When Science Fiction Comes To Life

We have our communicators. What next?

Science Fiction has long made accurate predictions about mankind and technology; be it communication devices that allow us to talk to people on the other side of the world, global information networks and humans landing on the moon. But what creations of science fiction could we see over the next few years?

We're not talking the 'big' sci-fi inventions such as warp speed or time travel, but the small futuristic gizmos that appear to make life in the future that little bit easier, such as robotic aides, holographic environments and adverts that address you personally.

Paying with thumbprints (Back to the Future Part II)

What if you all you needed for a night out was your thumb? No money, no keys... just your thumb?

With cash being used less and less to pay for things these days, with people opting instead to use debit cards and PIN numbers, the next likely step is paying for things via a thumb print. As every-one's fingerprints are unique to them, biometrics - which is the science of using biological properties, such as skin prints, retinal scans, and voice recognition, to identify an individual - is set to become increasingly popular.

Currently, secure buildings use thumb/handprints for access, so it will probably be only a matter of time before similar security measures are introduced at home or in the car. It definitely ensures you'll never have to worry about losing your keys again.

The technology would see devices such as doors fitted with a simple biometric sensor. Under the authority of a trusted individual, you place your index finger onto the scanner and it reads in your print, and verifies your identity. Using such technology, everything from household safes to laptop computers to common door locks can be secured. Other biometric technologies such a retinal scanners and voice recognition can also be utilised as a back-up, should a market for the theft of people's thumbs start up.

The possibilities for biometric technology are huge and it would definitely cut down on the large cases of identify theft that costs the global economy millions each year. Just picture the possibilities: opening your car with your thumb print, starting it with a retina scan, voice activating your phone to call up to book flight tickets and paying for it over the phone by pressing your thumb against a biometric sensor attached to the handset.

Anything is possible.

Personalised advertising (Minority Report)

Advertising is getting more and more focused; whereas before, advertising companies might aim to attract a certain demographic, your shopping habits, online purchases and subscriptions give companies a more rounded idea of what your interests are. Currently this is shown in online retailers such as Amazon, which recommends the products they think you might be interested in.

It is expected that, with the increase in broadband TV and personalised programming like Sky+,as well as people having all-in-one media centres. advertisers will begin to tailor their ads for each individual viewer, looking at the programming habits and using one-to-one marketing to create an accurate picture of what would interest and attract a certain person.

One top of this, advertisers are trying new and unique ways to attract our attention to their products: this includes in-game advertising, where in online worlds such as Second Life, people can be influenced to buy real-world products such as iPhones. More recently, Volkswagen introduced their newest-generation GTI exclusively on an iPhone app, showing the influence that mobile technology is having on advertisers.

Companies are also trying new technology to attract consumers. In September, Entertainment Weekly brought out an issue that sported mini video screens which promoted Pepsi and CBS's fall line-up. Using state-of-the-art slimline batteries and a 2.7mm thick screen, the video could play for up to 40 minutes and got worldwide coverage.

The issue may have made headlines and the technology could be imported into things such as cereal boxes and other products in the near future, but experts don't think it will be cheap.

The Financial Times was quoted as saying, "One magazine industry executive with knowledge of the technology estimated that running one video ad in 100,000 copies would cost in the low seven-figure range. That would translate into a cost of several dollars per copy. By contrast, a full-page colour ad in Entertainment Weekly costs about 9 cents a page per copy."

Virtual worlds (The Matrix/Star Trek)

The idea of a virtual world is something that has always been in science fiction. It is probably best represented with the 'holodeck' in Star Trek or the virtual world of The Matrix, where people can spend their leisure time or be imprisoned in an artificially created reality.

Currently, online worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft give people an avenue to escape the daily routine of their lives, but is a fully immersive, virtual world possible?

Unfortunately, today's technologies are nowhere near advanced enough to create virtual matter that allows people to physically interact with it, but the United States Marine Corp. recently opened an "immersive training simulator" at Camp Pendleton to train troops in urban combat.

It has been likened to the holodeck in Star Trek as it allows combat troops to "participate within a 3-D video game of urban-battlefield streets in life-size combat driven by video-game simulations and interactive technologies that are more realistic and adaptable and easily incorporated into training facilities."

The 32,000-square-foot, $2.5 million training ground has been called the Infantry Immersion trainer and includes virtual combatants as well as real pyrotechnics to increase realism.

"We use the term ‘holodeck,'" said Tom Buscemi, director of the Marine Expeditionary Force Simulation Center at Camp Pendleton, aware of the similarity with the sci-fi show. "Certainly, technology doesn't offer that kind of thing right now with holograms and that sort of thing. But we've had enough of the 16-inch, 21-inch-monitor flat screen. We need something that is more real, more interactive, more personally involved."

Meanwhile in civilian life, there have been Holo-Dek gaming theaters that enable gamers to play their games at a human scale on massive theatre screens and there are now plans to create screens with a 180 degree setup for an even more immersive experience.

Could a SkyNet-esque system develop?

In The Terminator films, SkyNet is a computer system that becomes self aware and revolts against mankind using countries' defence systems against them - but are we reckless enough to put such large amounts of power within an all-power computer system.

Well, we already do... sort of. There is already an all-knowing, all-powerful computer system that knows everything about everyone, has detailed maps of cities all over the world and has an army of bots that crawl through almost every server in the world. You probably even used it to find this site - Google.

Google dominates the Internet and has an approximate 70 percent share of the market. It records every search you perform, everything you access and monitors human behaviour as interaction. With its vast collection of maps and other secure documentation, it has details on us, where we live, what we buy, our financial details, what our interests are and what we aspire to. With all this information, it raises the question of should a single computer organisation have access to so much information?

What's even more disturbing is that Google is working on an artificial intelligence system. That's right, the world's most dominant online company, with the largest conglomeration of computing power the world has ever seen, is experimenting with AI. Speaking in 2007, Google's Larry Pagen said,

"We have some people at Google (who) are really trying to build artificial intelligence and to do it on a large scale."

"It's not as far off as people think."

Don't start building the bomb shelter yet, for Google still has several obstacles to overcome if they are to have the power of Skynet - contracts with The Defence Department for one... and also, they still need to break the Chinese market.

Robots in the home

Ah. Robots. Where would science fiction be without them. Who else is going to one day rise up against and be our downfall if not the robots?

The thing is we never seem to learn from science fiction and automation is becoming more prevalent, be it autopilots on ships and airplanes, robotic distribution centres or simply automated telephone lines. However, whilst science fiction always deals with the fact that the robots develop consciousness and attempt to wipe us out (2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, Blade Runner, The Matrix, I, Robot, Battlestar Galactica), this comes more from advantages in artificial intelligence rather than simply robotics.

However, it is alarming to learn that over the years, 'robots' have killed hundreds of people from hitting them on the head, crushing them and even pouring molten aluminium over them. Of course, these are all industrial accidents, but with robots set to enter the workplace and home over the next few years, it makes sense to worry about the safety implications.

"Security, safety and sex are the big concerns," says Henrik Christensen, chairman of the European Robotics Network at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and one of the organisers of the new robo-ethics group. Should robots that are strong enough or heavy enough to crush people be allowed into homes? Is "system malfunction" a justifiable defence for a robotic fighter plane that contravenes the Geneva Convention and mistakenly fires on innocent civilians? And should robotic sex dolls resembling children be legally allowed?

While these sort of questions may seem pie in the sky at the moment, it has been argued that they will become increasingly relevant over the next few years. In 2003, it was estimated that there were 600,000 robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers in the world. There are now 4 million. Of course, no one is worried about being killed by their vacuum cleaner, but with Japanese and American companies racing to build humanoid robots to act as domestic helpers for the elderly, surely it is a matter of time before a system failure results in a fatality? What happens if a robot breaks whilst carrying someone? Or performing surgery?

"One hundred per cent safety is impossible through technology," said Dr Inoue speaking to the Economist. "This is because ultimately no matter how thorough you are, you cannot anticipate the unpredictable nature of human behaviour, he says. Or to put it another way, no matter how sophisticated your robot is at avoiding people, people might not always manage to avoid it, and could end up tripping over it and falling down the stairs."

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