Futurist - Sailing Before The Wind
2014.12.12 Lumber Coated Rust presents Into Circulation Vol.1 Live in Shibuya aube.

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Published: Monday, December 22, 2014 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Saturday, December 20, 2014 at 4:38 p.m.

We may well have entered a new era of lower energy costs.

This coincides with having entered the second stage of the global economy I wrote about in my October column.

Ever since I started writing and speaking about the future back in 2006, I have focused a lot on energy. The reason is simple and obvious: The energy sources, models, structures and infrastructures of the 19th and 20th century will have to change in the 21st century. So I have paid a good bit of attention to new forms of energy, new ways to distribute energy and emerging technologies, and also looked deeply into the landscape of global energy.

In fact, one of the things that put me on the map as a credible futurist was that in 2006, when oil was around $50 a barrel, I suggested that oil might well cross $125 a barrel in 2008. I fondly remember going on a syndicated business TV program in the second half of 2007 to talk about the price of oil. There was me, the futurist, and some oil analyst. The reporter asked me what I thought the price of oil might be in a year (at the time it was around $55 a barrel), I answered that it would very likely be above $100 in 2008. With ridicule dripping from her voice, the reporter then said something like "Well, we have heard from a futurist, now let's get the facts from an oil analyst" who then said oil would range between $50 and $60 a barrel for the next few years. You may remember that the price of oil topped out in 2008 at $147 a barrel. Ah, sweet victory!

In the last two to three years, I have been correct in forecasting that the price of oil would largely stay in the $90-$120 per barrel range. Coming into 2014, I thought there might be some softness due to several dynamics and suggested that it might well drop into the low $80s. Well, I was right that the price would soften this year, but was I wrong on how soft! As of this writing, West Texas Intermediate oil is around $56 and Brent crude is $61.

The dynamics for this price collapse have been widely reported: the technological revolution of fracking in the U.S., the softening demand in China and the commitment of Saudi Arabia to keep market share within the group of oil exporting nations and to put stress on the U.S. oil industry, which has moved the U.S. the closest it has ever been to energy independence.

The price will go up over the next year. In the meantime, low prices will cause geo-political havoc, because many of the oil-exporting countries, such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela, have break-even production levels well above $80.

That is for another column. This column is about more than oil; it is about the real possibility that we have entered into a decade-long era of generally lower energy costs. Several simultaneous developments point to this. So, in addition to lower oil prices, here are some dynamics that should lower energy costs in the years ahead:

Incredible efficiencies in the internal combustion engine, dramatically increasing the miles that cars can travel per gallon. In 2000, it would have been almost unimaginable that one could choose from dozens of cars that average more than 30 mpg.

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New era of cheaper energy ... and it's not just oil prices

Top 10 Science Fiction Movies About the Future of Medicine - The Medical Futurist
As a science fiction movie geek, I collected those 10 movies that give a good picture about what we can expect to see in the next years in the future of medicine. Please share your favorite...

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SAT Vocabulary Words and Definitions Futurist
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Measure and improve your brain at home! - The Medical Futurist
For many years, I have been using gadgets to motivate myself for a healthier life and my mental health is crucial for my entire well-being. Here are the gadgets and methods I use to learn to...

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Neal Stephenson, the author of science fiction classics likeSnow Crash and Cryptonomicon, has joined the augmented reality startup Magic Leap as itsChief Futurist. A press release from Magic Leap announces the appointment.

In his first blog post for the company, Stephenson elaborates on what Magic Leaps technology does, and what he brings to the table. Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniquessome tried and true, others unbelievably advancedto produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment. Depth perception, in this system, isnt just a trick played on the brain by showing it two slightly different images.

Im fascinated by the science,but not qualified to work on it, he says. Where I hope I can be of use is thinking about what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public.

Stephenson highlights the potential for Magic Leaps technology to revolutionize gaming. It feels like the right time to give those people a new medium: one in which three-dimensionality is a reality and not just an illusion laboriously cooked up by your brain, and in which its possible to get up off the couch and movenot only around your living room, but wherever on the face of the earth the story might take you. Making such games is not going to be a matter of porting existing ones to the new system. Its going to mean redefining the medium from the ground up.

Oculus Rift makes screens more immersive, but ultimately remains limited to the two-dimensional plane supplemented by optical trickery. Magic Leaps technology, as Stephenson describes it, purports to interface more directly with the way our eyes works to create a natural and immersive way to interact with virtual objects and spaces.

Related:En garde! Clang goes medieval with realistic sword controllers

Stephensons idea-saturated work has dealt with subjects like mathematics, cryptography, currency, the history of science, and philosophy, but he holds particular sway over VRenthusiasts for his revolutionary conceptualization of online virtual reality in his 1992 cyberpunk classic,Snow Crash. In thatseminalwork of near-future science fiction, the internet is represented as the Metaverse, arichly-realized, shared VR environment. Notably, Stephenson popularizedthe modern use of the word avatar in the book, co-opting the term from the Sanskrit word for a deitys earthly representation.

The authors last foray into gaming wasClang, a Kickstarted sword-fighting game under development by his Subotai Corporation. Subotai was developing motion controls to represent sword-fighting more accurately than any game previously had. That project was put on indefinite hold in September.

Magic Leap was founded in 2011 and has been gradually drawing the interest of investors from both Silicon Valley and the entertainment industry. The companymadeheadlinesin October for generating$542 million in funds from a group of investors led by Google.

CEO and founder Rony Abovitz has chosen to foregovirtual reality and augmented reality in favor of cinematic reality. Those older terms, he explained, are associated with things that didnt necessarily deliver on a promise or live up to expectations. Googles investment might point toward the possibility of Magic Leapss technology being integrated into Google Glass at some point in the future.

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Author Neal Stephenson joins AR upstart Magic Leap as Chief Futurist

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In a blog post, Neal Stephenson says it's time that people develop a new medium, "one in which three-dimensionality is a reality and not just an illusion laboriously cooked up by your brain." Madeleine Ball/NPR hide caption

In a blog post, Neal Stephenson says it's time that people develop a new medium, "one in which three-dimensionality is a reality and not just an illusion laboriously cooked up by your brain."

It seems we have a new case of life following art. Over two decades ago, in his seminal novel Snow Crash, science fiction author Neal Stephenson imagined a virtual world he called a "metaverse," a collective virtual reality that brought its users together in a single shared space. Now, Stephenson is trying his hand at helping sculpt another kind of alternate realitythis time not in print, but in life at large.

Stephenson announced that he will be joining the startup Magic Leap as the company's "chief futurist." While the company itself remains something of a mystery, the Wall Street Journal reports that "the startup is developing its own eyeglasses-like device, different from Google Glass, designed to project computer-generated images over a real-life setting." In other words, the technology is said to try to blend seamlessly what's real with what's virtualnot unlike some of the technologies in Stephenson's book.

Though the company has yet to produce anything, Google and several other tech titans have been big backers of the project, to the tune of $542 million in investments.

In a blog post for Magic Leap, Stephenson said his role will not be concerned with business or science, so much as with how to apply the product once it's ready.

"I'm fascinated by the science, but not qualified to work on it. Where I hope I can be of use is in thinking about what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public," Stephenson wrote. "'Chief Futurist' runs the risk of being a disembodied brain on a stick. I took the job on the understanding that I would have the opportunity to get a few things done."

The Punch and the Publisher: Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura has turned his sights on the publisher of the book American Sniper. According to the StarTribune, Ventura has filed a lawsuit against HarperCollins for alleged defamation of character.

In his best-selling memoir, the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle told of a scuffle he had with Ventura, whom he identified by the name "Scruff Face" in the text. Kyle wrote that he had punched Scruff Face over disparaging comments the man had made about the United States and the Navy SEALS. After the book's publication, Kyle explained that Scruff Face and Ventura, who is also a Navy veteran, were one and the same.

For his part, Ventura disputes this claim, saying the incident actually never happened. And he's already won a $1.8 million lawsuit against Kyle's estate over the same story.

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Book News: Sci-Fi Writer Signs On As 'Chief Futurist' For Secretive Startup

Stephenson will help Magic Leap figure out "what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public."

Hot off an infusion of cash from Google, augmented reality startup Magic Leap has snagged another high-powered partner.

Science-fiction writer and game designer Neal Stephenson (pictured) has agreed to join the Fort Lauderdale-based firm as "Chief Futurist."

Announcing his new title in a blog post, Stephenson said he was intrigued by Magic Leapfrom what the company had already achieved ("I saw something on that optic table I had never seen before," he teased) to what it is capable of doing.

"Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniquessome tried and true, others unbelievably advancedto produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment," Stephenson explained.

Known for novels like 1992's Snow Crash, the author and sci-fi fan is familiar with virtual reality and augmented realityboth technologies which he expected to be widespread by the end of the 20th century.

"In practice, it has taken longer than just about anyone expected to get that kind of tech consumer-ready," he said. "The devil has turned out to be in the details of satisfying the amazingly finicky human visual system."

The Facebook-owned Oculus VR has helped to reinvigorate public interest in virtual reality, thanks to its Rift headset (slideshow above). But augmented reality remains a mystery to most peoplea detail Magic Leap hopes to change.

Founded in 2011, the secretive company in October earned $542 million in funding from tech giants like Google and Qualcomm. But details about its "Cinematic Reality" tech have yet to be revealed.

"I'm fascinated by the science, but not qualified to work on it," Stephenson admitted. "Where I hope I can be of use is in thinking about what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public. I took the job on the understanding that I would have the opportunity to get a few things done."

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Neal Stephenson Named 'Chief Futurist' at Magic Leap

Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson has joined the tech start-up Magic Leap as "chief futurist". The author of "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon," who has also been involved in creating video games, blogs about why he signed on with the company on its website.

"In a teeming, overcrowded hardware lab in a South Florida strip mall, I got the demo from Rony [Abovitz], the founder and CEO. Shortly thereafter, I agreed to become Magic Leaps Chief Futurist.... what fascinated me wasnt what Magic Leap had done but rather what it was about to start doing. Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniques--some tried and true, others unbelievably advanced--to produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment."

In other words, Magic Leap, which recently raised $542 million, is planning to create augmented reality technology that could project 3-D images in real space. The company's website shows images of schoolchildren sitting at a table surrounded by suspended seahorses, cupped hands holding a levitating elephant or a tiny girl holding a puppy, and dragons flying across the sky.

Stephenson spoke to the website io9 about his role: "[I]f you're not actually doing practical things with the technology and engaging with the engineers and understanding the science, then it's impossible to futurize. So I've been telling Rony and the other people involved with Magic Leap from the very beginning that I wanted to have direct involvement in actually using this hardware as a creative platform."

Stephenson's next novel, "Seveneves," is coming from HarperCollins in May 2015.

Book news and more; I'm @paperhaus on Twitter

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Neal Stephenson signs on as tech company's 'chief futurist'

If nothing else, Magic Leap knows how to capture the imagination.

Silicon Valley is already abuzz over this stealthy augmented-reality startup, mainly due to some funding from Google and a brief glimpse of the companys technology that shows a 3-D virtual elephant floating above someones hands. And now, the company has raised its cachet even higher by teaming up with big-name science fiction writer and game designer Neal Stephenson, author of such sci-fi classics as Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon.

Stephenson will hold the title of Chief Futurist at the mysterious Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company, which recently announced a $542 million round of funding led by Google. The sci-fi writer revealed his new title with a blog post, saying hed been swayed to join Magic Leap after receiving a demonstration of the companys technology.

Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniquesto produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment, he writes, saying its a tool that will serve not only gamers but readers, learners, scientists, and artists.

As one of the companys visionaries, Stephenson will work with the startup in a more theoretical, rather than technical, capacity. Where I hope I can be of use is in thinking about what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public, he writes.Hell join other notable names at the company, including founders Rony Abovitz, the former head of a medical robotics company MAKO Surgical, which was sold for $1.65 billion, and Richard Taylor of WETA Workshop, the company that created the props and creatures seen in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Thus far, the startup has been extremely tight-lipped on what its final product will be. Publicly, it released little more than a GIF of a tiny elephant appearing in an open pair of hands as a puzzling hint of what it would eventually debut. But some have speculated that the company could be making a Google Glass-like wearable that realistically blends computer-generated graphics with real world.

In this manner,Magic Leap adds to a wealth of efforts by othersnotably Google Glass and the Oculus Riftto bring augmented reality and virtual reality into the mainstream. When the company landed that $542-million pile of cash, the investment didnt come from Google Ventures, Google Capital, or any of the search giants other investment armsbut rather Google Inc. itself.

Additionally, Magic Leap nabbed senior vice president Sundar Pichai, the man in charge of Googles core products, as a member of the startups board. And other investors carry their own cachet, including Qualcomm, Legendary Pictures, and venture capitalist bigwigs Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, and KPCB.

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Sci-Fi Author Neal Stephenson Joins Mystery Startup Magic Leap as Chief Futurist

Magic Leap, a startup which is working on wearable augmented reality tech with games applications -- and which has also been invested in, by Google, to the tune of $500 million dollars -- has hired author Neal Stephenson as its chief futurist.

In a new blog post, Stephenson hints at the potential for the tech, particularly vis-a-vis games.

"I sometimes feel that the creative minds who make games have done about as much as is possible in two dimensions," he writes. "It feels like the right time to give those people a new medium: one in which three-dimensionality is a reality and not just an illusion laboriously cooked up by your brain, and in which itas possible to get up off the couch and move -- not only around your living room, but wherever on the face of the earth the story might take you."

The company has recruited game industry veterans including 7th Guest creator Graeme Devine, and is currently recruiting for game projects involving Devine and Weta Workshop (Lord Of The Rings) concept designer Greg Broadmore - Weta's Sir Richard Taylor is an advisor to the firm.

Stephenson's latest game-related project was a Kickstarter-funded prototype called Clang aimed at creating realistic swordplay for games, which ran out of money before getting picked up for production; the project was ultimately killed.

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Magic Leap recruits writer Neal Stephenson as chief futurist, games hinted

Chris Davies

If you thought Google-invested startup of augmented reality mystery Magic Leap couldn't get any more intriguing, think again: famed science-fiction author Neal Stephenson is now onboard. The writer - perhaps best known for his novel Snow Crash, which included plenty of augmented and virtual reality technology - will be Magic Leap's Chief Futurist, it was announced today, joining the hype-causing team experimenting with ways to project light fields onto the retina and use them to deliver believable three-dimensional environments. Turns out, Magic Leap's demonstration was enough to convince the award-winning author that the technology has some serious potential.

Published back in 1992, Snow Crash was Stephenson's third novel, set in the near-future - or what the author believed was nearly possible given the technological landscape at the time - and making heavy thematic use of the so-called Metaverse.

This, a successor to the internet, was a virtual environment in which users were each represented as digital avatars. While public access terminals offering simple black and white access were available in the novel's universe, the most common method of access were personal display goggles, though which a first-person view of the Metaverse would be delivered.

At the time, Stephenson says, he believed that sort of personal virtual reality environment would be just around the corner. Instead, it's taken considerably longer to get anywhere close, and the nearest to mass-market wearable display approaches have either focused on delivering basic notifications, like Google Glass, or some sort of game arena, like Oculus Rift.

Magic Leap surged from near-unknown status back in October, after it was revealed that Google - among others - had made an investment totaling more than half a billion dollars.

The technology that's paying for is far from detailed at this stage, though Stephenson describes it as "a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment."

What the author is clear on, however, is that tech alone won't be enough to make Magic Leap a success. Instead, he writes, it will demand a whole new world of entertainment like games, specially written to take advantage of the virtual reality potential.

"I sometimes feel that the creative minds who make games have done about as much as is possible in two dimensions. Its hard to imagine how the current crop of games, for example, could be more finely tuned to deliver that particular kind of entertainment. It feels like the right time to give those people a new medium: one in which three-dimensionality is a reality and not just an illusion laboriously cooked up by your brain, and in which its possible to get up off the couch and move--not only around your living room, but wherever on the face of the earth the story might take you. Making such games is not going to be a matter of porting existing ones to the new system. Its going to mean redefining the medium from the ground up" Neal Stephenson, Chief Futurist, Magic Leap

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Magic Leap adds Neal Stephenson as VR chief futurist

Wearable Spotlight: Brian David Johnson, Futurist at Intel
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Daniel Simon: Conceptual Designer and Automotive Futurist (Part 1)
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Ford #39;s "futurist" predicts upcoming trends
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Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) December 13, 2014

According to population studies: North Carolina expects to add nearly 3 million people between now and 2030." If a population explosion like that actually occurs, North Carolina will become the seventh most populous state in the country.

To that end, North Carolinas Chamber of Commerce is gathering at the Future of North Carolina Forum on December 16th to ask questions like, Are We Ready? Do we have the necessary infrastructure in place? Enough clean water? And will job growth keep pace with the growth of our population? As one of the states most influential leaders, the Chamber of Commerce is aiming to facilitate an engaged discussion and discuss what some of the answers to those questions might be. Keynote speaker, global futurist Jack Uldrich will encourage them to look outside the box with his presentation "Business as Unusual: How to Future-Proof North Carolina Against the Ten Trends Transforming Tomorrow."

Jack Uldrich, Global Futurist and Best-Selling Author likes to quote baseball great, Yogi Berra. Berra once said, The future aint what it used to be. Uldrich says, He was right. In fact, the future is going to be downright unusual. Uldrich says, This begs the obvious question: How do you prepare for an uncertain and unpredictable future? In his Business as Unusual keynote address he will encourage NCCC members to think and act in unorthodox ways.

In his unconventional keynote presentation, Jack Uldrich intends to help the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce Members attending the 2014 Forum unlearn the barriers currently holding them back so they can unlock new levels of creativity and innovation. Hell conclude by guiding participants through a series of tangible actions that will unleash their ability to create their own future and, in the process, achieve uncommon levels of success regardless of how large the population grows.

Parties interested in learning more about Jack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about either the event or interviewing Jack can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

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North Carolina Chamber of Commerce: Asking Questions & Gathering Answers with a Futurist

ITU TELECOM WORLD 2014 SOUNDBYTES: Gerd Leonhard, Futurist and CEO, The Futures Agency
Gerd Leonhard, Futurist and CEO, The Futures Agency speaking after moderating the Leadership Summit on the Future Programme at ITU Telecom World 2014.

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How to Measure Your Eating Habits? - The Medical Futurist
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How to Measure Your Eating Habits? - The Medical Futurist - Video