Welcome to my A3: Forecasting Project in which I explore the future of smartphones.
Through a 4-part YouTube Short series, I predict how the smartphone industry and how our current practice of using these mobile devices will be transformed.
This project builds off on my A1: Analytical Publishing Project, in which I explore the physical impacts of mobile devices. If my predictions become a reality, these issues may no longer exist, but will certainly create new issues to consider…
As you watch the series, consider the following questions. I encourage you to share your thoughts to any of the question(s) in the comments.
- Do you think smartphones are going to get bigger? Or smaller?
- How do you feel about my prediction of implanted phones?
- How do you feel about my prediction of using brain-computer interfaces to control our smartphones’ functionalities?
- How might things change if we no longer need to physically interact with our phones to use them?
- Do you think issues related to phone addiction or attention would improve or worsen with implanted phones?
Enjoy!
References
Addiction Center. (n.d.). Phone addiction: Warning signs and treatment. https://www.addictioncenter.com/behavioral-addictions/phone-addiction/
Blackview. (2024, January 30). What type of electronic gadgets will replace smartphones in future? https://www.blackview.hk/blog/tech-news/what-will-replace-smartphones#:~:text=Wearable%20Devices%3A%20Wearable%20technology%2C%20such,integrated%20into%20our%20daily%20lives
Browne, R. (2023, March 1). ‘Father of the cell phone’ says one day we’ll have devices embedded under our skin. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/01/mobile-phone-inventor-next-generation-will-have-devices-in-their-skin.html
CNBC International TV. (2023, March 1). Mobile phone inventor: Modern phones not optimal for speaking [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/TyvIe5zUdhA?si=EAKTqB02MHhECSi4
Dobosz, K. & Wittchen, P. (2015). Brain-computer interface for mobile devices. Journal of Medical Informatics & Technologies, 24.
Duke Translation & Commercialization. (n.d.). Available technologies: A mobile-phone based brain interface.https://otc.duke.edu/technologies/a-mobile-phone-based-brain-machine-interface/
Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Pacemaker insertion. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/pacemaker-insertion
Martínez-Cagigal, V., Santamaría-Vázquez, E., & Hornero, R. (2018). Controlling a smartphone with brain-computer interfaces: A preliminary study. In F. J. Perales & J. Kittler (Eds.), Articulated motion and deformable objects (pp. 34-43). Springer International Publishing AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94544-6_4
Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). Cochlear implants. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cochlear-implants/about/pac-20385021
Neuralink. (n.d.). Redefining the boundaries of human capabilities requires pioneers. https://neuralink.com
Reardon, M. (2016, January 19). The mobile phone of the future will be implanted in your head. CNET. https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/the-mobile-phone-of-the-future-will-be-implanted-in-your-head/#:~:text=Experts%20say%20embeddable%20%22phones%22%20or,be%20commercially%20available%20by%202023.
Underwood, C. (2018, November 29). #MindControl: Operate your phone, computer with a brain-machine interface. Emerj. https://emerj.com/mindcontrol-operate-your-phone-computer-with-a-brain-machine-interface/
Wang, Y., Wang, Y., & Jung, T. (2011). A cell-phone-based brain–computer interface for communication in daily life. Journal of Neural Engineering, 8(2), 025018-1-5. https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2560/8/2/025018
Hi Shannon,
Awesome A3! It is very exciting (and a bit frightening) to think about the forecasted technology you have proposed. I really appreciate your videos, they are very personal, engaging, and thought-provoking. I would like to answer your question: “How do you feel about my prediction of implanted phones?” I think you are very right to assume that one day our phones will merge with ourselves; with more reliance on technology, higher usage rates, and more capabilities, it is only a matter of time before we get as “close” as we possibly can to them, a.k.a. connected. There are so many benefits that could come with this merger, like instantly remembering to schedule an important appointment and having the notification be unavoidable (like calendar events), even remembering someone’s name if you have not seen them in a while (like a contact list), not to mention benefits for health like automatically calling an ambulance in an emergency. I would also like to pry a bit and ask what you think would happen with privacy and safety issues. Two ideas: first, if our mind controls our devices automatically, what would protect our personal thoughts from being leaked, sold, or blackmailed? Second, if our phones need to be fixed, we take them into the store where they can be taken apart and changed or we dispose of them and get a new one; what might happen if an implanted device needs to be fixed? Having worked a great deal on the critical side of your project, do you think there are any creative or necessary ways to approach privacy and safety with these forecasted technologies?
Hello Shannon,
It was fascinating to see your take on how these implants and brain-computer interfaces evolve and their potential to change society. The advantages they could offer are significant, especially for individuals who struggle to operate conventional devices due to medical conditions. Your project highlights how these innovations could transform the lives of many by providing more accessible and intuitive ways to interact with technology.
I commend you for using the YouTube Shorts video style to present your information. It’s a platform that’s becoming increasingly popular for its ability to convey ideas quickly and effectively, especially to a broad audience. The way you presented complex information in a concise, engaging format was impressive and made the content more accessible.
Regarding your discussion on the size of smartphones, I felt that smartphones have reached what many would consider an optimal size range of around 6 to 7 inches. This size balances screen real estate and ease of use, making it practical for everyday tasks. The larger the device, the more cumbersome it becomes, affecting its portability and user experience. I just can’t fit an iPad into my pocket; unless maybe those JNCO Jeans from the 90s come back in style. The rise of foldable devices introduces an interesting variable to this equation, offering the potential for larger screens without sacrificing portability and adding layers of complexity to the answer to this question.
Your point about the hindrances to the widespread adoption of implant devices is also something of discussion. The likely high cost of these technologies, including the expense of upgrading or replacing components and using advanced bio-organic materials, will undoubtedly slow down their integration into the mainstream in the short to medium term.
I feel as though making long-term predictions in this field is incredibly challenging due to the rapid pace of technological advancement. The landscape could change drastically in just a few years, making it difficult to forecast how these technologies will evolve or how widely they will be adopted.
Overall, your project was thought-provoking and well-researched. It raised important questions about the future of technology and how we interact with it. Thank you for presenting such an interesting and relevant topic.
Joel
Hi Shannon,
What an interesting topic! As Kirsten mentioned, I appreciate the mini-series take on this assignment and felt engaged throughout. While you spoke to some of the physical and health concerns, I wondered about the impact of having foreign materials in the body. Do cell phones increase the risk of cancer and would that increase even further with implants? Would those who choose not to get implants be left behind with aging technology that eventually is not supported? Not to mention the mental health component, as you alluded to in your video – disconnecting and removing the addiction would be more difficult.
I really enjoyed this OER, thank you for sharing! The future is right around the corner!
Jeannine
Hi Jeannine,
Thanks! This was my first time creating a YouTube short and I chose to use my iPhone from start to finish and filmed / edited within YouTube’s app. It was really challenging to fit within the 60-seconds constraint (hence why I ended up making this a 4-part series), but I also appreciate that using this format forced me to be concise and get to the point, super quickly!
You raise some great questions – I looked into the risk of cancer with our current use of cell phones, but there seems to be really mixed thoughts about this. And we are also be exposed to carcinogens in so many other aspects of our daily lives (e.g. tobacco, alcohol, UV ways) that cell phones aren’t the only ‘bad guys’. The upgrades / maintenance aspect of phone implants would have to be addressed and I do believe that with any changes in technology, there will always be the feeling of being ‘left behind’ in some way or another.
Hi Shannon,
Your 4-part video series was endemic of KISS principle – short, sweet and super effective!
In my week 1 post I also discussed the neuroprosthetics of Neuralink (ETEC523: Mobile and Open Learning (ubc.ca)and brain computer interface (BCI). Your point is well-taken of how many existing electronic implants humans currently have at their disposal. You mentioned pace makers and cochlear implants, but a quick google search will also reveal implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), biventricular pacemakers, cardiac loop recorders, spinal cord stimulator, intraocular lenses, hip implants, contraceptive intrauterine device, left ventricular assist device and deep brain stimulation (DBS), the latter of which is having massive breakthroughs neurological surgeries. Since I’ve made that initial post, however, I had had my own surgical experience with implants, that is, breast implants after a bilateral mastectomy. It has been three months, and I tell ya, it don’t feel so good. My views on invasive species in the body have changed tremendously over the course of these few months to become much more resistant towards the idea. You mentioned infection and rejection as being two of the possible effects which may happen. No doubt you are aware that the first Neuralink implant on the 29-year old patient was rejected due to the shallowness of their implantation. Neuralink’s second patient got implanted 2 days ago: Neuralink implanted second trial patient with brain chip, Musk says | Reuters. Anyone have an update yet?
A few other interesting points you made were about ergonomics and addiction. Regarding ergonomics, if we have implants, there will obviously no longer be an external ergonomic issue. However, what are the new problems that will erupt as a result? Is it the addiction to our implanted phones that you alluded to? This gives me some serious Black Mirror imagery.
Your post really got my creative juices flowing and I started to deconstruct the notion of a phone from Alexander Graham Bell’s point of view, which at that point, was to communicate over a distance. These early uses are easily found in a morphological deconstruction of the name itself: tele means distance and phone means sound. So, the original purpose of the telephone was to talk with verbal speech over a long distance because for the longest time in human history, oral narrative was the only way to communicate. Then came the written word, followed by the printing press, and now the digital text. Since our modes of communication have changed to more written or visual registers, who is to say the next phone may not be holographic? Imagine pairing a holographic phone with AI capabilities? What would that look like?
Hi Kirsten,
Thanks for sharing about your own personal experience with implants and how your views have changed tremendously. This is super important as while my speculation and predications are based on research as-of today, I don’t have first-hand experience with implants myself so this dimension is missing. Perhaps if phone implants to exist one day, their uptake would be a lot slower compared to what I predict.
You’re onto something with both the modes of communication and the holographic aspect. With BCI, could we communicate without verbal or written text, but simply by thought? Does anyone here have experience with BCI technology?
Hi Shannon,
This is a really fun topic. I also chose to do my A1 on the same, so enjoyed watching your take on it. It seems like some far off science fiction fantasy, but as you point out in your video the technology is already here, and it is starting to broaden in scope. Besides the fact that it is a fun topic to think about, I think it is also a necessary conversation for think tanks and others that may affect regulation and policy. Like self driving or other ‘almost here’ transformative technologes it will open up a whole world of complication that society will need to immediately navigate. One kind of interetsing idea that I hadn’t thought about with BCIs that I came across in researching my A1 was, what happens when a company that installed an implant goes out of business and the implant breaks or needs upgrading. This actually happened with eye implants! So, I love your topic and I like that you were bold enough to make predictions too, that is always a great conversation starter. Please see my answers to your questions:
Q: Do you think smartphones are going to get bigger? Or smaller?
A: I predict that smartphones will split into two types of products. One focusing on audio functionality will become tiny. The other focusing on visual will become larger building on Samsung’s fold out screen technology.
Q: How do you feel about my prediction of implanted phones?
A: I agree that people will get BCI chips implants that controll smartphone like devices, yes. However I do not agree that the smart device itself will be internal, rather the devices will remain external and the chip(s) to control them will be internal. You’d have to convince me of why that would not be the case. An external device can be easily upgrades, swapped, use multiple devices etc etc..
Q: How do you feel about my prediction of using brain-computer interfaces to control our smartphones’ functionalities?
A: Yes, totally agree. I would guess we are 10 years away from this for experimental and military purposes, 15 to 20 years away from it being broadly available. But before that even happens, we are going to see all kinds of progress in this area in addressing medical/ motor neuron related issues.
Q: How might things change if we no longer need to physically interact with our phones to use them?
A: Well, like you said in your A1, which I really appreciated, it would remove the ergonomical challenges which would be great. Beyond that, oh my gosh, one could write a book or make a whole sci-fi movie on how it would completely transform society. I think it would essentially create superhuman cyborgs and create the biggest disparity gap the world has every known. On the other hand humans would have new capabilities to solves problems, hopefully life would improve for everyone in the theory of a rising tide raises all boats.
Q: Do you think issues related to phone addiction or attention would improve or worsen with implanted phones?
A: I think we are going to really address these issues of phone addiction, attention and self management this decade. As I proposed in my A3, I think schools have a major role to play in that. So by the time we get to BCI implants controlling our smart devices, hopefully we will have largely overcome that problem and we will be on to the next challenge!
Thanks for your A3 contribution to (in my opinion) an interesting and important topic.
Great job.
Rich
Hi Rich,
Thanks so much for your feedback!
As a child, the thought of self-driving cars was so futuristic but I had the opportunity to go to San Francisco last year (fall of 2023) and I saw self-driving cars with my own eyes! They are no longer a futuristic idea but are in our reality. My friends and I had to do a double-take to make sure there wasn’t a human in the car, and we were equally awed every time we saw them around the city (we saw them a few times!).
Great point around needing regulation and policy, particularly to protect the public against issues you raise such as upgrades or replacements. I wonder how many medical professionals work at Neuralink (Elon Musk’s company that I mention) and how their knowledge is perceived and balanced with technological enthusiasts’ perspectives.
Given that you think that smartphones will always remain external, what do you predict in regards to their form? Do you predict they will take the form in ‘wearables’ or always be a separate device, with wearables acting as extensions of the smartphone?