose job it is to predict the future think? “Futurologist” is possibly the best job in the world, as there are no wrong answers, so that’s why I set myself up here as your resident Futurologist. Feel free to come back to me in ten years to tell me how way off I was.
Wireless charging: No, not the sort that means you need to plop your device down on to a pad or belt like some kind of caveman. I mean really wireless. Companies such as Ossia are leading the way in developing the idea of a room- or office-wide charging field that charges your devices whenever you enter into it. You will be able to just walk into the office and your stuff will start charging with no need to plug in a cable or fight for that last available wall socket. Imagine walking out of your house, having done nothing, and your Bluetooth earbuds are at 100%. This is a concept that’s in heavy development, so it’s likely to emerge as a pretty common thing in the coming decade.
Fewer traffic fatalities: This can only be a good thing, as a recent report stated that the figure for accidents caused by human error was a worrying 95%. With Tesla leading the way in autonomously driven vehicles, other companies are clamouring to keep up, offering more and stranger features you didn’t know you needed. The Heads-up Display (HUD) is very likely to appear as standard, as it’s already coming to market in various guises. A HUD is basically what Iron Man sees in the helmet of his suit – information projected onto the glass of your windscreen, offering warnings, maps and more directly in your line of vision, so there’s no need to look down at the GPS, for example. There’s an app called Hudway (iOS and Android) if you fancy trying it for yourself, albeit at a very basic level. It can’t be long before the HUD is adopted as, at least, an option in cars of the near future.
