DSP’s Past Can’t Hold A Candle to its Future

Gene Frantz has written a nice blog on TI Video360 Blog.You can read his blog here.This is what his vision for year 2020.

"Here I am in the year 2020. It seems like a good place to position myself, as it implies clear vision. I’m in my car, racing to the airport. Of course, I’m not actually driving, that’s so 2010. No, automotive vision has reached a stage where cars drive themselves. Gridlock is a thing of the past as traffic moves in perfect syncopation. I’d be bored if I couldn’t instantly access my entire video and music library. I tell the inboard computer to load the Rolling Stones 2018 farewell concert. You’d think that Mick Jagger would have a heart attack the way he bounds across the stage – and at his age. Of course, if he did, sensors would instantly warn him of impending cardiac trouble and implanted medication would be dispensed. Do you remember when impending medical emergencies came as a surprise?

This reminds me, I have a medical checkup today. I download my vital signs into an e-mail and shoot it off to my doctor over my cell phone. I gave myself an MRI at home last night and include that information as well. Doctor Frantz – my grandson – instantly responds, giving me a clean bill of health. I can’t believe he didn’t become an engineer. Still, he did finish at the top of his class at Oxford, and never had to leave Texas. Distance learning has taken on a whole new meaning thanks to real-time, life-like video conferencing.

I have a conference, as well, and better check in. It’s a quick team meeting with Tahiti, Juneau and Rio de Janeiro. We’ve eliminated the need for most business travel and, thankfully, jet lag. Phone lag is still a problem, it’s 2 a.m. in UAE, but we’re working on that as well. I say a word and I am instantly connected. The video is so real, it’s like I’m sitting across the table rather than across the world. I speak in English and my words are translated into perfect French and Portuguese. After 15 minutes I beg off. I have a plane to catch.

No business travel here – strictly pleasure, the only reason to fly. My wife turns off her virtual Sudoku. Did I leave the stove on, she asks. Some things never change. I access my home monitor and confirm that she did, indeed, leave it on. I turn it off and check that my security systems are functioning properly. The cameras know when to alert me of anything strange and are also programmed to recognize my friends and family – which is good because my daughter is picking up my social security check ¬apparently the only piece of mail I still receive. You see, my wife made me retire again!

The airport is crowded but moves as quickly as the traffic. It takes one minute to get through security as my implanted information and my person are scanned. I lose my wife to one of the gift shops and quickly check her GPS position. She’s buying the latest e-book and with a scan of her ID chip, we’re on our way. In two hours we’ll be in Rome, just enough time for a short nap for this tired digital self."

I liked the last sentence where he says - "We are at a thrilling time in history, and life as we know it is about to change. It’s already happening – we will make it happen together."