Futuristic Utility Fog - stuff that dreams are made of
March 04 2008 / by futuretalk
Category: Technology Year: Beyond Rating: 11
By Dick Pelletier
Some of the best minds in science believe that in the
not-too-distant future, a friendly fog will settle over the planet.
Unlike its traffic-snarling, airport-closing twin, nanotech-based
utility fog (UF) will be downright 
helpful. It will create housing for the homeless, put clothes
on bare backs and food in empty stomachs. It will transform the
most desolate village into a Garden of Eden, providing widescreen
TVs, nano-replicators, and the latest transportation vehicles for
everyone.
The brainchild of J. Storrs Hall, Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, UF embodies one of the more dramatic promises of nanobots. Suppose, instead of building the object you want atom by atom, the tiny ‘bots linked their arms together to form a solid mass in the shape of the object you wanted? Then, when you got tired of that avant-garde coffee table, the robots could simply shift around a little and you’d have an elegant Queen Anne piece instead.
“This futuristic ‘fog’ can make objects levitate, hover, fly around and appear and disappear on command,” Storrs says, “it can exert invisible forces on things, causing them to deflect or move, and will automatically repair damaged objects; it could even keep our bodies safe from external damage.”
Rather than paint the walls in your home, just coat them with UF and they could be a different color every day, or become a floor-to-ceiling TV. Floors could look like hardwood, but feel soft to our feet.
Furniture and decorations could change into anything our hearts desire just by wishing it so. And UF would keep us safe from storms; even the impact from a nuclear explosion could be rendered harmless.
When you leave home for work or to run an errand, UF could convert everything, including the house itself, into air molecules. You’re now looking at a vacant lot. Upon return, UF would sense your presence and restore everything to normal. Say goodbye to home security worries.
In addition, why not surround your car with UF? You could have a “new” one every day; and in the event of a crash, UF would enable you to take a 100-mph impact without even messing your hair. However, you’ll never get in an accident as UF could one day make all roads and vehicles accident-free.
The most obvious applications of UF are virtual furniture that appears and disappears on demand, and restraint systems that protect our bodies from accidents. While these are early applications, they are not the ones that will change our notions of reality. For that we have to wait for UF to gain the ability to completely replace our experienced environment.
Imagine you want to feel the thrill of diving from the Golden Gate Bridge into the cold Pacific Ocean waters. The UF in your room obediently changes so that the pattern of light reaching your eyes is exactly what you would see if you were looking over the bridge railing.
When you finally make the plunge, you feel like you are falling through the air with ocean breezes swishing around your body. Just before you hit the water, you turn like a bird and soar back up to the bridge. You tell UF to end program – later your memory insists you were at the Golden Gate Bridge even though your mind knows you were at home.
No one expects a cloud of this magical stuff tomorrow, but industry sources believe that the first nanotech assemblers will arrive between 2010 and 2020, and experts predict UF development could become reality by mid-2030s or before. This truly presents a “magical future”. Comments Welcome.
Comment Thread (6 Responses)
-
Magical indeed. Such a fog seems like the very epitome of magic as described in all our fantastical literature.
The notion of this fog, especially when imagining it as pervasive, blurs the lines between the digital and biological world. (no pun intended) At that point wouldn’t we just integrate with the ether rather than retain form? The same technology would be capable of “freeing” us of form, no? I imagine something like auto-uploading, except that the computer is everything.
Posted by: Alvis Brigis March 04, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend -
i imagine having a companion personal assistant avatar that could accompany whereever i go.. it would probably look like gizmo (from gremlins), since i’ve always wanted one of those. it would be my furry friend, but could also transform into a floating screen when i wanted to see something, and would be able to call up any info from the internet that i needed. plus, it would store all my music, videos, files, and personal info that i needed it to. it would automatically pay my bills, make investment suggestions, set up meetings and appointments, and be a liaison between me and friends, family, business associates, etc. and of course, at the end of the day when i’m sitting on my couch, it will create a nice illusion that i’m sitting in a hammock on an island in the middle of the sea. with a steel drums band.
Posted by: Zora Styrian March 04, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend -
I like the Gizmo shield. Projecting human or cuddly characteristics onto this advanced tech will be a billion dollar industry.
Posted by: Accel Rose March 04, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend -
In this writer’s opinion, J. Storrs Hall is the top thinker in molecular nanotechnology. He spent two years as founding Chief Scientist at Nanorex, a nano research firm that could be the first out of the starting block with a nano assembler.
His most recent book, “Beyond AI” focuses on a positive outcome for artificial general intelligence in that he suggests that by the time AGI outthinks humans, we will have the ability to enhance our neurons and interconnect with our silicon cousins and share their immense knowledge. “We will always be a step ahead of tomorrow’s super artificial intelligence creations.”
Hall’s work at Foresight involves creating unique nanorobot designs. Eric Drexler may be the father of nanotechnology, but Hall is certainly the world’s brightest student.
Posted by: futuretalk March 04, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend -
What if we reach utility fog versus direct neural feeds in a competition for reality simulation? I imagine that the latter will get a good head start on that—we’ll be able to use the brain’s powers of complex modeling against(?) itself, perhaps with the help of implanted chips for extra processing power, to be fully immersed in whatever we can dream about.
Will we be so satisfied with our virtual experiences in our own heads that we’ll no longer need a utility fog for the real world?
Posted by: gremlinn March 05, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend -
Will we prefer simulated life over reality in future?
Some people have voiced concern that virtual reality simulations may become more desirable than living in the real world. This is definitely possible, and who could say it would be wrong.
However, if futurists Hans Moravec, Rodney Brooks, Ray Kurzweil and others are correct, by mid-2030s or so we may be endowed with trillions of times more thinking power than today; I cannot imagine an “artificial world” becoming more attractive than navigating reality with all the awesome science and technologies that will be unfolding around us in this future time. Comments welcome.
Posted by: futuretalk March 05, 2008
Vote for this comment - Recommend