In my book I predicted that all company/brand logos would be animated in the future. The static version would be considered as boring, dull, flat in the future. Well', I'm not on top of the trend anymore, but just stumbled upon Aurora, a 3D tool for logo animation, which is proof to me that the market for logo animation starts to grow.

Microsoft has published a future vision of what can be expected between 5-10 years. Most of it is quite realistic (not sure about the timeline though), although I would have left out the keyboard.

Ticketmaster Teams With Facebook So You Can Sit Next To Your Friends. Those who are reserving their seats will see a mock-up of an arena seat map indicating where their Facebook friends will be sitting, so the can reseerve a spot next or closeby.

I’ve been writing about this phenonemon since 2004, and now it’s becoming reality. Finally, I’ve been waiting for this!!!

Soon, all our purchases will be powered by social media. For example: the next time when I visit a restaurant in Nigeria, I can exactly see where my friends have been, and what their experience were. This will influence my decisions way more, than any (anonymous) review site can ever do.

We’re social creatures you know;)

The Robot Company designed the first robot mop with a GPS-like navigation system. The 8 cm tall and 25cm long robot called Dirt Devil "EVO" wipes wood, vinyl, laminate and stone surfaces. He has built in a GPS module with infrared controls. These sensors enable the robot to determine what surface it is crossing, what is the shape of the surface and how to navigate in space. Due to such a precise positioning, while turning around EVO sticks to its trace and don't leaves uncleaned surface.

EVO not only cleans large and simple surfaces, but also places difficult to reach: under furniture edges, in the corners of the walls, behind wardrobes. If EVO detects an obstacle (such as legs of the table), it cleans up around the obstacle, and then continues cleaning the rest of the surface. On the bottom of the mop robot there is a magnetic strip where microfiber cloth is placed. With this microfiber cloth EVO is able to clean all delicate surfaces. Therefore it can be a good alternative to conventional wet cleaning robots, which can scratch surfaces with their rotating brushes or attack them with chemical cleaners.

This cleaning robot was presented during the global trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances IFA 2010 in Berlin.

Friendly Robotics introduced new lawn mower Robomow RM400. The robot is designed for domestic lawns of any shape and inclination. It is powered by two powerful battery that uses its electric motor. Therefore it is very quiet and is environmentally friendly - no petrol, oil or gas required. Before discharging, Robomow automatically moves to replenish energy over a charging station. Depending on the programming, he mows the next day - or at any other time, just continue.

The bumpers are equipped with sensors that detect raise of the mower, trees and obstacles. Therefore it can mow small areas along around on walls and fences, flowerbeds and around shrubs. See on the following movie how this automatic lawn mower saves you time and effort.

Brand agents, the perfect brand representatives. Emotional, intelligent, empathic, helpful and available 24/7. However, innovation can stop due to the 130 confusing synonyms a brand agent comes across with.

Brand Agents are artificial employees that represent brands in an intelligent and bi-directional engaging conversation. They typically appear in customer service related areas on websites, where they replace the frequently asked questions. However, they now tend to move to home pages of large business 2 consumer brands. Their responsibility is growing. A Brand Agent used to be responsible for about 30% of the questions concerning customer service about recently purchased products, but now some of them are able to answer 95% of the questions. Furthermore, they are no longer only about earlier purchases, but they also provide information about products the consumer has not yet bought. Brand Agents are shifting in their area of expertise!

Someone send me this link, no further information, but inspiration anyway. Video speaks for itself.

This European Android, invented by the Aalborg University, resembles its creator. This human looking robot, called
Geminoid does not only have engaging humanlike facial expressions, but also a sense of breathing. Very natural!

Although this is a 2006 video, it definitely shows the future of TV.

All screens, including our BIG screens in our living rooms, will respond to EVERYTHING we do: where we point our fingers, how our whole body expresses an emotion and what we shout we walk along various screens. All our input will be added up, modeled and interpreted by brands, virtual entities on the other side of the screen,

This example might be funny but it absolute part of our future.

Just wondering why I have never written about Milo, a virtual agent, conversational avatar, chatbot responding to voice, face and gestures.

He recognises facial expressions and emotions of his interlocutor and re-acts accordingly. The video is a demonstration of a Milo's ground breaking technology created by a computer game designer Peter Molyneux and his team over at Lionhead Studios

It’s a gaming thing nowadays, but characters like Milo will soon dominate the brand scape: a brand agents, chatbot representing brands, they will answer questions from consumers about brands, about companies, about government. And eventually (it will take two more decades) we won’t be able to notice the difference between Milo and a real human being. It’s all a matter of time…

Workshop with Amit Goswami and Uma Krishnamurthy in the Netherlands

There is a paradigm shift going on in science from a matter-based science to a new science based on the primacy of consciousness. In the first half of this workshop, quantum physicist Amit Goswami, a pioneer of the new paradigm, will introduce the idea of quantum consciousness and show how it integrates science and spirituality.

Goswami will also explicate how a new theory of evolution based on the primacy of consciousness resolves the difficulties of Darwinism and leads to the idea of planetary transformation as the next step of evolution.

In the afternoon, yoga psychologist Uma Krishnamurthy, a pioneer of the field, will introduce the basic concepts of yoga psychology as the psychology of transformation. In particular, she will discuss methods of transforming negative emotions into positive emotions. Uma’s presentation will be both intellectual and experiential.

Insights we obtain today seriously influence our future in 2050. Many things we now consider as impossible, will be possible in 40 years from now. In order to understand the future one should leave the world image of today. Cool. Be there if you dare.

This video is getting interesting after one minute. It actually 'sucks' objects.

This has potential for the future. Imagine an artificial hand, a thin ‘sucking’ skin which is controllable through nanotechnology on every square millimeter. Although the hand can make simple movements and behave natural like a human hand would do, it also has some extraordinary skills such as sucking tiny objects. Quite convenient when cleaning stuff, or holding something for you.

I haven't written a lot lately (very busy with the chatbots.org, but those who have followed me since 2005 and have read my book, will recognize many trends reinforce my predictions of five years ago.

Here's an example: Spotify. A coaching music brand in its early days. For 9,99 a month, you have unlimited access to ad-free music. Connected to your friends through your Facebook account. My 2004 prediction was simple: it would not longer be about possession of music, but people would pay in the future for the right to play music.

What will happen in the coming five years? Brands like Spotify will respond to our emotional reaction. They will notify how our movements will change, our tone of voice, our facial exppression. We don’t have to rate music any longer, our feedback is fully clear.

And from there, music coaching brands will feed us with music we need: which will change our emotional state. And that’s where the word ‘coaching’ comes in. The decision to select music for a particular person, on a particular moment, or a particular place, is not very simple. It’s not about selecting the persons favorite song. Being happy might not be the best mood to move to about the funeral of a family member or bad news at work. Or maybe, it is. Coaching is about understanding an individual.

So even though people think this is where it’s all heading to, it’s actually just the beginning…

The future of shopping according to Cisco. It's looks as Science Fiction, but this future is already here (aside from a few minor technology problems such as lighting in the stores).

The most important roles of stores is to determine your current measurements. You can order anything you like, from brands, it can be tailored to your wishes, deliverable in every possible color, you can see how it combines with clothes you purchased before and which are still in your wardrobe (i.e. clothes you haven’t thrown away), you can ask what your friends think, and what they bought which will transform shopping to a far more social experience.

Having things on stock is no longer an issue. It will delivered to your home, before you even arrive after traveling back. No more need to carry bags. You can shop from home as easy as shop from any other location in the world. But being with your friends (both physical as virtual), provides a new dimension to the shopping experience.

And obvvously, you’ll be assisted by a brand agent (or a chatbot, dependent on the terminology you prefer), instead of a real human, an artificial character with far more knowledge than a human human could ever possibly have.

This is the future, but only a step into the future.