How will the world of tomorrow look like?

This is a question that has fascinated laymen and savants alike. Our desire to know what the future holds is perhaps conditioned by a sense of optimism that resides in the bottom recesses of our being. All of us, irrespective of gender, age or nationality, believe in the possibility of a better future.

So how will our lives change in the future?

There is no doubt that technology will continue to shape our lives. Towards this end, the world of tomorrow will see greater embedding of computer technology in our daily lives. What this means is that more and more household appliances such as refrigerators, coffee makers, water coolers, washing machines and others would be integrated with computer technology and will connect to the internet through high-speed links.

In addition the various mobile devices that form part of our lives will get smaller and more powerful. The integration of our mobile devices and household appliances and expansion of computing technology would gradually impact the way we shop, play games online, make and keep friends and work.

Shopping

Shopping will become much more personalized due to embedding of computer technology in our daily lives. Firstly our household products would be able to track the rate of usage of products and either alert us to replace them or if we choose, place an online order to the vendors. To some extent this is already happening with certain products like printers. This would become much more common place in the future.

Secondly contextual advertising would shape our choices. Contextual advertising related to surfing pattern is already employed by Google, Yahoo and Amazon. With greater level of personal data becoming available vendors will attempt to bring shopping experience on a contextual basis too. In practical terms what this means is that personalized sales ads or promotions would be channeled online through the many gadgets that would be part of our daily lives.

This does not mean that we would become passive recipients of information. We could also filter the information that comes to us so that we have access to products within a certain price range or specific attributes such as organically grown or produced from sustainable practices.

Online Games

If we look back at how far we have come in terms of computer games we would realize that it has become more and more realistic. This trend would continue to accelerate with the ultimate blurring of the distinction between online games, movies and television.

Towards this end future online games would feature more lifelike characters. It may even be possible to substitute characters with our own look or other avatars. We would also see console-free games and games that employ motion sensing technology to mimic body movements in order to make online games a “real” or “immersive” experience.

Movies and TV

Although the TV and the movie theatre will still be with us, we would have additional options in terms of format. We would be able to watch TV and movies on a range of devices ranging from held devices to hi-definition monitors. We would see greater improvements in the delivery of content whether movies or internet videos.

In addition we would be able to enjoy better quality 3D movies and greater interactive experience. Overall the trend would be towards a more realistic and customized delivery content.

Social Networking

The growth of social networking would expand and integrate texting as well as online chats. Through such integration we would become “available” at all times. As such we would be able to keep track of a much larger group of people than ever before. With the embedding of technology such as GPS in our hand held devices we would be able to keep track of movements, creating and re-creating mobile communities wherever we go.

Challenges to privacy

As the world of tomorrow promises much more embedding of technology in our lives and greater connectivity, we will face greater challenges to our privacy and breach of personal data as more and more of personal data will be available online and shared through the social network networks.

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