I spend a lot of time contemplating the future. I read books about it ("AI 2041", "The Singularity is near", "Future Stories", "Stories, Dice and Rocks that think"). I've always watched a lot of Star Trek. So its no wonder I spend a lot of my dreamtime imagining how things might be.
One such dream popped up with a lot of detail Saturday night (AUG 27 2022). It was a compelling vision of computing so I wanted to write it down in some detail. I was in an office about to discuss a topic with a colleague. I opened my "computer" which was a polymimetic sheet that unrolled from its aluminum container like the scrolls of old. The sheet/computer laid flat on the table. The case it was in went back into my suit jacket. The material was flexible and I could stretch it to be a number of resolutions. As I stretched it out, it automatically displayed the size of the screen while simultaneously adapting the contents to fit the resolution. Internet connectivity was ubiquitous so I didnt have to connect it to a wifi or login to it. It read and securely connected to the local network and used my fingerprints as biometric authentication. There wasnt a lot of storage on the system as it was always connected to the cloud. The focus of the system was on computing, the display, and being able to change the state/phase of the material the made up the system and display. The display was a 4k display and fully interactive with a touch screen for navigating on the table surface. I got the sense that the display could be stretched to about a 48" diagonal.
After I was done with the display I was able to lift it up from the surface and with a couple of touches to the back of the systems make it a rigid display. It stayed in the resolution I had it set to on the table surface. From there I was able to magnetically attach it to a monitor stand. I had a couple options, I could attach a keyboard or usE my AR glasses. My augmented reality (AR) smart glasses set a virtual holographic keyboard for me to use with the computer. I could configure the keyboard layout to be anything I wanted, size and configuration. My AR glasses connected to the computer seamlessly as well as if they were biometrically authenticated. My glasses were uniquely paired with my computer. They enabled me to set another great feature, privacy shield.
When I wanted, say in a public space like an airplane. I could put on my AR glasses and turn on privacy. The entire screen would be opaque to everyone around me but fully visible to me alone with my glasses. Bone conducting speakers and a microphone in the glasses let me fully interact with the system without disturbing people around me.
Power wasnt a consideration. I was able to leverage it on the table surface for an hour before connecting it to the video stand. The video stand charged the system. When I left for the day, I was able to remove it from the stand, tap the back of it once more and roll it up into its case. When I arrived home I simply inserted the case into a charger to keep it ready for the next day.
This system was current in the next 20 yrs from the present or by mid century. It was considered a breakthrough and very disruptive to traditional laptop and PC markets. The next interation that would replace this came nearer to the end of the century. The end of the century system was fully holographic and required no medium at all. Users could interact with it using AR glasses and special gloves. The gloves controled the same of the display and interacted with the system itself. You could open menu bars and other applications using gestural commands. The best thing about the new system was the 3D hologrpahic nature of it, all objects on the flat surface could be rendered just above the system as 3D holographic objects that the AR Gloves and Glasses could interact with. All the power, computing, and storage came from the AR Systems with no more need for a physical medium. Any space could be turned into a TV, Projector, computer, workstation, etc. Transferring from glove and glasses based projection systems to home based or office based projectors was also seamless.
I'm sure much of this came from recent articles I've been reading about AR and Smart glasses as well as scholarly articles on things like Vanadium Oxide and other nanomaterials. From my perspective, the future is nearly upon us and it looks great!
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