2020 vision

The November issue of Stuff magazine is out now. It includes my 2020 article on the future of gadgets and technology in communication, the home, fitness, transport, lifestyle, computers, gaming and the rise of robots. Thanks guys for some cool layouts, illustrations and so much space on the flatplan (nine pages!).

My brief was to track down real possibilities as opposed to fantasy flying cars etc. It was a lot of fun to research and put me in touch with designers and inventors from Tokyo to San Francisco, offering ideas ranging from the obscure to the brilliant.

Karl Kempf, an Academy Award winner for his work with the special effects team that made Superman fly in the first three original movies, talked to me about the future of film. John Sosoka, head of tech innovation at the robotics company best known for the Pleo - a robot dinosaur capable of emotional response and life-like human interaction, answered my questions on the future of robotics.

Due to copyright restrictions, you'll need to duck into a local WH Smith's and pick up a copy in order to see my published predictions for what the world could look like in the year 2020. But my research went beyond what was required by the magazine. So here are three of the concepts that you won't find in this month's Stuff (my very own DVD Extras!):

The Origami DVD Player
The screen uses the paper folding technique to expand and collapse automatically as the device is opened and closed. The concept addresses the need for larger displays without sacrificing the small form factor.

Daylight Window
Philips’s bedroom window won’t wake you up with a cup of tea but it will filter daylight through your own personalised window display. It’s like a visual snooze button, waking you up gently as the patterned animation disperses, allowing more light into the room. The window’s alcove provides blue-light therapy to ease jet-lag so the concept is most likely to debut in hotel rooms.

Madeleine Time Machine
Designer Charles Blanca believes that the closest we'll get to travelling through time in the future will be via sensory experiences. His time machine, Madeleine offers to help us find the smells we have lost because of the evolution of our living environment. In other words it'll transport us back to the school dinner table, grandma's moth balled wardrobe or any number of other places we'd rather forget.