Not unexpectedly, tinkerers, gamers, roboticists and other innovators are finding a host of different ways to use Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 motion-control gaming device, “Kinect.” Much as Apple experienced an explosion of new apps after the creation of the iPhone, we can expect a similar number of advances with Kinect. For example, I believe innovators…

The idea of self-driving cars still seems a little far-fetched to many people. I, however, believe we are getting closer all the time. For starters, two robotic cars are currently driving from Italy to China. This speaks to how robotics will play in this future, but there is another interesting development going on which I…

Some people never set sail because they are convinced they have already arrived. This is true in both the big and the small things in our lives. I was reminded of this fact after reading this fascinating article in the New York Times magazine, The Data Driven Life. The story is chalkful of examples of…

If you want a peek into both the future of mapping as well as the future of video, I encourage you to watch this 8-minute video from Blaise Aguuera y Arcas at the recent TED conference: Related Posts Video Killed the Video Star

Google is reportedly building ultra high-speed broadband networks that are 100-times faster than those in use today. And what, might you ask, will require you to transmit one gigabit of information per second? That’s a good question. In fact, it may take either a real-time voice translator or a quantum computer to answer it. Luckily,…

The future is in your head—really. According to this informative article, researchers at Intel are working on a “brain sensing” chip that could allow an individual to control a TV, computer or robot simply by thinking about it. Now, the article does say that the technology is 10-15 years away, but I’d encourage people to…

Marshall McCluhan once famously said, “First, we shape our tools and then our tools shape us.” As a professional futurist, I have been trying to explain how some of our tools are getting exponentially more powerful. In turn, these tools are accelerating the advances that will soon shape our future. Nowhere is this more true…

A new company is claiming that by 2012 it will be taking guests up to outer space for a three-day excursion. The cost is a mere $4.4 million. From my perspective, the timeline seems overly aggressive but space tourism is definitely on the horizon—and, like so many other things, the price will drop. Related Posts…