AN ALPHABET OF TOMORROW (U-Z)

Ubiquitous Computing. Ubiquitous computing is where computing hardware is so widely integrated into our lives that software functionality and online connection become constantly available. Ubiquitous computing developments therefore involve the creation and widespread adoption of an increasing variety of mobile computing devices, as well as the embedding of computer technology into everyday objects from fridges to clothing to cars.

The notion of ubiquitous computing was first developed in the Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC) labs of Rank Xerox between 1988-1994, and where researchers came up with the idea of tiny "tab" computing devices, larger mobile "pads", and large-screen "boards" that would all work in tandem with each other and desktop computers to create ubiquitous computing environments. Today, all such devices exist in the form of Internet-enabled mobile phones ("tabs"), pocket and ultramobile PCs and online media players ("pads"), and large touchscreen plasma and LCD screens ("boards").

Developments such as Microsoft's surface computer -- a table-based device that can recognise and interact with other objects including digital cameras and mobile phones -- today very much point the way ahead for ubiquitous computing, as does the phenomenal success of ultramobile PCs such as the Asus Eee PC range. Mark Weiser's article on ubiquitous computing from 1996 also still provides an excellent conceptual introduction to the area.

Virtual Reality (VR) Virtual reality involves the building of 3D graphics worlds within computers which people can then inhabit. Such worlds may be artificial, or a mirror of reality as is the case when doctors practice medicine within 3D worlds crafted from patient scan data. For full "immersion" in a 3D virtual world a user needs to don a headmounted display (HMD) which positions a small screen before each eye to permit stereoscopic vision. Sensors then track head and possibly other body movement in order for the user to experience and interact with the virtual world as realistically as possible. The most advanced "haptic" virtual reality hardware already also provides users with a sense of tactility or force feedback when they touch an object in the virtual world.

Ten years ago immersive virtual reality was the future, with many computer scientists and futurists predicting a time when people would routinely put on head mounted displays, data gloves and even entire body suits in order to both work and spend their leisure time in networked virtual realities. However, and not least because many people find head mounted displays both nauseating and uncomfortable, this has not occurred and is not likely to do so. Rather, what has happened is that the majority of us now routinely "visit" and immerse ourselves mentally rather than physically in the virtual world of the world-wide web. 3D online virtual worlds -- such as Second Life -- which we look into on a 2D screen have also become extremely popular, as have 3D computer games which people experience via monitors and TV displays large and small.

As a tool for industrial design, the military, medicine and film makers, immersive virtual reality is continuing to be developed and will play an increasingly important role. In part this is linked to the development of 3D printers that allow objects from a virtual world to be taken back into reality. Over the next decade, "augmented reality" is most likely to see significant public development. This is where a 3D world is overlaid on our view of the real world via, for example, projection onto a car windscreen, glasses, a helmet visor, or on a mobile computer display. Augmented reality is already being developed in the building of more sophisticated satellite navigation systems, and will also allow computer games players to interact with "virtual" characters and objects in games played in the "physical" world.

Women in Authority. As futurists have been saying for years, "the future is female". Such a proclaimation can also be easily understood by considering both current trends and our greatest challenges ahead. In terms of current trends, the Web 2.0 developments of social networking and online community building require skills at which women excel more readily than men. Cross-disciplinary developments such as the New Industrial Convergence also require the attention of minds most accustomed to multi-tasking and a ready acceptance of few hard-and-fast boundaries. The challenges of climate change and resource depletion also require a new form of more holistic corporate and governmental decision making at which women tend to be more adept.

Research now suggests that the credit crunch was fuelled by testosterone. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that many including Anne Hornung-Soukup now argue that we need a new focus on "womenonics" in recognition of the fact that women are better at risk taking and more prudent as managers. Or as financial analyst Anna Cecilie Holst so nicely puts it "I don't think Lehman Sisters would have taken the same risks as Lehman Brothers".

Placing more women in authority would reduce our focus on the over-competitive, short-term decision making that has crippled our economies and cursed the next generation with debt. Granted, the competition at which males so excel may be vital for our survival. However, so too is the focus on nurture and social cohesion characteristic of the female behaviour of most species. Ask people right now what is most threatened by the swine flu pandemic, and whilst most men say "the economy", most women first mention their children. That more women should be making key decisions really ought to be a no-brainer. For more information please see the Women in Authority page and also my Reflecting on Global Catastrophes video.

Xenotransplantation. Xenotransplantation is the exchange of cells, tissues or entire organs between species. It may involve, or example, the transplantation of the liver or heart of a pig into a human being, a procedure that at present is highly experimental due to problems with immune system rejection, as well as being subject to a great deal of ethical debate. This said, more success is being had in clinical trials in which cells or tissues known as "xenografts" are being taken from other species and transplanted into humans to try and treat diseases including cancer, diabetes, liver failure, and Parkinson's disease.

Future xenotransplantation may involve the creation of transgenic donor animals whose DNA has been combined with that of the intended recipient to make their organs fully compatible for transplant without rejection. However even if successful, such innovations in transgenics will not address ethical objections to the process. Nor will they overcome concern related to potential cross-species disease transmission or a potential "corruption" of the human gene pool should people treated via xenotransplanation bear children.

Youth Culture. Despite their intense homogeneity, the young have always been different! To include "youth culture" within the Future A-Z therefore has to be for reasons greater than the age-old cultural divide between the "young" and the "old", not to mention the problem with finding an entry to list under "Y" in this alphabet of tomorrow!

The youth of today are different not just because they are today's young, but because they are the first online generation -- or the first generation as one student recently put it to me "who feel more conformable communicating electronically than face-to-face". Those who have grown up with computers and in particular the Internet embrace social networking and Web 2.0 quite simply because they have not known anything else.

In terms of the Five Facets of Reality Framework, the current young generation see constraints only in terms of imagination (not technology), and when it comes reaping the results of creativity they have already learnt to powerfully mash. For the first time, a new generation is now entering the work place with a skillset that the majority of those employing them do not yet possess. As customers, today's young are also metamedia-savvy, dismissive of news controlled by traditional broadcasters, and perhaps more aware of those global future challenges ahead that many older individuals continue to dismiss -- maybe understandably -- as things than can be safely ignored in their lifetime. For organizations, the next generation have always been a prime resource in terms of energy. However today, they are perhaps also the generation to look to when it comes to understanding future technology adoption, working practices, and humanity's emergence as a single global species.

Zaibatsus. "Zaibatsu" is a Japanese term referring to a business conglomerate with significant control over the economy. Historically, zaibatsus exerted their influence in Japan until the end of World War II. However, the term zaibatsus has started to be more broadly used outside of Japan to refer to any large organization potentially more powerful than a government. This definition of a zaibatsu as a highly influential organization is also that being used here, not least due to the difficulties in finding another Future A-Z term starting with a "Z"!

We only have to look back over the past few decades to see the world-wide ascent of mighty zaibatsus exercising significant economic and indeed cultural power. Microsoft, MacDonalds, Coca Cola, Google, Sony, Amazon and others now clearly call the shots in several arenas of human activity. With many of the future challenges ahead also likely to revolve around the ability of an increasingly industrialized world to cope with dwindling resources, it is also to mighty global corporations more than governments that we should most sensibly look when seeking ideas and solutions for the road ahead. Of course, whether it is a good thing that tomorrow looks set to be run by Big Business is significantly questionable. However, with such organizations likely to control everything from the GM foods that the majority will need to eat in order survive, though to the nanobots that will maintain our health and the networks that will bind our global culture together, their influence -- their power -- is in future likely to remain undeniable.