Here are a few things that interest me, currently learning about and/or think will make a significant difference to our lives.

• • VR/AR: [bg_collapse view=”button-orange” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Show More” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]
    • Rather than thinking of this as a gimmick, a fad that can wither in a season, I think that this technology is going to completely change the way we experience, collaborate and interact with our environment and peers at a global level with an impact similar to that of the internet.
    • Currently marketed towards the gaming community, I have been watching this closely for close to 10 years now, I don’t think that the gaming community even covers the tip of the iceberg, travel, virtual meetings, designing, and documenting abstract thought are just some of the things can be done once these concepts mature. Remember, all this can be done either in isolation or collaboratively with people from around the world, potentially not even speaking the same language you hear. Wouldn’t it be nice to try one of those things you have always wanted to do and either got too old, life circumstances have changed or the opportunity was lost due to other factors? The world it too small not to want to experience its wonders but equally too big to travel to all corners of the globe to see it, but what if you could at least view it? All from the comfort and safety of your home?
    • A friend of mine in California is lucky enough to have his grandmother close and quite healthy, she is also from England originally. While able to support herself at home, travelling back to England is not really an option, the trip is an extensive 10 hour flight, the people and places she knew as a little girl have hanged extensively and her family support and life are an entire ocean away. But wouldn’t she love to see the street that she grew up on and be able to look around at her leisure once someone was able to film that walk? Equally, wouldn’t it be great to hang glide over the Rockies along side great eagles, scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef or experience an African safari? All experienced while listening to your own music playing in the background or with your own personal guide walking you through what you were seeing? All this and more are possible with the current VR/AR units today (they are no fashion accessory as of yet).
    • I started www.vouting.com “Virtual Outings” to capture my thoughts and bring like minded people together on this, but web design is not my strong suit so unfortunately, the site has remained stagnant. But I am hopeful that as things begin to take off, more and more people will find a passion associated to this, the more they will want to share it.

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• • Mead: [bg_collapse view=”button-orange” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Show More” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]
    • Mead is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages known to the earth and is made from yeast and honey. It was originally very likely made on accident as there are plenty of written cases where animals also have consumed honey tainted water and demonstrated the effects of this lovely juice.
    • Like many people who grow up in a country with local history differing from the glamorised western European one. While young, I was transfixed by all things medieval and idolised the lifestyle including the consumption of mead, big legs of mutton, etc… I grew up thinking people forgot what good was. For close to 20 years, I have lived in Europe (home of this medieval lifestyle) and the glamor that I once dreamt of, lost the glossy veneer I imagined. As it has aged in my head, it has simply lost some of its sheen.
    • Years ago, once that excitement had completely warn away and completely unrelated, I went to the Cambridge Beer Festival with some friends and was able to try a number of different types of mead while I was there.
    • While I considered myself a beer drinker when I lived and in my early tweenies in the US, the Germans and the British have definitely taught me that I am not.
    • But mead? Holy Cow! My youthful passions returned in a bolt of nectar, that stuff was once referred to as nectar of the gods for a reason! Since that time, I have read numerous books on the subject, found countless websites offering their take on how to make the perfect brew, consumed an untold amount and acquired (but haven’t used) all of the necessary equipment to brew my own (save the bees). While no expert, I think that mead can and should compete with the finest wines if done to their standards. That said, there isn’t a manufacturer that I know of who makes it to this standard or if they do, don’t have the production rate to supply it to the mass market.
    • My cousin posted this link and it reminded me that I should add this bit to my website, this is a hobbyist link similar to the one leading this train of thought but it looks to be a good start.

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• • Drones: [bg_collapse view=”button-orange” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Show More” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]
    • The drone (or unmanned aerial vehicles) concept is still relatively new and while picked up by hobbyists’, are only just now being considered to provide mass market consumer and industrial services. The name can be deceiving, while there is no pilot at the helm, it is very much like any other type of vehicle in the fact someone or something is controlling it. After speaking with friends and family, I also have to admit that I am slightly concerned that the skies would be full of these annoying buzzing contraptions but anticipate that this noise pollution will also reduce in a way similar to helicopter technologies.
    • The early corporate companies that identified ways of leveraging this technology were the online shopping stalls like Amazon and even Google itself. While I didn’t question the benefit of using drones to deliver online purchases to my home faster than I could do it if I were to head to the local shop, I didn’t initially foresee all of the additional services these devices can provide us. I believe that there is a completely unchartered course available that hasn’t been fully explored.
    • I went to a meeting early 2016 where a supplier was demonstrating some of the services that they were providing with drones which got me thinking, this device is merely an untethered extension of an individual. The company in question was providing a number of services that were either dangerous for a person to physically do, detrimental to the environment that the person was interacting with, inspecting items or environments with inconspicuous features that require detailed observation that could be prone to human error or maintain for an inordinate amount of time (Days, Weeks, Months) 24×7. These services were things currently provided by a person but at risk, this company was providing these services maintaining either the same or significantly greater level of quality without the human, environmental or capital risk.
    • What a shift from a currier service idea! What services are next?

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While I could bleat on about this stuff incessantly, Driverless Cars, BBQ, Cooking in general, 3D printers, Maglev, Private space travel, etc. I know it isn’t mainstream but I think you have two choices with many of the technology breakthroughs coming along:

1. Feign ignorance, wait for it to be built and get what is handed to you – at which time you can complain or blindly accept the path you are forced upon
2. Engage, monitor, observe, interact where appropriate, you won’t likely stop what is coming but you may be able to influence it to enhance your life.

Just remember, it is easier to move an iceberg with constant pressure over an extended period of time than to seek quick results with a single burst of energy not to mention, you are much more likely to get it to head towards the destination you had in mind.

If you are interested in this stuff too, drop me a line and we can share ideas.

Thanks,

Buddy