GLIMPSES OF THE FUTURE
A monthly digest of technologies, developments and trends that will shape our lives. (If you would prefer not to receive these digests, flip back 'NO THANKS' and you will be removed from the list).

If Your Children Marry Robots What Will Your Grandchildren Look Like?

Now that the first generation of robots is with us (Honda's Asimo is currently strutting his stuff on a world tour) it is becoming clear that humans will project human-like qualities onto these machines (the phenomenon known as 'anthropomorphisation') and will form attachments - sometimes romantic attachments - with our new machine companions

David Levy, a British artificial intelligence researcher at The University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, has been awarded a doctorate for his thesis, 'Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners,' and suggests that trends in robotics and shifting social attitudes to marriage are likely to result in sophisticated robots that will eventually be seen as suitable marriage partners.

Dr Levey's thesis examines human attitudes toward affection, love and sexuality and concluded that the findings are just as applicable to human interaction with robots of the future as they are to the relationships between humans of today.

Almost simultaneously researchers at Georgia Tech have shown that some owners of Roomba robot vacuum cleaners have become deeply attached to their robotic cleaning devices. Two million such robot vacuums have already been sold.

The researchers at Georgia Tech decided to investigate human-robot attachment after noticing that Roomba owners were dressing up their robots and posting pictures of them on the Web.

Readers with nothing better to do may like to read a section from my 2001 novel 'Emergence' in which I explored some of the problems of human-machine emotional relationships.

Can't Land The Chopper On Your Smaller Yacht? Here's The Answer

It's a problem that affects many of us who are worried about the planet. In our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint we've downsized to a smaller motor yacht only to discover that we can no longer land our helicopter on it (which rather spoils the fun).

Now, France-based Headland Consulting have solved the problem by producing a retractable helipad for the smaller ocean-going yacht.

The made-to-measure retractable helipad modules can be built into the design of a new yacht or retro-fitted. With several different deployment options, the company claims it’s possible to integrate a helipad with the design of most modern yachts, making it unobtrusive or even useful in its retracted state, and deploying mechanically in a matter of minutes when it’s time to land your helicopter. Problem solved.

British start-up company Ad-Air has announced plans to target airline passengers with enormous flight path ads at the world’s busiest airports. The first of its kind, the project will see digitally printed ad skins of 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet) – that twice the size of London’s Trafalgar Square – placed within view of window seat passengers.

These truly BIG ads will be spread over a network of 30 airports, the final details of which are still being negotiated. One chosen site is London’s Heathrow airport which will offer advertisers the opportunity to reach a high quality captive audience in addition to high-volume - says the company. It is estimated Ad-Air will deliver up to 10 million unique viewers and achieve 20 million impacts per year.

This form of 'blunt weapon' advertising is intrusive and a form of visual pollution that should be banned. The future of advertising lies in selective, personalized and targeted information which is relevant and useful.

Now: The Real Truth About 'Out Of Body' Experiences.

In two separate pieces of research, British and other European researchers have found a way to induce out-of-body experiences using virtual reality goggles.

Humans who have had near-death experiences often report 'out of body' sensations and religious zealots have seized on such reports as proof of a 'soul' or of an 'afterlife.' The truth is much more mundane.

In a study by Henrik Ehrsson of University College London and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, volunteers viewed recorded images through their headsets. In the other study, by Olaf Blanke of the Ecole Polytechique Federale de Lausanne and University Hospital in Switzerland, volunteers saw images of their own bodies from the perspective of someone behind them.

The researchers, who used the goggles to mix up sensory signals to the brain, said the studies suggest a scientific explanation for a phenomenon often thought to be a figment of the imagination.

The scientists said the sight of their bodies located somewhere else plus the feel of their real bodies being touched simultaneously made volunteers sense that they had moved outside of their physical bodies.

The findings suggest out-of-body experiences may be created by a disconnect between the brain circuits that process certain types of sensory information.

New Plastic Is 'Strong As Steel' - And Transparent!

By mimicking a bricks-and-mortar molecular structure found in seashells, University of Michigan researchers have created a composite plastic that's as strong as steel but the new material is lighter and is also transparent.

Made of layers of clay nanosheets and a water-soluble polymer that shares its chemistry with white glue, Professor Nicholas Kotov, who led the research, almost dubbed it 'plastic steel' but the new material isn't quite stretchy enough to earn that name.

Nevertheless, Professor Kotov says that further development could lead to lighter, stronger armour for soldiers or police and their vehicles. It could also be used in microelectromechanical devices, microfluidics, biomedical sensors and valves and unmanned aircraft.

The National Space Society (NSS), based in Washington DC, has called for the US government to invest billions of dollars to develop and launch orbiting solar-capture panels which will convert the sun's power into microwave energy and beam it back to Earth.

The NSS claims solar space power (SSP) can provide large quantities of energy to each and every person on Earth with very little environmental impact.

A few days after the NSS called for the development of such a clean energy source the Pentagon weighed in to give it's backing to the scheme. The National Security Space Office recommended that the US government should sponsor projects to demonstrate solar-power-generating satellites and provide financial incentives for further private development of the technology.

Space-based solar power would use kilometre-sized solar panel arrays to gather sunlight in orbit. It would then beam power down to Earth in the form of microwaves or a laser, which would be collected in antennas on the ground and then converted to electricity. Unlike solar panels based on the ground, solar power satellites placed in geostationary orbit above the Earth could operate at night and during cloudy conditions.

Over a dozen space advocacy groups have now announced a new alliance to promote space solar power – the Space Solar Alliance for Future Energy. These supporters of space-based solar power say the technology has the potential to provide more energy than fossil fuels, wind and nuclear power combined (a concept explored in my novels 'Emergence' and 'Extinction').

The Top Ten Trends For 2008 (As Suggested By The World Future Society).

It's that time of year again. The American-based World Future Society has just published its top ten trends for 2008 (in an effort to promote their library of publications). Futurist members of the WFS suggest that the most important trends are:

1. The world will have a billion millionaires by 2025. Globalization and technological innovation are driving this increased prosperity. But challenges to prosperity will also become more acute, such as water shortages that will affect two-thirds of world population by 2025. --James Canton, author of "The Extreme Future," reviewed in THE FUTURIST May-June 2007, p. 54

2. Fashion will go wired as technologies and tastes converge to revolutionize the textile industry. Researchers in smart fabrics and intelligent textiles (SFIT) are working with the fashion industry to bring us color-changing or perfume-emitting jeans, wristwatches that work as digital wallets, and running shoes like the Nike +iPod that watch where you're going (possibly allowing others to do the same). Powering these gizmos remains a key obstacle. But industry watchers estimate that a $400 million market for SFIT is already in place and predict that smart fabrics could revitalize the U.S. and European textile industry.  --Patrick Tucker, "Smart Fashion," Sep-Oct 2007, p. 68

3. The threat of another cold war with China, Russia, or both could replace terrorism as the chief foreign-policy concern of the United States. Scenarios for what a war with China or Russia would look like make the clashes and wars in which the United States is now involved seem insignificant. The power of radical jihadists is trivial compared with Soviet missile capabilities, for instance. The focus of U.S. foreign policy should thus be on preventing an engagement among Great Powers. --Edward N. Luttwak, "Preserving Balance among the Great Powers," Nov-Dec 2006, p. 26

4. Counterfeiting of currency will proliferate, driving the move toward a cashless society. Sophisticated new optical scanning technologies could, in the next five years, be a boon for currency counterfeiters, so societies are increasingly putting aside their privacy fears about going cashless. Meanwhile, cashless technologies are improving, making them far easier and safer to use. --Allen H. Kupetz, "Our Cashless Future," May-June 2007, p. 37

5. The earth is on the verge of a significant extinction event. The twenty-first century could witness a biodiversity collapse 100 to 1,000 times greater than any previous extinction since the dawn of humanity, according to the World Resources Institute. Protecting biodiversity in a time of increased resource consumption, overpopulation, and environmental degradation will require continued sacrifice on the part of local, often impoverished communities. Experts contend that incorporating local communities' economic interests into conservation plans will be essential to species protection in the next century. --World Trends & Forecasts, Nov-Dec 2006, p. 6

6. Water will be in the twenty-first century what oil was in the twentieth century. Global fresh water shortages and drought conditions are spreading in both the developed and developing world. In response, the dry state of California is building 13 desalination plants that could provide 10%-20% of the state's water in the next two decades. Desalination will become more mainstream by 2020. --William E. Halal, "Technology's Promise: Highlights from the TechCast Project," Nov-Dec, p. 44

7. World population by 2050 may grow larger than previously expected, due in part to healthier, longer-living people. Slower than expected declines of fertility in developing countries and increasing longevity in richer countries are contributing to a higher rate of population growth. As a result, the UN has increased its forecast for global population from 9.1 billion people by 2050 to 9.2 billion. --World Trends & Forecasts, Sep-Oct 2007, p. 10

8. The number of Africans imperiled by floods will grow 70-fold by 2080. The rapid urbanization taking place throughout much of Africa makes flooding particularly dangerous, altering the natural flow of water and cutting off escape routes. If global sea levels rise by the predicted 38 cm by 2080, the number of Africans affected by floods will grow from 1 million to 70 million. --World Trends & Forecasts, July-Aug 2007, p. 7

9. Rising prices for natural resources could lead to a full-scale rush to develop the Arctic. Not just oil and natural gas, but also the Arctic's supplies of nickel, copper, zinc, coal, freshwater, forests, and of course fish are highly coveted by the global economy. Whether the Arctic states tighten control over these commodities or find equitable and sustainable ways to share them will be a major political challenge in the decades ahead. --Lawson W. Brigham, "Thinking about the Arctic's Future: Scenarios for 2040," Sep-Oct 2007, p. 27

10. More decisions will be made by nonhuman entities. Electronically enabled teams in networks, robots with artificial intelligence, and other noncarbon life-forms will make financial, health, educational, and even political decisions for us. Reason: Technologies are increasing the complexity of our lives and human workers' competency is not keeping pace well enough to avoid disasters due to human error. --Arnold Brown, "'Not with a Bang': Civilization's Accelerating Challenge," Sep-Oct 2007, p. 38

www.rayhammond.com

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