Do you remember Second Life? It’s a virtual world where people could live, fall in love, go to concerts — in fact do anything we do in the real world. I often wondered what was so wrong with the real world that people wanted to go there. And apparently some people still use it — perhaps they’re lost and can’t find their way out.
In today’s BTalk Phil Dobbie and I talk about how virtual worlds can actually be useful for business. We also talk about the idea of augmented reality, which is more likely to have traction and influence how products are bought and sold. It’s something that is likely to impact the way most businesses interact with their customer — and it’s already started to happen.
Spammers made $218 million dollars last year, but who really knows? This kick started my weekly on air discussion with Phil and Adelaine on ABC Radio Australia’s Breakfast program and Phil Whelan on Radio HK3 Hong Kong, before we turned our attention to satellites issuing speeding tickets from space and internet connected t-shirts.
For the first time ever last December we exchanged more data over our mobile devices than we talked on them which may not seem like a big enough story to start this week’s FutureTech segment on Radio ABC Australia with Phil and Adelaine, but add to this the belief that by mid 2011 we will be conducting more search inquiries over our mobile devices than on our desk-bound computers and we have the canary in the cage of how increasingly pivotal our mobile devices will become, and it becomes a great conversation starter.
Picking up the discussion with Phil Whelan on Radio HK3 Hong Kong we worked our way around the do’s and dont’s of online security, the proliferation of on-line spam (complete with a peek into Phil’s junk mail folder) and where, why and how spam comes from.
Next up were Robots, with a recent census claiming that there are 8.2 million robots in the world (is that all?) and then out to space with President Obama’s announcement to get to Mars some time around 2030 and NASA’s more imminent announcement that this September NASA will put a humanoid robot into space with the Shuttle team and over the next 15 years increase the Robots capabilities and workload until they are a fully functioning independent team member.
As always the word of the week, lot’s of fun and conversation and the song of the week (which I have left in) is a great rendition of Waltzing Matilda in a native Aboriginal language.
3D hologram crystal balls, smart textiles, the new stuff at CeBit’s annual technology show in Hanover Germany, new on line reality shows and the death of the computer mouse were just some of the topics Harvey Deegan of Perth’s 6PR and I talked about in their weekly chat.
Forget the mouse, just touch yourself to turn the computer on is where we started this weeks discussion between Phil Kafcaloudes and guest presenters Sally and Phil Wales of RRR’s Byte Into It program.
We then took a look at a newish web tool update – Get Glue – that uses intuitive technology to understand what you’re searching for and then feeds you additional related story links.
Joining us as usual was Phil Whelan of HTK3 radio Hong Kong where we talked about the live auction on eBay for two ghosts in a bottle (really),before chatting about the new reality program on the block “If I Can Dream”., a live webisode program showcasing 5 wannabe talents and their search for fame and work.
All this, great conversations, word of the week competition and as usual some interesting discussions all in this weeks show.
Skinput, a prototype technology, does away with the mouse and replaces it with your arm and hands, turning you into a mobile touch interface.
It works by monitoring acoustic signals on your arm and translating these gestures and taps into input commands.
Non technically, you wear a cuff (much like a blood pressure gauge) on your bicep which picks up your finger tapping on various parts of your arm and hands and interprets them as input signals to activate or inform the device it’s hooked up to.
Turn up or down the volume on your mp3 player, answer the phone, flick through your contacts or emails. or hook it up to a pico projector (miniature stand-alone projectors also being built into mobile phones and devices) and project images onto your forearm to see what’s happening.
The easiest way to get your head around it is to watch this video (you might want to skip past the technical intro and start watching around 1 minute)
This technology, like emotive headsets that uses your thoughts to interact with your devices, are part of a new vanguard of input technologies that will eventually find their way into main stream use.
It will be not be exactly as we see it now, but it will be in subtle ways with inbuilt sensors and devices sewn or woven into our intelligent clothing, or perhaps buttons, brooches or caps that will link seamlessly to our mobile devices to drive and interact with our real and virtual worlds.
Click below to listen to this weeks live recorded segment where in-studio Zulifikar, Adelaine and Morris Miselowski discuss Google new side wiki, Picasa gets face recognition, 12Seconds launches new iPhone app, my website of the week: www.jingproject.com and fabrics that fight germs and find explosives as well as crosses to Singapore to speak with Jeremy and Hong Kong to catch up with Phil, and listen to hear last weeks studio gremlins make a brief appearance. Recorded live 25 Sept 09
Alan Brough and Morris Miselowski catch up again, this time to chat about FINA newly banned new high-tech swimsuits. Morris gave Alan some ideas about how the new suits work and why there might be problems in the future, as well as getting on to self cleaning windows and aeroplanes, nanotechnology, clothes that work your muscles and warm your body and more… listen in to this live recording from 24 May 2009.
In his regular segment Tod and Morris discuss Morris’s annual list of top 10 business predictions for 2009. They talk about the naughty hippies, cautious consumers, self made media, playing nicely together on line, in and outsourcing, Gen Y and much more. Recorded live 27th Dec 2008.
With the advent of online shopping, millions of Americans have forsaken the all-too-real check-out lines and hassles and have opted for the ease of virtual purchasing.
And as more and more Americans are accessing the Internet with cell phones, some retailers are adjusting.
“Currently only about 3 percent of Americans have made a purchase on [a cell phone],” Worley told “GMA.” “But clothing outfitter Ralph Lauren is taking a big step to make your phone a shopping centre on the go.”
Ralph Lauren, known for its preppy clothing lines, will feature ads in its catalogues this month that can be scanned by many cell phones’ cameras, allowing the items to be purchased on the spot.
“Shopping is about instant gratification, whether you’re flipping through a magazine or newspaper, watching something on TV or going to a store window,” David Lauren, son of Ralph Lauren, told “GMA.” “Now if you can get something that’s a luxury and get it right away, that’s the ultimate combination.”
According to Worley, in Japan the practice is already wildly popular and has expanded so that the bar codelike symbols are featured on billboards and cars, even temporary tattoos and gravestones.
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Morris Miselowski, Futurist Guru: your eye on the future
The highly-regarded principal and founder of Success through Focus since 1981, Morris Miselowski's speciality is future-vision.
He's a business mentor and consultant, a venture capitalist, an academic, and a dynamic presenter whose mission is to inspire, to encourage, and to motivate his audiences to embrace the unlimited opportunities of their future.
Each day he consults with business leaders around the globe, helping to shape their businesses so they can be first to take profitable advantage of tomorrow's business opportunities.
Morris foresees an unlimited future for those companies which take the time to prepare and strategize for the future NOW.
Do you remember Second Life? It’s a virtual world where people could live, fall in love, go to concerts — in fact do anything we do in the real world. I often wondered what was so wrong with the real world that people wanted to go there. And apparently some people still use it — perhaps they’re lost and can’t find their way out.
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