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Are Your Ready for Warp Speed?

It would be easy to dismiss the idea that we will have computers a thousand times faster than anything currently on the market within just a few years, but as I stress in my forthcoming book, Jump the Curve, I think that would be a big mistake. Yesterday, Physorg.com reported on a new patent-pending technology called ”Warp processing.”

The technology works by reassigning various computer processing functions to a different kind of chip called a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) which can execute some—but not all—functions significantly faster than a microprocessor. According to Frank Vahid, who has developed the technology, the FPGA can do things “10 times, 100 times, even 1,000 times faster.”

The task of the exponential executive is not to understand how this technology works, but rather to imagine what will soon be possible because of it. At a minimum, it is easy to imagine how the technolgy will allow for better graphics and faster performance, but I’d encourage people to ”jump the curve” and try to imagine radically different capabilities.

For example, this recent article described some of the new advances in wearable computing. In the future it will be possible for chips embedded in your clothing to perform diagnostic functions—so if your heart is beating too fast, your shirt will tell you to slow down; or if you aren’t sufficiently hydrated, it’ll tell you to fill up on water. Why a smart shirt could even tell you to correct your posture.

In the future, as result of this technology, we will also be able to use your cellphone for object recognition. Imagine being lost and simply using the camera on your cellphone to locate your position—not by GPS—but by identifying the building in front of you. Or if you’re in a museum and you’d like to know more about a particular painting just point and click and your phone will deliver a rash of relevant information pulled off the Web.

Longer term, due such advances, I believe your computer will even become more intuitive—rather than simply respond to our commands, the computer of the future will anticipate our needs. For instance, your cellphone might “know” you are standing in line at the airport and can thus take a certain phone call from an annoying business colleague.

These applications just stratch the surface of what will possible. My advise: keep a very open mind—the future is about to begin moving at warp speed.

Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future trends, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and associations.

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