Future Technology Revolutions: Advanced Telecommunications
Our third technology revolution is basically Skype on steroids: An unstoppable trend of virtual meetings gradually displacing physical ones.
Coronavirus lockdowns across the world are bringing this technological trend into sharper focus. In a not-too-distant future, we’ll meet virtually not because of a virus, but simply because it’s better.
Virtual transportation
Imagine that you could teleport yourself instantly to anywhere on earth at a negligible cost.
Such a technology would change everything. There would be much less need for cars, roads and parking spaces. Air transportation would also shrink greatly.
In addition, the nature of collaborative work would change completely as easy face-to-face meetings with anyone in the world become possible.
Although physical teleportation may well be impossible, virtual teleportation of your mind and senses is not.
Beyond video conferencing
The long-term vision for collaborative problem solving is the virtual transportation of the ideal team from across the world into a digital space designed for optimal sharing of ideas.
Each collaborator can participate from the comfort of his own home through a virtual reality (VR) headset. From within the virtual meeting room, his avatar would be able to talk face-to-face with his collaborators, using multimedia information to convey his thoughts most efficiently.
And we can turn up the sci-fi another notch to the point where we’d be able to communicate just by thinking, making long-distance collaboration even more efficient.
The annoying problems with Skype still prevalent today show us that this vision is still some way off. But it’s coming…
Remote experiences
VR technology can also enable virtual transportation into physical spaces thousands of miles away. This can have large implications for tourism and live events.
Although the transmission of taste, smell and touch will always be difficult, the two most important senses, sight and hearing, are easily digitalized.
Thus, a 360 degree camera and microphone mounted on a drone could replicate most of the experience in any situation where sight and sound are the key senses. Someone wearing a VR headset would be able to look around and experience the environment almost as if she was there.
The experience could even be better than the real thing if the receiver can go where physical human bodies cannot. For example, safe and convenient exploration of hostile jungles or free teleportation between the best seats in the house at live events.
How to prepare
The biggest loser from this technology revolution will be the car. I think the auto industry is likely to shrink substantially over coming decades.
The huge cost related to cars, fuel, maintenance, roads and accidents will be redirected to a wide range of diverse VR services.
VR entertainment, education, collaboration and exploration are likely to grow rapidly over coming decades. Getting into these sectors fairly early on could be a wise move.
The other big winner is likely to be smart urban design, where cities are built for people instead of cars.
Living in a central location where cars are an annoyance today could become much more pleasant in the future. This will also help us not to get lost in the virtual world, but enjoy spending time outside in the real one.
Overall, I think the future world where virtual travelling has become the norm will be awesome. This is the technological revolution I’m most looking forward to 🙂