Future Toys

1. Future Toys Presented to the Minnesota Futurists March 2009 David Keenan

2. Future Toys and Gadgets Outlook Sources • Parsons, Paul. 21st Century Toys. T3 Magazine, January 2000. pg. 82-92. • Nussbaum, Bruce. Welcome to 2010. Business Week. March 13, 2000. pg. 68- 76. Mr. Nussbaum's article is based on a study named "Project 2000" by the design firm IDEO, based in Palo Alto, California. They designed the Palm V and Visor. Furthermore, during the past decade IDEO has won more Industrial Designers Society of America awards than any other industrial design firm. Parsons is a writer for T3 magazine in London. T3 specializes in trend setting gadgets and electronics. SummaryFrom now until 2010, expect lightweight, ear-mounted telephones, cyberpets, flying cars, and high-powered electronics. From 2010-2050, look for virtual reality communications and fewer internal combustion engines. Looking ahead to 2050-2100 - teleportation devices, ultra-realistic video games, telepathy, virtual call-girls. www.imagitrends.com http://pages.prodigy.net/imagiweb/reports/file00/jun1.htm

3. Future Toys and Gadgets Outlook Background IDEO and T3 both see a future with customizable devices as part of a wireless society. Mr. Nussbaum points out that "Europe and Asia are clearly moving toward such a wireless society. But the U.S. is behind and unless it acts soon, it could find itself cemented into a more fixed, immobile future." Trends & Forecasts First, a section with concepts from 2001-2010. Many of these concepts are already in development and will likely become commercially available within the next decade. The next section, 2010-2050, reaches out to explore concepts that could become a part of our lives within the next 50 years. The last section, 2050-2100, is a daring far-reaching look to challenge your own visions of the future. www.imagitrends.com http://pages.prodigy.net/imagiweb/reports/file00/jun1.htm

4. 2001-2010 • Ear mounted telephones are now available and will become even more lightweight and low-powered. They will connect to the net themselves or through a personal digital assistant. • The development of flexible LCD screens will replace bulky laptop screens with ultra-portable roll-up displays. Home entertainment centers could also use this technology to replace conventional TV and computer monitor displays. • Faster computer processors will allow for 3-D holographic images to be processed in real time. • Speech recognition will become a necessity in mobile electronic devices. www.imagitrends.com http://pages.prodigy.net/imagiweb/reports/file00/jun1.htm

5. 2001-2010 continued • Special pens that capture writing and digitize your messages are available today. They will become more accurate and will connect to personal digital assistants and computers. • Future personal digital assistants (PDA) will use "rudimentary artificial intelligence". The digital assistants will be highly customized, connected to the net and will communicate with other computers and earphones. • Future PDAs will have fingerprint, voice, or retinal identification capabilities. They will start to replace ID numbers, credit card numbers and passwords. PDAs will also perform secure e-cash transactions. www.imagitrends.com http://pages.prodigy.net/imagiweb/reports/file00/jun1.htm

6. 2001-2010 continued • Eyewear will darken and lighten as voltage is sent thought variable-tint lens coatings. Eyewear will shield users from the hectic outside world and contain earpieces that can cancel noise or play sound. • Cinema films will feature near-perfect animated replications of actors that are alive or already dead. • Distanced colleagues, relatives and an increasing popularity of videophone sex will drive sales of videophones and internet videophones. • Motorola is developing on-board vehicle supercomputers that will increase automobile engine efficiency up to 20%. www.imagitrends.com http://pages.prodigy.net/imagiweb/reports/file00/jun1.htm

7. 2001-2010 continued • Cyberpets, like Sony's AIBO, will perform useful tasks and grow in popularity starting around 2004. • Analog TV transmissions will be completely replaced by digital broadcasts by 2010. • Personal flying cars are being developed. They will cost about the same as a Ferrari by around 2006 and could become popular by 2020. Initial models will require only basic training and will provide adequate safety. • A second-generation swing-wing Concord jet should arrive by 2010. It will attain speeds up to Mach 2.4. www.pal-v.com

8. 2010-2050 • Quantum encryption will be used to safeguard data. Eavesdroppers will automatically alter a message just by listening to it, revealing their intrusion. • A "sober-up pill" could be available by 2015. The pill would stop certain chemical reactions of the brain that cause intoxication. • Communication systems could regularly use virtual reality interfaces by 2030. TVs will also incorporate holography and virtual reality programming. • Internal combustion engines could be heavily taxed or become outlawed by 2040. Land transport will rely on environmentally friendly alternatives. www.imagitrends.com http://pages.prodigy.net/imagiweb/reports/file00/jun1.htm

9. 2050-2100 • Telepathy helmets will record your feelings and thoughts and broadcast them to a friend wearing a similar setup. Note: Basic telepathy is currently being used to restore muscular communication to paralysis patients. • Electronic call-girls and call-boys will offer virtual reality sex that realistically stimulates the five senses. • Quantum computer enabled video games will "achieve new heights of reality". Virtual reality games will tap directly into the brain's sensory system. Suits and helmets won't be necessary. Note: See the offbeat movie, Existenz, recently released on video. • Teleporting machines could transport objects and live people atom by atom. Note: Teleportation of individual atoms through short trips was achieved in 1999. Also, you can read Michael Chrichton's book, Timeline. www.imagitrends.com http://pages.prodigy.net/imagiweb/reports/file00/jun1.htm

10. Recent News 30 October 2008 • Toys from the future: The Inventables guys on TED.com • The Inventables guys, co-founders Zach Kaplan and Keith Schacht, demo some amazing new materials and how we might use them. Look for squishy magnets, odor-detecting ink, "dry" liquid and a very surprising 10-foot pole. • (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, California. Duration: 15:46.) Watch Video http://blog.ted.com/2008/10/toys_from_the_f.php

11. Some Recent Toy Developments

12. Wii Fit http://www.nintendo.com/wiifit/launch

13. Arboform Future Toys Could be Made of Renewable Liquid Wood By Ariel Schwartz, December 17, 2008 • Even the staunchest environmentalist might turn a blind eye when buying petroleum-ridden plastic Christmas gifts for the kids. Fortunately, a sustainable bioplastic called ARBOFORM could make this moral dilemma a non-issue. • This "liquid wood" mixes lignin with natural fibers made of wood, hemp, flax, and natural additives like wax. The combination produces a plastic granulate that can be melted and injection-molded into your child's favorite action figure. • The latest incarnation of ARBOFORM contains minimal amounts of sulfur— a key point for toys, because sulfur smells unpleasant. And while sulfur-free lignins are usually water-soluble, the ARBOFORM scientists managed to modify their product so that it can survive contact with saliva and water. • ARBOFORM is completely recyclable, so there's no need to stress when toys have to be thrown out.  • In the future, toys made with ARBOFORM will hopefully be labeled. For now, though, most plastic toys are still manufactured using petroleum.  http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2008/12/17/toys-could-be-made-liquid-wood

14. Superconducting MagLev Train Set by Devin Coldewey on September 23, 2008 • Now, this isn’t something you’d want to give your kid, because the engine is a superconductor cooled to hundreds of degrees below zero by liquid nitrogen. And you thought the tire swing sounded dangerous! Still, if you’re the proud parent of a budding physicist or materials engineer, this might be the perfect supervised plaything. • Now, imagine if that liquid nitrogen reservoir had a dilating opening you could control the aperture of via a remote control. You could control the height of the magnet, and then with a couple of little propellers, its speed as well. Because the train holds extremely well to the track, you could set up a pretty freaky little railroad. http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/09/23/future-toys-maglev-train-set/

15. Robot Toys Tomy Rocobo Robot Pet $24.99 each WowWee Robosapien V2 Full Function Humanoid Robot with Remote Control $299.98 U Command Wall-E $59.99 Asahi Robocco Beer Bot

16. Robot Pets Sega Toys' pet robot, Yume Inu DX, is able to understand verbal commands and respond with movements. It also reacts to physical contact. Robo Japan 2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/3173781/Robo-Japan-2008-exhibition.html?image=3 These baby seal robots are fitted with sensors beneath their fur and whiskers. Developed by Japan's Intelligent System Company to soothe patients in hospitals and nursing homes Robo Japan 2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/3173781/Robo-Japan-2008-exhibition.html?image=4 Wowwee Alive Watch Video www.wowwee.com Sega Toys employee displays the new robot cat 'Yume-Neko Venus' (2007 Dream Cat Smile $126 Watch Video for reference)

17. Robot Assistance Muscle Suit, which can aid the user in carrying heavy things and which was designed to help with nursing care. Robo Japan 2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/3173781/Robo-Japan-2008-exhibition.html?image=1 Revolutionary medical development, Hart Step, which can help those with polio or spinal cord injuries walk. Robo Japan 2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/3173781/Robo-Japan-2008-exhibition.html?image=9

18. Siftables The Toy Blocks That Think • About this talk • MIT grad student David Merrill demos Siftables -- cookie-sized, computerized tiles you can stack and shuffle in your hands. These future-toys can do math, play music, and talk to their friends, too. Is this the next thing in hands-on learning? • About David Merrill • David Merrill works on Siftables, tiny computer blocks that interact with each other to make networks (and music). Full bio and more links

19. Siftables • TED Video (~ 7 minutes) at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/david_merrill_demos_siftables_the_smart_blocks.html • http://siftables.com/ • David Merrill, MIT Media Labhttp://web.media.mit.edu/~dmerrill/siftables.html

20. Fentix Cube Arpita Mukherjee | Dec 27 ‘07 • You have seen and played with the Rubik’s cube. • Now a new cube from engineer Andrew Fentem named Fentix Cube, an amalgamation of sleek design, innovative technology and colorful lights. • The illuminative cube that many believe will be the next generation toy has been programmed to play a handful of games includes the PacMan inspired maze game. The new toy has the possibility of including more games with music and 3-D imagery. The cube is powered by a battery and has sensors powered by chips that can sense the direction of gravity. • The Fentix Cube is not widely available. We only hope that when it is ready for mass production its price will remain at the affordable range. • Source: BBC Videos http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7156414.stm • Watch Video (~1 minute) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4A_wfaScy4

21. Star Wars Force Trainer Toy trains 'Star Wars' fans to use The Force By Mike Snider, USA TODAY Updated 1/7/2009 8:59 AM Uncle Milton Industries Destiny with fun: An aspiring Jedi > concentrates on making the ball in the tube rise. • Could The Force be with you? A toy due in stores this fall will let you test and hone your Jedi-like abilities. • The Force Trainer (expected $90 to $100) comes with a headset that uses brain waves to allow players to manipulate a sphere within a clear 10-inch-tall training tower, analogous to Yoda and Luke Skywalker's abilities in the Star Wars films. • No, you're not tapping into some "all-powerful force controlling everything," as Han Solo said in the movies. But you are reaching out with mind power via one of the first mass-market brain-to-computer products. "It's been a fantasy everyone has had, using The Force," says Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing. http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-01-06-force-trainer-toy_N.htm

22. Force Trainer continued • In the Force Trainer, a wireless headset reads your brain activity, in a simplified version of EEG medical tests, and the circuitry translates it to physical action. If you focus well enough, the training sphere, which looks like a ping-pong ball, will rise in the tower. • A state of deep concentration is needed to achieve a Force-full effect. "When you concentrate, it activates the training remote," says Frank Adler of toymaker Uncle Milton Industries, which is creating the Trainer. "There is a flow of air that will move the (ball). You can actually feel like you are in a zone.“ • Star Wars sound effects and audio clips emitted from the base unit "cue you in to progress to the next level (from Padawan to Jedi) or when to move the sphere up or down to keep challenging yourself," Adler says. • "Until today, EEG technology has been designed for rigorous medical and clinical applications with little regard to price (and) ease of use," says Greg Hyver of NeuroSky, which developed the brain-wave technology for both games. "We are putting this exciting technology into everyone's living room." http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-01-06-force-trainer-toy_N.htm

23. Mindflex Mattel Mindflex mind control toy launches January 12, 2009, 10:00 am by James Holland • Mattel Mindflex, it’s an obstacle course which you steer a ping pong ball around, using the power of your brain. • Shown off at CES, where it was drawing huge crowds eager to test their mental agility. • Just like the Star Wars Force Trainer, it uses a fan controlled by the mind to make the ping pong ball hover in the air. Players then use a dial to move the fan, and in turn, the ball around an obstacle course. Negotiating hoops, hurdles and nets. • It’ll be the first of a new wave of mind control toys, going on sale this year for just $80. http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2009/01/12/mattel-mindflex-mind-control-toy-launches/

24. Philips Design Projects • Emotion Sensor • Electronic Dress • Sensing Jewelry • Electronic Tattoo http://www.design.philips.com/probes/index.page

25. VIBE Emotion Sensor • Most electronic communication is limited to very direct channels where we naturally exhibit many more signals or channel indirectly. This opens up a whole new universe of emotional applications, such as physical and emotional gaming, mind and stress control applications, as well as emotional telephony. • The VIBE - emotional sensing necklace combines conductive ink and textile sensors. The necklace can read multiple biometric signals of the wearer and communicates them to other devices and other wearers. http://www.design.philips.com/sites/philipsdesign/probes/projects/emotion_sensor/index.page

26. SKIN: Electronic Dresses • One of this year’s Probe project areas is SKIN, which examines the future integration of sensitive materials in the area of emotional sensing – the shift from ‘ intelligent’ to ‘sensitive’ products and technologies. • As part of SKIN, we have developed two ‘Soft Technology’ outfits to identify the future for high tech materials and Electronic Textile Development in the area’s of skin and emotional sensing. • The dresses show emotive technology and how the body and the near environment can use pattern and color change to interact and predict the emotional state. http://www.design.philips.com/probes/projects/dresses/index.page

27. Skintile: Electronic Sensing Jewelry • Electronic Sensing Jewelry conceived alongside a European project, STELLA, (www.stella-project.de) developing stretchable, flexible electronic substrates that integrate energy supply, sensors, actuators, and display. • Skintile the Electronic Sensing Jewelry further explores emotional and physiological sensing. It is a new genre of product; a generation of wireless, stick-on body sensors that re-define traditional body adornment. • It explores a range of functionalities in new product forms that are playful, sensual, mood affected, bio activity stimulated, and arousal enhancing. It is  a semi disposable, bio compatible, non-allergenic, breathable, mass customizable, self contained body worn accessory.  http://www.design.philips.com/probes/projects/electronic_sensing_jewelry/index.page

28. Electronic Tattoo Watch Video (~3 minutes)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW0BZsOcZZE&feature=related Tattoos and physical mutilation are amongst the oldest forms of personal expression and identity. Subcultures have used tattoos as a form of self representation; a visual language communicating personality and status. Philips Design examined the growing trend of extreme body adornment like tattoos, piercing, implants and scarring. The Electronics Tattoo film expresses the visual power of sensitive technology applied to the human body. The film subtly leads the viewer through the simultaneous emotional and aesthetic transformations between two lovers. Phillips Design Projects http://www.design.philips.com/probes/index.page

29. Some Gadget and Toy Sites to Watch • Toycytehttp://www.toycyte.com/category/beyond-toys • Gizminewww.gizmine.com • Gizmodohttp://gizmodo.com/

30. Possible Futures How about … • Wireless, mind-control, robot assistance • Emotion and other biometric controlled tattoo / display / facial mask • Maglev Skateboard Parks

31. Book Recommendation • Rainbows End By Vernor Vinge Published by Macmillan, 2006 ISBN 0312856849, 9780312856847 364 pages • San Diego, California, 2025 • Robert Gu is a recovering Alzheimer's patient. • The world he remembers was much as we know it today. Now, as he regains his faculties through a cure developed during the years of his near-fatal decline, he discovers that the world has changed and so has his place in it. He was a world-renowned poet. • Now he is seventy-five years old, though by a medical miracle he looks much younger, and he’s starting over, for the first time unsure of his poetic gifts . • Living with his son’s family, he has no choice but to learn how to cope with a new information age in which the virtual and the real are a seamless continuum, layers of reality built on digital views seen by a single person or millions, depending on your choice. • But the consensus reality of the digital world is available only if, like his thirteen-year-old granddaughter Miri, you know how to wear your wireless access—through nodes designed into smart clothes—and to see the digital context—through smart contact lenses. http://books.google.com/books?id=SrLwPdBJodMC&dq=rainbows+end&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=8HCxSbfdLJrKMO3j-P0E&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA88,M1