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The concept around a connected car is simple; provide internet access to passengers in vehicles.

This idea is also something that people, including myself, have wanted for quite a long time now. It’ll be great to stream movies in the backseat while on a road trip, or it would just be nice to play music without sporadic buffering.

However, there are some worries that come along with connected cars such as an outside user’s ability to hack into your vehicle’s system.

So, like all other technological innovations, only time can tell if connected cars will withstand the test of time.

According to IBM, self-driving cars should be fully functional by the year 2025 and after this years CES tradeshow we just got a little closer to this reality. This past January Mercedes Benz revealed an F015 Electric Hybrid car . Not only can the car identify when it is ok for you to cross the street but it also lets cars around you know where it intends to park. Through the use of digital images a lighted sidewalk appears as well as a neon arrow icon locating the car’s parking spot.  Once mobilized the car can raise or lower the volume based on your hand movements and gestures as well as perform a variety of other tasks as well.

While it certainly does spark one’s curiosity it does raise a lot of questions. Through the use of advanced technology and design how much will the car be sold for? Will it require a larger charging time since it is a hybrid ? How foolproof is it? Will it be prone to hacking? Does it take into consideration different weather conditions? The list goes on and on but until each consumer is able to actually drive or in this case experience the car themselves one can’t help but remain skeptical.

http://www.ce.org/Blog/Articles/2015/June/Self-Driving-Car-Technology-You-Can-Expect-By-2020.aspx

3D printing is the next big thing that offers endless possibilities. Though it’s still in its early stages now, in another ten to fifteen years, it will have been improved on greatly and we will possibly start using them in our homes. They will be used to print everyday products as well as things we’ve customized ourselves or even our own designs. It will be a lot easier to make and share things that we’ve created. Beyond personal use, 3D printing has the potential to make strides in the medical community. It will likely be able to print organs in the future. There are already limbs being printed for humans and even prosthetic hands for children in need. There has already been a 3D printed home and a company is currently working on 3D-printing a bridge over water in Amsterdam. There is still a long way to go and a lot to be improved upon when it comes to 3D printing, but when you think about all the possibilities that it will offer, it’s clear that it will be the next big thing.

Virtual Reality has the potential to revolutionize the news business, especially in-field reporting. The goal of a news reporter is to describe an event or scene to the viewers at home in an honest but detailed manner. It is always a challenge for journalists to be as descriptive as possible without stretching the truth. A popular quote describing the role of a reporter is “I’m here, you’re not. Let me tell you about it”. However, virtual reality will soon allow for people to actually be there in a way. This PBS article calls virtual reality “the ultimate empathy machine”. People always want to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Virtual Reality will now allow for those shoes to be put on. It will be interesting to see how VR impacts the future of news.

I’ve always found virtual reality a fascinating topic. I think there’s always some desire to escape reality when it becomes overwhelming. Something as simple as a projected fantasy world can be a large stress relief for some people. I think the next big thing will through Google’s Niantic Labs video games. They’re able to incorporate this virtuality with the real world, allowing people to move outside to play rather than be cooped up inside. It’s amazing that it can add value to a city; they incorporate anomalies with historical markers. It benefits by bringing together such a large variety of people together.

http://www.zipcar.com/ziptopia/future-metropolis/google-ingress

I think that the next big thing could be 3D printing. It seems more plausible to me than a lot of ideas and concepts going out right now. I was reading that there isn’t much hype for it and that it is still in the very early stages, but I think if people invest enough time into it could be huge in a couple of years. I remember seeing videos and thing about it a while back where a guy had gotten a hold of one or was helping design one and he used it to print a gun. Many people were put off by this, saying that if 3D printing like this becomes available to the general public than it could be bad. People could be printing their own guns and weapons and have complete access to things like that. I tend to see the good in things and don’t have a negative view about this. If anything, I think that society would start to realize the practical use for 3D printing.

It could be bad in that there would be no need for factories anymore or manufacturers of any kind because then anyone with a 3D printer would print things off in their own home whenever they want. I read in an article on digitaltrends.com that 3D printing is still in the early stages and equates it to that of the first Macintosh computer. It has practical uses, but still has a long way to go before it can be as useful and convenient as the iPhone.  But I think there is hope for the future of 3d printing. I think that it has already begun to make a positive impact for some industries, such as the medical field. This video below is so heartwarming and shows that 3D printing could help a lot more people.

When I first began considering what I believed to be “the next big thing,” I immediately thought of “wearables” and the convenience of having your phone or computer right on you… But in all honestly, who doesn’t have their phone on them all the time anyways? & I have to admit, I didn’t run right out and buy the apple watch, despite it’s efficiency, it still isn’t that stylish!

So as I began browsing through some articles on what others consider to be “the next big thing” I found one that shed a whole new light on what virtual-reality could do! Though the article is mostly concerned with Apple’s non-involvement in this up-and-coming industry, Dave Smith also points out some key innovations to augmented-reality and the ways in which it is being applied!

P.S. Be sure to read the part about the HoloLens assisting in installing a light switch– this in particular is why I believe virtual-reality is going to be “the next big thing.”

In my opinion, the next big thing will have to be wearables. Such as the apple watch, once they improve and add more features to the watch, or a wrist phone. For a better visualization of what I’m talking about, here is a youtube video of the wrist watch.

It’s hard to pinpoint a single thing that will be like the next internet. In this article I found from Forbes.com, written by Gene Marks, a writer for Forbes and an expert in business, he has a theory of the next several big things. He explains all the items that his clients are wanting and how when they are invented they will be some of the biggest sellers. The list ranges from easy integration to real batteries to solve the limited energy source for electronics issue.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2013/10/14/the-next-big-thing-these-are-5-technologies-my-clients-are-begging-for/

One of my favorite websites is chanceraps.com. It’s Chance the Rapper’s (and his band The Social Experiment’s) site. It literally has everything you need to know about them, what they’re doing, articles, music, upcoming performances and merchandise. Most of it can be found on the home page! They just released a free album, and the first thing you see when you go to the site is the album cover and a link to download or continue to the home page. I love how sleek the website is and I can find whatever I need just by scrolling down. In relation to the ten principles: it doesn’t make users think (literally, everything you need is on the first page); it doesn’t squander patience (you can download music with the click of a button without making an account or signing into anything); they do a good job of focusing attention with a lot of visuals; with the simplicity of it, there’s not a lot of feature exposure; the little writing that’s on the home page is effectively done; as I’ve mentioned plenty of times, the site is very simple; with everything on one page, there’s not a lot of white space and that can definitely be improved upon; the site is mainly made up of visible language and it works great; though it’s not your typical site, it’s conventional enough that most wouldn’t have a problem navigating (it would, however, be easier if the put the navigation at the top rather than the bottom of the page for those that want to get straight to the content they’re looking for). In conclusion, I think it’s a great site with its visual appeal and simplicity. The main thing they should correct is their navigation placement.