what Will be by 2020, the year of the telepathy? How is the mind connected to the Internet? Will it be possible to teleport? How will the food be indispensable to feeding? These are some of the questions that were made years ago by different authors of science fiction and futurólogos. At that time, they were clear that the answer to these questions was in the affirmative. But the arrival of this year puts into question some of their predictions.

Drain connected to the network

The canadian writer Geoffrey Charles Ryman imagined in his novel Air, released in 2004 and set in 2020, a world in which the brains would be connected to the Internet. In it, he tells how the citizens of a small mountain village live in first person the arrival of a new communication technology.

Although it may sound a little futuristic, their predictions are not far from some existing projects in the reality. Already in 2015, a team of european researchers managed to record brain waves and convert them into letters, words and even complete phrases. Despite the discussions of privacy, security, and personal protection that this type of devices could pose, Facebook is working on a device that reads the brain waves of people and will allow you to write with thought alone.

Two researchers in a screenshot of a promotional video for Neuralink.

And even the founder of Tesla pursues this aim. Neuralink is a company owned by Elon Musk that aims to develop the technology to connect the mind to the Internet. The short-term goal is to help patients with paralysis or amputated limbs to control his expression and movement, or to see and hear only with the brain. But Musk pursues a multitude of goals for the future remarkably ambitious: from writing only with the mind to move a cursor around the screen just thinking about it and even download a new language directly into our brain.

Telepathy and teleportation

Other predictions are not so successful. Michael J. O'farrell, founder of The Mobile Institute, published in 2014 the book Shift 2020, how it will impact the technology in our future. In it, I analyzed how it would change the way in which humans communicate, work or do business. "In the era of the nanomovilidad, I predict telepathy and teleportation will be possible by the year 2020”, he claimed in the book.

human beings have been around for years dreaming of being able to move from one world to another in a blink of an eye. But scientists agree that, with the knowledge that you currently have, the teleportation of objects or persons is not possible. In terms of the transmission of thoughts between people, there are different teams that investigate new technologies that allow the communication from brain to brain. In 2014 a man thought “hello” in an indian city. The greeting came directly to the brain of another person sitting in a laboratory of Strasbourg, a French town at 7,700 kilometres away. Despite the fact that for the time being has only been achieved the transmission of thoughts is simple, a report by the Department of Defense of the united States (DOD) expected that in the future the brains of the soldiers are connected and can share information between them.

Houses flying

The writer and popularizer british scientist Arthur C. Clarke, who passed away in 2008 at the age of 90, was a lover of science fiction. He wrote more than 80 books and hundreds of short stories, among which are The sentinel or 2001 Space Odyssey. Among other predictions, he predicted in the forties that the man would go to the moon in the year 2000, and in 1966 that houses would be flying in 2020.

“The house of the future would have no roots that tie his to the ground. The rear would be water pipes, drains and electrical lines. The house autonomous, therefore, could move or be moved to any location on the earth at the will of the owner. Therefore, you can reach the moment in which whole communities may migrate south in winter or move to new lands whenever they feel the need for a change of scenery”, predicted Clarke.

Despite the fact that there are buildings flying that can be transported from one site to another still seem pure science fiction, there are companies that build houses that can rise above the ground when, for example, is expected to flood risk. In the case of the Elevating House, designed by Larkfleet Group, that can be raised a meter and a half above ground level. On the other hand, the american studio Terry & Terry Architecture have designed a kind of floating home that fits your height and is suited to the weather conditions or tide.

Some of its predictions were a little misguided: debating on a kind of global brain giant in the that would all be permanently connected, a sexual partner for life or a playground for adults, where the law is applied by remote control

order the food

The expert in artificial intelligence, Ray Kurzweil, doctor honoris causa by more than 10 universities and considered by Forbes as “the thinking machine supreme”, has a long history of accurate predictions. In the decade of the 90's predicted the importance that would have the computers for humanity, he predicted the advent of the Internet, said portable technology and predicted that a computer would beat the best human player of chess.

But it does not always hit the mark completely. In 2005 stated that humans no longer eat, but that tiny robots —nanobots— are in charge of feeding your bloodstream with nutrients, and the removal of the remaining waste. Despite the fact that the way of eating usual has not been replaced by nanosystems, yes, there are those who promote the use of substitute food to save time in your day-to-day.

Chefs robots and a global brain

In the 70s, different authors of science fiction, Poul Anderson, Harlan ellison syndrome., Larry Niven, Norman Spinrad, or Ben Bova tried to imagine how the world would be in 2020. Published their predictions in the book 2020 Vision, edited by Jerry Pournelle, and agreed that those who were alive in that year they got together to discuss them.

it has already Been 50 years since then. Some of their predictions were a little misguided: debating on a kind of global brain giant in the that would all be permanently connected, a sexual partner for life or a playground for adults, where the law is applied by remote control.

Other predictions were not at all desencaminadas. For example, imagined a future with chefs robots. Currently, in addition to robots of kitchen capable of shredding, cooking, beating and frying foods, there are also androids that display their robotic arms to follow the steps of a recipe of a totally autonomous fashion, and clean up after. And there are even restaurants that are seeking cooks and waiters robots.

Date Of Update: 30 December 2019, 10:00