Imagining the Future (Part 1)
The wake-up alarm was screaming in the background as you tried to open your eyes. The dark tint of the glass walls started to slowly fade away. The room was still dim when you stretched and yawned loudly. You rose and turned to sit on to the edge of your bed. As if on cue, the alarm stopped -- although it could automatically decide to set off again if it detected that you were still in bed for more than 15 minutes.
You sat still for awhile. Your head was bowed down so that you were facing the floor, but you closed your eyes again. You listened to your favorite sound in the morning: silence. Your house's air-conditioning system made no noise although you knew it was still running -- the room's temperature felt just right. There was no noise from the outside either. It was quiet. You always woke up earlier than everyone else. You liked catching the stillness of the morning before another creature disturbed it. It was the best moment of peace you could enjoy everyday. It was the only moment of peace you knew you would have for the day.
You rested your elbows on your knees, raised your hands to your face and moved your head down and up so that your hands would brush through your hair, on to your nape and then back towards your face again. You lazily dropped your right hand to your left knee and shifted your head so that your forehead rested on your left hand. You forced yourself to open your eyes, raising your eyebrows as you did to help pull your eyelids up. You stared at your feet on the floor and absentmindedly reminded yourself about cutting your toenails. "There are things that a man just had to do, " you thought out loud.
You took a deep breath, sighed heavily and stood up.
By that time, the glass walls were already clear, allowing the morning sunshine to fill the entire room. Your room faced the sunrise. You spend a few seconds, sometimes a full minute, everyday to marvel at it. Either it would make you smile or not didn't matter. It was a luxury you didn't want to take for granted. At the very least, you tried to catch a glimpse of what was different from the sunrise the day before. "Today's not cloudy."
You followed the aroma of kopi luwak brewing in your kitchen. You set up the coffee maker before bed so that it would automatically start grinding and brewing 5 minutes before your wake-up alarm in the bedroom. As you walked towards the kitchen, the entire house was already filled with natural light. "The sun's shining earlier recently," you thought. You filled a mug with coffee and took sips in between steps of preparing the breakfast you planned for the day: buttered toasts and an omelet which you've been mastering to cook on your new induction stove top.
"News, please," you said. Instantly, a news video appeared on the nearest glass door -- which lead to a small but elegantly landscaped garden. By default, you set up the news to start immediately with the local weather news and 7 day forecast, followed by the national and then the international weather report.
You carefully plated your omelet with your buttered toasts and added a couple of cheddar cheese wedges on the side. You set your breakfast on the counter so that you'd be facing the glass door where the news video was playing. The news mentioned something about a senator in trouble. You heard a bit of it but you weren't really listening. After the weather report, you didn't really pay much attention to the rest of the news anymore. "If it was anything really big," you thought, "I would hear and read more about it throughout the day anyway." Besides, it was the third time in a week that you perfected your omelet which neither broke into pieces nor got browned as much like a pancake. Right in front of you was your own creation that flattered you. "Now, this is news!" you exclaimed. The wide smile on your face could never hide the celebration after the first bite.
You tapped your index finger twice on the counter top's surface to bring up a menu of your favorite tasks. You opened up your inbox. In between bites, you opened and read a couple of notes. Then you decided to check out a report of your finances instead. Your pay check got posted earlier than expected. You sorted it through your budget manager and made a few adjustments for the vacation planned on the coming weekend. Finally, you quickly swiped your hand across the counter top to clear everything off. For no reason, you hurried to finish your breakfast and to put the dishes in your new ultrasonic dishwasher -- the latest model that could automatically run as soon as it determined that it was half-filled.
The news continued to play in the background as you took a shower, brushed your teeth and shaved. You unceremoniously dressed for work. While you put on your socks, you issued the command, "Traffic, please," smiling proudly over how you could multi-task without really thinking much about it. The news video immediately changed to a traffic report relevant to your area. It would be a smooth ride as usual. You slipped your feet into your favorite pair of dress shoes, slid your personal crystal slate in your pocket and walked out of your room, down the stairs then towards your garage.
You got in to your car and pressed a biometric button to start it. The dashboard showed that the car was fully charged overnight. You didn't need the GPS to go to the office, but you set its destination anyway so that it would direct you away from any sudden traffic that might turn up along the way. Besides, you didn't feel like driving. You wanted the car to auto-drive. As soon as the garage door was fully opened, your car auto-drove quietly to the street following the directions on the GPS.
When the garage door closed behind you, you knew that your home security system would automatically activate. If the TV was left on, it would be turned off automatically. If application screens were still showing on a surface, like a wall or a table, they would be closed. Five minutes of inactivity later, your robots would then start to clean the house. From an outsider, it would sound as if there were people in the house doing chores. As the logs showed when you checked the last time, the robots would normally be done with their house keeping by noon.
Afterwards, your home would be still and quiet again. If you only knew, the silence was not any different than the peace you thought you could only enjoy in the early morn.
A mild breeze whispered its secret.
You sat still for awhile. Your head was bowed down so that you were facing the floor, but you closed your eyes again. You listened to your favorite sound in the morning: silence. Your house's air-conditioning system made no noise although you knew it was still running -- the room's temperature felt just right. There was no noise from the outside either. It was quiet. You always woke up earlier than everyone else. You liked catching the stillness of the morning before another creature disturbed it. It was the best moment of peace you could enjoy everyday. It was the only moment of peace you knew you would have for the day.
You rested your elbows on your knees, raised your hands to your face and moved your head down and up so that your hands would brush through your hair, on to your nape and then back towards your face again. You lazily dropped your right hand to your left knee and shifted your head so that your forehead rested on your left hand. You forced yourself to open your eyes, raising your eyebrows as you did to help pull your eyelids up. You stared at your feet on the floor and absentmindedly reminded yourself about cutting your toenails. "There are things that a man just had to do, " you thought out loud.
You took a deep breath, sighed heavily and stood up.
By that time, the glass walls were already clear, allowing the morning sunshine to fill the entire room. Your room faced the sunrise. You spend a few seconds, sometimes a full minute, everyday to marvel at it. Either it would make you smile or not didn't matter. It was a luxury you didn't want to take for granted. At the very least, you tried to catch a glimpse of what was different from the sunrise the day before. "Today's not cloudy."
You followed the aroma of kopi luwak brewing in your kitchen. You set up the coffee maker before bed so that it would automatically start grinding and brewing 5 minutes before your wake-up alarm in the bedroom. As you walked towards the kitchen, the entire house was already filled with natural light. "The sun's shining earlier recently," you thought. You filled a mug with coffee and took sips in between steps of preparing the breakfast you planned for the day: buttered toasts and an omelet which you've been mastering to cook on your new induction stove top.
"News, please," you said. Instantly, a news video appeared on the nearest glass door -- which lead to a small but elegantly landscaped garden. By default, you set up the news to start immediately with the local weather news and 7 day forecast, followed by the national and then the international weather report.
You carefully plated your omelet with your buttered toasts and added a couple of cheddar cheese wedges on the side. You set your breakfast on the counter so that you'd be facing the glass door where the news video was playing. The news mentioned something about a senator in trouble. You heard a bit of it but you weren't really listening. After the weather report, you didn't really pay much attention to the rest of the news anymore. "If it was anything really big," you thought, "I would hear and read more about it throughout the day anyway." Besides, it was the third time in a week that you perfected your omelet which neither broke into pieces nor got browned as much like a pancake. Right in front of you was your own creation that flattered you. "Now, this is news!" you exclaimed. The wide smile on your face could never hide the celebration after the first bite.
You tapped your index finger twice on the counter top's surface to bring up a menu of your favorite tasks. You opened up your inbox. In between bites, you opened and read a couple of notes. Then you decided to check out a report of your finances instead. Your pay check got posted earlier than expected. You sorted it through your budget manager and made a few adjustments for the vacation planned on the coming weekend. Finally, you quickly swiped your hand across the counter top to clear everything off. For no reason, you hurried to finish your breakfast and to put the dishes in your new ultrasonic dishwasher -- the latest model that could automatically run as soon as it determined that it was half-filled.
The news continued to play in the background as you took a shower, brushed your teeth and shaved. You unceremoniously dressed for work. While you put on your socks, you issued the command, "Traffic, please," smiling proudly over how you could multi-task without really thinking much about it. The news video immediately changed to a traffic report relevant to your area. It would be a smooth ride as usual. You slipped your feet into your favorite pair of dress shoes, slid your personal crystal slate in your pocket and walked out of your room, down the stairs then towards your garage.
You got in to your car and pressed a biometric button to start it. The dashboard showed that the car was fully charged overnight. You didn't need the GPS to go to the office, but you set its destination anyway so that it would direct you away from any sudden traffic that might turn up along the way. Besides, you didn't feel like driving. You wanted the car to auto-drive. As soon as the garage door was fully opened, your car auto-drove quietly to the street following the directions on the GPS.
When the garage door closed behind you, you knew that your home security system would automatically activate. If the TV was left on, it would be turned off automatically. If application screens were still showing on a surface, like a wall or a table, they would be closed. Five minutes of inactivity later, your robots would then start to clean the house. From an outsider, it would sound as if there were people in the house doing chores. As the logs showed when you checked the last time, the robots would normally be done with their house keeping by noon.
Afterwards, your home would be still and quiet again. If you only knew, the silence was not any different than the peace you thought you could only enjoy in the early morn.
A mild breeze whispered its secret.
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