Children’s eyes looking into the future
"There’ll be devices that I can control with my thoughts"
How Mia views the future
“Clouds exist in different colors and the environment and the sky will be so clean that the Pegasus constellation will always be visible. In addition, there’ll be friendly robots assisting us. Plus, there’ll be devices that I can control with my thoughts.”
Hope and prospect
Researchers in Australia have managed to develop a human-machine interface enabling humans to control machines with the power of thought. In an experiment, a robotic dog was “awakened” in that way. A project in Sweden is exciting as well: There, a woman has been living with a bionic hand prosthesis for three years that is connected to muscles and nerves via a human-machine interface. It enables the patient to control the artificial hand just like her own hand, including each of the five fingers. Consequently, chances that the human-machine interface could really become a reality of life are greater than for a completely clean environment to do so.
"People are going to beam themselves through the world"
How Maria views the future
“The world will be full of things that operate with artificial intelligence. We’re going to have many robots and holograms will be helping us as well. People are going to beam themselves through the world.”
Hope and prospect
According to the known laws of physics, there is no possibility to make teleportation – Star Trek fans would refer to that as beaming – a reality. However, Canadian researchers have managed to teleport the hologram of a human being in real time. NASA has deployed astronauts three-dimensionally into space as well. A look at medical research shows that these visualizations appearing increasingly real not only have entertainment value but might also deliver major benefits. Medical researchers are working on X-ray images 4.0, so to speak, in the form of three-dimensional scans enabling high-precision therapy approaches.
"Somebody is going to invent an animal language translator"
How Julius views the future
“We’re going to fly through space in spacecraft that can dock with a parent ship. Besides that, more citizens as well as children will have a say in politics. Smartphones will not be so important anymore. Instead, there’ll be headsets with connected displays. Plus, somebody is going to invent an animal language translator. Animals will then have the same rights as humans.”
Hope and prospect
Currently, AI programs can learn animal languages by detecting complex patterns based on huge data volumes. AI can decode the low-frequency language of elephants in that way. Similar progress has been achieved with the click communication of sperm whales. In addition, a German team has programmed a robot that’s supposed to imitate the waggle dance of bees. The robobee is designed to animate the insects to display a specific flight behavior. Julius’ hope for data headsets could become a reality too although the high-tech gadgets from various tech giants are still reminiscent of excessively bulky visual aids.
"Vehicles in which you could go to school faster”
How Addison views the future
“It would be great if there were vehicles in which you could go to work or to school faster.”
Hope and prospect
If flying cars and air taxis will exist soon why not flying school buses? Most current eVOTL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) projects are designed for a maximum of four passengers but the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) intends to approve multicopters for up to nine passengers in the medium term. That opens new prospects especially for student transportation in urban areas. For the idea of whizzing from Berlin to a university in Paris in just one hour, new possibilities are emerging on the technology horizon as well: in the form of hyperloop high-speed trains dashing through vacuum tubes at the speed of sound. Currently, several project developers are working on implementing this visionary idea that might revolutionize interurban commuting as desired by Addison.
"We’re going to have a sky that’s not polluted"
How Maia views the future
“In the future, intelligent robots are going to help us with difficult and dangerous jobs. We’re also going to have a sky that’s not polluted. Cars that can change colors will be flying through the airspace.”
Hope and prospect
Today, robots are already available that can defuse bombs and heave heavy objects. Technological progress equips these mechanical helpers with ever new capabilities. Recently, a robotic excavator built a wall from erratic rocks – a job that’s both dangerous and exhausting as well as entailing highly complex visual and technical aspects. Maia’s hope for a flying car will probably become a reality very soon too: in the form of electric flying taxis that can take off and land in very small spaces. Manufacturer Volocopter intends to provide such air transportation services during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Other manufacturers are ready to go as well – and urgently waiting for government approvals. These flying automobiles could even change colors. At least BMW at the beginning of this year unveiled some prototypes whose bodywork can switch between 32 colors like a chameleon. The technology is called E-Ink.
"No more red lights or stop signs”
How Azaria views the future
“Fast flying cars are an invention that’s still missing. They’d be great for people that need to get to another place within a few seconds. There won’t be any more red lights or stop signs then.”
Hope and prospect
Like so many children, Azaria has humanity’s age-old dream of airborne locomotion. One of her motives behind it is intriguing: no stop signs or red traffic lights. For that, though, Azaria doesn’t have to look at the future but merely at the small northern German town of Bohmte, for instance, that’s implementing a shared-space concept across the board, which means that all participants share the traffic area with equal rights. As a result, there’s no need for signs and lights controlling the right of way. Another thing that’s in line with Azaria’s ideas is connected traffic systems in which vehicles of the future are going to engage in exchanges with each other or are in contact with traffic lights so that traffic practically controls itself and traffic jams will be a thing of the past as well. However, to get from A to B as quickly as Azaria would like to, places will still have to be in very close proximity of each other for the foreseeable future.
"Robots that can fulfill all our wishes – including tidying up my room"
How Emil views the future
“For most jobs, there are going to be robots so that people will be able to do things they prefer doing. There are going to be intelligent robots that can fulfill all our wishes – including tidying up my room.”
Hope and prospect
Emil’s going to enjoy reading this: The market for digital domestic helpers is growing rapidly today. The International Federation of Robotics estimates potential sales in 2024 to amount to more than 10 billion dollars. Besides robot vacuum cleaners, mops, and lawn mowers, automated chefs, waiters, and even bartenders are already available. Around the globe, the business and academic communities are working on further robots that could relieve Emil and all of us of cumbersome chores such as filling and emptying dishwashers, doing laundry, or, well, tidying up children’s rooms. Crucial in this regard are sensitive robotic hands and highly perceptive sensors that, in interaction with neural networks, can accurately judge what things need to be grabbed with what firmness and placed where. Because if the robot tidying up Emil’s room destroys his Lego crane it’s not likely that they’re going to become best friends.
"Try to live on the Moon"
How Evelyn views the future
“The world will practically look the same but we’re going to try to live on the Moon and there’ll be aliens there.”
Hope and prospect
Artemis missions are intended to make humans land on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. “We’re going to be sending people down to the surface and they’re going to be living on that surface and doing science,” Howard Hu, who leads NASA’s Orion lunar spacecraft program, is quoted. The Moon, though, is only a stop on the journey to the real destination of a space city on Mars. NASA expert Claas Olthoff comments that, “Mars is the most Earth-like planet in our solar system and our direct neighbor.” That makes it a very interesting target in our quest for life. Evelyn’s hope of encountering an alien isn’t so unrealistic either, considering that 10,000 extraterrestrial civilizations are supposed to exist just in our galaxy, the Milky Way. At least that’s what astronomer Seth Shostak from the SETI Institute in California claims.
