Dutch telecoms operator Hi puts your friends, and their current activities, on a Google Map. By sending text messages Hi can directly determine the location (based on information of the cell masts, the CellID), and what you are doing there is, thanks to a connection with Hyves, automatically inserted into the 'WhoWhatWhere' field in the user's Hyves profile (mf, Dutch). Thus communication slowly becomes realtime. Now we still have to explicitly pass information, soon we will give our friends permission to see where we are, what we are doing, who we are talking to, and what our plans are. Only with our permission of course. Thus the virtual world more and more becomes a reflection of the real world.

Through SpinVox users can have spoken text in their mobile phones converted to text. It is handy for example to have voice mails delivered as text, or to record a memo which is delivered in your mailbox (dc, Dutch). The world consists of our environment, animals and ourselves. Images are part of that. Sound is part of that. But not written text. We have made that up ourselves a long time ago. Now we get more and more devices we can control with our voice. Now it is converted in text, but soon if we say 'refresh oil for car', we get a spoken message at the gas station the next day: 'grab a bottle of oil while you're here'. The phase in between will then be skipped. That is the direction we are going with this.

Through Viddix users can easily place extra content next to an uploaded video. Ideal for a personal product presentation, an online course, or, yes, an inspiring presentation (ab, Dutch). Thus video and other interactivity slowly mix. Now you can place extra static content, soon you will be able to upload an interactive layer. We then more or less build a website based on the video, which you then can easily share. Or the second screen controls our mobile phone, or the TV. Thus the virtual world slowly integrates, with different screens to look at it.

Nokia adds GPS coordinates to pictures made with their phones (mc, Dutch). We thus all together map the world very fast. In a couple of years every camera (including all mobile phones) will have this as a standard function, including the direction in which the picture was taken as well as the zoom factor. We directly upload the pictures to the internet (as every camera will always be connected to the internet) and can then directly see other pictures taken at the same time from a different direction. Combining these pictures, we can directly see a 3D view on our 2D screen, and can travel back in time without trouble. That is how the virtual world evolves. This is a beginning.

It is now possible to play piano on the iPhone (mc, Dutch). The virtual world develops to be a full equivalent of the physical world. Now specifically for the iPhone, but soon we will be able to get a piano on any screen or display, from big to small, including a piano teacher who trains us. And we will be able to start a session with people who are somewhere else, and who can then be seen through holographic projection.

Via Yahoo Live every webcam now can be seen live at the internet (dc, Dutch). Thus another sort of live-TV evolves. Now through the webcam. Soon we will make live television productions which people can tune in to. And in the long run, they will pay for this. In the short term these initiatives will keep growing rapidly, we will get access to cameras in mobile phones (or is this already possible?) and we will also be able to get live views at the mobile phone. Especially the live reporting of news then gets a totally new dimension.

It now is possible to use the Apple iPhone as a touch pad. The user can move the mouse, click and drag with it (eg).

Hardware with various screens give us access to one virtual world. Gestures seen near one screen lead to changes on another screen. And soon the other way around too. Then we drag a picture through the air to a TV screen, and can walk away while the picture stays there. Or we 'pull' a video from the wall, right in our phone. It will soon be as logical and easy as 1-2-3. This is only child's play still.

Bulgaria has started rolling out the WiMax network, a wireless high speed internet network. In first instance only the ten biggest cities will get the network, but in 2009 there will be a ninety percent coverage. Bulgaria will then be one of the first countries to have this technology available almost everywhere. Cisco states there is a lot of interest in WiMax in upcoming countries, from Africa to the Middle East, but also in parts of China. This is especially true for areas that don't have existing communication infrastructure like copper. For Bulgaria this is the quickest and cheapest way to roll out broadband internet (em, Dutch).

Chinese company InterGrafx has developed an 3d avatar for the mobile phone, which updates you on incoming calls, e-mails, text messages, planned meetings, and other reminders (mc. Dutch). Interaction and written text make place for speech and image. Exactly what humans are made and optimized for. Since we now have the technical possibilities (which become better and better), it will absolutely go this direction.

Panasonic from now on produces its TV's under brand name 'VIERA'. The plasma top line (the VIERA Z850), which will be on the market soon, as a default has an internet connection. YouTube and Picassa will directly be revealed (av, Dutch). And thus every screen evolves to be a window to the virtual world. Home entertainment coaching brands to be, like Joost, will take advantage of this, and serve the watcher his or her own personal entertainment every night. So the couch potato can just sit at the couch, zap from one program to the other, and be sure to see what friends, colleagues and acquaintances have seen too. This will come in 2008, and have a massive breakthrough after that. It also marks the beginning of the end of TV programming we now know at analogue as well as digital channels.

Elsevier magazine makes the digital version of its forerunner, Elsevier's Maandschrift('Elsevier's Monthly Writing, 1891-1940) available online. This magazine mainly covered literature and arts (zb, Dutch). In this step we can see two developments. First: brands, including publishing brands, provide insight in their past more often and in more detail. This is part of the call for authenticity, which in itself is part of the brand coming out. Second, it is a media development: we also completely record the history of our lives on earth. Now by making everything digital. Soon everything will be connected, and we will be able to get digital 3D reconstructions of earlier times, based on written stories and thousands of pictures. Before we get there however, this step has to be taken first.

Related trends

• Brand coming out

Orange is the first brand that uses large gesture based screens. In the UK the shop window of the first Orange shop has been equipped with this type of screen. With gesture based screens the display doesn't even need to be touched any more: the screen reacts to (hand)movements we make in front of it. In this application Orange chose for selecting music, dragging the music to a cell phone and then actually playing it. Bystanders are asked for their experience, and from young to old people are very enthusiastic (fc, Dutch).

Thus brands go even further in dialogue. They learn to pick up feedback from people. Not just through text messages, but also by what they say, and how they move. Soon our body language and facial expressions are included. The dialogue then will be supported by the brand agent. And not just in a shop window: our screens at home, and especially the TV, will start reacting to us this way. Thus this development will progress step by step. But this is a great step! See the video below:

Through WatWasWaar (What Was Where'') old maps such as those from the Land Office can now be seen ( dc , Dutch). We map the physical world better and better. Real time: today's reflections, but also through time: in the past (and future). Now still limited to one country, soon worldwide. Now still limited to maps, but soon we will be making 3D reconstructions with millions of photos. And we can once again walk around in whatever place we prefer. This step into the past comes one step closer every day.

At MyCyberTwin people can make their own digital replica. After a short profile 79 questions follow, psychologically sound, which determine your CyberTwin's character. You then can have your CyberTwin represent you in various way. I just created CyberErwin. Thus your CyberTwin can chat with people through the website, but it can also log in under your account name in Windows Live Messenger. It even is possible (but you have to pay for it) to have your digital self appear in Second Life. (a href="http://www.fan.tv/digitaal/toontext.asp?id=18835" title="ft">ft, Dutch).

We might find it strange, but in the future we will have ourselves represented by virtual personalities more and more. We have been used to voice mail for a long time: a standard message you recorded yourself, which is repeated. Everyone gets the same message, be they English, German, or Dutch, but we can live with that inconvenience. The Out-Of-Office messages in Outlook belong to the same category. While with this type of chatbots we can make a step forwards, and have frequently asked questions answered automatically. After all, it is quite irritating to have to keep repeating the answer to the same question over and over again. This inconvenience will slowly disappear. And this step marks the careful start.

Over half the birthing facilities in Ohio (US) are being equipped with an RFID infant protection system placed on infants at birth to prevent them from being abducted from the hospital or from being given to the wrong mother. The moms are equipped with the same kind of band (wn) Every physical elements gets its own place in the virtual world. Our children are confronted with this at a very young age. In a couple of years, this will be completely normal.

Through LiveContacts you can see on the map (on your mobile phone) where your friends are. It works with a small program on their mobile phones that passes on their location. It works through place determination through mobile network masts (dc). The next thing we will share is our location. First based on GPS and then based on Galileo, so we can even determine the location within a building. Once we permit other brands to see this location too, working, family life or a night out will get a whole new dimension. And the expression 'people close to you' will get a whole new meaning.