Kotaku
Today's Game Developers Conference keynote featured a uniquely distinguished individual. Instead of a background in coding or art design, Ray Kurzweil has been "inventing" computer products since the 1970s, pioneering such areas as the optical technologies you see in products from Xerox.
Today, with the aid of countless charts tracking the exponential growth of technology over the past 150 years, Kurzweil explained gaming in the year 2029. And no, we're not "drinking the Kool-Aid." Instead we've opted to siphon gallons of the stuff intravenously into our bloodstream.
According to Kurzweil's estimates, in 2029 a $1,000 computer will be 1,000 times more powerful than the human brain. But instead of these systems mocking us autonomously, they will be miniaturized (via nanotechnology) and fused directly to the neural connections in your brain. We will no longer be limited by polygons or advanced lighting techniques because the resolution you see will be the maximum resolution your brain is capable of seeing. Think of it less as "SkyNet is coming to get you" than "you are SkyNet."
But if 2029 is a few years too far away, try 2010 on for size. At this time, Kurzweil explains, "computers disappear." Where did they go? Into things like clothing and glasses. Images won't be viewed from screens, but written directly onto our retinas for full A/V immersion "early" in the next decade. The boundaries between reality and "virtual" reality will blur as we're always connected to the internet at high speeds. And until we develop clear system to designate each level of interaction, "real reality's going to continue to be a little irksome."
Damn that irksome reality.
