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World's First Encyclopedia of Future Inventions
Deb Hellman writes "WIRED Magazine Writers, Cory Doctorow and Wil McCarthy, have joined VC Rick Patch and 2 futurists to judge the Immortalizer Technologies Project - a project designed to uncover a comprehensive list of future inventions. The project is being spearheaded by a futurist think-tank, the DaVinci Institute. The goal of the project is to create a compendium of future inventions, a roadmap of sorts for innovators. They probably won't get it right in the first edition, but I like how Tom Frey is thinking on this one. People can submit their ideas and have a future invention named after themselves. Deadline for submissions is April 30th."
Hey look! Prior art!
Luckily I've not had to enforce my patent yet, since every invention since 1998 (including patented ones but excluding mine) are ideas blatantly stolen from prehistoric (pre-1996) times.
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It would seem to me that anyone attempting to create an invention that appears on a "to invent" list of this sort would not be an innovator.
So basically these are people that came up with cool ideas but were too lazy or too poor a writer to write a Sci-Fi story about them.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
It's one thing to say "gosh, I wish there was a device that did such-and-such, I could really use something like that." It's another to say "In 10 years, we will have this and that invention." and it being dead wrong 95 percent (or more) of the time.
Chick Magnet
Best Windows Freeware
Want it to bear your name even if it goes undone until someone else does it after you die?
Even if it's impossible?
My submission: Zero-Point Energy source /w built-in UPS, Line Conditioner and Drink Mixer.
You are not the customer.
Yippie! Venture capital and futurists. Two great tastes that get nothing done together! Don't we ever learn. It is the year 2003 and yet no hover car in every garage, jet packs the realm of a few weirdos, and my computer's cooling system sounds like a malfunctioning jet engine. Why don't we finish the work of the futurists from 50 years ago first?
This would allow people to plug their mobile phones into a cradle device, then use any phone in their house instead of having to have a landline phone. The idea consists of a cradle device (or multiple cradles, a base station (that utilizes the wiring of the house, and converts the analog signal to digital so mutiple mobile phones can be used at the same time), and digital-to-analog converters for each analog phone in the house.
Hammer of Truth
"Controlling the Weather - Since the beginning of time, man has been fighting the forces of nature. Clothing protects us from the weather in a small way. Buildings protect us in a much larger way. But wouldn't it be nice to spot a hurricane when it first starts to develop, shoot a special wave into it, and just put it out."
Better invention: How about clothing and buildings that are strong enough to withstand any weather? Why disrupt the natural world when we can adapt to it?
"Instant Sleep - People who need to finish an important project, but are beginning to get exhausted can just walk into the instant sleep chamber. In just a few seconds they can walk back out totally rejuvenated, ready to tackle their rest of their work."
Better invention: lets come up with an economy and lifestyle where we get a nice eight-hour sleep at night. I like sleeping. No more sleep, so that my employer can enjoy my improved productivity? This is progress?
In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane. -Oscar Wilde
People can submit their ideas and have a future invention named after themselves.
If someone thinks something up and puts in in a book, and then 100 years later I actually make the stupid thing, then I'm pretty sure I get to call it whatever I, or the marketing department, want to call it.
"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
I predict... flying cars will be commonplace! Oh wait, that was the predictions for 2000..
Trolling is a art,
This is not for yucks; just a list of way-cool things I've seen in science fiction over the years.
10. The Dream Recorder
9. Impervious material (like Adamantium, General Products Hulls, Mithril)
8. Teleportation booth/transporter
7. Time machine
6. Intelligent, walking robot (I'm thinking more Asimov than Star Wars). Something that can balance, walk and think. Hondo "ASIMO" is a mere toddler.
5. FTL space drive
4. Stasis Field (see Larry Niven....who needa a fridge when you have one of these?)
3. Antigravity
2. Fully creative genetic engineering. Yes, we need Moties and dragons in our world.
1. Brain wave reader machine that makes telepathy a reality.
Bastards! I came up with this idea next week!
This one is definitely in our future, once we realize the power of knowledge. It's simply a device that will bypass the learning process and education system that takes 16+ years and just beams information and knowledge into your memory. If we every figure this one out, we'll reach a golden age of humanity.
Hammer of Truth
How about the "Death Clock" or maybe the "Smellescope"?
[Yes - I watched Futurama on TiVo last night.]
My dad invented the automatic lawn mower. The project was concieved on a rainy night in 1978. It had voice recognition, anger avoidance, and would even refill the gas tank! It took a little over 10 years to develop, but once perfected I got paid $10 every two weeks to keep the lawn trimmed.
"Derp de derp."
Hmm, but when the future arrives it is no longer the future, it is the present, and then instantly the past, thus any invention I create in the future will be created instead in the present and the rapidly the past, thus your patent doesn't apply. Nod. Sure. Works here.
Shadus
"Deadline for submissions is April 30th."
When did they start accepting entries?
April 1.
You may have a point about these guys being failed Sci_fi writers, I mean look at the names associated with it.
"VC Rick Patch" - If that isnt a sci-fi name then ive never watched Robotech
"The DaVinci Institute" - Obviously a front for M15
And Cory "Doctor O" - This would have to be the leader at The DaVinci Institute.....
Man with a name like "VC Rick Patch" I could rule the world!
---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
"My dad invented the automatic lawn mower.... I got paid $10 every two weeks to keep the lawn trimmed."
My dad invented the self healing computer. Only I got paid in porn bookmarks.
Is Duke Nukem Forever on the list ?
This sounds an awful lot like the HalfBakery (which isn't nearly as pretentious-sounding as the "DaVinci Institute").
How is that renewable? I guess that would be the invention part of it....
...
I'm working on a helmet with "eyeports" that only allow you to see things worth looking at and "earphones" that only allow you to hear things worth hearing.
My prototypes are available at the supermarket under the code name "brown bag please".
The last two could be built today.
Don't put these into that DaVinci site; their list is proprietary.
a safe, handy tool for disposing of whatever sadistic bastard came up with the molded-plastic clamshell packaging that too many smallish products come in?
Bonus points if it also opens the stupid %$#@ packages themselves, without leaving finger-cutting edges, and double bonus if it leaves the package in a state where the thing can be returned to the store if unsatisfactory.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
I've read a few references about a fairly new drug that's been given to narcoleptics and been adopted by others that really seems to be a stay-awake drug that has few known side effects. Unlike stimulants that crank you up, this new drug simply keeps you from getting sleepy.
Non-narcoleptic users reported being able to stay awake for 4-5 days straight without any sleep. When they stop taking the drug, they get tired as per normal and sleep a normal 8 hours and wake up rested and "normal."
I think this is pretty revolutionary -- we talk about free time as being important, but what would it be like to get 10 additional hours a day? Feel like watching that 3 hour DVD, but its 11 PM and you know you'll be shot the next day if you do? What if the bigger worry was whether you had enough DVDs to occupy your time between 2 and 6 AM?
They don't know what the long term psychological impact of sleep deprivation like this would be, but there's no apparent physical problems reported by people who have been up 3-5 days. None of the paranoia and other psychotic behavior typically associated with long-term stimulant use and other sleep deprivation.
The amount of extra free time would be truly amazing, even if you only stayed "up" 2-3 nights a week, you could be gaining the equivilent of 50 days free time a year.
I'm going to invent the anti-apostrophe, so that I don't have to see misplace apostrophes in other peoples' writing.
I totally agree. People have trouble enough maneuvering in 2 dimensions, then they want to add a 3rd dimension of movement? I shudder to think of the accidents caused people flying to work, while they drink their coffee, read their papers, and use their cell phones...
The drug is Modafinil, and is sold under the name Provigil.
This report is from Dec. 3 (doesn't say what year, I'd imagine 2002), and it discusses the military uses. It warns that we might be messing with something we don't fully understand (like the effects on the endocrine system), but I for one would love to try this out.
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
From what I recall, one thing that was kind of disturbing about the drug was that it worked so well that it appeared to have no side effects. Traditional sleep deprivation (ie, just staying awake and not sleeping) and heavy stimulant usage all have psychosis-like side effects (paranoia, hallucinations, etc) as well as big "crashes" of long sleeps to catch up (further worsened by the use of barbituates or tranquilizers). These are all well-known to be really harsh on your phsyical and mental well-being. Anyone who's ever met a hard-core tweaker can tell you about that (and anyone who has who isn't one can tell you how far away you want to stay from them).
I don't doubt that it might have longer-term psychological effects, but it doesn't appear to have any of the negative physical consequences associated with more familiar forms of sleep avoidance.
What I wonder about, though, is what's the mind of a 40 year old like if they've "added" an extra 2 years of living by using a drug like this? Does your mind age too fast? Do you feel 42? Wiser? More bored, tired, angry, ?
There are probably hidden side-effects from this, but they don't sound like they'd be evident without many years of repeated long-term waking "sessions" to find out.
There's at least three fundamental types of inventions:
1. Those people already want, but the tech isn't there.
2. Those things people don't realize they want, until somebody offers it.
3. The things people just aren't that keen on, but that just grows on you.
Typically, #1 is what you'll find here. #2 are those low-tech inventions that just "show up" because one man had a smart idea.
#3 is maybe the biggest, even though they don't appear that way. I remember before mobile phones took off, when people felt they were flashy and annoying. Well, they still are, but now everybody has one. Age group 18-35 have a 99% coverage here, 85% in general population. Another example is the microwave. In the beginning it was basicly a fancy heater used from time to time, now we use it all the time. With a grill element, even pizza is great, and much faster than a regular oven. This might sound a bit like a luddite, but it's not. You're not against technology, you just don't realize how it will evolve into a central part of your life. Same with internet, even though I admit I saw some of what was coming, many things I didn't. For example P2P and Napster, it was a direction I never expected the Internet to take.
Ah, this is getting a long rant. The point is at least, much of what is happening is not fundamentally "new" technology, but it starts taking other forms and evolves to something else. For an example try to imagine everything a multi-gadget carryable computer could do for you. One that is integrated with your cell phone so it could connect with Internet, or other similar gadgets (alternatively over Wi-Fi?), and your laptop or tablet pc. Nothing truly new or groundbreaking so far, but I'm sure there's a lot of ideas we just haven't thought of.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Perhaps they can steal a few good ideas from shouldexist.org
The itch scratcher is the most common. It's something that's easy enough to do with the technology of the time it was invented, but it was a novel idea that hadn't been though of before, or at least nobody had the patience or resources to follow through on it.
You also have improvement on existing technology. The Pentium 4 processor is significantly different than the 4004, but it's more of a derivative product rather than an entirely new technology. Nobody who's familiar with the 4004 will look at the P4 and slap themselves on the head wondering "Why didn't *I* think of that!" Certainly there are steps of innovation along the way. The components got smaller, pipelines and cache were implemented to get more bang out of each clock cycle, the bus was widened. But in the end, it's just a technology that evolved from a simpler version.
Then you have the pipedreams. These are the inventions that should have been invented but never were, simply because innovation didn't follow the path that everyone expected. We don't have flying cars today. AI is little more than a novelty except for a few nitch applications. No colonies on the moon, no men on Mars. Yet for all the fantastic technological advances that didn't happen, nobody predicted the rise of the internet. The concept of a computer on every desk and every lap was difficult to envison when the average computer occupied an entire room.
Progress provides innovation opportunities. We can always interpolate what we have today to determine what we'll have tomorrow. CPU's will always get faster and cheaper over time and a CPU a year from now will most likely closely resemble a CPU today. But at some point, technology gives us an opporunity to do things that wouldn't have been possible before, and as a result, people will start finding unique solutions. But it's hard to determine what those solutions will be if we aren't aware of the factors that would lead someone to come up with that idea in the first place. And if people COULD predict the future in such a way, the patent office wouldn't be getting overwhelmed with patents based on 20 year old technology.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
In 1876, two Frenchmen, Alphonse Penaud and Paul Gauchot came out with a plan for an airplane quite similar to modern ones and very different from the Wright biplane. Penaud's plane was a monoplane, it had retractable landing gear, windshield and a single control for pitch and directional control - way ahead of time... This ahead-of-time idea is not the thing he's remembered for, though - Penaud's most famous invention was a rubber-band propelled airplane model, which inspired many a men attempt building a flying machine, including the Wright brothers...
Hell is not other people; it is yourself. - Ludwig Wittgenstein