TopTen Days: Future Inventions

The Future; a novel concept. Fragments of anticipation and vivid imagination sprinkled upon the continuously passing memories of the present. We, as a species, live in the future just as much as we live in the past. Therefore, we establish both equally, calling these experiences of the past and future, the present. Many claim to be able to see the future as though it were some map of choice-less decisions plotted along colliding lifelines. Although I may be skeptical, more so afraid that decisions are merely our ability to live out moments already determined by some joystick frenetic ‘being’, I know we all know our own future. This may seem irrational or overwhelming, but the truth is everything is balanced; two sides of the same coin that read differently (yin & yang).

We inarguably make our past. Our past was once our future, therefore we make our future as well. It’s simple really. The future is entirely made up of the choices we make and therefore can only extend as far as the imaginative minds that develop it (okay, so maybe weather catastrophes and sun implosions are not within our grasp). So what will the world look like in fifty years? How will mankind have evolved? Will we have experienced an apocalypse or will mankind have become enslaved by the world of machines?

(More on the other side)

Hopefully we can form a resistance and prevent the abolition of ‘free minds’ (notice I said ‘minds’), but until then we shall strive to perpetually place all modern technologies into obsoletion. Computers will get smaller and faster, televisions will be bigger and thinner, and razors will have dozens of blades. I know we all have our big ideas of how to make things better and concepts of what we’d like to see in the future; so here’s mine! It excludes the really typical ideas like personal flying apparatus’, teleportation, invisibility and x-ray glasses (I never understood why guys thought they could see through clothes with such a device).

So without further a due, here is my list of Ten Technological Advancements for the Future.

1. Thought Processor: Imagine being able to record all your thoughts effortlessly, never forgetting that next big movie idea or the lyrics that sounded so good in your head, but are lost in the eternal mind mist. The thought processor would be able to record all your thoughts in real time as well as…dreams. I know there have been many nights where I wish I could have recorded my dreams not only to remember the random conglomeration of eclectic nostalgia, but also to capture the vivid imagery that only the fog of reveries can portray. This concept is not new and is being worked on, but the idea is so intriguing I had to advance on it. Think about how useful this would be in everyday life, especially if made pocket size (or smaller)! The Thought Processor could also be used in combination with my next future invention.

2. Capture I’s: This set of contact lenses would make shooting pictures and recording video as easy as blinking. One could wear this pair of contacts and record the world through their own eyes. The way I figure this would work is by having nanoreceptors placed in each lens that capture the data from the reflections and transmit this information through a microscopic antennae to a receiver on another source; possibly the Though Processor. This process would also be able to be reversed enabling almost infinitely large images to be placed directly onto the lens so one could walk through Central Park while reliving the battles of Braveheart. Ideally this technology would be completely interchangeable with my Thought Processor, combining information from the visual cortex as well as lens reflections to create a completely unique user experience; also known as perception, recordable perception!

3. A-D Movies & Games: A-D, all dimensional, movies & games would incorporate all senses in a world of complete perceptual interaction. Touch, smell, taste, sound, and sight all combined to create…a virtual reality. Sounds really cool and many have tried and tried again to create such an experience. I really doubt it will be possible until one can be hooked up to a machine through the patterns of brain waves or directly to the cortex. Either way, this concept seems inevitably awesome and would making lucid dreaming multiplayer!

4. Speed TV: Do you ever wish you could keep up with all the good movies and TV series out there yet you barely have enough time to watch one? How would you feel if you could watch all your favorite new shows, re-runs, and movies and still have time to work full time and do other activities? Introducing Speed TV. No, this is not a reference to the all racing, adrenaline inducing television channel. The Speed TV concept is a system that would allow a person to watch hours of television in a fraction of the time; coherently. Even better yet, one could watch long hours of television in their sleep and still wake rested and refreshed on the entire week’s latest episodes. Speed TV could also be combined with the Capture I. Think of the possibilities.

5. Alphatronic Betabots: War may never end for the struggle to find peace is a one sided greedy battle of irony and intangible values. Although war may never end, we need not have high ranking, power-hungry millionaires knowingly sending off millions of thriving soldiers to die for a cause unbeknownst to them. That is why we will have Alphatronic Betabots. Of course robots have already beginning to enter the battlefield, but A-Bs will make unnecessary deaths obsolete while maintaining the strategic thinking of soldiers. How this works, is the soldiers would be in a solitary place and send their strategic thinking via transmitter/receiver to the Alphatronic Betabot which could articulate every move of the contenders. This would save millions of lives, although somehow I fear the visceral desire of man to kill will somehow always prevail.

6. Objectifizer: This nifty contraption would be a top pick on anyone’s list, especially the pack rat or the seven suitcase wonder. The Objectifizer could take any object any compress its molecular volume to a fraction of the size as well as expand it back to normal. This would be ideal for shopping, camping, traveling, packing, terrorism, and pretty much anything else. I look forward to the day this exists, but haven’t the faintest clue how it could be possible (well, I guess if someone figures out the whole time travel thing it will be very easy: black hole=compression).

7. DigiNeeds: In accordance with the digital revolution why not be able to eat and drink digitally? Digineeds could essentially provide all the nourishment a human body needs through 0’s and 1’s. How? Who knows! Why? Why not! Digineeds would make the lazy man even lazier by extending the opportunity to never need to leave a room and with population on the rise; we may, at one point, not have that option. Of course Digineeds wouldn’t deprive mankind of taste and aroma, but we just thought it would be ‘convenient’. You can watch movies, shop, sleep, meet others, travel, and fornicate from the comfort of your own personalized cubicle without ever having to get up; why not be provided food and drink there as well!?

8. LCDP: Liquid Crystal Display Paint. The last of the digital inventions for the future, LCDP would be a catchy, yet unnecessary invention; fun for all ages. The idea is pretty straight forward; a container of paint that when applied to any surface can display any digital input. This could have an endless number of uses and ways of applications. Artists could paint monochrome landscapes and then display films upon it. Home decorators could paint walls to appear as oceans. Graffiti junkies could step up their game and create a whole new genre of tagging. One of these days Mike, one of these days.

9. S.E.A.m.U : Self-Energizing Aquatic Mobile Units. These spherical homes would be completely self sufficient in terms of energy and stay anywhere in the ocean; even underwater for limited periods of time. The spherical inside would be a separate piece from the outer globe with only lubricated bearings in between. The bearings would enable the inside home area to always be upright while allowing the outer sphere to move with the tide and create a comfortable and smooth ride. S.E.A.m.Us will have an oxygen system to provide breathable environment. The flow of water surrounding the unit will provide energy for the entire household as well as the normal necessary water supply. If it is possible Earth is the only planet with life on it (presuming life on other planets would be similar to ours; carbon based) I highly doubt life will leave this planet to sustain the ever-growing population somewhere else. That leaves only two places for the rising population to go; feverishly higher and higher or to the sea. And that is when S.E.A.m.Us will become the standard for aquatic living.

10. Wireless-E: To power all these ideas, one needs a lot of surge. Wireless-E would solve the world’s energy problems, make power lines obsolete and turn batteries into chew toys for crying babies and rabid dogs. The distribution of a form of wireless electricity to all devices big and small; an entire city with no cords or hassle. Some may call this lightning, but maybe wireless energy is more appropriate. There is a constant search for longer lasting batteries and alternative forms of energy. I know as of a few years ago, they have actually been culturing batteries in Petri dishes. This to me is amazing in itself; that batteries can be grown. But imagine having no need for batteries, just a few central energy plants around the world, charging and fueling all the world’s gadgets, lights, and vehicles. Brains have been doing it for thousands and thousands of years, we just have to harness a limitless form of energy and distribute it electromagnetically. If all this sounds too much Southland Tales, an inconceivable regurgitated mess, then do some research on piezoelectricity and consider the amazing abilities of magnetism.

All this and more, only in the future!