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Feb. 4, 2000
Well, the world, electronic and otherwise, didn't end as the
digital clocks ticked into the year 2000. And since the world
looks as though it will have a future, we asked University of
Cincinnati faculty to peer ahead as to coming trends of leisure,
life and work in the near future.
Table of contents
1. Computers will redefine play and work
A. Spectators and participants score at virtual
sports
B. Fun and games with computers
C. Smarter toys for sophisticated kids
D. Emerging career combines computers, languages
E. Computer revolution mirrors 15th century printing press
revolution
F. Cyber rules, buildings lose: home sweet hut
2. Business is cooking
A. Bakeries to roll in the dough
B. Minorities: more opportunities
3. SUVs to decline, look for hot and powerful in new cars
4. The roaring '20s to return by the 2020s
A. SPECTATORS AND PARTICIPANTS SCORE AT VIRTUAL SPORTS
Electronic artist Benjamin Britton, associate professor of fine
art, says athletics and the way we watch and play them will change
quickly due to technology. For instance, football players could
have a number of postage-stamp-size cameras mounted on their
helmets so spectators can truly feel a part of the game.
"Spectators could say, 'I'll view this play through No. 49's
perspective'and then do that." He also predicts virtual boxing and
tennis matches where a participant would wear a body suit wired
with motion sensors and compete with someone who isn't physically
there a rival who might be in another city, similarly garbed. Or
a sports enthusiast will be able to compete 'virtually' with the
greatest sports figures of all time recreated via computer
software. There is one downside warns Britton, "In doing virtual
boxing, if you get hit virtually, you feel it like it was the real
thing." contact: 513-556-0283
B. FUN AND GAMES WITH COMPUTERS
Deborah Anania Smith, research associate in UC's Arlitt Child and
Family Research and Education Center, predicts educational computer
games will continue to build in popularity. "I'm not talking about
video games, but rather games like the Tonka Construction computer
game, which help children learn about colors ... counting ... lets
them use their imagination to create and learn." Toys linked to
television will continue to be big sellers. contact:
513-556-3750
C. SMARTER TOYS FOR SOPHISTICATED KIDS
Nationally known product design consultant Brad Hammond, associate
professor of industrial design: "The toy industry is experiencing
difficult times. To reduce these difficulties, it will have
to make toys...that appeal to all the different senses. They have
to add intelligence to toys and couple that with interactivity."
contact: 513-556-0250,
D. EMERGING CAREER COMBINES COMPUTERS, LANGUAGES
When the movie "The Graduate" came out in the 1960s, the hot career
one of its characters recommended was "plastics." But in the year
2000, UC linguist Carl Mills, associate professor of English, would
suggest "natural language processing," or NLP for short. It is a
career where computer technology and language intersect and where
demand is accelerating. More and more companies need workers in
NLP to develop computers that will do what users, literally, tell
them to do. That requires improving voice recognition software so
that computers can type dictated documents or developing instant
translation software and more. "My dissertation director has
given up his full professorship to become director of NLP at a
major aircraft company," said Mills. "I get at least two job
notices every 24 hours for NLP on the linguists' listserv for jobs
that pay more than I make." Candidates need skills in computer
programming, linguistics or foreign language. Those with all three
are the most desirable. contact: 513-556-0936
E. COMPUTER REVOLUTION MIRRORS 15TH CENTURY'S PRINTING
REVOLUTION
UC historian Howard Todd predicts the Internet will affect our
future in the same way the printing press revolutionized Europe in
the 1450s. "As the computer becomes smaller and more convenient, it
will become more of a part of our lives. In the future, it will be
designed with voice recognition, so when you talk to it, it will
print out what you say." contact: 513-533-0050
F. CYBER RULES, BUILDINGS LOSE: HOME SWEET HUT
Patrick Snadon, associate professor of interior design, says we'll
digest architecture faster than...well, fast food. We'll build
fast, consume quickly and dispose of buildings with ever greater
speed. Though society will always have its architectural "crown
jewels" in terms of some public spaces, about 90 percent of
physical architecture will be ever-more disposable as intellect,
energy and imagination are directed toward creating and meeting in
ever-more-complex cyber spaces. Structures that do little more
than keep the rain off and provide climate control will be
the norm for the physical world while a virtual Garden of Eden will
be just a keystroke away. "We'll be living in Quonset huts,"
quipped Snadon. contact: 513-556-0224
2. BUSINESS IS COOKING
A. BAKERIES TO ROLL IN THE DOUGH
Chuck Matthews, associate professor of strategic management and
director of Small Business Institute at UC, says that in the
entrepreneurial arena, coffee will remain hot, including coffee
combined with bookstores or other specified interests. Another
specialty area that will grow is bakeries and bakery/restaurant
combos. contact: 513-556-7123
B. SHOW ME THE OPPORTUNITY
Linda Bates Parker, director of UC's Career Development Center and
founder and president of the professional association, Black
Career Women, foresees more African Americans moving into business
leadership. Some will be tapped for corporate leadership, like Ken
Chenault, who will become CEO at American Express in 2001. Others,
like Catherine Hughes, founder and chair of a network of radio
stations that recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange,
will create their own routes to the top via entrepreneurship. The
Milken Institute of California reports that businesses owned and
operated by African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American
entrepreneurs now amount to $205 billion. Moreover, they are
growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms, and they're destined
to climb even more steeply because of growth in population and
financial clout. contact: 513-556-0306
3. SUV TO DECLINE, LOOK FOR HOT AND POWERFUL IN NEW CARS
Gerald Michaud, associate professor of industrial design, who leads
UC's best design students in pioneering car-design studios
sponsored by General Motors Corporation and DaimlerChrysler,
just returned from the annual auto show held in Detroit Jan. 23-24:
"The SUV [sports utility vehicle] is peaking in the consumer market
right now. It will decline to some degree. No real creativity has
been expended on it. It was popular because people felt safe in
their high, rolling vault with a combination lock for a doorknob.
But crime statistics are coming down, and the coming designs for
transportation will be smaller, more efficient, 'hot' cars with
great handling and a lot of power squeezed out of four cylinders.
The new designs are also 'hot' emotionally. They're going for the
soul." contact: 513-556-0295
4. THE ROARING '20s TO RETURN BY 2020
UC historian Howard Todd says the morality of the nation tends to
be cyclical. For instance, the roaring 20s, well, roared with
flappers and gin. Society became more conservative in the '30s and
'40s before free love flowered in the '60s. "We're in the midst of
a puritan movement right now, but by the year 2010 or 2020, we'll
be swinging back to...a much less conservative society." contact:
513-533-0050
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