By 2030 half of all our meals will be produced through 3D printing, most homes will generate their own electricity and mankind will on its first one-way trip to Mars.
That was the prognosis of a futurologist at an ESB-sponsored event to highlight current and future technologies which might be of use to us.
Dr Sohail Inayatullah says 3D meal printing is neither fanciful nor unnecessary but is already being trialed. Nasa has successfully developed 3D printed pizzas. The first international conference dedicated to 3D printed meals was held in Amsterdam in April.
At the push of a button, householders will be able to order a meal assembled by robots and have it cooked in front of them. Many are sceptical, but they were also sceptical about microwaves when they first came out.
There will be a shift away from the meat industry towards in-vitro meat (the cultivation of animal tissue in laboratories) and organic veganism. We will have more devices that monitor our health and food, home-generated solar and wind power will be the norm, but we will still not have figured out a way to get mankind to Mars and back again, he told the ESB Powering Potential Expo in Merrion Square Dublin.
“Digital natives”, or young people who have never known a world without internet technology, will be in charge in 30 years time and they will expect greater interactivity in the political world and more accountable democracy.
“We are in a transition where nationalism and religion have been dominant. We are in a shift to where survival and thrival are based on global governance.”
Soulful era
Dr Inayatulla, Professor of future studies at Tamkang University, Taipei, Taiwan, is not a pessimist when it comes to mankind. Climate change, nuclear war and overpopulation are just some of the issues that assail our future prospects, but he believes we may be on the verge of a more soulful era.
“We don’t want a future created from fear, we want a future created from a shared imagination. I don’t try to do the world is ending stuff.”
Dr Inayatulla is prophesying that mindfulness and meditation will be a driving force in society. This may sound counter-intuitive given how technology such as mobile phones is making our lives more frenetic, but he believes that the ubiquity of such devices is precisely why there must be a counterbalance.
“For me the amazing thing is less the external technologies, but more the inner technologies - things like mindfulness and meditation. We have always had those, but we can see in inner work mediation that the parts of the brain related to empathy and understanding start to light up.
“If you want a healthier society and economy, you will have more people doing mindfulness and meditation courses. That doesn’t seem so amazing, but, if you start to think of a whole generation doing inner work, the future starts to look quite dramatically different.”
The expo in Merrion Square is showcasing what the ESB believes will be future technology for powering our homes, offices and cars.
Its most eye-catching exhibit is the BMW i8, a gull-winged hybrid sports car capable of a top speed of 250km/h, but one which only has a 1.5 litre engine. It can do 0 to 100km/h in just 4.4 seconds despite only having an engine the size of a Mini Cooper. It is mainly powered by an electric motor and can, in theory, operate on just the electric battery.
The car was part of the ESB's year-long electric vehicle, The Great Electric Drive. Ten electric vehicles were driven around Ireland and the combined fuel cost savings over the 200,000 kilometres was €18,000.
The ESB Powering Potential Expo is open to the public on Thursday June 11th from 12pm to 5pm.
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