Augmented Reality Depot Augmented Reality Depot / Items

Going Down The Rabbit Hole | GOOD

Get Feed
Going Down The Rabbit Hole | GOOD
Description

Username:

Password:

Not a member yet?

Create an account to:

vote on articles

create your own blog

leave comments

speak your mind

join

search

14

Going Down The Rabbit Hole

Posted by: GOOD

on April 7, 2009 at 3:27 am

The future of transportation may mean not moving at all.

Ray Kurzweil, an inventor and technology theorist, envisions a future in which advances in nanotechnology, genetics, and robotics give us immortality; clean, free energy; and a completely new definition of mobility. Think plug-in electric cars and maglev trains are the transportation innovations of tomorrow? Kurzweil is looking quite a bit further down the road.

GOOD : How will technological advances change transportation in the 21st century?

Ray Kurzweil: For starters, we will replace a lot of transportation with the ability to meet each other in virtual reality. I give about a third of my speeches around the world using a virtual-communication system that allows me to appear at a venue in three dimensions and in real time. My image is three-dimensional, life-sized, and fully realistic. As I move around, the audience sees their local background behind me.

Ultimately, virtual reality will be extremely realistic and incorporate all of the senses. If we go out to around 2030, we will be able to send someone an information file (as an email attachment, for example) and they will “print” it out in three dimensions to create virtually any three-dimensional object, such as a computer, a solar panel, a module to build housing, food, or clothing. This will replace most of the transportation needed to ship products.

G: So we’ll have realistic virtual reality and the ability to print three-dimensional products at home. Will travel be altogether obsolete in the future? What’s the time line for this happening?

RK: During the teen years of this century we ...

Original URL
http://www.good.is/post/going-down-the-rabbit-hole/

Comments

  • Public Comments

    • Nova Spivack Nova Spivack
      8 months ago


      I think Kurzweil has interesting ideas, but I'm personally skeptical that things will happen as quickly as he projects. And in particular, I'm doubtful that we will be hosting nanobots in our brains within the next 100 years. But it's certainly very interesting reading.
      Augmented Reality Depot, The Future of Computing, Virtual Worlds

    • . .•∞º˙ . .•∞º˙
      8 months ago


      yup. interesting projections. but I'm not sure how accepted some of those might be. Having just come off a major religious holiday, I can't see my family (or my parents) being very receptive to a 'virtual visit' from their grandchildren. 3D holographic business meetings are ok, since they have a short duration, a primary purpose or focus, and the diminished visual reception is acceptable given the alternative mediums of presentation.

      A projection is one thing, but watching your grandkids on 3D TV somehow pales in comparison to actually sharing in their day by simply being together.
      Augmented Reality Depot
    Add a Comment
Report This

Twine is about discovering, collecting and sharing the content that interests you. Learn More

Join Twine

Stats

First Posted By

Nova Spivack

First Comment By

Nova Spivack

Tags

Source Tags

Community Tags

Who's Interested In This?

Forgot your password?