Futurology ::

A taste of things to come? Minority Report-style computing …

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.

Futurology ::

Computer programs have been able to predict which of three short films a person is thinking about, just by looking at their brain activity.

A computer algorithm then studied the patterns and had to identify which film the volunteer was recalling purely by looking at the pattern of their brain activity.

Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London are conducting research where computer programs have been able to predict which of three short films a person is thinking about, just by looking at their brain activity.

::

Futurology ::

Actually a somewhat thought-provoking look at how the net is shaping up, by IBM.

::

Futurology ::

The future is – well – very cool going by one of the new product launches at CES 2010 today.

The Que eReader from Plastic Logic is eerily close to this Mag+ (Bonnier R&D concept video):

The Que is here:

::

Futurology ::

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is running a study where to analyse and explore the inter-relationship between the net and social media/social networking, the results of which could prove very interesting.

The analysis is focusing on the phenomenon known as Crowdsourcing, which has been identified as one of the 10 digital trends for 2010 identified by Last Exit and written up at Marketingcharts.

They talk of the activity as, and I quote:

…  become(ing) a growing tool as part of various outsourcing strategies … to mobilise the passionate special-interest groups … to lead …   activities on their behalf. From political canvassing to software development, from people journalism to environmental activism … led, in large part, by digital social media strategies.

DARPA have invited teams across the US to seek out and find one of ten eight foot red weather balloons that have been moored across the territory (and are easily visible from major roads, so this sin’t a treasure hunt). And to assist in generating traction, a US$40,000 proze is offered.

So far more than 300 teams have enlisted and DARPA are launching the balloons this Saturday, 5th December.

What DARPA are exploring is the “roles the net and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems.”

The ramifications?

Governmental and military policies could be influenced by how people are mobilised in the case of, say, a health scare or military insurgency; local authorities could could learn how to mobilise communities in the case of missing people or escaped convicts.

Commercial organisations are using already utilising flash mobs – and this is a further development of this.

The outcome of a study like this will help us understand how groups form, merge and integrate – and which touchpoints activate these dynamics.

::

06.12.09

The winning team has been announced, according to the BBC news.

The ‘Shift Happens’ video has been updated. It looks at how we may go about interacting with digital going forward and the role of convergence – and the implications.

What will we all be doing in 2019?

Planning ::

An interesting view on what is happening to us because of the digital world.

From the O’Reily Web 2.0 conference.