FUTURIST UPDATE
News & Previews from the World Future Society
May 2003
HAND SIGNALS FOR INTELLIGENT ENVIRONMENTS
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Hand Signals for Intelligent Environments
* Online Writing: Developing a New Art Form
* Nuclear Power: Peak or Plateau?
* Click of the Month: Population DataFinder
* Chapter Spotlight: National Capital Region
* Really Smart Clothes
Computer users are already used to pointing and clicking. In the future, gesture interfaces could allow us to just point at stuff and skip all the clicking.The Italian car design firm Italdesign-Giugiaro is working with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland to develop a small device with wireless sensors that translate people's gestures into signals to operate devices in the environment. For example, you could control the TV or use the Internet anywhere in your smart house simply using manual gestures.
One challenge the researchers face is interpreting individual users' unique gestures and natural ways of doing things, so that appliances won't go mad when a family is having a heated, arm-waving chat.
DETAILS: VTT Electronics, http://www.vtt.fi/vtt/new/new121.htm or http://www.extra.research.philips.com/euprojects/ambienceONLINE WRITING: DEVELOPING A NEW ART FORM
The ability to incorporate sounds, images (still and moving), and hyperlinks to other pages into text documents has made writing online a uniquely challenging and creative form of communication. A new project to help writers develop these evolving skills has been established by the trAce Online Writing Centre at Nottingham Trent University.The Writers for the Future Project, initiated in April 2003 and running until March 2005, will invite new-media writers to a residential workshop, where seasoned communicators will share their experiences with online writing and "digital narrative" techniques.
Because much of online writing vanishes rapidly, making it hard to learn from, trAce will also develop an archive of online writing in conjunction with the British Library.
SOURCE: trAce Online Writing Centre, http://www.trace.ntu.ac.uk or http://www.writersforthefuture.com
HOT TOPICS AT WORLDFUTURE 2003
A panel discussion on the aftermath of the war in Iraq has just been added to the program at the World Future Society's annual conference. Led by FUTURE SURVEY editor Michael Marien, the session will take both a long-term and a short-term perspective on what victory really means.
You'll have plenty of opportunities to debate other vital futures issues--such as the coming technological Singularity, the challenges of the global economy, and prospects for "superlongevity"--at WorldFuture 2003, to be held July 18-20 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco @ Embarcadero Center. The Professional Members' Forum follows on July 21.
HURRY! Register by April 30 to save $100 off the onsite registration fee http://www.wfs.org/2003framemain.htm
DOWNLOAD preliminary program: http://www.wfs.org/World_Future_2003_PP.pdf
NUCLEAR POWER: PEAK OR PLATEAU?
Despite no new reactors coming online since 1996, U.S. nuclear power generation hit a record high in 2002, surpassing 780 billion kWh of electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration.The increases in power generation are largely due to technological improvements enabling the plants to produce ever closer to their full capacity. The capacity-utilization factor climbed from 76.2% in 1996 to 85.3% in 1999, placing U.S. reactors among the world's top performers. Preliminary data for 2002 put capacity utilization at nearly 91%.
Nuclear plants now generate 19.8% of U.S. electricity, but that percentage is unlikely to increase much in the future. Although generation capacity is projected to increase slightly by 2025, no new nuclear plants are currently planned to replace older plants being retired.
CLICK OF THE MONTH:
SOURCE: Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/press/press211.html
POPULATION DATAFINDER, http://www.worldpop.org/datafinder.htm
If you need to find out quickly how Ethiopia's and Jamaica's infant-mortality rates compare (or Peru's and Libya's labor-force participation, or Canada's and Cameroon's energy use), click on the Population Reference Bureau's handy DataFinder.The DataFinder allows users to search global statistics by region or country to make comparisons on a wide variety of population issues. The statistics are collected from the United Nations, the U.S. Census Bureau, and other sources and compiled annually for PRB's wall charts.
The site also allows U.S. state comparisons on high-school dropout rates, household income, population age, minority size, and other key demographic data.
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MISSING LINKS? BACK-CLICK TO THE FUTURE
A handy menu of all Click of the Month selections now appears on the FUTURIST UPDATE Web page.
CLICK ON BackClicks: http://www.wfs.org/backclicks.htm
***************************************************CHAPTER SPOTLIGHT: NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION
The World Future Society's chapter for the Washington, D.C., metro area has recently launched a new Web site. Under the leadership of chapter president Eric Garland, the site reflects a renewed commitment among members. "The chapter has been crackling with energy lately," he says.The elegantly designed Web site lists upcoming events, such as the May 22 dinner meeting with speaker Storm Cunningham, author of THE RESTORATION ECONOMY. (Cunningham has also prepared an article based on his book for the July-August issue of THE FUTURIST.)
VISIT: National Capital Region World Future Society, http://www.natcapwfs.org/REALLY SMART CLOTHES
Shirts with sleeves that shorten themselves when it gets hot and hosiery that moistens your legs--or applies bug spray--are among the creative uses that fashion designers are finding for new materials.In the future, tiny computers embedded in your clothes could push dirt away, working more intimately with your body chemistry, according to researcher Mary Brooks of the University of Southampton's Textile Conservation Centre.
This high-tech couture may contain ceramics, glass, carbon, plastics, chemicals, electronics, and other nontraditional materials, presenting challenges for museums interested in preserving the garments for future generations. Brooks is now leading a project with the Victoria and Albert Museum to study the new fibers and their preservation challenges. "This work aims to investigate the unknown and unpredictable," she notes.
DETAILS: The Smart & Techno Fabrics Project, http://www.smartandtechnofabrics.com/***************************************************
FUTURIST BOOKSHELF ONLINE
Now it's easier than ever to find new books about the future, read reviews, and place orders at the FUTURIST BOOKSHELF, the Society's newly refurbished online book center.The front page welcomes you with a featured book review from THE FUTURIST magazine, and you'll find easy-to-navigate links to "New and Noteworthy" books--titles that are featured in the magazine or that are of current interest to futurists.
VISIT the Futurist Bookshelf: http://www.wfs.org/bkshelf.htm
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FUTURIST UPDATE: News & Previews from the World Future Society is an e-mail newsletter published monthly as a supplement to THE FUTURIST magazine. Copyright © 2003, World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814, U.S.A. Telephone 1-301-656-8274; mailto:info@wfs.org; Web site http://www.wfs.org.
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Send feedback or contributions to Cindy Wagner, editor mailto:cwagner@wfs.org.
THE WORLD FUTURE SOCIETY is a nonprofit, nonpartisan scientific and educational association with some 25,000 members worldwide. Membership in the Society, including a subscription to THE FUTURIST magazine and numerous other benefits, is just $45 per year. For more information on the Society and all its programs, publications, and services, contact Membership Director Susan Echard, mailto:sechard@wfs.org, or visit http://www.wfs.org.