Big picture Horizons

I have decided that I shall try to take on a new direction in my horizon post, in the last two posts I have proven quite solidly that there has been a continual interest in the media towards large issues and also that when we look forward we usually see the fears of what might happen if we are not careful. I have also proven to some degree that the best sorts of horror media is that based on fears. However I do not feel that this accurately shows the big picture, as it only seems to show the horrors we may face tomorrow.

But what else are we looking forward to?
Technology seems to be something we are always looking forward to, it also seems to be what we solve our problems with. With that in mind I think for my big picture horizons post I shall look into the advent of technology and what will soon be coming out.

The reason for this is mainly because I want to see if I can predict the problems we will face tomorrow by looking to see if technology will create any new fears in the next few years or if it'll stop any fears that already exist. For this I think ill focus more on media based technology as in technology which will advance avenues of media, simply because they will be what will be popular in technology tomorrow.

My first step is to look into the next steps for one of the largest games console companies,
Sony.

Image of Sony Presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show

(Bozeman R, 2011)

This is an image of a las Vegas conference in which Sony announced its new project of a 3D interface you wear as a pair of goggles, the statistics of the goggles are very interesting being HD, 3D and 5.1 surround sound. They are very immersive however unbearable. (Bozeman R, 2011)

They however represent what is on the horizon for gaming, a more immersive experience in the form of your head being placed within the screen allowing you to look around.

This image from the consumer electronics show shows that this technology will defiantly be popular in the media because of its appearance at a consumer electronics show demonstrating the prototype.

However I watched this video on Holographic technology and I began to wonder, perhaps holographic television will be the next big thing? 3DTV is very painful to watch and hard to focus on and this system seems to bypass it...

Article about prototype Holographic TV

(Kelly S, 2011)

If Holographic displays are the next step then we should be able to easily see things in front of us which look real. With this technology items appear 3d in the sense that if you move to the left you see a different image to what you did when you were sat to the right. (Kelly S, 2011)

This type of technology has media presence and popularity proven by this TV news article that has been done on it.
With sight and sound you should be able to get a very accurate 3D world projected to you, but what about interacting with that world?

(Shinoda,H. 2009)

interesting, so it seems that japan is working on the idea of using ultrasound to imitate holograms being more touchable and pliable, this is an interesting step forward and will defiantly be usable is stuff like holographic keyboards and such other controls. (Shinoda,H. 2009)

This video shows tests being done by the university of Tokyo, showing that the technology defiantly has popularity in the media due to the tests and technology actually existing, because if a university wanted to test on a technology it would be due to a demand.

However for a totally immersive Realistic holographic system it is not exactly perfect, you cannot imitate solid objects with this, so what other technology on the horizon might be able to make you feel like there is a real world around you?

Demonstration of the Haptic Phantom Omni

(Sensible Inc. 2010)

I have already covered the haptic before now, however I think it definatly has scope in this article on the future of technology after finding this video by the university of berlin showing what they are doing with haptic technology.

Test done by the Computer science Department

(University of Berlin, 2010)

This test by the university of Berlin shows popularity for this technology because of its existence on youtube.

So now we are getting somewhere, this video demonstrates the usage of the haptic technology in the way of interaction with a three dimensional environment. This does cover some of the bases required for an immersive VR environment, but obviously not all of them. So what else will be commercially viable in the future of Haptics?

Image demonstrating Mobile Haptics

(Hardawar D, 2011)

This is an image taken from a website which talks about the future of haptic feedback technology as a viable choice for the mobile phone industry, the article is titled "forget 3D, Haptics is the future of mobile screens". The article goes on to say that since phones are already capable of giving is tactile feedback depending on where we touch it’s no big leap to say in the next 5 years mobile phones will be able to simulate objects to us using feedback feeling. (Hardawar D, 2011)

This would mean a new age of phones even allowing for mobiles to be used by the blind even if they only have a touchscreen!

This article on the Internet shows popularity for this technology as it proclaims the technology's future viability into a very popular market.


What about movement? If this was a computer system we couldn’t allow people to wander around the real world with it. Well luckily something has been in development for quite some time which answers this problem.

(Waters, D. 2008)

It’s called the cyber walker and in this BBC news story they are planning to soon reconstruct the lost city of Pompeii and allow people to walk through it on this treadmill which works on two axes. It is said to be the closest thing to natural movement you can get. (Waters D, 2008)

well if we combine the technology which is in development here we can say that soon we will be able to mimic sight, sound, walking, and even to some extent touch, that’s a lot of what we need to recreate virtual reality!

This exhibit where they allowed people walk through a digital reconstruction of Pompeii shows the popularity of this technology at present and that its development into more uses in future technology will defiantly be anticipated.

But there has got to be more, the whole body will need resistance systems like that of the haptic,
Well it seems that in the military they are working on exoskeletons which really start to bridge the gap.

Video about new Exoskeleton technology

(Carjam Radio. 2011).

If we use this technology but slightly reverse its function so that on top of helping the user move easily it also offers resistance to the user we should be able to simulate solid objects in a virtual world in a more complete way.

This podcast about the military technology being presented here shows its popularity in the media.

But I feel I must digress now into more types of research which encompass the big picture's horizon. For this I will simplify my search somewhat and look at the phrase 'The big picture' as a horizon search subject.

(Lartigau E, To be released in 2012)

This film which will come out next year shows that the title Big Picture will definatly have media presence in the future.

Well I think in this post I have proven that in the future we will have a completely new world of technology to explore! If my projections are right in the next 10-20 years we should be well on our way to virtual reality, the next step in media. In my forecast I shall combine my research here with the ideals I found in my past and present posts to create a projection of the future.