The islanders inhabitants of the island will also have access to a web interface where they can monitor the availability and price of electricity in real time to decide what time of day they prefer to charge their cars. Unimaginable opportunities for media The opportunities for the media and experience industries are enormous. With the recent boom in smartphones and the fact that there will be an estimated 15 billion (twice the world population!) more mobile phones in the next four years, it is easy to see how mobiles will change the game. I envision a future reminiscent of something like the scene in Minority Report, where Tom Cruise enters a store and a digital shop assistant asks him how he liked his last suit and gives him a recommendation on what could be appropriate for him the next time. Although we don’t use the iris of our eyes as a sensor, or eye scanning as a method of position measurement, smart phones offer us a good way to reach out with specific messages that the outside surrounding world wants to give us when we move pass by strategically placed sensors. I’m waiting curiously to see how the media and entertainment industries chooses to implement these capabilities in the near future.
Miranda Edner, customer account manager at IBM for customers in the retail, wholesale and consumer product industries.
Miranda Edner