5th September 2019

Samsung predicts life in the year 2069

Six of Britain's leading academics and futurists have collaborated to create a vision of the future in 50 years' time.

Electronics company Samsung has published Samsung KX50: The Future in Focus, a report that predicts changes to technology, health, entertainment, food and transport over the next 50 years. The research was commissioned to mark the launch of Samsung KX, a new experience space at Coal Drops Yard in London, celebrating half a century of tech innovation.

The authors are a group of leading academics and futurists – including President of techUK, Jacqueline de Rojas; Director of Engineering and Education at the Royal Academy of Engineering, Dr Rhys Morgan; the award winning food futurologist, Dr Morgaine Gaye; digital health futurist, Maneesh Juneja; Specialist Advisor to Innovation Design Engineering at the Royal College of Art, Professor Dale Russel; and leading futurist, Matthew Griffin.

"The next 50 years will bring the largest technological changes and innovations we have ever seen in our work and leisure," said de Rojas. "The Digital Revolution – just as the Industrial Revolution did 250 years ago – is challenging all our assumptions about how we shall lead our future lives. Looking ahead, we can expect to be connected to everything, and everything we do will be assisted by digital technology."



Credit: Samsung/Preconstruct

Five of the expert predictions have been visualised in detailed architectural renders, bringing to life what our world could really look like 50 years from today, including living and working in underground 'earthscrapers' – pictured below – inverted skyscrapers that burrow downwards for many storeys into the ground, enabling the withstanding of earthquakes as well as climate change.

Other predictions for the year 2069:

Aquatic superhighways: Undersea transport, in sealed tube systems that are crossed using fast-moving pods, enabling new connections between the UK and mainland Europe as far as Scandinavia in under an hour

Air taxis and buses: High-power drone-copters will carry passengers, using the airspace above rivers and waterways for a clear route through the sky

Civilian space travel: For longer distances, international city-to-city travel will provide the option of passenger rockets, entering near-space just outside Earth's upper atmosphere. Travelling at nearly 20,000 miles per hour, this would allow a journey from London to New York in under 30 minutes

Virtual companions and carers: We will have the option of a digital companion that gets to know us and our health over our lifetime. Through sensors which track our health status wherever we go, our carers will nudge us to make the healthiest choices

3D printing of vital organs: Providing instant replacements for people whose organs are damaged beyond repair. This technology may already have emerged in previous decades, but by 2069 could even exceed the quality of the natural organs we are born with. For example, new eyes might be engineered with improved vision at night, while hearts or lungs could enhance an athlete's performance



Credit: Samsung/Preconstruct

High-street insect burger takeaways: Eventually, insects will become a major source of food protein. Most kitchens will be equipped with growing pods and a small harvesting unit

Aerial sport matches: New sports will emerge based on hoverboards, with players flying around stadiums in Quidditch-style matches

Highly-immersive VR and movies: Affordable, refined haptic suits will create sensations that fool all five of our senses – smell, sound, taste, touch and vision – allowing us to physically "feel" as though we are inside the film or video game

Holidaying in space: For those with a little more money, luxury space hotels will orbit the Moon or other planets, generating their own gravity



Credit: Samsung/Preconstruct

Brits were also asked to choose which of the experts' predictions they would most like to see become a reality. 70% of British adults said they were excited or intrigued by what technological advances would happen over the next 50 years. The survey of 2,000 British adults revealed that entirely self-cleaning homes, body implants monitoring our health, and super-speed air travel are the top advancements the nation would like to see happen by 2069.

Which (if any) of these predictions do you think should be added to our timeline? Let us know in the comments below!

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