Tracking Future Technology: nanotechnology, robotics, biotechnology, rfid

Lockheed Martin Jumps the Curve

Last month, I traveled to Dallas to give a keynote presentation to Lockheed Martin on environmental issues. At the time, I encouraged company officials to begin exploring opportunities in the ”clean tech” area in an effort to diversify its business away from the defense/aerospace business. Although I’m sure my recommendation had nothing to do with the decision, I’m was glad to see that Lockheed Martin is now busy designing a new Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion technology which could provide America with a vast supply of cheap, clean and sustainable energy. It could even make desalination technology more a viable technology by addressing the high energy cost part of the equation.

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

The Zoo of the Future

In my book, Jump the Curve, the final chapter is dedicated to the idea of “doing the impossible.” In short, it is my contention that unless you internalize the notion of accelerating change you will dismiss as “impossible” many things that will be imminently possible tomorrow due to the exponential nature of technological progress.

A wonderful case in point is this fascinating article from today’s New York Times claiming that it might soon be possible to regenerate a Wooly Mammoth for $10 million because DNA sequencing technology is continually getting more inexpensive.

Regardless of what one may think of the moral and ethical wisdom of recreating Wooly Mammoths, it is imprudent to dismiss the idea as impossible. Yet this is precisely what Rudolph Jaenisch, a biologist at the Whitehead Institute, has done by proclaiming the idea: “a wishful-thinking experiment with no realistic chance for success.”

To my mind this quote is eerily similar to that of another expert, Lord Kelvin, who famously announced in 1899 that “Heavier than air machines are impossible.” Of course, as we all now know, just four years later the Wright Brothers proved him wrong.

With this in mind, is it possible that in 2012 the New York City Zoo might have a new addition to its line-up—such as the once extinct Wooly Mammoth? Don’t be too quick to dismiss the idea. (It’s too bad that Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, didn’t live to see this day. But, as I think he knew, yesterday’s science fiction often has a way of becoming tomorrow’s science fact.)

Interested in other some farfetched articles by America’s most provocative futurist, Jack Uldrich? Check out these past posts:

10 Reasons We Will to 1000
What’s Impossible?
The Future of Reading

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

Supercomputers Will Require Unlearning

I have written before the amazing and growing power of supercomputers (here and here), but this article makes a compelling case that supercomputer simulation will soon become the “third branch of science” and that the growing power of these beasts will rival the invention of the microscope in their impact on science.

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

Voice Recognition Technology Takes a Baby Step into the Future

Late yesterday, Google released a very cool new mobile application which employs voice recognition technology. The question is not so much what the technology can do today, the question is what will the technology be able to do in the near future—and how might it change education, health care, and a host of other daily activities?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on how this technology could unfold and how it might alter people’s behavior. Below are my initial thoughts:

Here’s Google’s own YouTube clip on its new technology:

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

A Tale of Two Videos

Last week, I showed you two photos which demonstrated how far mobile telecommunications had progressed in the past 17 years. I would now like to show you two videos that portend how far video and haptic technology will likely come in the next few years.

The first video comes is Stanford University and it is clear that you will soon be able to easily embed video and photos directly into your own video or, alternatively, on to any flat surface. The implications for the advertising industry alone are staggering.

The second video is even cooler and it offers compelling visual evidence that certain aspects of the “Minority Report” are no longer science fiction, they are science fact. Education and video gaming will never be the same when this technology becomes affordable.

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

The Power of Creative Play

If you want a handful of helpful suggestions on how to “jump the curve” by engaging in the power of play, I strongly encourage you to watch this outstanding 27-minute presentation by Tim Brown. It is chalk-full of examples of how to help make people more creative. Key concepts include: focusing on quantity (not quality); building/playing with things with your hands; and engaging in role-playing.

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

Self-Cleaning Grocery Carts?

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

What Size Are Raindrops in Space?

One strategy for “jumping the curve” is to engage your inner-child and begin asking silly questions again—much as you may have when you were a young child. To this end, two NASA engineers recently wondered what would happen if they popped a waterballoon in space. Time will tell whether this question yields any interesting or practical scientific results, but in the meantime they have produced a pretty cool video. Enjoy ...

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

Retailers: Using Technology to Build Trust

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal ran an article describing how some grocery chain retailers are now using sanitized washing machines to disinfect grocery carts. (Surprisingly, shopping carts are among the dirtiest public places.) From one perspective this an excellent way to establish a high-level of trust with a store’s customers. From another perspective, it could send an unintended signal to customers that its shopping carts are somehow dangerous and thus could end up being counter-productive.

So, what is a well-intentioned grocer to do? One answer could lie in the esoteric field of nanotechnology. A number of new nanomaterials are now being made that have self-cleaning and even anti-microbial properties. Therefore, a more elegant solution to germ-ridden grocery carts, could lie in constructing them out of nanomaterials. (In this way, the carts could simply clean themselves without drawing any unwanted attention to the cleaning process.)

This is just one example of how new emerging technologies can help retailers establish a higher level of trust with customers. Best Buy and other retailers are now deploying kiosks in their stores that allow customers to conduct quick and easy price comparisons with competitors products. Even though many people do extensive research online before they make a purchase or can use their cellphone to do the same thing, the kiosks sends a great signal that Best Buy is using technology to bring a higher level of transparency to its business. Imagine further then that the kiosks can dispense an electronic coupon to match or better the competitors price. How far would that go in developing trust?

In the near future, RFID technology will also be deployed to enhance trust. Many consumers are becoming increasingly interested in the entire life cycle of their meat and agricultural products. With RFID technology consumers can learn everything from the farm that a chicken was raised on; to whether it was fed any antibiotics; to how long it was in transport before it arrived on the retailers shelf.

As wireless technology, RFID and in-store electronic displays all become more prevalent, the opportunity exists for retailers to build an ever deeper level of trust between themselves and their customers. The only question is whether retailers are willing to embrace the immense opportunity sitting before them.

Interested in other grocery-related articles by America’s leading retail futurist, Jack Uldrich? Check out these past articles:

Tesco Jumps the Curve
The Future Face of Retail
Watch What You Eat—Literally
The Future of the Grocery Store
Retailers are Beginning to Jump the Curve
Pump It Up: Retailers Use Google to Bolster Customer Loyalty
RFID Gets Untracked

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments

Hospitals Wireless Future

Last week, I was in Atlantic City to keynote Verizon Wireless’ annual “Lifescience & Healthcare Summit” and moderate two panels on how wireless technology is transforming healthcare. Because I’m a firm believer that pictures (or in this case video) speak louder than words, I’d encourage you to watch this short video of how researchers at John Hopkins are using the iPhone to visually display medical images:

This is only the tip of proverbial iceberg. Just yesterday, Google announced it was unveiling a new ”tool” to help citizens spot flu trends two weeks sooner than the government’s current system; and Philip’s announced that it had created a new “intelligent” pill which can be programmed to control the delivery of medicine according to a pre-defined drug release profile. In addition to delivering drugs directly to the site of the disease, the pill can also wirelessly transmit information about the patient’s condition.

The two events signal a promising future for wireless technology in the healthcare sector, but it is just the beginning. I have written before about how advances in genomics and RFID are transforming healthcare. In both cases, wireless technology will take these technologies to the next level.

For example, it is unrealistic to expect either patients or doctors will be able to process—let alone understand—the wealth of genomic data that is poised to begin flooding the market in the next few years. Wireless technology can help patients better understand, manage and utilize genomic information by storing the data on the cellphone and then allowing users to deploy sophisticated algorithms to allow them make more intelligent decisions about what foods to eat or products to buy; while doctors can use social networking tools to compare notes (on genomic-related information) with their peers while also using mobile technology to stay abreast to the latest advances in the field.

Similarly, as hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic and others begin to deploy RFID technology for everything from asset tracking to patient record management, it is clear that wireless mobile communication tools will be the conduit by which healthcare professionals harness and process the data that those tags are sending.

In oder to reduce the escalating healthcare costs in this country, it is imperative that consumers take more responsibility for their own health care and that society engage in more preventative healthcare. In both instances, wireless technology can be a big part of the solution. The trick will lie in convincing healthcare adminsitrators that investments in IT-related infrastructure will be worth the effort.

Interested in other health care-related posts by America’s leading healthcare futurist, Jack Uldrich? Check out these recent articles:

The Future of Health Care: Preventing Disease
Health Care Providers Need a Second Life
The Future of Health Care: Part 3 (Robotics)The Robot Will See You Now
Hospitals Robotic Future: Part 2
Hospitals Robotic Future: Part 1
Hospitals Get a Lift

Enjoy this post? Bookmark at the following sites.

                           

Email This Article To A Friend   View/Add Comments