Future Technologies Advisory Group
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Digital Civilizations Forum Ci'Num 2006
I will participate in the Digital Civilizations Forum Ci'Num 2006 - 6 & 7 october 2006 : Les scénarios du futur / Scenarios for the Future. Margaux 2006, the second act of the first cycle of the Entretiens des Civilisations Numériques (Digital Civilizations Forum), gives us an opportunity to imagine ten possible futures for the planet in the year 2026. Of course, imagining the future is always a presumptuous act, but it's one that's necessary if we want to accept our everyday existence and influence the course of history. Globalization and digital technologies, along with the trends, breaks and emergences we noted in 2005, are still the cornerstone of our thinking. With maximum reason, generosity and lucidity, fifteen "designers of tomorrow" will work with the "decision makers of today". My contribution: Giulio Prisco will discuss the prospect of "improving human performance," carrying it through to its most radical consequences. Ci'Num 2006 website - Program.9/25/2006 Permalink/comments
Two futurist reports
IEEE Spectrum: IEEE Fellows take a hard-nosed look at what technology is -and isn't- on the horizon . Report of a joint study by the Institute for the Future (IFTF) and IEEE Spectrum. The main arteries of science and technology over the next 50 years: "Computation and Bandwidth to Burn" involves the shift of computing power and network connectivity from scarcity to utter abundance; "Sensory Transformation" hints at what happens when, as Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, puts it, "things start to think"; "Lightweight Infrastructure" is precisely the opposite of the railways, fiber-optic networks, centralized power distribution, and other massively expensive and complicated projects of the 20th century; "Small World" is what happens when nanotechnology starts to get real and is integrated with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and biosystems; and finally, "Extending Biology" is what results when a broad array of technologies, from genetic engineering to bioinformatics, are applied to create new life forms and reshape existing ones.
KurzweilAI.net, August 21, 2006 - The Millennium Project--a global participatory think tank--has released its 10th annual State of the Future report. The report distills the collective intelligence of over 2,000 leading scientists, futurists, scholars, and policy advisors who work for governments, corporations, non-governmental organizations, universities, and international organizations. Among its findings: Dramatic increases in collective human-machine intelligence are possible within 25 years. Genetic code will be written to create many varieties of life, including those that make hydrogen from plants.
9/11/2006 Permalink/comments
Panoptics Systems
A security company by the name of Panoptics Systems has developed a security system that allows one to view, in real time, a three dimensional layout of large areas complete with the location of everyone there. Designed for use in places such as airports, casinos, and government buildings, the Panoptics system uses special 360-degree "OmniView" cameras to detect where people are, then creates a large 3-D model to display people's whereabouts for security agents. The cameras are able to differentiate between people and their surroundings, detecting where they are and how fast they are moving and then representing that in the model. The system also purports to be able to do facial recognition and connect people to background files in the system. See articles on Gizmag, Gizmodo and SCI Fi Tech .
9/01/2006 Permalink/comments
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