Our mobile phone can see more than we can see with our eyes. Certain frequencies our eyes don't pick up, but our mobile phone does see them. Through the photo, elements we would normally not see (like the thunder coming out of the cloud on the shirt) now come to life (ci). Mobile phones put a screen over the world. They interpret what we see, and what we don't see. In the future we will be warned for very hot things, for poisonous gasses we can't smell, or radiation ws can't feel. And of course there are more positive applications as well. In games on the street. In sexual codes. In walking in a dark forest. More and more we will use the mobile phone as an extension of our senses. It will become more and more indispensable. This example contributes to that development.

HypoSurface is a 3D surface, made up of triangles which can move separately. This way for example the word 'decor' can appear and walk over the surface. But also images of faces, objects, or artistic expressions can be seen on it. On HypoSurface's website you can see video clips about the technology as well as possible applications and concrete cases. There you can see an example of 3D air moving along a stationary BMW, which makes it look like the car is moving (fc). And thus again a screen evolves through which we can have an interface with the virtual world. In the future we will be able to send text messages to this screen. Then we can video conference, or play games. All complex 3D models like those made of water, air, or clouds, we can visualize with this screen. And a lot more applications will be developed for brands to use these types of screens to support the dialogue.

Related trends

• More 3D

Scenes from computer game Archlord are embedded in the movie BenX. The movie makers say it is the first cinema movie 'in which game and movie are completely integrated'. Many of the scenes come directly from the game. The movie is about Ben, an autistic boy whose life occurs in the world of online gaming for more than half of the time (dc, Dutch). This way the virtual world slowly comes into being. Everything is connected. In the future movies will only be trailers of video games, we will look for a nice space to call each other and from there will continue the game. Calling, radio, watching TV, surfing, gaming, telling time, navigating, it all blends together and that time comes closer every day.

Through Skype it now is possible to take Dutch language lessons, and pay them by the minute (sb). This easy accessible service from a distance will contribute to consumers helping each other worldwide. Who is better in helping you learning Chinese than a real Chinese person? These are personal experiences which we pay by the minute. Like we will start using movies, games or software and pay by the minute. It is just an example of the development of the experience economy. This is a nice example of things really going that way.

Related trends

• Experiences

With a simple extra program, telekinesis, it is possible to wirelessly copy images from PC to iPhone (mc, Dutch). This way ONE virtual world evolves, which we can watch in various ways. In the future when we watch live TV (soccer for example), we bring our mobile phone, which automatically turns on the moment we walk out the door to the bathroom. If we then decide to watch the rest of the game in a different room, we only have to move our phone, and the screen in that room will continue where we were. Everything will be connected. This is a development in that direction.

Microsoft has developed a beta version of Live Search for Windows, which can be operated through spoken commands (dc, Dutch). In the future we won't just search on the computer, but driving in our car, we will also yell 'call John', or 'contact Citibank'. Then the spoken dialogue continues, with a real person, or an artificial brand agent. This is a small step in that direction.

Dutch telecoms provider KPN introduced its service KPN OpWeg (KPN On the Road), a navigation service for mobile phones. The phone needs to have a GPS function, or make a connection with a GPS receiver (ab, Dutch). A virtual world is developing, which we can see through various screens and displays. Now we are still used to certain functions belonging to certain appliances (like phone, remote control, or TV). In the future we will be able to do everything through every screen. The only limit will be the size of the screen. But having spoken dialogues with brands will go through any display. Even through the display around our wrist (that now just shows the time) we will be perfectly able to do so. This is a small step in that direction.

Through RobotReplay brands can record and watch the way consumers move their mouse over their website (dc, Dutch). RobotReplay is an analyzing tool, but this principle uncovers a lot more opportunities. Like in a shop the (good) seller keeps an eye on the consumer's interest (at that moment) and takes advantage of that, brands will now do the same thing online. Earlier, brands did this by looking at what we clicked on, or what we bought. Now they look at how we move our mouse, and later brands will also consider what we say, what we look at, and what our hands reach for. This way the virtual world becomes more and more real, and brands start to understand us better and better.

Tokyo-based optical component maker Active Inc. has developed a new composite LCD display that allows a user to clearly see objects through the monitor's viewing surface (eg, tip Heini Withagen). We develop more and more screens as windows to see the world. This way, the world we see becomes clearer. From every object all details will automatically appear, we can zoom in on certain details and interact with them. And this is also true for objects developed by product brands. We will encounter these kinds of screens as windows in various places: in museums, as shop windows, or as a replacement for normal window glass. This is a small step in that direction.

The new Dutch TV-quiz Stop de tijd ("Stop the time") brings emigrated Dutch people back to the Netherlands in the fifties, sixties and seventies. In this nostalgic quiz from broadcasters MAX and Wereldomroep Dutch emigrants who have left the country more than 25 years ago play against each other (via bm, Dutch). In the future, people will stay connected forever. They link to each other already at a very young age, and will be able to find one another for the rest of their lives, just with the click of the mouse. To relive past memories, or to get together again. At the moment people are using the possibilities to find old friends again through MySpace, LinkedIn or Messenger. Once found, they will stay in our friends lists forever. And we relive memories, never recorded like we do nowadays, by talking about them together. And TV has always been an important topic. This TV-program and this site contribute to that. This way the nostalgic human
is made happy.

Philips has presented a 3D display for which no gaudy glasses are needed. It is the invention of Philips' business unit 3D solutions. The displays are made for the shop floor. (eg). Now for the shop floor, later for our homes. Every display meant to give us an (interactive or not) impressive experience, will sooner or later really be 3D. If we turn our heads, we will really see a different image. If we blow, we see a reaction. If we scare a monster in a movie, he will withdraw into the display. And if we look around the corner, something is hidden there. It will be like a real window that shows us the world. Without the (limiting) glass. This is a small step in that direction.

Related trends

• More 3D

Visitors at Underwaterworld Singapore can now follow sharks and other fish through a specific device. The fish all had an RFID microchip implanted. When a fish swims within detectable range, the computer automatically shows all kinds of information about this fish (ab, Dutch). We put screens over the physical world. Now over animals through chips, later over everything. Anything we point at will be recognized automatically, even without RFID. Sharks for example can be identified by the form of their fins. Now through a specific device, later our mobile phone will even be able to do that. Now RFID, later also image and sound: we will be able to recognize everything. It all goes step by step and this is a nice step in that direction.

Google now has a hidden function with which the user can search for people's faces. By typing "&imgtype=face" behind the URL of the search results, Google will only show you faces. Who is looking for Johan Cruijff then doesn't get the Johan Cruijff cup, soccer fields, books, cars and other Johan Cruijff related things, but only faces. In the results you will also get faces of other people, but this is a good filter again (dc, Dutch).

This way we get better answers to the questions we ask. In the near future our question "I'm looking for a picture of Johan Cruijff" will be analyzed to: Johan Cruijff -> personal name. Picture of personal name -> picture of face. After that face recognition will be applied (Google bought face recognition specialist Riya back in 2005). For well-known people a database like Wikipedia will be consulted. For unknown people all pictures will be compared to each other, and the most likely person will be shown. After that, social coaching brands will search for names we know. There will probably be thousands of men named Jan Jansen, tens of thousands named John Smith, and maybe hundreds of thousands named Li Wang (in China there are only 100 surnames). An individual person however probably only knows one or two of them at the most. Social coaching brands will know exactly who we want to see, and will find the right pictures of these people right away. Google has laid the foundation to make this possible.

With CendrisLocator, a plug in for Internet Explorer, every zip code gets a new dimension on every web page. If you click on the right side of your mouse, you can directly start the CendrisLocator. Then a Google Map shows up, which shows the zip code area including the typical consumer behavior in this area, the relation between rental and owner-occupied properties, and the spending behavior (ab, Dutch). We reconstruct the physical world, including buildings, means of transport, and people, in the virtual world. A world which will be available everywhere. This is a small step in that direction.

OpenID, a method to log into several websites at the same time using only one identity and one password, is now really taking off. Over the last couple of months big companies like Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo have supported the OpenID-standard. Dutch news brand Ekudos now also supports it (dc). People don't go over the web anonymously any more. We choose what we want: we go under our own name, or under a pseudonym (depending on the situation). But have we been at a place once, we will be recognized the next time we visit. And the receiving brand can react to that fact. Even if the brand doesn't know your name yet. It will be the same as it used to be when going to the bakery: they only ask your name after you have been there a couple of times. This is a small step in that direction.

HP has introduced life-size displays on which several people can work at the same time. The media-evolution continues... Now life-size in 2D, in the future in 3D. If we then walk past a display, we get a different image. And other people, wherever they are in reality, can see you work in this 3D space. This will be our new 'office' environment, and at home we will put these screens on the walls as well. This way we are able to enter virtual worlds, 3D worlds, brand worlds from anywhere we are. And in those worlds we will meet the brand agents, the artificial representatives of the brand. This is a small step in that direction.

Related trends

• Brand worlds
• More 3D