Technology of the future

CEBU, Philippines — Some people are fearfully overwhelmed by the technological prospects of the future. And yet, these people are adapting technologically quite well now. Besides, the technology of the future is not going to happen in one whack – there’s enough time for people to grow familiar with it, for sure.

Well, yes, the rate at which technology is evolving is both exciting and alarming. It’s hard to imagine what kind of digital world there will be in 20 years. Most likely, developments in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will be most life-changing for humans.

“Cow-milking robots” are going to be introduced on a U.S. farm. The system will allow cows to be milked on their own. Robotics and AI will affect not only the largest, upper-level industries, but even the most traditional and hands-on farming methods.

Right now there’s “neuromarketing,” where digital technology is used to measure the brain’s responses to advertising campaigns. From the gathered data, companies can manipulate consumer behaviors. It may not be coincidence at all that a person is immediately taken in by all the beautifully designed cakes placed right before his eyes and the smell of freshly baked bread that hits him from a good distance away.

There’s also the uniquely innovative Mico headphones, whose built-in sensor, based on “neuromarketing,” can detect brain waves and play music that best suits one’s current mood. Here, technology is effectively more aware of a person’s subconscious than the person is.

During a recent international technology summit, a participant revealed that she had implemented technology in her own body – an online seismic sensor in her feet that allowed her to feel earthquakes and their magnitude through vibrations. The revelation was reminiscent of cyborgs, those hypothetical characters in sci-fi movies whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.

Technology experts predict that the medicine of the future will be completely preventive, not curative. Technology will soon be able to predict exactly what people will become ill, or even die, from. While it may be something that one would rather not know, at least if he’s aware of it, he can stop it from happening.

Such technological innovations are not going to be too alien to humans in the future. In fact, much of the technology of the future is already starting now. Daniel Walton, at www.quora.com, cites some of the things that scientists, researchers, developers and designers from around the world are trying to come up with in order to simplify human life and make it more interesting:

Bio-refrigerators. A Russian designer has suggested the concept of a refrigerator called “Bio Robot Refrigerator,” which cools the food with a biopolymer gel. There are no shelves, compartments and doors – food is just put in the gel. Amazingly, the ref uses only 8 percent of the house energy for the control panel and does not need energy for actual cooling; its biopolymer gel uses light generated at a cold temperature to store the food. The gel is odorless and not sticky, and the refrigerator can be installed on the wall or on the ceiling.