Category Archives: The Future

On Patronage as a Funding Model for Creative Works

By | February 22, 2012

I’m feeling pretty jazzed at the moment about patronage as a funding model for creative endeavours. It’s a pretty simple idea: instead of today’s dominant practice, where creative works are funded and owned by someone expecting to make money back from advertising or sales through a limited distribution channel, under patronage, creators fund their work… Read More »

On Procrastination, the iPhone, and Grinding.be

By | September 1, 2009

Clearly I’ve got work to do, because I’m procrastinating with blog posts. #include<speculative comments about motivation> Interesting piece about the futurist implications of the promising new technologies on the horizon becoming corporate controlled walled-gardens, much as everything is now. It’s clear that some level of profit driven development is good, as it spurs innovation, but… Read More »

Building virtual worlds from the inside – ‘World Builder’

By | March 15, 2009

Check out this rather impressive imagining of virtual world construction in a fully tangible VR / AR environment. The interface used is quite cool and inspirational, but there’s a lot of funky interface videos out there, and the basic idea of creating worlds from within isn’t new; Snow Crash has this sort of thing, and,… Read More »

PS9 video – coordination complexity

By | April 21, 2008

via George, An amusing take on what entertainment might be like 50 years from now. How plausible is full sensory experience and interface like this by the date offered in the video (2062)? Right now, it might look like far future fiction, but I’m fairly sure that’s not the case. Enabling technologies necessary for virtual… Read More »

Prosthetic Limbs

By | February 8, 2008

Prosthetic limbs are another harbinger of the future. They’re becoming increasingly sophisticated, and it looks like IEEE Spectrum is going to run a special issue on them in February. There’s an interesting article up now about the ‘Luke’ arm, named for Luke Skywalker’s prosthetic in Empire Strikes Back. Check it out in this video. What’s… Read More »

Rail Guns

By | February 8, 2008

I’ve always loved the name ‘rail gun’ – of all the various futuristic weapons concepts I’ve encountered, it’s probably the most down to earth name. And, since it’s based on an idea you can replicate at home with a bunch of wire and a battery, it’s always seemed one of the most practical. The US… Read More »