World Future Wrap-up: The Virtualization of America (And the World)

Michael Rogers is an author, journalist, and futurist.  He attended Stanford, where he double-majored in physics and creative writing.  After graduating, he turned down a job at Intel to write for Rolling Stone.

I always look forward to hearing journalists speak, and Rogers did not disappoint.

After a jam-packed weekend of ideas, theories, and predictions, Rogers’s talk was the perfect capstone.  He provided a snapshot of the current state of affairs in the world of technology and touched on a number of points that had been discussed throughout the weekend.  Rogers elegantly drew together many different ideas, and, without overwhelming his audience, succinctly summarized the weekend.  Here are a few of the topics he discussed and how they related to the rest of the event.

• The Era of Laptop Replacement.  When discussing the future of technology with an acquaintance at Google a few weeks ago, I conjectured that the step in technology would be the migration of most activity to a smart phone or smart pad environment, which would utilize auxiliary docking stations or projectors for monitors and keyboards.  Rogers concurred.  This concept was also discussed at The Human-Computer Interface break-out session.
• Heads-Up Glasses.  Glasses, or goggles, that superimpose a screen onto your field of vision, effectively create a computer you wear on your head.  BWM Oracle sailors used these during the America’s Cup boat race this year.
• The Internet of Things.  This phrase refers to the potential interconnectedness of everyday objects to the internet.  I hadn’t heard the term before this weekend.  Mike Nelson from the Pew Research Internet Evolution break-out session also mentioned this on Friday.
• WiFi for Cars.  Essentially, this is one aspect of what MIT Media Lab: Smart Cities Group is working on with their CityCars.  We toured the labs on Thursday.
• Telepresence.  Rogers talked about a ramped-up version of video conferencing, where users feel as if they are in the same room as people who are, physically, thousands of miles away.  He referenced the Cisco version specifically.  I wouldn’t be a good HP employee if I didn’t throw in a plug for HP’s amazing Halo Rooms.  [I've personally used these -- they're very cool.]

Rogers identified three main challenges going forward concerning the virtualization of the world.

1. Creating New Laws.  This was addressed at a both the Nebulous aspects of Cloud Computing break-out session and the Space Tourism break-out session.  The main issue here is that the internet is essentially the Wild West of computing — there are no overarching governmental standards or regulations at the moment.
2. Implementing Accountability via Real Identities. The future of anonymity on the internet was one of the topics discussed at the Pew Research Internet Evolution break-out session.
3. Employing Taxation or a Virtual Currency.  Edie Weiner touched on the virtual currency aspect of this at the Unemployment Conundrum break-out session.  Many break-out sessions, such as the Nebulous Aspects of Cloud Computing and the Human-Computer Interface, also referenced issues surrounding virtual ownership.

Rogers ended the session with a question.  In the transition from the physical world to the virtual world, Rogers asked, what will be lost?  What aspects of the physical world will not be translatable to the virtual world?

This weekend has been a whirlwind of ideas.  Right now, they’re simmering in my head, waiting to be sorted and dissected over the next few weeks.  This weekend has been inspirational on a variety of levels, not the least of which is that it has reaffirmed my desire to return to school.  The world seems full of possibilities for the future – both global and personal – in a way that it didn’t a week ago.  Short-term, however, many posts on blog posts exploring many of these topics will follow.

While Rogers asks what we will lose in this transition, I want to leave you with a different question.  All of these ideas – technical, biological, virtual, faith-related, academic – open doors for new opportunities to explore and understand the human condition.  Yes, we may lose some things, but that always happens when technology advances.  Rather, I would like you to ask yourselves the following.

In the transition from the physical world to the virtual world, what will we learn about ourselves?  At the end of the day, what will we gain?