Twenty five years ago today, the EU's IST advisory group published a paper about the future of "Ambient Intelligence". Way before the world got distracted with cryptoscams and AI slop, we genuinely thought that computers would be so pervasive and well-integrated that the dream of "Ubiquitous Computing" would become a reality.
The ISTAG published an optimistic paper called "Scenarios for ambient intelligence in 2010". It's a brilliant look at what the future might have been. Let's go through some of the scenarios and see how close 2026 is to 2000's vision of 2010.
Our titular heroine steps off a long haul flight into a foreign country.
she knows that she can travel much lighter than less than a decade ago, when she had to carry a collection of different so-called personal computing devices (laptop PC, mobile phone, electronic organisers and sometimes beamers and printers). Her computing system for this trip is reduced to one highly personalised communications device, her ‘P–Com’ that she wears on her wrist.
Well… OK! Not a bad start. You probably wouldn't want everything controlled by your smart watch - but the mobile is a good substitute. Although wireless video casting works, you'd probably want a trusty USB-C just to make sure.
she is able to stroll through immigration without stopping because her P-Comm is dealing with the ID checks as she walks.
We're getting closer to digital ID. But outside of a few experiments, there's no international consensus. However, every modern passport has an NFC chip which can be read by most airports. You still need to hold your passport on the reader, but it's usually quicker than queuing for a human.
Maria heads to her rented car:
The car opens as she approaches. It starts at the press of a button: she doesn’t need a key. She still has to drive the car but she is supported in her journey downtown to the conference centre-hotel by the traffic guidance system that had been launched by the city government as part of the ‘AmI-Nation’ initiative two years earlier.
Lots of cars now have wireless entry and are button controlled. Rental cars often have mobile app unlocking.
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