Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Mind over matter

So, on one front, the ways in which we interface with technology continue to become less and less about typing, and more and more about things like gestures, voice, vision, and even thoughts.

On another front, 3D printers and nanotechnology are continuing to advance in the number of tasks that they can perform.

On a third front, various radio transmission and receiving technologies continue to get smaller and smaller.

So that got me to thinking: If I could control a swarm of nanobots with my thoughts (even with a few simple commands), and those nanobots could manipulate matter at the molecular level - constructing and deconstructing objects out of carbon nanotubes, for instance - I can see a world in which I could remodel my kitchen, just by thinking about it. Or, say a few extra people show up to dinner, I could transform the bed into extra chairs and extend the table by borrowing some matter from the living room sofa.

I'm sure I'm not the first to think this through, but at a certain point, if I can shift my surroundings at will, reality does in fact become virtual. Of course, if everyone in the house doesn't agree on the decorating choices, it could get messy.

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