A Guided Tour to Possible IT-facilitated Future Scenarios with Global Reach

In this R-rated talk (where "R" stands for "Research" ...) we will visualize future IT-facilitated scenarios in the new worlds created after the "Bit Bang". Examples of these new worlds which continue to invade and modify our lives - hopefully for the better - will be given; personalized genetically adapted medicine, sensors everywhere helping transportation, food supply, early warning of natural disasters, biosensors, etc. Digital wireframes are increasingly replacing actors in movies (when Indiana Jones falls in a cavern full of snakes, the only risk to Harrison Ford is .... a computer crash). What else can we do with digital personas ? Will an ITeacher be imbedded in a tablet computer ready to appear with a light rubbing ?

To which extent will the "robotlution" help the very poor nations ? Building habitat ? How can social networks and crowdsourcing help our quality of life ? Will the wealth of countries shift from West to East and from North to South ? Is knowledge the new currency ? These and many other questions will NOT be answered in this presentation, although some IT-based ideas will be shown.

Weather permitting, this presentation will be made from an island in the 3D digital virtual world, Second Life, by my not-so-obedient avatar Jampa Babeli.

Speaker: Jean Paul Jacob, Electronic Engineer, Researcher, Supplemental Employee of IBM and Faculty in Residence, UC Berkeley

Room 119