Smartdrones
Drones are generally autonomous, generally flying robots that carry out various tasks, whatever is designated by their owner or their programmer. We have seen a rise in drones operating in many fields of both service and industry, and I believe in twenty years these drones will be just about everywhere. There have been several attempts to bring the social network, and really the online experience as a whole, into a new platform. Whereas now, just about everybody has a phone, in two decades I think just about everyone will have a personal drone. It will likely have a sort of holographic projection that will connect to everybody, or only those who you choose. It will carry your information if you wish, possibly your finances, and there will be thousands of ways to customize its appearance. It might be asked, couldn’t somebody snatch your drone and steal everything? My answer to that is in twenty years’ time, we will see a major increase in cyber and personal security alongside development of these drones. The assimilation of personal drones into our lives will have a massive impact in our lives. The greatest change will be a social change. We have already seen how smartphones, while incredibly useful for myriad reasons, created barriers between people. While improving our ability to communicate with our friends and to the entire world, the apps and flash player games gave everybody an excuse to ignore everyone and everything around us. Why talk to a stranger on the bus, or even to your own family, when there are thousands of other ways to kill time? You see it everywhere. Groups of friends still hang out at bars and restaurants, but rather than talking to one another and enjoying their time together everybody’s eyes are glued to their phones. With the drone, it will take all that information and ability and float over your shoulder (or behind you, just ahead of you, this too will be modifiable) and out of your hands. They’ll project anything you need it to, removing the need to have a phone in your hand and your eyes down. When just about everybody has a little robotic buddy, people will be more inclined to interact once again. Any new technology will bring about a surge in the economy. The drones will be mass produced more likely than not, but the potential for customization opens up the door for new business, new forms of entertainment, and new ways to network. These drones can be a simple as a floating smartphone, and intricate as a surgical device, or as practical as a tool belt for construction workers. Every day will bring about an innovation to the basic design, and the ways that such a simple idea can be adapted and reshaped are innumerable. It’s a billion dollar industry just waiting to happen. In this vision of the future, I can’t foresee much of an impact on the political sphere, if at all. Unless, of course, we consider an extreme possibility. Data farming is a very real thing, and with GPS being as advanced as it is already it’s not difficult to imagine what a governing body could do with a pair of eyes and ears on virtually everyone. This premise has been addressed in numerous science fiction novels and movies, and when my prediction progresses more and more to reality even the most skeptic of folks won’t be hard pressed to admit the capacity for a drastically increased modicum of control by their respective governing body. Of course, this leans more towards the extreme, but at the same time it’s not far-fetched by a long shot. All things considered, drones will make their way into all of our lives. As with any change in the cosmos the human race will adapt, and after the new car smell has worn away, carry on as we always have. For a relatively brief but brilliant moment, though, these contraptions will change the world.