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Pimientito -> Future Phones (Feb. 4 2011 13:58:13)
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I had lunch with a friend the other day who was showing off his latest iphone. "Check this out" he said. "When I'm asleep I put the phone next to my pillow. The phone actually dectects when I'm in deep sleep and when Im nearly awake in the morning" It can work out when to set off my alarm clock so that I dont get woken up in a deep sleep cycle and I always wake up refreshed"
I thought it was pretty cool and also amazing that the phone could work this out. He could print out a display of his sleep pattern from the previous night and even the previous month. By having sensors in the phone you could record sleep patterns and all sort of other body functions such as temperature, blood pressure, heart rate etc.
Where is all this going I wondered. what will phones be doing in 5 to 10 years?
"well of course one thing will be they will have the ability to translate languages as you are talking to someone..." What a great idea. Imagine that you phone someone in China and you talk in English. His phone translates directly to Chinese. When he talks back to you, your phone translates to English. Its a Universal translater...something from Star trek and will end the need to learn endless languages. Cool or scary? I couldnt decide. Apparently in development already and could be a reality in the next 5 years.
I then started to get more interested in the medical applications of the phone. If your phone can detect your heart rate, blood pressure, sleep patterns, skin temperature, it would not take much more to turn it into a diagnostic machine. With the insertion of a small silicon chip under your skin you could predict heart atttacks in suceptible patients. You could monitor blood sugar in diabetics. You could even measure blood alcohol. Imagine that a convicted drink driver would not be able to start his car if the phone told him his blood alcohol was too high.
You could also store other medical data such as blood type or diseases. If you were involved in an accident then the hospital would know what your blood pressure is, what blood type to order, whether you were poisoned, had a stroke etc.
In fact you could phone your doctor from your home and he could offer immediate recommendations based on what your phone was telling him...
The phone would also interact with your domestic appliances letting you know when the bath was full, when the washing was done, it could even detect when you are hot or cold and alter your heating/ air conditioning to suit you.
It interacts with your car, it records where you have been, how much fuel you used...and it allows others to see where you are anytime using the SAT- NAV.
It would also solve credit card fraud. Your phone now identifies you by your voice, your bio chemistry, your finger prints, your bio rhythms. This would mean that before making any payment your phone truly identifies you. It could even mean the end of conventional pass ports, simply buy your travel ticket with your phone, pay for it and pass through security with only one verification.
Does all this sound good? Well yes and no. My problem is that if someone was living in my house who knew all that stuff about me, I'd feel very uncomfortable. Im not sure I want a device that can know and transmit all that information about me.
If you have a device that can detect a voice and at the same time monitor changes in blood pressure, heart rate and skin temperature then HEY PRESTO...you have a polygraph.
Now imagine that while talking to your friends or business clients you also have a pretty good idea whether they are lieing or not during the conversation.
Conversation starts
"hi, is that John?"
"yes"
"Hey john how are you?"
"good thanks"
and you have 2 control questions to compare responses.
So lets now imaigine the scenario where you phone your boss to take the day off sick. You put on your best husky voice
"Hi boss, Ive got the flu and cant come in today"
He detects stress fluctuations in your voice.
He knows by your sleep pattern that you didnt go to sleep until 3.22 in the morning.
He knows that you have low blood sugar and a large quantity of alcohol in your blood stream.
He knows you drove your car to a large town accompanied by his secretary, that you bought whisky and contraceptives in a store on the way back home.
All this info being given in real time from your next generation phone.
I think technology has wonderful potential but right now I would rather risk having an unavoidable heart attack tomorrow that have technology be able to access anyone my driving, spending, sleeping, eating and social habits whenever they want.
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