Friendship as we conceive it is intensely being redefined by social networks. Love and sexuality are less talked about (might this be a proof that privacy still exists?) but our wired society will see some radical changes that will force a strong redefinition of ancestral norms. Here are 10 interesting predictions from ChangeWaves:

1. Location-based dating - GPS plus dating services plus mobile phones means love may be just around the corner. […]
2. The new infidelity - […] Is it cheating if you develop a crush on a really cute orc in World of Warcraft?
3. Together apart - For partners who really can’t stand separation, new systems will signal what one’s beloved is up to and what kind of mood he is in. […]
4. Virtual therapy - Virtual spaces will increasingly be used for therapeutic treatment of people with relationship and sexual issues. […]
5. Scientific pairings - Relationship matching systems such as those being used by some dating sites will go to the next level: a real, scientific compatibility test between potential mates […]
6. Remote intimacy - Telerobotics will enable couples to have moments of intimacy via robots they control from another city, or the far side of the planet.
7. Love potions - Science will illuminate the reality behind “chemistry,” and enable its manipulation. […]
8. Pleasure bots - Sex is an inevitable application of robotics. […]
9. Brain sex - […] A lot of sex occurs in the brain, and future neurodevices may make it possible to induce a variety of experiences at will.[…]
10. People will be people - Many people will ignore the previous nine developments and keep doing things just has we’ve done them for that last 100,000 years or so. With nearly 7 billion of us, and counting, the system seems to be working pretty well.

Link

Now to the scary part: most of these are not forecasts and already happening.

• Point 2: The new infidelity is nothing new! Billions of people (I am not pessimist, just realist ;) cheat in their thoughts, and virtual worlds are just a playground for them. They “materialize” this constant phenomena. This triggers the following question: are virtual worlds materializing thoughts, dreams, and more generally whatever happens inside our brains?
• Point 3: Kevin Warwick is already experimenting with this, check his LIFT speech.
• Point 4: In Geneva the hospital is using the Internet to stay in touch with patients with alimentary (and “shameful” because affecting physical appearance) troubles, and the parallel with sexual therapies is obvious.
• Point 5: That’s called 23andme and if you were at TED (unlike me, hint hint) you get a free test.
• Point 6: Teledildonics, already happening in a city near you.
• Point 7: GHB , Rohypno, Ketamine. The infamous date rape drugs.
• Point 10: well, it has been true for thousands of years, and hopefully it won’t change anytime soon :)

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 7:31 pm and is filed under real life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.