Memojis in the Year 2030

When Kim Kardashian released her Kimoji app in 2015 and went on to sell the $1.99 app more than 9,000 times a second for the entire first day – earning “a million a minute” – we should’ve known that Bitmojis were just getting started. Since that day, Snapchat bought Bitmoji, Apple released their own competitor called Memoji, […]

Internet Driver’s License

When I thought up the phrase, “A Driver’s License for Surfing the Internet” I didn’t expect anyone to have thought about it before. So I was surprised to find that a think tank had already dreamed of this dream 19 years ago. And that 10 years ago, the US Government put a pilot program in […]

Audio Augmentation

What if in the next 5 years wireless, connected headphones had the same degree of impact on our lives as the smartphone? How would connected headphones, like the AirPods, change our lives? What does life look like when half the world walks around with headphones all day? Most people would say that’s a very isolating […]

Samsung's Digital Human

Two things happen when an emerging technology is adopted by a major tech company. One, the market (and all of those grassroots startups) are validated. Two, the pressure to perform and swallow up users heightens. The emerging Digital Human space has just entered this moment. At CES 2020, Samsung unveiled a lofty vision for a […]

The Next 20 Years of Digital Finances

The key to building wealth is putting your dollar to work while you sleep. We achieve this by purchasing land, developing that land, and watching the value of that land rise. We achieve this by purchasing shares in a company and getting a small taste of the profits they earn. The routes to wealth are […]

Digital Apprenticeships

For a long time, the only way to get a job was through apprenticeship. To work in someone else’s shadow was a real honor. And it was the swiftest way to learn a trade, eventually getting a stamp of approval from a known master. Today, many of us vastly overlook the opportunity to be Digital […]

eSports Stadium Franchises

Nostalgia is one heck of a selling-point. Everyone reaches a certain age (and buying power) where the “old times” just sound like a nice escape from the current times. In large doses, it can become a real poison against progress. But in small doses, it can actually be quite pleasant and even work to counteract depression. This […]

Emotion Recognition Technology

There’s power in knowing what emotions people are feeling at any given time of day. Mordor Intelligence estimates that power at $92 billion over the next four years. Emotion Recognition Technology is the offspring of facial recognition and its applicability has already become quite widespread. Despite half the scientific community disputing the abilities of Emotion […]

Digital Third Spaces

When I’m old, retired, and telling my grandkids what it was like to live in the early part of the 21st century, I’m going to describe it as this: “We all willingly deprived ourselves of healthy social interaction when we agreed to be digital citizens.” Now, I hope that by the time I get to […]

Animated eBooks

Adapt or perish. It’s a rule that applies universally to everything. But how does this rule stack up against something as essential as child education? What happens when education doesn’t adapt? Does it just die off? If you follow me closely, then you know that Reading Comprehension and child education is a cause I care […]

AI Against Pandemics

Globalization has its perks. Hop on a plane and go nearly anywhere in the world at any time. Sell your products and services to the 4.5 billion digital citizens, instead of the few thousand or million in your area. But one thing that globalization doesn’t help is the spread of infections and disease. At any given time, […]

Google Earth Tours

Google has mapped 98% of the inhabited world. If people live there, then Google has probably grabbed a satellite or street view image of that place. The immense value of mapping the globe goes beyond navigation, though. Interactive digital maps of the Earth will have a great impact on tourism, education, entertainment, and more. Now that […]

Social Review Networks

In ten years, having digitally reviewed 10,000 places will be far more valuable on a social level than having 10,000 followers. Reviews are the building blocks of trust on the Internet. And they’ve yet to be realized to their full potential in terms of social utility. Imagine for a moment that you’re out to eat […]

3 Monumental Changes to Voice Technology

Stamp collectors may come across as being from another planet. Collecting stamps is a strange, obsessive hobby. That is until you’re at a stamp convention with hundreds of collectors, at which point these other-planetary beings show that they’re a part of an entire universe. A universe where their odd ideas are actually quite prescient. A […]

Alexa for Emergencies

Smart speakers should excel in emergency situations. Hands aren’t free, can’t find your phone, or don’t have time to find your phone? No problem, you just need your voice. When time is against you and you have to act quick, an emergency responder could be just a shout away in any room of the house, […]

Death and Technology

Where’s the social network for dead people? Alright, horrible way of wording it. Where’s the social network dedicated to honoring the deceased? A place where we can connect with people who were connected to our friends that passed. A place we can revisit years or decades later that is filled with stories, photos, and memories […]

Twitch and TikTok Ads

2019 was heavily projected to be the first year that digital ad spend finally surpassed traditional print and TV ads. It’s a moment that says a lot about how ad dollars are allocated: ad dollars are slow to adopt new platforms. Namely, I want to talk about Twitch and TikTok. These two platforms should be on everyone’s […]

The Future of Billboards

What never ceases to amaze me are the number of businesses that have emerged around ride-sharing. HyreCar lets you rent a car to get a ridesharing job. Cargo gives you the opportunity to sell snacks to riders with their snack boxes. And then of course the natural confluence of driving around food when “people rides” are slow. Last week […]