A Day In The Future
Bruce awoke to the sound of his alarm blaring. He rubbed his eyes and got out of bed. Bruce walked slowly to the bathroom, still not completely awake. He started his morning as usual, brushing his teeth, taking a shower, and getting ready to go to work. He went downstairs where two slices of bread were already being toasted and a cup of coffee was being brewed, as programmed to happen every morning. Bruce quickly buttered and ate the toast and took the coffee along with him to drink on the way. Bruce stepped outside his house and pressed a button to open his garage. The door opened, and his car glided out. It stopped in front of Bruce, hovering in the air. Bruce stepped inside and closed the car door. A screen slid out of a compartment in the car, and a hologram of a man came out of the screen.
"Hello Bruce. Are we going to work?" the man asked.
"Yes, and would you please turn on the radio." Bruce leaned back, listening to the music coming out of the speakers of the car. The man went back into the screen and the car began going upwards. Bruce looked out the window and waved to his neighbor whose car happened to be right next to him, going to work as well. Now that the road consisted of the entire sky, traffic constantly moved at a fast pace and jams were nonexistent. Hundreds of cars whizzed by around Bruce's, but the sky ahead was as clear as usual. Bruce finished off the rest of his coffee and closed his eyes, waiting for the car to reach his office. Finally the car came to a halt, Bruce opened his eyes and the man came back out of the screen again.
"We have arrived Bruce, have a good day at work."
"Thank you" Bruce said as he stepped out of the car. He watched the car fly away to the parking lot and settle into a space. He faced the large building where he worked, seeing the building looming over him still gave him the same jolt of excitement as it did when he started the job. Bruce loved his job, his profession worked him to the edge of his mental abilities, but he would not trade the job for any other. Bruce worked for IronicA, a large company that specializes in creating high-tech, extremely intelligent cell phones. Bruce worked with many other engineers who, everyday, worked to create the next model that would be a step up from the one currently on the market. IronicA revolutionized the cell phone market by making the phones thinner, transparent, and by adding many features, such as making them as light as a credit card and with a user-friendly holographic video chat where you see a hologram of the person you are talking to, similar to the one in Bruce's car. Another feature is that you can connect to all the major banks and supermarkets, and you can order what you need from a hologram and pick it up without even getting out of your car.
He stepped into the building, taking a deep breath, "Breathing in the innovation" as he liked to say. Bruce walked over to his desk and went over the schedule that was flashing on his desk. He only had a couple of hours to come up with ideas for IronicA's next release of their enhanced phone until he would go meet with the other engineers to talk about each other's ideas.
Bruce stayed at his desk the whole time, avidly leaning over a drawing board. He could have used the new drawing application, but Bruce found that some things are easier done by hand. He thought of ideas, then drew them out, how they would look as hardware. He had to spell out how hard it would be to program these ideas and using that analysis, he would decide whether the idea was good enough to share later that day. Today was one of his worse days, for some reason Bruce could not come up with anything. He looked to his right, and could see through the transparent walls into the next room. He saw his colleague giving a presentation, and in it, he was drawing an image which was being projected. Then, it struck him, an idea. Why was it necessary to draw on your device, why couldn't you just draw straight into the projection? He thought of a program that would turn your smartphone into less of a phone and more of a projector. The phone would project whatever is on its screen up into the air. From there, the user would be able to "touch" the projection and handle the phone through the projection. The idea would be perfect, consumers would love it. Bruce kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner. Phones already had a projector, so it was just a matter of measuring changes in the air and corresponding them with areas on the phone. Bruce checked the time, he could not wait to share the idea. There were only a few minutes left until the meeting, so Bruce gathered his notes and headed to the conference room.
Soon enough, the other twenty senior engineers walked in as well. Bruce had created the least amount of ideas that day, but he had confidence that his idea would make it into the final product. He was sure that it would not be discarded as most of the other ideas usually were.
After hours of debating with the other engineers and finalizing a handful of ideas, it was finally time to leave. Bruce was ecstatic as he left the conference room. The other engineers had stared in amazement when he told them of his idea. At the end of the meeting, they commended him on creating a concept that would revolutionize the cell phone industry. Bruce stepped outside, ready to go home. He looked up in the sky and saw cars whizzing by above his head as the light turned green. Bruce pressed a button on his phone and immediately saw his sleek, silver car gliding towards him. It stopped in front of him and the door opened upwards. Bruce stepped inside, the day's tension leaving his shoulders as he was looking forward to a relaxing evening at home.
The man reappeared from his screen once again. "Hello Bruce. Would you like to set coordinates for home?" the man asked.
"Yes, please." Bruce replied, "But first let's make a stop at the bank and grocery store.". He watched the man nod his head and disappear back into the screen. The car then lifted from the ground and began moving up. Once it was a good distance above the ground, it flew over to the nearest stop sign and waited a second before soaring onto the main skyway. Bruce put his hands behind his head and watched the car make the familiar turns that led to the supermarket. He took out his phone and called the bank. A hologram popped up and Bruce asked it to withdraw $50 from his account to pick up dinner form the nearby Wireless FoodParc's Vending Machine. The machine gave a fresh dinner, which was comparable to one made at home. Bruce then called the supermarket, where he talked to another hologram, telling it that he needed a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread for tomorrow's breakfast. Just the fact that he made the call paid for the order, as Bruce's phone acted as a credit card. The car took him to the bank, where it stopped at a drive-thru and Bruce picked up his money. From there, the car took him to the supermarket where it stopped at yet another drive-thru and Bruce picked up his groceries. Then, the car automatically took off for Bruce's house after Bruce picked up his dinner from the vending machine. He leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and waited. All he wanted was to get home, relax in his living room, and forget about the day's worries. After a while, the car began its decline back to the ground. The car descended until it was hovering in front of Bruce's garage, which was opened after Bruce got out of the car and allowed his house to scan his eyes to verify it was him. Bruce walked into his house as his car floated into the garage, which closed behind the vehicle. Soft, comforting music greeted Bruce as he grabbed a bottle of water from his fridge. He plopped down onto his sofa and turned on the news while eating his well-cooked dinner from the Wireless FoodParc.
The newscaster appeared on the screen. "After sending the first astronauts to Mars, they came back with pieces of the ice that were seen on the planet by the Mars Rover. After considerable testing was done on the ice, it has been confirmed that the ice is indeed frozen water. Not just frozen water, though, it is also drinkable water. Plans are now being made to set up our first colony on Mars. Top scientists from around the world have been discussing ways to set up a reliable atmosphere.". The image then switched over to a picture of the ice.
"What a remarkable advancement." Bruce said to himself, shaking his head in amazement. It seemed as if it was only yesterday that his grandparents were telling him the story of how crazy America went when Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon. Bruce rubbed his eyes and yawned, it was getting late. He got up, stretched, and shuffled across his living room towards the stairs. He got onto the first step and pressed a button, bringing the stairs to life. They worked similar to an escalator but quite a bit faster. He whizzed up the stairs and stepped onto the second floor. Bruce changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. His brain, recognizing this last ritual of the day, automatically prepared him for sleep. Bruce stumbled over to his bedroom where a soft, comforting melody was playing. He climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.
"Hello Bruce. Are we going to work?" the man asked.
"Yes, and would you please turn on the radio." Bruce leaned back, listening to the music coming out of the speakers of the car. The man went back into the screen and the car began going upwards. Bruce looked out the window and waved to his neighbor whose car happened to be right next to him, going to work as well. Now that the road consisted of the entire sky, traffic constantly moved at a fast pace and jams were nonexistent. Hundreds of cars whizzed by around Bruce's, but the sky ahead was as clear as usual. Bruce finished off the rest of his coffee and closed his eyes, waiting for the car to reach his office. Finally the car came to a halt, Bruce opened his eyes and the man came back out of the screen again.
"We have arrived Bruce, have a good day at work."
"Thank you" Bruce said as he stepped out of the car. He watched the car fly away to the parking lot and settle into a space. He faced the large building where he worked, seeing the building looming over him still gave him the same jolt of excitement as it did when he started the job. Bruce loved his job, his profession worked him to the edge of his mental abilities, but he would not trade the job for any other. Bruce worked for IronicA, a large company that specializes in creating high-tech, extremely intelligent cell phones. Bruce worked with many other engineers who, everyday, worked to create the next model that would be a step up from the one currently on the market. IronicA revolutionized the cell phone market by making the phones thinner, transparent, and by adding many features, such as making them as light as a credit card and with a user-friendly holographic video chat where you see a hologram of the person you are talking to, similar to the one in Bruce's car. Another feature is that you can connect to all the major banks and supermarkets, and you can order what you need from a hologram and pick it up without even getting out of your car.
He stepped into the building, taking a deep breath, "Breathing in the innovation" as he liked to say. Bruce walked over to his desk and went over the schedule that was flashing on his desk. He only had a couple of hours to come up with ideas for IronicA's next release of their enhanced phone until he would go meet with the other engineers to talk about each other's ideas.
Bruce stayed at his desk the whole time, avidly leaning over a drawing board. He could have used the new drawing application, but Bruce found that some things are easier done by hand. He thought of ideas, then drew them out, how they would look as hardware. He had to spell out how hard it would be to program these ideas and using that analysis, he would decide whether the idea was good enough to share later that day. Today was one of his worse days, for some reason Bruce could not come up with anything. He looked to his right, and could see through the transparent walls into the next room. He saw his colleague giving a presentation, and in it, he was drawing an image which was being projected. Then, it struck him, an idea. Why was it necessary to draw on your device, why couldn't you just draw straight into the projection? He thought of a program that would turn your smartphone into less of a phone and more of a projector. The phone would project whatever is on its screen up into the air. From there, the user would be able to "touch" the projection and handle the phone through the projection. The idea would be perfect, consumers would love it. Bruce kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner. Phones already had a projector, so it was just a matter of measuring changes in the air and corresponding them with areas on the phone. Bruce checked the time, he could not wait to share the idea. There were only a few minutes left until the meeting, so Bruce gathered his notes and headed to the conference room.
Soon enough, the other twenty senior engineers walked in as well. Bruce had created the least amount of ideas that day, but he had confidence that his idea would make it into the final product. He was sure that it would not be discarded as most of the other ideas usually were.
After hours of debating with the other engineers and finalizing a handful of ideas, it was finally time to leave. Bruce was ecstatic as he left the conference room. The other engineers had stared in amazement when he told them of his idea. At the end of the meeting, they commended him on creating a concept that would revolutionize the cell phone industry. Bruce stepped outside, ready to go home. He looked up in the sky and saw cars whizzing by above his head as the light turned green. Bruce pressed a button on his phone and immediately saw his sleek, silver car gliding towards him. It stopped in front of him and the door opened upwards. Bruce stepped inside, the day's tension leaving his shoulders as he was looking forward to a relaxing evening at home.
The man reappeared from his screen once again. "Hello Bruce. Would you like to set coordinates for home?" the man asked.
"Yes, please." Bruce replied, "But first let's make a stop at the bank and grocery store.". He watched the man nod his head and disappear back into the screen. The car then lifted from the ground and began moving up. Once it was a good distance above the ground, it flew over to the nearest stop sign and waited a second before soaring onto the main skyway. Bruce put his hands behind his head and watched the car make the familiar turns that led to the supermarket. He took out his phone and called the bank. A hologram popped up and Bruce asked it to withdraw $50 from his account to pick up dinner form the nearby Wireless FoodParc's Vending Machine. The machine gave a fresh dinner, which was comparable to one made at home. Bruce then called the supermarket, where he talked to another hologram, telling it that he needed a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread for tomorrow's breakfast. Just the fact that he made the call paid for the order, as Bruce's phone acted as a credit card. The car took him to the bank, where it stopped at a drive-thru and Bruce picked up his money. From there, the car took him to the supermarket where it stopped at yet another drive-thru and Bruce picked up his groceries. Then, the car automatically took off for Bruce's house after Bruce picked up his dinner from the vending machine. He leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and waited. All he wanted was to get home, relax in his living room, and forget about the day's worries. After a while, the car began its decline back to the ground. The car descended until it was hovering in front of Bruce's garage, which was opened after Bruce got out of the car and allowed his house to scan his eyes to verify it was him. Bruce walked into his house as his car floated into the garage, which closed behind the vehicle. Soft, comforting music greeted Bruce as he grabbed a bottle of water from his fridge. He plopped down onto his sofa and turned on the news while eating his well-cooked dinner from the Wireless FoodParc.
The newscaster appeared on the screen. "After sending the first astronauts to Mars, they came back with pieces of the ice that were seen on the planet by the Mars Rover. After considerable testing was done on the ice, it has been confirmed that the ice is indeed frozen water. Not just frozen water, though, it is also drinkable water. Plans are now being made to set up our first colony on Mars. Top scientists from around the world have been discussing ways to set up a reliable atmosphere.". The image then switched over to a picture of the ice.
"What a remarkable advancement." Bruce said to himself, shaking his head in amazement. It seemed as if it was only yesterday that his grandparents were telling him the story of how crazy America went when Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon. Bruce rubbed his eyes and yawned, it was getting late. He got up, stretched, and shuffled across his living room towards the stairs. He got onto the first step and pressed a button, bringing the stairs to life. They worked similar to an escalator but quite a bit faster. He whizzed up the stairs and stepped onto the second floor. Bruce changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. His brain, recognizing this last ritual of the day, automatically prepared him for sleep. Bruce stumbled over to his bedroom where a soft, comforting melody was playing. He climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.