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The Future of Auto is Mobile
The question doesn’t seem to be whether or not we want to live within “the grid,” but rather what type of grid we want to inhabit?
In order to remain just on the ground level of our evolving digital society, let alone any furnished apartment or luxury suite, we must embrace the ever-growing connectivity of an ever-growing networked world. From our smartphones (if anyone has a flip-phone, I’d like to see it for historical purposes) to watches to tablets to computers to social networks to commerce to business to entertainment and everything in between, life’s daily necessities focus hard on innovative, customizable software.
That’s the reality…until it soon becomes virtual (see Ready Player One).
There are some negatives to this modern lifestyle, least of which are explored by the futuristic HBO hit show Westworld and a few select Michael Crichton novels. Still, there are incredible positives to embracing futuristic technology. And it looks like BMW is working towards one of these aforementioned positives…
If I were a betting man (thanks to a college poker game, I’m not), I’d wager a large sum of money on the word “charging” on the Buzzword Market Worldwide.
Or BMW, for short.
Investing in the right battery stock may be a prudent move as well. Time to get out the credit card and charge it.
The point is that the next technological frontier, and it’s still in the very early stage, appears to be a seamless, all-present wireless charging ecosystem for all the portable products/things/necessities in our lives. The world, to prognosticate, could evolve into a 3-D electronic world of sorts akin to an ’80s video game simulation. Walls, homes, roads may, one day, become super batteries and one further day down the digitized road all-mighty supercomputers. Just imagine what the digital grid could and will inevitably look like in a few decades. The pace of change increases with every passing day, hour and minute.
But for now, the BMW charging pad looks impressive and promising.
P.S. I hope you’re skilled at driving into car washes with precision.
The Pipe Dream: A Roundaloop?
21st-century ground transportation:
Envisioned by Elon Musk.
Traveling from Point A to Point B seems (and can literally be) pedestrian. In the modern world, there seem to be far too many detours, connecting flights, complications and mind-numbing traffic patterns to conceptualize a simplistic, easy-going path from Point A to Point B.
Then a big idea happened. And then that big idea was built and tested.
And what happens next?
Innovator Elon Musk founded The Boring Company, which is the firm that is building the Hyperloop (featured in the video above). While people won’t be lining up just yet to experience this futuristic form of transportation, the fact that a proof of concept has been achieved is a giant first step towards the reimagined American railroad. To be more precise, the reimagined American train and railroad system.
The Boring Company has essentially taken the archaic railroad system from 19th and 20th centuries and created a significantly faster 21st-century upgrade. Is it the right upgrade? Is the Hyperloop the next great innovative masterpiece in transportation we’ve been waiting for? Would you ride in the Hyperloop?
Fortunately, there’s a model (actually, a few models) to follow for judging the future progress and success of Hyperloop’s introduction to the American traveler, current and new:
Tesla.
Now, who is the co-founder and CEO of that innovative car company…?
Since Artificial GRASS is a Problem…
Elon Musk, the face defining and promoting Tesla Motors and its impressively intriguing product line, gave surprising remarks recently to a gathering of American governors.
For the CEO of Tesla, Inc., which designs and builds cars that are arguably more supercomputers than automobiles, to speak about the far-reaching dangers of artificial intelligence going forward involving unrestrained technological variations in this arena is newsworthy. Fascinating, in the very least. Moreover, Mr. Musk has the unique perspective and influence to affect the mindset of large communities of people and innovators with his recent warning revealed in the video above.
But will people listen?
The challenge is that innovation, in its purest form, presents the eternally intoxicating allure of “the future” that every generation has imagined and pursued with purpose to varying degrees. The primary concerns of building a world heavily influenced and dictated by artificial intelligence seems more reckless than wise, yet Westworld (at least to Michael Crichton fans and HBO viewers) was built with great intrigue.
Aren’t you curious to visit Westworld?
Answer honestly.
Jimmy’s Daily Planet maintains its consistent position that innovation, in all of its varieties, should be viewed with excitement and caution in equal measure. What are the costs and the benefits? More often than not, the costs and the benefits of a particular innovation are on a sliding scale nowhere close to a conclusive 100-0 result. Artificial intelligence is a very slippery slope because, in the initial stages, the benefits may appear to make our lives easier, more efficient and, above all, better. It’s usually at this point, however, when the investment into something (in this case, AI) is too grand and, consequently, becomes too interwoven into societal expectations to turn the digital clock back.
It just seems like humans, in too many situations, are far too eager to not only “big brother” themselves, but to also make themselves less relevant and necessary through ill-advised inventions. Impressive? Typically yes. The best idea? Hmmm…
A Google search defines the word “artificial” as, “made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, typically as a copy of something natural.”
How would (will?) Google define a product consciously created and then made or produced by something artificial?
Hmmm…
P.S. In the video above, Elon Musk spoke about the need for increased regulations to combat the threat of AI in the future. While a sensible regulation here and there may help, do you want to know what the better solution would be to deal with AI?
Intelligent people leading by example, like Elon Musk.
Setting the Stage for 20/3D Vision
Allow me to set the scene.
It’s December 8, 2011 and the 5th season and 11th episode (“The Speckerman Recurrence”) of The Big Bang Theory. Below is a portion of dialogue between the guys (Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard) and Leonard’s childhood bully, Jimmy.
Jimmy: Okay, here it is. I have this great money-making idea. I just need a gear head to get it to the finish line.
Sheldon: Technically, Howard’s the gear head. Leonard’s just a dime store laser jockey.
Leonard: What’s the idea?
Jimmy: This is just between us, right?
Leonard: Right.
Jimmy: Okay. What do you think about a pair of glasses that makes any movie you want into 3D?
Raj: That sounds amazing. First movie I’m watching, Annie.
Howard: How exactly would these glasses work?
Jimmy: How the hell should I know? That’s why I need a nerd.
Leonard: I don’t think something like that’s even possible.
Jimmy: Aw, come on, you can figure it out. You’re like the smartest guy I’ve ever known.
Sheldon: The smartest? All right, you know, I may not have a firm grasp on sarcasm, but even I know that was a doozy. Leonard, you can’t live in fear of this man forever.
Leonard: Sheldon, I got this.
You know who does “got this,” to some degree?
James Cameron, apparently.
“I’m going to push. Not only for better tools, workflow, high dynamic range (HDR) and high frame rates (HFR) — the things we are working toward. I’m still very bullish on 3D, but we need brighter projection, and ultimately I think it can happen — with no glasses. We’ll get there.”
–Avatar Director James Cameron
Mr. Cameron was being honored at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Mr. Cameron was receiving his membership to this organization.
Imagining 3D movies without the necessity for 3D glasses is something that people have been thinking about and hoping for. The next step after watching 3D movies without 3D glasses would, naturally, be allowing moviegoers to watch any film in either 3D or 2D. This is where the dialogue above from The Big Bang Theory comes into play. This venture would combine the technology James Cameron is projecting and then incorporate interested (key term) movie directors to take that subsequent giant leap in innovation (not in existence…right now). The next question is whether movie directors would want to film a movie this way, if it becomes possible? This part of the equation is still in the countless questions phase, but it doesn’t seem completely impossible after Mr. Cameron’s statement/implied progress above.
That notion, even if just a notion at this point, is still encouraging.
For the geniuses (cough cough the writers and scientific advisors) on The Big Bang Theory, the insanely cool leap in 3D technology was seen as practically impossible back in 2011. While this surreal tech doesn’t yet exist today, it may be available in some version in the future. Incredibly, Mr. Cameron just may have revealed that he’s discovered the “secret sauce” for the mind-blowing innovative feat of enjoying 3D movies sans 3D glasses. Despite the fact this invention may still be a few years off from reality, that near future time table is exciting nonetheless.
After all, some of the greatest inventions in human history started with the wildest, craziest ideas imaginable.
And we can’t wait to see this one.
Literally.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 