By Mark O’Neill
An interesting little article has cropped up on PC World about “five sci-fi scenarios that will eventually become true”. They are :
- Biometric Security (as seen in Minority Report)
- Space Tourism (as seen in 2001 : A Space Odyssey)
- The Holodeck (as seen in Star Trek)
- Self-Aware Computers (as seen in 2001 : A Space Odyssey)
- Domestic Robots (as seen in Lost in Space)
The most intriguing one in my opinion has to be the holodeck. With programs such as Second Life becoming more and more advanced, the possibility of a fully-fledged holodeck can’t be that far off.
The biometric stuff is already partly with us to a certain extent with the biometric passport. But according to the article, “in a few years, we’ll be using fingerprint, voice, iris, or retinal scans to log on to Web sites and make purchases.” Is it just me or does this sound downright scary? I’d much rather just stick to typing in a password.