In the 1900s, black-and-white televisions covered with a wooden finishing was a popular trend among households. Gradually, as technology advances, Plasma, LCD, 720p, 1080p, HDTV start to emerge into the television market. Television has come a long way, but no one knows exactly what the future of television will be like, do you? Well, according to Ashley Highfield, the UK Managing Director of Microsoft, the so-called ‘smart’ television would be able to recognize facial expressions and body movements, similar to the concept implemented on Project Natal, the code name for a “controller-free gaming and entertainment experience” by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game platform. He added on by saying within the next decade, TVs will be able to predict what you want to watch depending on your mood and choose appropriate programmes, taking into account past viewing preferences.
Mr Highfield told the Daily Telegraph: “Within 5 to 10 years, it is inevitably that television will be controlled much more naturally. It will be more intuitive, like the Xbox, following body movement and facial recognition like project natal.” “TV will increasingly go that way,” said Mr Highfield. “This is certainly the last generation that will have a remote control”.
Over the years, technology has changed rapidly, and it advances with a geometric progression rather than an arithmetrical one. A decade ago, mobile phones weighed and looked like the size of a house brick. In a blink of an eye, today’s mobile phones are so small and thin that they could even be placed in your chest pocket. And we are still not contented and crave for more impressive features and intuitive interfaces despite the fact that smartphones already have touch-screen interfaces to help us navigate through apps, surf the web, and even play games like Tap Tap Revenge 3. So what the future of mobile phones will be like? A transparent mobile phone like the one below? Or a multi-sensory phone that works with the sense of smell, sight, hearing and touch? (far bottom)
Not only does the mobile phone technology advances rapidly, but almost all the technologies embraced by other industries (games, computers, cars, bio-technology, stem-cell technology) are getting more powerful and advanced than ever. I wonder how the world will be like 15 years down the road, when I’m 30, working in the society. Will robots instead of humans dominate the streets? Frankly speaking, no one knows except God.
