What They Say
The Economist identified 22 ‘technologies to watch in 2022’. Only a couple (which we have listed first) involved displays, directly.
- VR workouts
- The Metaverse
- Solar geoengineering
- Heat pumps
- Hydrogen-powered planes
- Direct air capture
- Vertical farming
- Container ships with sails
- Vaccines for HIV and malaria
- 3D-printed bone implants
- Flying electric taxis
- Space tourism
- Delivery drones
- Quieter supersonic aircraft
- 3D-printed houses
- Sleep tech
- Personalised nutrition
- Wearable health trackers
- Quantum computing
- Virtual influencers
- Brain interfaces
- Artificial meat and fish
What We Think
And I’m sceptical about VR exercise – the weight and sweatiness of VR headsets are a real issue for me, although I have no issue with technology for home exercise – I’m on, I think, my fourth generation of ‘smart’ cycle trainer!
I was thinking about the Metaverse. I’m as sceptical about this as I was about videoconferencing 25 years ago. VC eventually got here as a mass application when the internet was fast enough and hardware was good enough (cameras. chips for codecs etc). The Metaverse depends on ‘network effects’ and Metcalfe’s Law. Technologies often develop in stages with each stage justifying the investment in the next. I’m thinking here of delivery drones and autonomous driving (AD). Drone delivery direct to consumers has taken longer than hoped by many, but the Economist points out that drone deliveries between airports may start this year. In the same way, although it doesn’t make the list, autonomous driving also has some way to go, but I saw a report a couple of days ago that a truck had driven itself onto and off of a highway in the US for around 60 miles. I have long believed that this will be the first key application for AD, with trucks going from parking space to parking space over ‘trunk’ routes, with human drivers for the first and last miles.
I guess that gaming and maybe virtual conferencing (mainly for business) are the enabling applications for the Metaverse. (BR)
