The future is the future and it will always seem far off, but so will the things we term futuristic. As the years roll by, however, what we consider the future will become the present and there will be a new future for that. For example, the Internet was futuristic some ages ago, but it is a primary way of life these days and it is hard to imagine living in the times before it. That is the same way some of the things we consider futuristic today will become the norm in a few years to come and we will wonder how we survived before their advents.
If we take a moment to look around though, we will find that some of these futuristic things are already very much around us today, proving that the future might not really be as far off as we think. The following is a list of ways you can already live futuristically in today’s world.
Travel to space
This has always felt real but until a few years ago, one could argue that it was only for astronauts. That’s all in the past now, however, because today you can book a flight on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic for about $250,000 for a quick trip to space. The company says that more than 600 people from over fifty countries around the world have already committed cash to travel on its first commercial flight this year.
The Virgin Galactic has made a total of two test trips, one in December 2018 and the other in February 2019, carrying four test pilots. On the February 2019 trip, there was one test passenger; an astronaut trainer named Beth Moses.
On October 2, 2019, the Italian Air Force announced its plans to fly researchers to space on Virgin Galactic from 2020, becoming the first government agency ever to book a crewed research flight on a commercial spacecraft.
Competitors like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are also working on space projects of their own. If more people and companies join in, the competition could drive down the price and allow even more people to see what it is like to look down on the earth from space.
Complete college online
Getting a college degree has always had numerous lifelong benefits. If you look at the numbers though, it would seem like these benefits are not attractive enough to some as there are still more people without college degrees than there are people with the same.
Apart from the monetary factor, one other reason for this might be the time constraint and the fact that you need to be physically present to complete the program.
It is no longer the same these days because anyone from anywhere can get accredited degrees online without ever stepping foot in the four walls of a college, with some of the world’s most reputable schools already on the bandwagon.
It is my guess that in the future this will become the norm and the old universities could maybe become huge libraries or research institutes… just maybe.
Wear smart clothing
Clothing has come a long way, from the crotch patches of leaves and twigs of the medieval times to the multi-billion-dollar fashion industry of today. It has not stopped to evolve and neither smart-watches nor Nike’s self-lacing sneakers are even the tips of the iceberg.
It might not be that common yet but these days there is wearable technology everywhere on the market. The Unseen has a collection that changes colors based on interaction or the environment. Levi’s and Google collaborated to bring us Jacquard, a jacket that helps the wearer perform several digital functions just by tapping or brushing the sleeves. Nadi X introduced yoga pants that can sense when a pose needs adjustments and send small vibrations to the specific part of the body so the wearer can adjust it. Emel + Aris has a clothing line with intelligent heating technology fitted in the clothes.
With more smart clothing coming through, you can expect everything from health to entertainment to be married into fabric in the nearest future.
Live in a printed house & eat printed food
Just a few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine building and living in a 3D printed house, but if you ask the Ramdani family of France who already live in one, it is more present-day than futuristic right now.
The first family to live in a 3D printed house, Nordine and Nouria Ramdani moved with their three kids into their four-bedroom property in Nantes, in 2018. The house reportedly took just 54 hours to build and cost £176,000; about 20% cheaper than having it built using traditional construction methods.
These days it takes even less time and cheaper costs to get a 3D printed house with an array of construction companies embracing the technology and offering several competitive options.
Even better is the fact that you do not need an actual kitchen, you can just print all the food you need to go with the house. I am not sure about juice, water, and other liquids, but all the same, welcome to the future!
Date an AI
Spike Jonze’s 2013 movie “Her” was based on a man developing a romantic relationship with a Siri-like artificial intelligence character, but it was all fiction and fantasy.
Fast forward to present-day and fiction/fantasy has quickly become reality. I’m not talking about sex dolls and the likes, but actual human-AI relationships where both parties fall in love and actually date.
This simulation of romantic relationships often called dating simulations (or dating sims) are common mostly in Japan and South Korea through platforms like Mystic Messenger, Love and Producer, Dream Daddy and Doki Doki Literature Club.
Mystic Messenger alone has millions of users worldwide, so if you are not into that part of the future yet, it does not mean it is not happening.
Ride in a flying car
This feels like future tech to most people because they aren’t quite popular in mainstream culture yet, but it probably shouldn’t even be on this list because it is very much a thing of today. There are several flying cars on the market that anyone could buy right now if they were interested.
This technology is so much around that it is already being improved on, with Dubai presently at the forefront of developing driverless flying cars and Uber announcing a few years ago, an initiative aimed at getting companies to develop air taxis that they could run from heliport to heliport, called Uber Elevate.
Flying cars would be much more popular in the future, and you probably would need to part with a lot of money and use a pilot, but kid yourself not that you can’t ride in one today.
Be in multiple places at once
When Tupac came from the dead to perform at Coachella in 2012, precedence was set and today we have already had more dead singers gracing the stage. Michael Jackson performed at Billboard Music Awards performance in 2014 and other names like Billie Holiday, Jackie Wilson, Ronnie James Dio, and Ray Orbison have performed posthumously at different events since. Amy Winehouse was billed to go on a hologram tour in 2019 before it was put on hold due to “some unique challenges and sensitivities” encountered in the planning.
The Tupac Hologram precedence is not only for the resurrection of the dead, however, because the hologram’s ability to project a person in life form in a place where they are not present, means that you can be in Canada for example, and be projected in faraway Nigeria. That is the magic of the hologram.
Many companies are already ditching teleconferencing over webcams for holograms where participants are in different locations but are participating in business meetings virtually through this means.
If these dead singers and companies can use the technology, then it is very much around for anybody else to use it too.
This is quite educative. There is this series by Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb that is set in 2060. Its so futuristic, and i love it.