Category Archives: Futurist

In 2016, Jang Ji-sungs seven-year-old daughter Nayeon died of an incurable disease. Three years later, the South Korean mother was reunited with Nayeon sort of in a virtual world created for a televised documentary.

On Thursday, the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation shared a clip from the special documentary, titled I Met You, on its YouTube page, with the footage cutting between the real world and the virtual one.

In the former setting, Jang stands in front of a massive green screen while wearing both a VR headset and what appear to be some sort of haptic gloves. In the latter, she and her daughter talk, hold hands, and even have a birthday party complete with a lit cake.

The VR reunion is, as you might expect, extremely emotional. Jang appears to begin crying the moment she sees the virtual Nayeon, while the rest of the family Nayeons father, brother, and sister watch the reunion unfold with somber expressions and the occasional tear.

Maybe its a real paradise, Jang said of the reunion in VR, according to Aju Business Daily. I met Nayeon, who called me with a smile, for a very short time, but its a very happy time. I think Ive had the dream Ive always wanted.

According to Aju Business Daily, the production team spent eight months on the project. They designed the virtual park after one the mother and daughter had visited in the real world, and used motion capture technology to record the movements of a child actor that they could later use as a model for their virtual Nayeon.

All that to say: the process might not be simple and the final product might not be perfect, but we now have the technology to recreate the dead in VR convincingly enough to move their loved ones to tears.

And the implicationsof that are impossible to predict.

It may have taken an entire team of experts to produce I Met You, but how far can we be from a platform that lets anyone upload footage of a deceased love one and then interact with a virtual version of that person? Years? Months?

And what sort of impact will that have on the grieving process? Will seeing a loved one in VR help people find closure and move on following a death? Will some people become addicted to this virtual world, spending more and more time in it and less and less in the real one?

And will it stop with VR? Or is this just the first step to androids designed to mimic our dead loved ones in both appearance and personality, like in the Black Mirror episode Be Right Back?

Several startups are setting the groundwork for that future, compiling dataabout people both living and dead so they can create digital avatars of those people. Other companies are already building robot clones of real people.

The key to a VR reunion being a positive thing that is, more like a twenty-first century take on flipping through a photo album and less like that Black Mirror episode appears to be in the living person fully accepting their loved ones death.

Since you know the person is gone, you accept the virtual equivalent for what it is a comforting vestige,Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano told Dell Technologies in December. There is nothing wrong or unethical about it.

Perhaps regulation is necessary. Rather than letting startups offer the public the chance to interact with virtual versions of their dead loved ones undoubtedly at a cost maybe we can make the technology available only to people whove submitted to a screening with a psychologist.

Its hard to say what might work as the opportunity to interact with convincing versions of the deceased in VR is decidedly uncharted territory but now that weve officially entered that arena, we have a lot of questions we need to answer as soon as possible.

Editors Note, 2/07/20: This article was updated to correct the name of the broadcaster that aired the documentary.

READ MORE: Sorrow-stricken mother reunites with deceased daughter in virtual world [Aju Business Daily]

More on clones: A Russian Startup Is Selling Robot Clones of Real People

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Watch a Mother Reunite With Her Deceased Child in VR - Futurism

Coming Soon

NASA announced last week that its moving forward with a plan to commercialize the International Space Station (ISS) and that the private company Axiom Space will develop a space hotel to tack onto the orbital space station.

Now, Axioshas obtained more details about the plan, which will see a shift from NASA providing orbital services itself to depending more heavily on private companies take the helm.

Its a marked shift in priorities for a space agency thats spent over 20 years helping run the ISS.

Any Axiom-run space hotel is still several years away, Axios reports. The companys plan is to launch its first module by the end of 2024,followed by two more modules one for habitation and one for manufacturing over the course of the next year.

But even before that, Axiom crews will become a regular sight on the ISS. Company cofounder Michael Suffredini told Axios that it already booked tickets to the ISS on rockets that will launch starting next year.

Were beginning these flights early in order to set the cadence and the rhythm, Suffredini said.

The ISS is expected to be retired at some point in thefuture past reports suggest some time between 2024 and 2028.

When that happens, Axios reports that the Axiom Space modules will detach, and the private company will continue to operate its own space station for the foreseeable future.

READ MORE: Axioms big space station future [Axios]

More on the space station: NASA Has a Plan To Encourage Private Space Stations

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Plans Are Moving Ahead to Open a Space Hotel Attached to the ISS - Futurism

Lunar Bonus

Returning humans to the Moon by 2024 isnt going to be easy or cheap.

On Monday, NASA human spaceflight chief Doug Loverro announced that the agency will need $35 billion over the next four years to successfully complete the Artemis mission and that the cash will need to be in addition to NASAs existing budget.

Loverro shared the news in conjunction with President Donald Trumps release of his fiscal year 2021 NASA budgetrequest, which asks Congress to increase the space agencys budget to $25.2 billion.

The budget proposed represents a 12 percent increase and makes this one of the strongest budgets in NASA history, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. The reinforced support from the President comes at a critical time as we lay the foundations for landing the first woman and the next man on the South Pole of the Moon by 2024.

For NASA to obtain the $35 billion it needs for Artemis, Congress will not only need to approve this budget increase, but also agree to budgets of $27.2 billion, $28.6 billion, and $28.1 billion for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

Even if Congress approves Trumps budget request for 2021, though, theres a chance the White House could change hands in 2020 and the next administration might not be in as much of a hurry to reach the Moon.

READ MORE: NASA puts a price on a 2024 Moon landing $35 billion [Ars Technica]

More on the Moon: NASA Just Gave the New Moon Program an Epic Name

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NASA: Next Moon Landing Will Cost About $35 Billion - Futurism

As Jordan Brand stands today, there are two distinct avenues of inline design: one is by and large more heritage-focused with vintage shapes while the next is ambitious with its eyes planted firmly on the future and untapped innovations. React lead the charge for a series of silhouettes just last year and the Aerospace 720 surprised many for its aesthetics just a few months ago, but now, as an ostensible offshoot of the latter, the Meta-Morphy Utility has joined the makeshift series as its newest flagship. Appearance-wise, the model seems to be based on the Air Jordan 1s last, though it offers up just a bit less volume for a somewhat sleeker overall profile. Leading upwards, the pair starts with a toe cap detailed by aggressive perforations and ends with a minimal heel counter only enhanced by a bulky lower heel support as well as a small vertically stitched bit of paneling. Above, you can find a bright red pull in match of the stitch seen on the sides circular base as well as the various detailing that etch atop the tongue and center points ornate markings. Grab a detailed look at these here and find them available now at a host of retailers. Also, be sure to check our Jordan Release Dates page for the latest.

Jordan Meta-Morph UtilityAvailable$110Style Code: BV5936-100

Make sure to follow @kicksfinder for live tweets during the release date.

Where To Buy

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Jordan Brand Continues To Infuse Futurism With The Meta-Morph Utility - Sneaker News

February 7th 20__Victor Tangermann__Filed Under: Advanced Transport

When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, youre gonna see some serious shit.

A YouTuberwho calls themselves Elon McFly has uploaded a pixel-perfect vision of what would it would look like if the iconic DeLorean in the 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future was replaced by a Tesla Cybertruck.

In the clip, the Cybertruck can be seen accelerating to 88mph before traveling through time leaving behind only two burning tire tracks and a bent license plate that reads LOL GAS.

Its a surprisingly competent fan remake that manages to fool the eye with impressive lighting and rendering. The truck is also exactly what youd expect a converted time machine Cybertruck to look like, from the haphazard wiring on the exterior to the light-up buttons on the inside.

Its not the Cybertrucks first appearance in popular culture. Rapper Travis Scott heavily featured the pickup truck and its electric ATV companion in his December music video for the song Gang Gang.

READ MORE: Tesla Cybertruck blasts Back to the Future in amazing fan-remake [Teslarati]

More on the truck: Elon Musk Admits He Worried Nobody Would Buy Teslas Cybertruck

Up Next__NASA: Next Moon Landing Will Cost About $35 Billion >>>

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Watch a Cybertruck Replace the DeLorean in "Back to the Future" - Futurism

Costume Party

Irans Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi uploaded an image to Twitter last week with the caption astronaut costume #bright_future.

But users were quick to point out that the alleged space suit was actually a $20 Halloween costume, soldby online retailers including Amazon and Walmart.

The smoking gun is what appears to be two outlines one rectangular and one round, on the chest area of the suit that perfectly align with two fake NASA patches found on the childrens costume, The Drive points out.

After being founded in 2004, Irans space agency has launched a number of satellites into orbit over the last decade but has yet to send any astronauts into space.

The preposterous tweet feels reminiscent of previous attempts by Irans Revolutionary Guard Crops, a paramilitary militia, to pass off a Qaher 313 stealth fighter mockup as the real thing theres still no evidence it can actually fly, despite unconvincing video footage of a test flight involving a small-scale drone, The National Interest reported in October.

The militia even claimed to have developed, or helped develop, the US Space Shuttle in a recently erected billboard, according to The Drive.

Its a tough era for Irans space efforts. An Iranian satellite Zafar 1 failed to reach a high enough speed on Sunday to enter orbit after liftoff, as Space.com reports.

READ MORE: Iranian Minister Tried To Pass Off A $20 Halloween Costume As A Real Spacesuit [The Drive]

More on Iran: Two More US Sites Hacked With Pro-Iran Propaganda

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Iran Tries to Pass Off $20 Walmart Costume as Space Suit - Futurism

Doctor Octopus

Monica Grady, the chancellor at Liverpool Hope University in the UK, saysits likely theres advanced alien life on Jupiters moon Europa, according to a recent statement.

If there is something on Mars, its likely to be very small bacteria, she said. But I think weve got a better chance of having slightly higher forms of life on Europa, perhaps similar to the intelligence of an octopus.

Grady believes creatures could be living in glacial oceans underneath a hard shell of ice thats up to 15 miles thick on Jupiters frigid moon.

Scientists have long suspected the existence of these deep subsurface oceanson Europa and maybe even life. In fact, NASA announced in August that its completing the final designs for a Europa-bound spacecraft called Europa Clipper, which will look for signs of life.

As far as the existence of other human-like aliens in our own solar system, Grady is not optimistic.

Im fairly certain were all there is at our level of intelligence in this planetary system, she said. And even if there are octopuses on Europa, that doesnt give us a reason to destroy our planet.

READ MORE: Racing certainty theres life on Europa and Mars, says leading UK space scientist [Liverpool Hope University]

More on Europa: Scientists Confirm Water Vapor Above the Surface of Europa

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University Chancellor Predicts "Higher Forms of Life" on Europa - Futurism

Ominous Message

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, shared a grim outlook on the state of the world at a Tuesday conference.

The underlying message of his speech was that our global society should strive to bring about a more peaceful and prosperous future, NPR reports. But until a big shift happens, his prognosis is one of worsening violence, conflict, global instability, and environmental decay.

A wind of madness is sweeping the globe, Guterres told the press.

Guterres warned that world leaders often violate or entirely ignore U.N. resolutions meant to reduce global instability and promote peaceful resolutions between conflicting nations.

As future prospects look bleak, populist and ethnic nationalist narratives gain appeal, Guterres said.

As instability rises, investment dries up, and development cycles down, he continued. When armed conflicts persist, societies reach perilous tipping points. And as governance grows weak, terrorists get stronger, seizing on the [vacuum.]

During his speech, Guterres spoke at length about the worsening climate emergency facing the planet, NPR reports. But he also said he was encouraged by growing public awareness of environmental issues and the fact that some leaders are taking the problem seriously.

Guterres urged global leaders to break the vicious circle of poverty and inequality, according to NPR.

Through improved healthcare, equality, and education, he said the world could create the virtuous circle we know is possible and that can point the way toward growth and prosperity for all.

READ MORE: Wind Of Madness Is Sweeping Earth, U.N. Secretary-General Says [NPR]

More on global instability: New Research: Climate Change Causes Migration and Conflict

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UN Secretary-General: "A Wind of Madness Is Sweeping the Globe" - Futurism

So I wonder what would Prince Harry and Meghan Markle do if the media really did lay off of them. Totally.

The news has been full of the couple's announcement that they were stepping down from their royal duties to get away from constant hassling from the media and to enjoy more peace and privacy.

According to writers of at least a couple of online opinion pieces, the Sussexes would still not be able to avoid media scrutiny, even stripped of their royal titles and all their royal perks. Sharing that opinion was a host of one of the morning network-news shows, who, during a discussion of the couple backing away from royal life, brought up the adage that "wherever you go, there you are." She, too, believed that the couple wouldn't be able to escape publicity, in all its multiple-personality glory, and find privacy and peace.

But when it comes to privacy, we're all the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, it seems. At least we are in the eyes of advertisers -- and those who wish to collect data on us to feed to those advertisers, catch the crooks among us and, hey, make us pay our bills.

"There's going to be a sense that wherever we go, we may potentially be recorded by a bystander," says Marc Palatucci of the Future Today Institute, in "What Do the 2020s Hold? A Futurist, a Trend Forecaster, and an Astrologer Predict," a Vogue.com article posted Jan. 16.

"With more and more stoops and doorways having a Ring doorbell with a camera on it or with people just discreetly using their phones ... one of the things we'll have to accept is that our data is not a tangible, securable thing in any sort of completely satisfying way. Everywhere we go in our lives and even in our own homes, we're shedding data, and that data can be captured by different companies or other individuals."

Palatucci chooses to wax optimistic about this: "Once we come to this level of acceptance, there could actually be an empowering element, where we're simply more aware of our behaviors, our actions, our words, our image." Ummm. My take on it: We'll be subjected to more intrusive advertisements ... to the point where we'll end up having to pay a subscription to even keep our very dreams from being interrupted by come-hithers from retailers whose pages we clicked on for five seconds.

Every time technology expands, the ways Big Brother can watch us expand. A few days ago, news broke about a start up company that helps police identify folks by matching photos taken of them to their online images. Founder Hoan Ton-That of Australia came up with "a tool that could end your ability to walk down the street anonymously and provided it to hundreds of law enforcement agencies, ranging from local cops in Florida to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security," according to a Jan. 18 story in The New York Times. The tool: A facial recognition app. "You take a picture of a person, upload it and get to see public photos of that person, along with links to where those photos appeared," so the story goes.

Wait, wasn't this a TV show, Person of Interest? Where "the Machine" gathers stuff on folks, including their likenesses, to predict who's gonna do terrorist and other criminal stuff? Not quite, but this all seems like a step in that direction ... just another way that life in the 21st century is fast catching up with art.

Don't get me wrong. It's always good to see a porch thief get caught by a Ring doorbell. But even that has a very creepy flip side ... the Ring account hackers who use weak passwords and sign-in processes to see into people's houses and invade their privacy. One can only shudder at the dark-side possibilities of a facial-recognition app.

Meanwhile, Palatucci, in his portion of the "What Do the 2020s Hold?" article, predicted the proliferation of smart eyewear ... glasses that let us see what's going on in front of us, but also provide text and images for our field of vision. We could see maps, make our surroundings prettier, even dictate social-media posts as we look through our glasses at our Facebook pages, he says. So we'd not have our heads buried in our phones. Yeah, uh, we'd just be staring into these glasses while they show us endless ads for the cereal we just ate that morning and tell the cops where we are if we're dodging a warrant. Or, if we're ex-royal celebrities, alert the paparazzi to our whereabouts.

The best of luck to the Sussexes in their new lives. But yeah, wherever they, and we, go, there they, and we, will be.

You know where to find me:

hwilliams@adgnewsroom.com

Style on 01/26/2020

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LET'S TALK: You, me and the ex-royals won't enjoy any privacy - Arkansas Online

By Mike Schmidt, AEM Industry Advisor Editor

If no one person truly knows what the future holds, why try to predict what tomorrow will bring?

Its a reasonable question. Human nature causes society to feature what cant be controlled and be distrustful of what cant be influenced. And yet the long-term success of companies and organizations is reliant on whatll happen next week, next month, and in the years and decades to follow. Organizational leaders assume the responsibility of investing time, energy and resources in planning for the future and anticipating whats to come. And while they dont know exactly whats around the bend, the task of predicting the future ultimately allows those tasked with doing it to determine where a company is, where it wants to go and perhaps most importantly how itll reach its desired destination.

The first tip for thinking like a futurist is not to be afraid of the future, said Sheryl Connelly, who has been employed in such a role for the Ford Motor Company for nearly 16 years.

Connelly shared her insights on what it takes for organizational leaders to think like a futurist, and how doing so can help organizations of all types and sizes attain long-term goals and achieve sustained success at AEMs most recent Annual Conference. And, according to Connelly, while the vast majority of organizational leaders are adept at many aspects of shaping the future of their respective companies, many often overlook a critical strategic component: anticipating the environment in which an established plan must be executed.

Thats invariably where things fall apart, said Connelly. You encounter things outside your control and influence, and it throws your plans off track.

In order to plan for (and, with some degree of accuracy, predict) the future, organizational leaders must take it upon themselves to think like a futurist. And, according to Connelly, they can do so by following 5 steps, the first of which as previously noted is:

Not everything can be controlled or influenced, and organizational leaders must recognize this fact. More importantly, however, they must embrace it. Because if they dont, any effort to try and think like a futurist will fail before it ever really gets under way.

A commonly used business strategy tool, the SWOT analysis calls for companies to identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Ultimately, its designed to helps organizational leaders more accurately answer questions such as What do we do well? and How do we continue to leverage our strengths as an organization?

Unfortunately, said Connelly, conducting a SWOT analysis often leads to organizational navel-gazing.

The focus (of a SWOT analysis) is very internal, she continued. And it blinds you to the facts changing outside of your industry, outside of your company and outside of the competitive ranks and these are the things that will catch you off-guard.

Organizational leaders who are uncertain about what the future holds often consult the past in an attempt to find answers. Its no surprise why. Sophisticated modeling has been developed to allow companies to determine the trajectory of their sales rate, where market share is headed, what interest rates or financing terms will look like in the future, and much more.

The common thread? All of it is based on historical data. That said Connelly is a problem.

Relying on historical data is a bit like using your rearview mirror to guide your drive down the highway, she continued. And looking to the past will always keep you vulnerable to the future.

And at the end of the day, thats really the goal of a futurist, said Connelly.

While accurately predicting the future is no small task, its something everyone does on a fairly regularly basis in both big and small ways.

For instance, when you get married, you assume its going to be for your lifetime, said Connelly. When you make an investment, you assume it will pay off in the long run. Where it gets problematic, though, it when we tend to think the things that made us most successful will guarantee our success moving forward. A big part of being provocative is challenging the status quo, and a great place to start is talking about wildcard events.

What makes a wildcard event? It must have a low probability of occurrence, but also a high probability of transforming the human condition. A prime example is natural disasters, but wildcard events can also be positive: the advent of the Internet, the proliferation of mobile technology, or decoding the sequence of the human genome.

All were one-in-a-million occurrences. All challenged the status quo. All fundamentally reshaped the world.

And all were wildcard events the marketplace is still trying to unravel and understand the true implications on society, said Connelly.

Its one thing to try and predict what tomorrow will bring. Convincing others to buy into your vision for the future is something else entirely, and it starts with being plausible.

According to the longtime Ford futurist, being plausible means examining the trends poised to shape the world for the next two, three or four decades to come. Trends put pressure on whats to come, and they occur in a variety of arenas social, technological, economic, environmental and political. More than anything else, though, trends have a transformative impact on societal values.

If you want to bring people along for the journey, you have to be logical, said Connelly. You have to be transparent. And you have to back up your reasoning so people can follow where you're going.

Looking for more information about the latest trends and technologies impacting the manufacturing industry. Visitwww.aem.org/thinkandsubscribetothe AEM Industry Advisor.

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Predictiveness Pays: 5 Steps to Thinking Like a Futurist - Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)