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Wearable Technology: A Fad Or The Future?
Wearable technology is finally here…
And all of a sudden, the kinds of gadgets that I, as a child, imagined my superhero alter ego would sport, no longer seem quite so far-fetched.
From wrist-worn devices, like the Samsung Galaxy Gear, with an aptly nostalgic TV launch campaign, leading the viewer through the pre-mobile years, to Google GOOG -2.01%’s endeavours to ‘share the world with the world’ with their new glasses – the time has come for the stampede of well-established businesses and smaller tech start-ups alike to compete for their mark on this new trend.
But, in reality, is wearable technology truly destined for the great success that its many advocates might suggest? I am not so convinced, at least not for the moment.
Existing figures for the growth of wearable technology are certainly promising but fluctuate immensely. Berg Insight estimates a total of 64 million global shipments by 2017, whilst ABI quoted a much higher figure of 485 million for 2018.
So why the uncertainty? Robert Scoble included factors such as price as well as the difficulty of actually acquiring them (they must be custom-fitted and require at least some training before they can be used), in his Huffington Post article, “Google Glass Is Doomed”.
For real success in the world of technology, entirely new products must be introduced that can create entirely new markets, thus impacting society on a much deeper level. At the moment, a lot of what I’m seeing just doesn’t do all that much. And for a trend that includes the word ‘wearable’ in its product description, I honestly wouldn’t be caught dead in a lot of it.
There seems to be a huge gap between what is being made and what the female consumer, in particular, would be willing to purchase. Almost everything available is currently too chunky and masculine. The products seem to be aimed at men with a vague hope that (maybe) some women might like them. Let’s think about who, between men and women, is more likely to wear an accessory, or even multiple accessories at the same time to begin with. Surely the answer is transparently obvious.
Design needs to be a much more important factor when it comes to wearable technology, in order for it to appeal to absolutely everyone, including women. I can’t help but wonder if it’s a case of the tech industry simply needing more female designers?
But even more crucially, these products need a real use and purpose. In this new digital age, what a brand actually means is just as, if not more, important to the consumer than simply what it does.
It doesn’t take a genius to predict that the brand that manages to reach an equilibrium between style and substance holds the key to tech world domination.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gyro/2014/01/21/wearable-technology-a-fad-or-the-future/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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