{"id":9673,"date":"2022-08-31T16:53:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T20:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/?p=9673"},"modified":"2022-09-01T12:09:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T16:09:56","slug":"2002s-visions-from-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2022\/08\/31\/2002s-visions-from-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"2002’s Visions From the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the future, you\u2019ll be able to inhabit a virtual world, meeting up with friends to chat and lounge around with an avatar you\u2019ve created yourself. This virtual \u201cyou\u201d will be customizable and there will be no limits to this amazing world. It all sounds a bit like the future companies like Meta have in mind here in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you happened to visit the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January of 2002, you may have spotted a \u201cconsumer wearable\u201d device made by a company called Xybernaut that included a pocket computer, tethered hand switch, and a head-mounted display. Dubbed the Poma, the device retailed for $1,499, but never found its way into mainstream success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users could access \u201cpocket\u201d versions of Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and even a version of Microsoft Word<\/a>\u2014though we imagine navigating any of it was incredibly difficult with that tethered remote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happened to Xybernaut? The founders, Edward and Steven Newman, were investigated by the SEC in 2005 for a ton of illegal shit, including keeping the company\u2019s board in the dark about large sums of money and trying to interfere with audits. The two were forced to resign shortly after that and were indicted for money laundering and securities fraud in 2007<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also a short blurb about something called Second Life. From Time magazine:<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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Screenshot from Second Life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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“Ever want to build a cathedral? Underwater? Change your clothes, your face, your whole body? Fly? You can\u2019t do any of that stuff in real life, but you can do it all and more in Second Life, a startlingly lifelike 3-D virtual world now evolving on the Internet. Unlike other shared online adventures, Second Life isn\u2019t about slaying monsters or zapping aliens. It\u2019s about building things, meeting people and expressing yourself. Even if you already have a life, you may want a second one.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
The elevator pitch for Second Life sounds nearly identical to the pitch Meta, the company previously known as Facebook, is currently making for its own metaverse. But just how much success will Meta find? That part remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Robotic pets have been a vision of the future for longer<\/a> than you can probably guess. But most iterations have been pretty disappointing, to say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A prototype of a robot guard dog \u201cT7S Type 1″ was unveiled by Japan\u2019s Sanyo Electric Company March 27, 2002 at ROBODEX 2002 in Yokohama, Japan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
This robotic \u201cguard dog,\u201d was released by Japan\u2019s Sanyo Electric and was supposed to cost about $750 U.S. at the time, or roughly $1,200 adjusted for inflation. But this dog, just like the robotic pets of the 2020s, aren\u2019t putting flesh-and-blood pooches out of work anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what did the kids of 2002 imagine for the future? The January 22, 2002 issue of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times<\/a> published the predictions of kids and they\u2019re a fascinating snapshot of the generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Some excerpts from the kids:<\/p>\n\n\n\n