Mobile Computing in the Workplace of 2025

The workplace is as fast changing as the technology it uses with new job titles, positions and the technology structure they use constantly shifting and updating. What does mobile computing look like in the work place of 2025?

A recent Canadian study showed that “31 percent of working consumers think they will be working from a home office, 60 percent envision artificial intelligence and robotics assisting with their job tasks. 59 percent believe they will be able to access work data through facial or voice recognition” (Thomas, K., 2014, September 22). With technology’s fast moving pace in its ability to run and perform we stand to wonder whether more jobs will be created over lost with the capacity of mobile computing acquiring new performance abilities that could stand to aid us a great deal in our workplace, or take over certain areas of work cutting out need for humans to execute those tasks like data entry.

What if our workplaces in the future are interchangeable due to technology making our mobile computing possible from anywhere, on any surface and cord free? We could communicate with our employers through holographic images.

The workplace almost becomes a return base and we are capable of performing the same tasks on the go and from other locations same as we would from our office space. This concept is discussed in a BBC news article on the workplace of 2025 stating ” In the future, we’ll reshape surfaces without touching them, interact with documents, or create objects that can then be 3D printed. Because of these changes, workforces will become far more dispersed. Workers will have diverse careers in many different locations, working for shorter periods on projects. In many cases, the people working in this way will not even know each other’s identities” (Heraghty, M. 2012, September 20).

So we have to consider that the workplace of 2025 will be more connected, and at the same time less connected in lacking face-to-face interaction. Technology will make presentations easier, and capable from multiple locations but is that just as effective as if we were in the same reading the body language of our colleagues? It is likely 2025 will a great deal of advanced technology but that it will also face new challenges in maintaining the same amount of social interaction as well as ensuring the security of the workplace.

It is an exciting idea to think that we will have a likely ability to work many jobs from home or on the go, the BBC article states “Over time, ubiquitous computing through networked chips embedded into everything around us means that the mobile phone, and eventually goggles and active contact lenses, will be the gateway to virtual work spaces and collaborative projects. One blink and we can be transported right into the heart of our offices” (Heraghty, M. 2012, September 20).

The video referred to in the visual advances of mobile computing in 2025 gives us an idea of how advanced interactive workplace technology will become in the next 10 years. The daughter is able to create 3D holographic models of images searched, verbally record and save swatch images from images, and hold a presentation for her colleagues and directors out of her father’s country home with ease. Mobile computing in this video shows great advances in the medical field as well with virtual at home medical visits, and updates on current health from the comfort of home.

Mobile computing in the workplace will drastically change and so will our working styles and patterns, “Because of greater connectivity and hugely dispersed workforces, we’ll mimic the organized chaos of a bee or ant colony. Groups of workers will be organized digitally across the globe, and kept in touch with this in-built technology that’ll allow us to work on the move whenever we choose. It’s understandable if it all this sounds a bit cyborg” (Heraghty, M. 2012, September 20).

So will the workplace become more flexible, natural and better organized or will there be less connectedness between individuals, an expectation of flexibility in moving locations on a frequent basis and a danger of less security with more dependence on technology?

I guess we’ll find out in 2025.

References

Heraghty, M. (2014). The workplace of 2025 will be wherever you want it. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-19639048

Knowlton, T. (2014). Canadians anticipate connected world in 2025, Have concerns about security and privacy. Retrieved from http://www.techvibes.com/blog/connected-world-2014-09-22

Virgin Media Business. (2012, September 17). Generation IP: 2025 (interactive) [Video file]. Retrieved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEXEonTlfT0

A Projecting Mobile Phone/Laptop/Desktop/Device?

With technology advancing so fast in the mobile phone industry, and in the projector industry, its safe to think the two will combine in the future. Projectors are getting smaller and smaller with better displays, and mobile phones are becoming more and more powerful with better processors and hardware. Imagine a mobile phone or device that you can set down on a desk in front of a wall, and with a click of a button, the screen on the device projects to the wall with a keyboard and touch pad projecting in front of your hands. The mobile phone would have as much space in its hard drive as a modern desktop computer, and the processor would be as fast or faster. All of the things you can do on a desktop or laptop computer would be in this phone or device. Would that make desktops and laptops obsolete?

Lets create an image in your head, here’s what it may look like:

(Gizmag.com, September 2010)

Darren Quick posted about the “Seabird” concept on GizMag.com, which is shown above. It has all of the capabilities of a laptop and it is projected. He states, “As laptop computers continue to shrink in size and mobile phones become more and more powerful, can it be that long before the two merge into a device with the portability of a mobile phone and the functionality of a laptop?” (Gizmo.com, 2010, Para. 1). This is an excellent point as much of technology that advances fast usually merge. Just like the powerful camera technology merged with the mobile phone technology.

The technology is already on its way. There are intentions to merge projectors with smartphones and soon it will be a reality. A user named “hmu2” on the website cubist.cs.washington.edu wrote, “The new projector chip that TI released a few weeks ago dramatically improves upon last year’s low resolution model by adding more mirrors to increase the resolution to 850 by 480 pixels (comparable to a DVD player).” (hmu2, 2009). He is speaking about the Texas Instruments company that produced a smart phone projector that is used in very few smartphones (TexasInstruments.com, 2015). This technology just allows the screen to be projected, but not a keyboard, nor a mouse pad that you may use. There are decent concepts out there, but technology needs time in order to provide computer power and new innovations in such a small device.

There are certain issues that need to be addressed with this potential new technology. Michael Poh on Hongkiat.com stated, “Of course, you can imagine the drainage rate on your smartphone’s battery life and there’s also the other issue with luminance i.e. the amount of light it outputs. In-built projectors for smartphones must be small, and as the paradox sits: the smaller the projector is, the lesser light it will be able to give out.” (Michael Poh). With any concept, there are always drawbacks or things that would maybe not work, hence why it is a concept. Although there are drawbacks, this is the current state of technology, and it will change just as it has for the past several decades.

 References

 Quick Darren. (September 2010). Seabird community-driven “Open Web Concept Phone”. Retrieved from http://www.gizmag.com/seabird-open-web-mobile-phone-concept/16475/

 Hmu2. (2009). Security Review: Cell Phone Projectors. Retrieved from https://cubist.cs.washington.edu/Security/2009/03/13/security-review-cell-phone-projectors/

TexasInstruments.com. (2015) Smartphone projectors. Retrieved from http://www.ti.com/lsds/ti/dlp-technology/products/dlp-pico-mobile-projectors/smartphone-projector.page

 Michael Poh. (2015). 5 Key Features to Expect in Future Smartphones. Retrieved from http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/future-smartphone-features/

We Are All Connected

Mobile visual advances for 2025 are forecast to pick up speed with technological advances largely expected to incorporate augmented reality and interactive settings into the technologies of the future. This concept is shown in Virgin mobile’s Generation IP: 2025 interactive video giving us a glimpse of some possible up and coming technologies being worked on in The Future Laboratory. The video portrays technology as vastly interactive, useable on multiple surfaces and multiple places. The video suggests the possibility of interactive holographic technology incorporated into our mobile systems, a vast leap from our mobile capacity in 2015.

In an article published by ITPRO on virgin’s concept of technology capacity in 2025, the article states “technology is being made more human” (Holland, M., Vormack, L., 2012, September 19). This being said it stands to hold true that as we advance in our technological capacity we advance in creating a device that better meets the needs of the consumer in both software and appearance. The appearance and internal function of our mobile devices will advance drastically in the next 10 years, just as it has in the past 10 and the speed of change will only quicken with time.

It isn’t hard to picture this as our future in 2025. With the leaps and bounds we have made in the past 10 years, it seems realistic to think that we would be capable of reaching this capacity of interactive technology for our mobile devices and other forms of technology given another 10 years. What do these new advances mean for the visuals of these mobile devices? William Webb, head of research and development at Ofcom in 2003 states ” It is 2025. Your mobile is now much more than just a communication device – more like a remote control for your life. You still call it a “mobile” from habit, but it is an organizer, entertainment device, payment device and security centre, all developed and manufactured by engineers” (Webb, W. 2007).

With mobile computing becoming an increasingly important tool in our daily lives, appearance is critical to developers of these devices as each one competes for the spotlight as new versions and models are released onto the market. Phones will become increasingly more powerful using less space allowing for more personalized concepts incorporated into mobile. In addition to this the increase in software speed and capacity will allow for a smoother look, feel and system function. The image below is a concept image of possible versions of mobile phones in 2025. The designs are noticeably improved from our current models with a clean and natural appearance.

(Future Mobile Phone 2025. n.d)

It is difficult to predict the exact visual advances forecast for 2025, but what is certain is that it will become more personalized and interactive. Mobile computing will continue to become an increasingly major part of our lives, and in turn their visual appearance is critical to their mass sales and appeal. With our mobile devices acting as a best friend always on hand they will continue to advance visually, this is also in large part that they are often seen as an accessory in addition to use in a vast amount of other areas.

References

Future Mobile Phone 2025 [Google Image]. Retrieved from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8YRPaH0yElU/UzjpP6ujllI/AAAAAAAAAbY/WGsdNpLCVYc/s1600/slide_4696_65130_large.jpg

Holland, M., Vormack, L., (2012). Virgin Media Business predicts 2025 UK tech trends. Retrieved from http://www.itpro.co.uk/642946/virgin-media-business-predicts-2025-uk-tech-trends

Webb, W. (2007). The future of mobile phones: A remote control for your life. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/student/magazines/the-future-of-mobile-phones-a-remote-control-for-you-life-448816.html

Virgin Media Business. (2012, September 17). Generation IP: 2025 (interactive) [Video file]. Retrieved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEXEonTlfT0

Mobile Technology In Your Skin?

Mobile phones have evolved so greatly in the past years. April 1973 is the date Martin Cooper, an engineer for Motorola, made the first call on a portable device (Fawcett, 2015, Para. 1). The phone was very big and it weighed two pounds. It took a long 10 hours to charge it and that would allow for only 35 minutes of talking. This first mobile phone was priced at $3,995. It makes sense since it was the first portable phone. Fast forward to the present where we have phones that weigh 150 grams and allow for 14 hours of talking. This is a huge incline of technological advancement in just 42 years. So what about in the next 10 years? We could say mobile advancement has been exponential, and any exaggerated idea of what the future may hold simply cannot be underestimated or doubted.

We will explore the possibility of a mobile phone implanted directly into human tissue. This would be a dramatic change in mobile technology, and you have to question would people actually do it? This depends; maybe the benefits outweigh any negative speculation. Is this technology actually possible?

“Researchers at Autodesk, a software company in Toronto, Canada, checked to see whether the methods we currently use to interface with our gadgets work when the device is implanted in human tissue. The answer was a resounding “yes”.” (Giles, 2012, Para. 3).

It seems as if this technology would be possible to implement. What would it look like and what could it do?

A mobile phone technology implanted into your skin may end up looking like this:

(MobileVenue.com, 2010)

This technology would possibly allow you to make calls, listen to music, view photos, view a map, and any other functions modern smartphones possess. The possibilities are literally endless for the future computing on mobile phones. We just have to wait and see how the future of mobile computing unfolds.

 

References

 Fawcett Kirstin. (May 2014). The Future is Here: What’s Next For Mobile Phones? Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/the-future-is-here-whats-next-for-mobile-phones-180951479/?no-ist

Giles Jim. (May 2012). Gadgets work under your skin – but are you ready? Retrieved from http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428645.900-gadgets-work-under-your-skin–but-are-you-ready.html#.VSc70YsnhUQ

Mathew. (March 2010). Skinput uses the Body as an Input Surface. Retrieved from http://www.mobilevenue.com/skinput-body-input-surface-03033217/

Introduction

Welcome to this blog that explores the future of mobile computing in 2025! Within this blog, a lot of references will be used from experts within the field that give their inputs about the future of mobile computing, making it much more accurate. Go ahead and explore the blog to see what the future may have to offer for you!