Google Glass....proof that Ray Kurzweil's prediction are all coming true

[Swagnificent]

So alot of people were writing articles in 2009 attacking Ray Kurzweil because some of his predictions didn't come true exactly when he predicted. I never really looked at him as some sorcerer with the power to see the exact future but rather as a visionary who knows better than most where technology is taking us. I looked back at his prediction and ALL of them are either already here or about to be here like Google Glass. Here are just a few of the big things he saw would happen by 2009 in his 1999 book Age of Spiritual Machines.

The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999)

2009

- Most books will be read on screens rather than paper. (iPad, Kindle)
- People use personal computers the size of rings, pins, credit cards and books. (smartphones are about the size of credit cards and tablets are the size of books; though rings and pins is overstating it)
- Cables are disappearing. Computer peripheries use wireless communication. (4G WiFi)
- People can talk to their computer to give commands. (Siri, Google Voice)
- Computer displays built into eyeglasses for augmented reality are used. (Google Glass)

The only major prediction he fukked up on was his prediction that driverless cars would be available to the public by now. That technology still looks like its about 5 years out. Even if all his predictions for the 2020s and 2030s are 5-10 years off like he was about driverless cars, the future will be much more radical than we can imagine. Here's a taste of what he sees being possible in the next 20-30 years. shyt is gonna be crazy.

2029

- A $1,000 personal computer is 1,000 times more powerful than the human brain.
- Computer implants that go into the eyes and ears allow direct interface with computers, communications and Internet-based applications. The implants are also capable of recording what the user sees and hears. future of Google Glass
- Direct brain implants allow users to enter full-immersion virtual reality—with complete sensory stimulation—without any external equipment. future of the Oculus Rift

2039

- Mind uploading becomes successful as humans become software-based: living out on the Web, projecting bodies whenever they want or need (whether in virtual or real reality), and living indefinitely so long as they maintain their "mind file".
- Nanomachines in peoples' brains will allow them to "telepathically" communicate with other, similarly augmented humans via wireless networks.

 

[DirtyMoney]

Wow this is amazing

 

[concise]

2039

- Mind uploading becomes successful and perfected by the end of this decade as humans become software-based: living out on the Web, projecting bodies whenever they want or need (whether in virtual or real reality), and living indefinitely so long as they maintain their "mind file". Eventually, all human beings (including those with transbiological 2.0 or 3.0 bodies) will migrate to this postbiological state except for those who wish to remain unenhanced: the transbiological era giving way to the postbiological era.

This is one is way too out there.

 

[Majestyx]

This is one is way too out there.

there have already been trials for a human brain - computer interface.


the singularity it is coming

 

[Swagnificent]

This is one is way too out there.

That is probably his most controversial prediction because it requires the assumption that our consciousness can exist as information on a substrate other than organic brains.

I'm just saying that based on his track record and expertise in technology, I wouldn't put it past him. Even if he's off by 10 years, mind uploading could be possible by 2050.

 

[courtdog]

The only major prediction he fukked up on was his prediction that driverless cars would be available to the public by now. That technology still looks like its about 5 years out. Even if all his predictions for the 2020s and 2030s are 5-10 years off like he was about driverless cars,

Spoiler

 

[Swagnificent]

there have already been trials for a human brain - computer interface.

the singularity it is coming

Quadriplegics already have had computer chips inserted into their brains surgically that allow them to control computers just by thinking. What Kurzweil is predicting is that this process will becomes more widespread once its able to be inserted non-invasively. I would love to control a computer just by thinking, however, I'm not gonna get surgery to do that. Once nanotechnology takes off in the 2020s, it should be mainstream to surf the net using your brain.

 

[Swagnificent]

Spoiler

Lexus parks itself - YouTube

hey I agree its nickpicking but that was the most negative thing I could say

even his most flawed prediction was only off by how ubiquitous it would be

driverless cars are not mainstream yet and he said they would be mainstream

this goes to show that mind uploading might be possible by 2040 but probably won't be widely used for another 5-10 years

 

[MaccabeanRebel]

These things are more than 100 years out (at the least)....direct brain implants interfacing with computers? LOL..I'll pass niccas aint about to spearfish me and turn my brain into some malware command & control server

 

[Swagnificent]

These things are more than 100 years out (at the least)....direct brain implants interfacing with computers? LOL..I'll pass niccas aint about to spearfish me and turn my brain into some malware command & control server

100 years? There are already people walking the earth today with direct brain implants that allow them to control computers simply by thinking. Just last week a team of researchers at Duke University were able to connect two rat brains using brain implants so that the thoughts of one rat could be send wirelessly via the internet directly onto the brain of another rat.

This only seems to be 100 years out because our brains didn't evolve to comprehend what exponential increases mean. 10 steps linearly is a just 10 steps forward. 10 steps exponentially is 1,000 steps forward. What looks to be 100 years out is most times just one or two decades away. The technology exists right now for brain-computer interfaces in the laboratory. It isn't crazy to say that 20-30 years from now it will be ubiquitous.

Just look back 20-30 years ago at computers and compare them to today's advanced tablets, smartphones, and soon to be Google Glass. I don't think its as farfetched as 100 years in the future based on our track record so far.

 

[Orbital-Fetus]

let's say someone uploads a digital version of themselves to the web...then meets another digital version of another person and "kills" it...or steals it's money.

will there be a digital trial...prison... execution?

 

[MaccabeanRebel]

let's say someone uploads a digital version of themselves to the web...then meets another digital version of another person and "kills" it...or steals it's money.

will there be a digital trial...prison... execution?

They'll be deleted?

 

[714562]

They'll be deleted?

There's something disturbing about someone having the ability to "delete" someone else's consciousness.

On it's face, that seems like an advantage of bodily integrity -- you have a degree of autonomy over your own body.

 

[MaccabeanRebel]

There's something disturbing about someone having the ability to "delete" someone else's consciousness.

On it's face, that seems like an advantage of bodily integrity -- you have a degree of autonomy over your own body.

Lets take it a step further..say you can implant your consciousness virtually. What happens if the device your consciousness exists on fails (hardware error)? The state of your consciousness is now gone..lol. Maybe they have it distributed somehow...but now you have multiple consciousness..crazy

 

[Cat piss martini]

great thread.