Interface (tech control)

Where will technology and big data take our future?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Stratasys 3d printed shoes

Technology is slowly infiltrating every area of our human existence. I read Alistair Croll's Race Alongside the Machine today on re/code and it led me to a reflection on how we humans are being changed by the technology we develop and where this might lead in the future.

When I came up with the original idea for a future-focused site, I immediately created a short list I called "aspects of human existence." I've changed them to "elements of how we live" and use them as story tags, a taxonomy vocabulary in Drupal terms, in order to help users find content. After reading Croll's piece, I decided today's exercise would be to look at the (now much longer) list and see what I can come up with for where current trends and predictions will take us as we continue to combine humans, technology and big data.

What will it take for you to get a data chip embedded in your body?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

RFID chipData chip implants
What it is - Implants embedded in our bodies. They allow us to access current services such as GPS and RFID. In the future, they can be used to store medical device and other data, connect with cellphone systems and even connect with friends as a form of artificial telepathy.

Can smart gun technology help resolve the current American firearm debate?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Smart gun in case

Gun ownership in America is polarizing issue and one that seems to be facing a very slow path to solution. And by solution, I mean finding a way to cut down on gun-related deaths without changing legal gun ownership rights. I can't speak for all moderates, but I'm a firm believer that guns do kill people (which isn't always the issue, but they also tend to kill the people next to the people the shooter is aiming at) and that we do have a right to bear arms.

Something has to give.

When a situation reaches this point, and the industry with the R&D money (the gun industry in this situation) refuse to step up, that industry is ripe for disruption. As we move into the future, these disruptions are really what will create the future and how we'll use, own and feel safer around firearms.

Extremis - Iron Man becomes posthuman

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

ExtremisWarren Ellis introduced the Extremis concept to Iron man in a 6-issue story arc starting in January 2005. This arc changed Tony Stark from a cyborg to a posthuman by introducing nanotechnology into his body and altering his physiology to include direct connections with the Iron Man suit. Ellis introduced many concepts and characters that were used in the Iron Man movie trilogy, especially Iron Man 3.

If you're into superhero comics, this is a short arc you don't want to miss. It's available on Marvel Unlimited or through Amazon. In typical comic-book style, it takes some complex scientific breakthroughs and turn them into a magical elixir, yet it brings many of the reasons we research posthuman adaptation into perspective given Stark's need to deal with the story villains. And there are a few great conversations in which characters wax philosophical about their Frankensteinian need to create a future that might be more monster than they would like.

The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Dr. Kaku provides of his new book and how our understanding of the human mind will enable some amazing feats in the near future - including the ability to record  thoughts in rats and be able to play them back into the rat's brain so the thought is relearned by the animal.

The 'True Love' Bra

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Heart rate responses to various input The Japanese lingerie manufacturer Ravijour has a new product out they call the True Love Tester bra. You can watch the video linked off the Popular Science article for their presentation of how it works, but the truly interesting detail is the graph of heart rate responses to varying stimuli - and how a company looking to market a new product uses our data.

If I understand this correctly, the bra senses the wearer's heart rate and when it "exceeds a certain value, the bra hook is unlocked automatically." A situation where a biological response can act as a trigger may be a bit part of our wearable future, but is it something we can trust or simply a gizmo to play with?

While the novelty isn't world-changing, it is an example of how our biodata can be used in different ways and how wearables can impact the world around us using our biology as a key.

Owning a mobile phone makes you intimately trackable

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance.

This was the content of a text message received by cell phone carrying protestors in Kiev by the Ukranian government. Using mobile technologies, the government was able to identify all of the phones in certain areas and target them with this warning. It's a message that lets the carrier of the phone know they, or the phone owner, has been identified by private records as participating in the protests - or at least being in the vicinity.

Yes, there is now an app for when to keep it in your pants (or take them off)

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Glow screen view Glow is an app for iOS and Android devices designed to assist women (and couples) with tracking and controlling their reproductive health by identifying their activity cycle. Founded by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, the company offer two ways to help women or couples looking to conceive (or not).

RoboEarth: a learning community for robots?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

RoboEarth layers of services diagramRoboEarth is a project designed to network robots so each can add and pull information from a central repository. By sharing their "experiences", the robots can learn more quickly and access content to help them adapt to each process. The company's website provides this explanation of the online system:

"The RoboEarth Cloud Engine (also called Rapyuta) makes powerful computation available to robots. It allows robots to offload their heavy computation to secure computing environments in the cloud with minimal configuration. The Cloud Engine’s computing environments provide high bandwidth access to the RoboEarth knowledge repository enabling robots to benefit from the experience of other robots."

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