Over the last 20 years I have seen so much change brought about through advances in technology. My first introduction into computer technology was with the Amiga 3000. I have seen a small nimble company “Netflix” take on what was then the behemoth video distribution and rental corporation of Blockbuster. I have seen what started as a small online book sales company devour all those mega mall book stores. Funny how in “You’ve got Mail” Meg Ryan was fighting the big behemoth storefronts, and to now see the reality of Amazon making them obsolete only a few years after the movie’s release.
Yes, it is true we are living in a world that is evolving faster and faster. As a kid I went from 8 track cassette tapes to CD’s. The technology between 8 track and CD is that of magnetic strip cassette tape vs. laser burned aluminized polycarbonate disc’s… originally created by Philips and Sony. That is neither here nor there.. truth is by the time I finish writing this there will be some new advancement changing the course of another old stable commodity.
The important thing now is to ask ourselves — where are we going? What are the issues of today that we need to address? We have a world of kids growing up with video games. For me that started with “Astroids”(Atari) and “Defender” (WMS Industries) but today it is more like “World of Warcraft” (Blizzard Entertainment) or “Knights of the Old Republic” (BioWare). The XGen started the gaming interface world and now Y, Millennial, and the new Z generations have pulled it into a world of reality.
As the Real World collides with Virtual Reality, we are clearly headed into unknown territory. Is that good or bad? Only time will tell. Just this month I have had the privilege of working on Avatar XPRIZE, innovation designed to unite science, technology and entertainment for the greater good. Visioneer and chief Dr. Harry Kloor invited us to work with his XPRIZE team to generate visual communication for his competition presentation. Dr. Kloor believes human skills are the key to solving the world’s problems. He proposes building a means for humans to interface with Avatars — to port into empty Avatars any where in the world, anytime. Unite Reality and Virtual Reality (VR) at will. What is this new Reality with Avatars and what does it mean for science, industry and the general public?
In this instance, the term Avatar is not talking about the little placeholder picture representing you on Twitter or Facebook. This Avatar would be a Reality — something once depicted in movies like Avatar, AI or Bladerunner but with humans at the helm. This is an entirely new movement via XPRIZE — a world changing solution to unite us with our dreams, desires and responsibilities. When you mix gaming interface, VR worlds and broadband WiFi with robot technology, you end up with a New Reality.
If you could interface with an Avatar, where would you go? What would you do? Now go further. Imagine an amputee being able to take on the task of deep sea underwater welding. Avatars designed to handle deep sea underwater pressure could now be controlled by a person sitting at home in Gary, Indiana. A world where your skill and knowledge behind the controls is what you are hired for. Doctors from many countries could immediately respond and help victims from catastrophes in another simply by accessing available Avatars at-the-ready. Visit your loved ones. A world where humans transport into rentable recreational Avatars to travel the world, anywhere at any time. Further into the future, paraplegics port into Avatars and live full lives. We all have a little Iron Man in us. The real question becomes how can we all make a difference? XPRIZE goes to Dr. Harry Kloor and his Visioneers.
The CyberCowboy