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Future Cities

Future cities will have to handle increasing population, globalization and environmental concerns. Just like future homes will have smart home technology mainstreamed and the smart grid will be online and working, future cities will take advantage of both of these emerging technologies.

Many large metropolis type future cities will still need power from the smart grid to supplement combined heat and power (CHP) stations locally. What will be unique however is that in the next 10 – 15 years there will be disruptive technology in the solar sector that will enable most buildings within large cities to be their own power generation stations.

Future City

Right now, thin film solar is starting to come of age. Windows can be used as solar panels and awnings or aluminum siding can be coated with thin film solar technology that captures and generates electricity. Cities of the future will use the next generations of this solar technology on a widespread scale and will be integrated within the architecture of new buildings and retrofitted into older buildings.

Future cities will also rely on wind farms on the outskirts of the city for power. In order to even out fluctuations caused by wind, water will be electrolyzed, stored as hydrogen then run through a fuel cell to create electricity as needed, on-demand. This will all be integrated into future smart grid technology along with other types of energy sources.

Future cities will also go further above ground and below ground than is possible right now and even out to sea. Food crops, energy, and an entire self-sustaining habit will be constructed architecturally for some cities in the future. This will be helpful for especially hot or cold climates.

For cities of the future, algae will become an important food and fuel crop. Algae like tofu (soybeans) will be eaten in a variety of sizes, shapes and flavors. In addition, algae will be grown for biofuels and as a green method of producing hydrogen gas (along with solar-to-hydrogen, wind-to-hydrogen, geothermal-to-hydrogen and hydroelectric-to-hydrogen power). A little further into the future cold fusion will come online and will be a game-changer forever.

Floating Future City

These sources of future energy will ensure that cities are green, environmentally friendly and sustainable. Future cities will also have the latest transportation technology including hydrogen fuel cell cars, electric cars, a few left-over biofuel cars, hydrogen buses, trains (hydrail), elevated trains (hyrail), subways, and even at some point limited flying cars for police and emergency personnel (and of course VIP’s even though the future will be more democratic and less hierarchical in structure than it is now).

Police Personal Aircraft Concept

Of course there will be large future airplanes that will reside at future airports and spaceports just outside the city. But, there will be smaller future airplanes and helicopters located inside mini-airports inside the city. These will be used for shuttles to the larger airports and also for short trips to other local cities. Future jetpacks will also aid in travel around cities large and small.

Future shopping malls will be downsized and decentralized. More shopping will be done online than any other times so the shopping mall of old will start to fade away as consumers will be able to use future augmented reality and virtual reality to “try before you buy” from within their own homes.

Future cities that are above ground will have vast underground networks that may be subterranean cities themselves with their own identities and cultures. Subways, cargo trains, stores, computer data centers and many other businesses will be located underground, using the Earth’s natural heating and cooling systems to conserve energy.

Underground City in Mountain

In addition, business and critical government facilities will be safe underground from natural phenomenon such as tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning and earthquakes and to some degree and even ironically flooding which future city engineers will have addressed.

Controlling the weather in any meaningful matter won’t happen for centuries so the best future city planners and engineers will be able to do is to build structures that resist the most violent storms that have been on record. And just like today, in the future they will not be totally successful in this endeavor.

Future cities will incorporate the most contemporary smart homes and smart housing possible. No more ghettos, slums, gangs or the hood. Within the next 50 years there will be a major revolt against the rich. The middle class will grow significantly as the poor people become wealthier and the billionaires become non-existent.

A residual class system will still exist but this will be on a downward trend as people in future cities live together with less hierarchical structure than any time before in history. Worker-owners of businesses will at this time be the norm rather than the exception. In future cities, the time for commutes will be shorter as public transportation will be much more efficient, effective and green.

Straddling Bus Concept

Local schools, court houses, sports facilities, government offices will all be local and convenient to get to if needed. As previously stated much will be accomplished with virtual reality and augmented reality inside of one’s own home that this will cut down on travel time, traffic and overcrowding in the city streets significantly.

Future cities will offer residents more power, control, security, flexibility and health than at any other time in history. Doomsdayers and naysayers will try to rain on this parade as they always have, but if one just looks back into history 2,000 years to see where Man has come and how cities have developed, one only needs a little imagination to see how future cities and the technology behind them will play out ahead of us.

Credits: Vincent Callebaut, Shezhen Huashi

Future Augmented Reality

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According to Wikipedia (and I simply loathe quoting Wikipedia because I imagine the top tier to be a bunch of smart, snarky, nerdy Bill Gates type who will eventually make more money per day than I will in a lifetime) augmented reality is using computer generated data and graphics to supplement your physical, real world experience.

Right now on many airplane pilot’s windshields are computer generated graphics that one would expect in an Xbox game such as Call of Duty. Yet, these are real and here today. In fact this photo is a simulation of windshield augmented reality gone wrong.

The intention is to make augmented reality windshield for future cars a safer driving experience. For instance a windshield (with the user of laser and cameras on the outside of the vehicle) may be able to outline the road stripes so that during fog or a snowstorm the driver can keep between the lines.

Also night vision apps will allow drivers to see pedestrians or deer that may wander across the road. The misuse of augmented reality windshields of course is advertising and like texting while driving there will be measures in place to keep the driver focused instead of distracted.

Of course augmented reality is not only on windshields, but the cell phones that we have today will play a major role in augmented reality now and in the future.

Some of the highlights of the near future (like the pilot’s windshield) is that General Motors (and even BMW) have already worked out many augmented reality realities such as night vision options on the windshield, recognition of the side of the road on the windshield during foggy weather and basic instrumentation readings that don’t interfere with driving and actually aid in driving so all of the information is right in front of your face without the need to turn your head away such as yelling back at the kids that you’re about ready to pull this car over is they don’t stop misbehaving.

Now, texting while driving is a felony within the Universe as we know it, so this will most likely not be a part of augmented windshield reality (unless you can find a decent hack online).

Augmented Reality Phone

Some of the power of the cell phone and a 4G network (I can’t wait for 7G either and the 10-bladed razor where the first 9 blades put out the root of my whisker and the last blade cuts just above the root) will be that you’ll be able to play board games (bored games) and do crossword puzzles like never before. In fact, cheating will become the norm and who will need Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in the shootout at the Okay Coral of chess tournaments when you have an iPhone or Android phone, a 4G network and IBM’s Watson in the background whispering to you the next moves?

Also, the augmented reality of a cell phone may actually help print media such as magazines from slowly shriveling into oblivion (like a scared turtle in cold water) as they have been doing for years. In the future, by taking video or photos of magazines with your cell phone extra info not found in the physical magazine will pop up like where Charlie Sheen is headed on the whoring and drinking circuit and is it really Okay to liposuction your big toe or other body parts. Static magazine pages will come to life with 3D images of people speaking in audio on your cell phone or laptop.

Some of the apps developed for cell phones will let you augment reality by taking a picture of a building and know the history of the places, GPS coordinates, prices and items they have to sell and who is inside including their Facebook profiles and most recent Tweets. In fact, this is being developed right now.

Augmented Reality Screen

Now augmented reality is not the same as virtual reality. With augmented reality, you are still in the physical world which is augmented with computer generated graphics, images, text, video and other information one may find on the Internet. With virtual reality you will actually step into a world and interact directly with a combination of reality and fantasy based upon computer generated data.

Virtual Reality

Tired of playing Xbox in 2D, well 3D is about to hit the marketplace on cell phones and TV laptops. In fact, in the future you’ll be able to project your Xbox games into a room and do a little interactive virtual reality Wii version until you are virtually killed or actually too tired to play.

Imagine virtually training for boot camp in your living room before you actually join the military. Or perhaps you’re a business type of person who is holding a teleconference and you’ll have ability to virtually step into someone else’s boardroom and interact with them.

Back to Augmented Reality

With this same boardroom setting with augmented reality you can also scan all the members in the board room and know their biographical data plus of course Facebook info and latest Tweets displayed at your discretion (or digression or even digestion).

Augmented Reality Goes Social

Another cool feature of augmented reality is the 3D instruction manuals that can be displayed in real time for products you have to assemble. Need to replace a fuse on your microwave or ink in your printer? Just look up the instruction manual on your cell phone which will guide you in 3D on how to change the fuse without blowing yourself up.

Augmented Reality Instruction Manual

You’ll still have to use common sense, like don’t put tin foil or your cat in the microwave when you’re working on it and by all means unplug the device before starting your project. But, alas, my dear Horatio (as Shakespeare might say) technology will never dictate common sense.

The Future of Augmented Reality

Well, television of course will be a near future use of augmented reality. Just like Google TV and other services are now merging Internet and television, augmented reality apps such as those used on the cell phone are soon to follow.

You’ll be able to know instant data in real time about the stars on the shows you watch along with biographical data and historical data about the show.

The military will also use future augment reality to save lives in battle zones. Before ground troops go into enemy territory, drones will already have scouted the area using augmented reality to tell information about building structures and even do facial recognition comparing it to terrorist databases. Troops themselves will also have cameras and video on the ground with more detailed information about people and places.

Future space travel will be the same. Of course scouting spaceships, telescopes and other sensors will need to pioneer ahead to input data. But, space tourists and those who colonize the Moon or Mars and beyond will have the benefits of have vast information about a territory before leaving home.

Future augmented reality will also aid in teaching. Imagine a 3D avatar of a college professor popping up above your iPad and lecturing you about whatever subject interests you. This technology is in the beginning phases and will be refined in the future and will most likely give way to virtual classrooms. With augmented reality, though, you’ll be able to scan everyone in your class and fine out biographical data about them. Knowing someone’s status of “single” or “in a relationship” may cut down on a lot of embarrassment and time wasted.

Augmented Reality Glasses

Future eyeglasses, sunglasses and other eyewear will incorporate augmented reality in so in public you won’t have to be obvious and hold up your cell phone or camera to take a picture. You’ll be more stealth and will have the same readout about people and places that are just now taking shape in the cell phone market.

A Side Note

Now, the last point I would like to make is that I hope a developer will design a cool app that will turn my Honda into an augmented reality Lamborghini (I can’t wait for the virtual reality version to come out). No really. Get on it. In lieu of this I would like the app developers out there to come up with an actual chick magnet. I imagine it would be sort of like a Star Trek tractor beam. Then again, perhaps all I will attract is a farm tractor. Anywho, I will just load up my augmented reality breast enhancement app for a day at the beach and be a happy camper. I would be willing to sign up for a beta tester on this one. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?