Flying shoes may be just around the corner, as research released recently by Sony Mobile reveals that 56% of children expect these by 2037, with one in five predicting that they could become a reality in just five years. The research, conducted for Sony Mobile’s Xperia Touch projector, explores the vivid imagination of 6-12 year olds across few countries, comparing their fun and advanced expectations of the future to that of their parents.
Having grown up in a generation where anything seems possible, it’s the creative expectations of these children that best describes the product’s advanced technology. Will we be able to communicate with our pets in the future? Apparently so, with seven in ten children dreaming up a reality where technology lets us speak to and understand our pets. With no limits on their vivid imagination, 61% of children expect to be able to see through walls by 2037, and just under half believe we’ll be able to read each other’s minds.
Parents on the other hand have a different outlook on the future, and think some technologies are too far-fetched to become a reality. Three out of five think teleportation and invisibility cloaks could never be a possibility – yet nearly a third of British children expect to see these within the next ten years.
But, whose vision of the future really is more accurate? Ian Pearson, lead Futurologist from Futurizon reveals whether these technologies could soon become a reality:
- On flying shoes: “We do have hover-boards that can hover without wheels on special skateboard parks, and self-balancing unicycles too, so if you can get things that hover and self-balance, why not?
- On telepathy: “By 2050, direct connections into people’s brains will be so good that your mind will extend into cyberspace and 90% of your thinking will be outside your head.”
- On teleporting: “We can already generate exact copies of a photon or a single atom, but it will be many decades or even centuries before we could do that with a human.”
- On talking to pets: “Let’s ignore those near useless devices that claim to interpret barks and meows by their tone. Around 2045-2050, you could theoretically get a brain implant in your pet that would enhance their intelligence and enable this sort of interaction, but the regulators might not permit that.”
Hirohito “Henry” Kondo, Senior Manager of Product Planning, Smart Products at Sony Mobile said: “Xperia Touch is a flagship smart device that can transform any surface into an interactive screen, bringing a glimpse of the future into the home or office. We commissioned this campaign to delve into the imagination of children and parents alike to help illustrate the advanced technology and experience.”
The way children use technology is ever evolving, with 90% of parents in agreement that it has had a positive impact on their children. Over two thirds also believe that technology and smart products have helped enhance their child’s imagination, with 56% of parents saying that technology has aided their imagination more than school.
