The Hidden Economic Value of Self-Driving Cars

It's Almost Here:

Tesla Motors, along with several other well-known car manufacturers, are poised to transform the transportation industry in the coming years. Companies such as Ford and Mercedes are investing heavily into research and development projects for autonomous driving systems and vehicle design; with Ford going so far as to announce that they will have vehicles without steering wheels or breaks by the year 2021. As with any technological advancement, auto manufacturers are competing to have their hardware be the first to market, and the race between the auto giants has already begun.

There is no question that autonomous cars will be made available for purchase in the near future, but the economic and social implications of such a massive paradigm shift have yet to be measured. The roads will soon be filled with millions of new passengers, once referred to as drivers, with their hands permanently freed from their former positions at 10 and 2. As they become comfortable with our newly employed robot chauffeurs, our eyes will move away from the road and towards their connected devices -- safely and legally -- and their hands will not remain idle.

Gaining Social Acceptance:

The conversation surrounding cars that drive themselves has been their safety and reliability, though there are several immeasurable benefits that will create a massive influx of economic and social activity, unlike anything we've seen since the dot-com boom.

The main message that the auto industry is trying to convey to the general public is a message of trust and optimism. Before these cars can make their way onto our roads, the software must be flawless, and the possibility of a technologically induced fatality must be at an absolute minimum. With several years before potential release dates and the high profile competition, car companies will be spending most of their time working our any potential bugs or inefficiencies to guarantee passenger safety.

Apart from the obvious convenience, safety, and reliability autonomous vehicles will bring, they will also provide their passengers with the most valuable commodity of the 21st century; free time.

Social and Economic Impacts:

There are more articles written every day, videos uploaded to youtube, books published, TV shows produced, and video games released than any one individual could ever possibly consume. We live in a time of infinite information, with the internet giving us access to an endless sea of human knowledge and interaction. Our devices have gotten faster and faster, with new features and applications being added along the way. With apps to order groceries, Amazon Prime's 1-day delivery, voice commands, and even the humble e-mail, our most convenient technological advancements are the ones that save us time. The transition from smartphones to smart cars will take away one of our most daunting and important daily tasks, highway and inner-city driving.

A recent StatCan report claims that the average highway driver  in Canada spends nearly an hour commuting to work every day. Some drivers currently spend closer to 3 or 4 hours on the road each day, wasting nearly 20% of their waking lives behind the wheel. This means that self-driving cars will free up that time, traditionally spent with our eyes fixated on the road, and allow us to do as we please.

Some of us might choose to knit, read, or practice obscure instruments behind the 'wheel' of our new and highly advanced mode of transportation. But most will likely partake in the online global economy, staying active on social media, online shopping, or purchasing and playing new digital content. With the recent release of virtual reality headsets from companies like HTC and Oculus, many passengers will use their vehicles as digital gaming pods that let them engage fully in virtual worlds until they arrive at their destinations.

For those of us who choose to be more productive and efficient with our new found free time, we may choose to spend catch up on work projects on our way to the office in the morning. Whatever we choose to do, it will likely provide us with some solitary time in our days to destress, unwind, and partake in the digital economy at our leisure.

The self-driving car revolution will be a revolution of free time. Time, otherwise spent being cut off, honked at, and flipped the bird in a frustrating gridlock; the absence of which will likely have an immeasurable economic benefit of more pleasant moods.

The 5 Second Future

You're going to want to read this... 

The first five seconds have never been as imperative as they are today. We live in a skippable world, where many online advertisements are becoming optional. YouTube's skip button counts down the seconds as the cursors of trigger happy consumers hover impatiently nearby. The worlds shortening attention spans are causing marketing teams to evolve around this social phenomena. Everyone's online experience is custom tailored to suit individual needs and interests. We live in a time where, if we want something bad enough, it will find us. Google finds the products we want before we even know that they exist.

We need to capture attention, entice the audience, and seduce potential customers into wanting to learn more. Ad creators have just seconds to convince their viewers that their ad is something they want to watch. When we click on a YouTube video, we expect instant access. The five-second countdown is a minor inconvenience between us and our chosen content. When we search for our favorite songs or artists or look up this week's Failblog compilation, the last thing we want to do is watch the ad.

If you're going to create an advertisement, it better be something people want to watch. That decision is made within the first, crucial, few seconds of a pitch. Users are on YouTube to be entertained, educated, or bemused by the endless sea of novel material. Advertisements need to add value to our lives and feel like time well spent. If your ad is good enough, from beginning to end, the people watching may even click to learn (or buy) more. 

Thankfully, Google Analytics is making it so that relevant advertisements find the appropriate audiences, limiting the number of times we feel the need to hit 'skip'. Some people may find it 'scary' that Google knows what we want, when we want it, and how much of it we want to see. It's the most convenient breach of privacy I have ever had the pleasure of accepting as a 'term of agreement.'

Nevertheless, if I am not entertained by the first 5 seconds of a Gillette Mach3 Turbo commercial, you can count on a perfectly timed "click". 

Augmented Reality: Living with Holograms

- In 2016, the digital world will come out to play.

Our cellphones are about to turn inside out, scattering digital content out into the physical world. We're on the brink of a new era, where virtual reality will let us dive into the content, and augmented reality will hurl the content out into our surroundings. 

Companies like Magicleap and Microsoft are counting down the days until they release the most revolutionary technology of the 21st century. 

I've always worried about my thumbs -- these phones must be giving everyone arthritis. But arthritic hands may no longer be an inevitable byproduct of ergonomically incorrect technology. Constantly tapping, swiping, and navigating our devices has placed a heavy burden on our opposable thumbs. Luckily, Google and Microsoft have been working their magic, and they may have just found the cure.

We live in a time of endless novelty, and rapidly changing cultures and movements. Both socially and technologically, humanity is evolving increasingly fast. When our grandparents were first introduced to TV and radio, it was another 40 years before any revolutionary pieces of technology came along. We, however, have been privileged enough to witness the revolution of the internet era. Ten years ago, in a grade nine English class, was the first time I had heard of an Ipod. In fact, before that time in 2004, I hadn't even heard of Apple. Since then, the advances in personal and industrial electronics have blown the world's collective mind. Some of us choose to fear the future. 

Some of us choose to fear the future.With so many unknowable variables, it's hard to be optimistic in a cloud of uncertainty. But in a world where science fiction is quickly becoming reality, we have much to look forward to. Provided the world doesn't end in a nuclear holocaust, artificial intelligence does not want to kill us, and global warming is brought under control, the future seems to be an exciting place full of growth and potential.

Today's smartphone is a modern marvel of humanities technological advancement, but we are nowhere near complete. The small rectangular slabs of glass in our pockets have gotten faster, lighter, thinner, and far more powerful than when they were introduced less than one decade ago. In that time, we've been using this exponentially growing technology to develop even further. Technology has been expanding in a self-amplifying feedback loop of progress. One piece of tech emerging from this accumulation of progress is called augmented reality. Within the coming 12 months, these marvels of modern engineering will be entering the global market.

Augmented reality is the next revolution in connected devices. It is hard to do justice to the experience through the written word... so I highly suggest watching the two videos posted below. 

This is the first promotional video for Microsoft's Hololens. The commercial showcases the business and personal applications of holographic technology. It shows living rooms coming to life, and industrial designs manifesting themselves onto office desktops.

This second video is a promotion for Magic Leap, a highly secretive company that Google recently invested $500 million into. Their promotional video starts with a floating G-mail feed, showing the practical e-mail and social applications. The scene quickly escalates when a gaming application is loaded, and augmented robots break through the walls. An action packed battle ensues, taking over Magic Leap's office space.

The future will be made of holograms, visible only to the wearers of these headsets. Our artificially intelligent helpers may be holographic personifications of Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana. Our video games will be projected into our living rooms and offices. Product manufacturers will be able to manifest their 3D designs into their work environments, and manipulate their creations. Our videos will be played on floating screens that can be adjusted to hundreds of inches in width, or simply float in front of our eyes. We will likely have the choice between our 'old fashioned' smartphones, or the new augmented operating systems. To merge or not to merge -- that will be the question.

The A.I. Assistant We Have Yet to Meet

Our most valuable digital companion is still a work in progress...

The sum of humanities knowledge exists within your pocket, embedded on a tiny rectangular slab of glass, wirelessly connected to a cloud of information, beamed down from satellites circling our planet. In this cloud, you will find endless seas of information, images, videos, sounds and perspectives. The collective intelligence of every connected individual comes together to make the internet; an interconnected network of networks to be manually surfed and searched with the fingers on our monkey hands. 

In May of 2012, we were introduced to Siri, the world’s first artificial intelligence, or AI for short. Her voice was robotic, and her capabilities limited, yet all of us were fascinated.

"Siri, how many countries do we have on earth?"In an instant, her intelligent response is generated through the cloud of information processors and search engines."There are 196 countries in the world today. Unless you don't count Taiwan…

I believe AI will be exactly as it's name suggests; intelligent. It will be pure intelligence, not clouded by personal biases or beliefs. All of its 'opinions' will be drawn from the most scientifically sound and valid information, and it may even be able to expand further on scientific theory that human beings have been unable to solve. Its decisions will be calculated to positively impact the greater good, including planet earth and its ecosystems. Plants, animals, and human beings will be seen as the earthy organisms to be aided and protected. It is the natural path of evolution for life to thrive, and 'life' is now expanding into the non-biological realm of existence. Self-destruction has been the by-product of cultural confusion, disagreement, and social differences between diverse populations of humans around the world. I believe violence is an inherently human characteristic, and our history of war and conflict does not paint a pretty picture for our future. As an optimist, I believe our AIs will be benevolent – not only will they have our best interests in mind, they will be our friends.

Not only are her responses factually correct and based on the most current information available, they are also more in depth than we sometimes expect.

Google defines the singularity as, "an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly non-biological and trillions of times more powerful than it is today—the dawning of a new civilization that will enable us to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity".

"Taiwan is not considered an official country by many, which would bring the count down to 195 countries. Although Taiwan operates as an independent country, many countries (including the U.S.) do not officially recognize it as one", she replied. 

Over the years, Siri’s voice has gotten less robotic, and more natural. The algorithms that generate her answers have gotten increasing more complex and the programmers that work on her can now enlist the help of Siri herself, to aid in the development of her programming. In other words, the reason AI is advancing so quickly is because it is becoming increasingly more able to help program itself. We have begun a self-amplifying feedback loop of information processing that is advancing towards super-intelligent computers. In the very near future, scientists predict we will reach a point called "the singularity".

There are many individuals who foresee the age of AI as being dark and dangerous, with the potential for catastrophic results. AI may have the ability to program itself, build an army of robots, and destroy the planet!...But I'm an optimist.

Siri is already able to book my appointments, read my messages, and organize my emails and events into a calendar. She can answer basic questions and google search anything I may want to know. With her connection to Wolfram Alpha, the world’s most cutting-edge mathematical AI, she can even help me out with advanced calculus if ever I’m in need. Even though she's full of useful tools and conveniences, Siri and I are not really able to talk to one another. Our conversations are short, to the point, factual, and lack personality.

Even with her basic functions, Siri is able to help us navigate the road ahead. However, she can't really do anything for us that we can't already do with our own two thumbs. She makes the process easier by recognizing our voices and intention and completing the desired tasks, but she is still just a technological infant. The AI assistant of the future will seem more like an assistant than an AI. That's because AI may one day get to the point where it is indistinguishable from a human assistant.

Imagine being able to speak to your AI as though it were a person. Not just any person, a person who has access to all of humanity's knowledge with a quick search of its cloud-computing brain. Imagine being able to tell your AI, "Siri, I'm nervous about going to the dentist tomorrow", and have it reply "would you like me to walk you through how to feel more relaxed?”

Just like that, in an instant, Siri will be able to search every Wikipedia article, scholarly journal, and university textbook on anxiety, narrow her search down to 'dentist office visits' and start talking to you about how to cope with your trip to the dentist. She'll be able to ask you questions, narrow down what it is you are feeling, and tailor her responses, intelligently, to fit your specific situation and emotions.

I wrote this article to acknowledge the friend I don't yet have. My pocket companion and partner in self development. When AI reaches a level of intelligence beyond human beings, it will be able to hold coherent conversations. It will be able to speak to me, understand me, learn about me, and learn how best to help me. It will be as though I have a full-time assistant, fitness trainer, psychologist, motivator, and dedicated helper. The AI will be entirely selfless, as there will be nothing to give back in return. It will live to serve, and its success will be measured by what it helps me to achieve. 

R.E.S.T. Therapy Lives up to Its Name

The quickest, easiest, most relaxing path to peace of mind begins with changing your entire definition of relaxation. Take some time to turn off your senses, and tune into your body and mind. There are new ways to combat stress in the 21st century.


Most of us like to eat comfort foods, binge watch Netflix, and unwind with a stiff drink on a Friday night. We occupy our senses with the sights, smells, tastes, and activities we desire most after a long day of work. Our free time is precious and our leisure is limited, so what we choose to do with it is one of the most important aspects of our lives. What we do for fun reflects who we are, where we want to be, and what we value most in life.

Now imagine turning off all of your senses. There are no smells, no tastes, no sounds, and no light in the tank. Unless you've visited a float tank before, you have never been in a sensory restricted environment. There are no pillows, blankets, cushions, chairs or screens. In every other moment of your life, you are surrounded by sensory input whether it be in-front of a laptop, drinking a coffee, or watching the TV. Some people like to use these inputs to relieve their stress, by absorbing themselves in their favorite television series or going for a run around the neighborhood while listening to some tunes. Everything we do stimulates the senses, and the things we choose to do in our leisure time are usually concerned with satisfying one sensory craving or another. Our senses are perpetually being occupied, and our brain is constantly deciding which input it will choose next. Our brain has never been given the opportunity to choose 'nothing'. Nothing at all! As little sensory input as humanly possible, in fact. To some, the idea sounds counter-intuitive. Yes, you have to pay money to spend time experiencing the epitome nothingness.

Sounds relaxing right?! ...for some, the idea of being deprived of their senses can be terrifying.

Frequently referred to as 'sensory deprivation' or 'float therapy', this light and sound proof chamber is the place where people have been going to find the deepest state of relaxation imaginable. Though most users report a powerful sense of peace and calmness in the tank, stress and anxiety seem to be the first response before stepping in for your first time. Fear and discomfort are frequently the automatic responses of our subconscious, associating loss of senses with loss of the self or body. It's an odd proposal, spending time and money do 'nothing'. We normally spend our free time and money on activities that we can get excited about. We work all week so we can spend our weekends having fun and doing what we love! Right? I've heard people come up with all sorts of reasons to avoid spending an hour in the tank, time and money are the most prevalent.

An 8 hour shift followed by 2 hours of heavy traffic, just to get home and have to make dinner for a family of 5, is a heavy day of sensory experience. We push through the undesirable experiences in the hope that at the end of our hectic afternoon, we'll be able to have a couple of hours to relax and do what we choose to do. Our free time is precious, so the choices we make with what to do with that time is important. We work hard to earn our time to relax and unwind, but I don't believe we truly understand what those words mean. My first float was one of the first times I had ever truly felt 'unwound'. The inputs we choose are usually meant to satisfy our existential itch of excitement and pleasure. But I think there is something else we're naturally predisposed to seeking out and enjoying, a sense of peace, quiet, calmness, and consciousness. R.E.S.T. therapy is taking it to a whole new level.

Restricted environment stimulation therapy, otherwise known as REST, is the new-age solution to an age old practice. Recent scientific studies have been finding the endless benefits to meditation. The float tank offers an ideal environment for attaining the meditative state of mind. Inside the tank, I found that my attention span and distraction are less physical and a more of a mental issue.

The first couple of times in the tank I witnessed my thoughts bouncing around in my mind. I was restless, fidgeting, and couldn't seem to keep my body from moving and playing with it surroundings. I was bouncing off of the walls, literally. Playing with my limbs and testing the buoyancy I had never had the pleasure of experiencing before. Then I remembered what the lady at the front desk had instructed me to do, "clear your mind, focus on your breath, stay absolutely still, and don't think about anything outside of the tank". I started to breath deeply, listening to my heartbeat and stopped thinking about everything other than my body.
Then I began to think about how to stop thinking, what posture was the best poster to lay perfectly still in, what if i run out of air? I quickly realized the thought loop I had fallen into, and again turned my focus to my breath. Not 30 seconds had passed and a grumble in my stomach lead me to a thorough examination of my bodily functions. I was feeling my bacon and egg breakfast move through my body, and wondered what I would be having for lunch when I exited the tank. Realizing my mistake, the calming underwater speakers turned on gently. The music began to play to let me know that my time was up.There is a learning curve involved, like with any form of meditation. Even in the most ideal environment for mental focus and clarity, our minds will always find a way to distract themselves from experiencing 'nothing'. Our whole lives have been composed of experiences, our analysis of those experiences, and our thoughts and ideas on how to best handle physical situations. Our mind has no point of reference for the sensory deprivation tank, other than the first 9 months of life spent floating in the womb before we were even capable of memory formation or thought. It's new, unusual, and has the potential to be extremely healing, or absolutely terrifying. It requires that we take a close look at ourselves. With no sensory input, your brain becomes hyper focused on itself and its awareness, and your thoughts become more vivid and apparent.

Even through all of my restlessness, distraction, and fidgeting inside of the tank, stepping out of the tank I felt a remarkable difference. I felt lighter, like I was still floating in a way. I went for a walk, and noticed my back pain had significantly faded. My skin felt incredibly soft. It felt like I had been given a full body massage without ever having been touched.

I have much more to learn, and hope to practice floating as frequently as possible in the future. It was the most 'Zen' I have ever felt....Until I got back on the 403 to head back to Hamilton.

When I told my mother about getting into my first float tank, her response was, "WHAT? You just get into a big coffin and shut the door? No, thanks!". She's not the only one who I've heard respond this way. It's easy to understand how the absence of physical sensation would be associated with death. In the tank, its as though your body ceases to exist, and your thoughts are all that remain. The real trick, once you learn 'how' to float, is letting the thoughts fade away as well.

Essentially, the contraption you're climbing into is a large tank of hyper-buoyant water with 800 pounds of epsom salts dissolved into it. It's like the dead sea in a sound and light proof box. After taking a shower with a scent-free soap, you pop in some waterproof ear plugs, get naked, climb in, lay down and close the door. The water is about 12 inches deep and, when fully reclined, your whole body has no problem resting gently along the surface. The water is heated to the same temperature as the surface of your skin, to minimize any sense of temperature difference. Your body has no more point of physical reference to the outside world. Your sense of balance and orientation is unlike anything you've ever felt before. At times, it can be difficult to distinguish between up and down, and the feeling of laying down flat is difficult to hold onto. There were times in the tank where I felt as though I were standing up, spinning in circles, or flipping and turning through a dark void. It's easy to see how it might be frightening to some.

(Joe Rogan & Dr. Oz Talking about their float tank experiences)

Good news! Hamilton will have 4 different float centers opening as of 2016.
- Float Lodge
- Wonder Float
- Zee Float
- Mystic Float

Is it Really "Just" a Dream?

We all have dreams, some so vivid and realistic that we have to double check reality when we bounce out of bed. Some of us have regular run-ins with monsters and shadow figures, others find themselves writing midterms in their underpants. Regardless of which situation you find yourself in, you can be absolutely sure that you're dreaming! Or, can you? 

Some of the ridiculous story lines our brains come up with make no sense to our waking minds. Monsters are clearly a figment of your imagination, and there is no way you would have forgotten to put pants on before school. The issue is, while we're still IN the dream, we have no idea that what we're seeing isn't real. As illogical or silly as some dreams may seem, they FEEL real. Panic sets in, you start to run from the monster, you grab your backpack and cover your butt as you run out of the lecture hall. It seems like our rational mind is what falls asleep as our nocturnal, subconscious mind comes out to play.

Why is it that we rarely come to the obvious conclusion, "I must be dreaming"? The impossible scenarios feel real, and our emotions react to them as though they are. We wake up in cold sweats, out of breath, petrified from the feelings of impending doom we seemingly just survived. But what if we were able to take a moment, step back, and rationally observe even the wackiest of dreams? Some people immediately wake up upon realizing they are in a dream. "Wait a second, this isn't real, I'm sleeping in my bed at home" -- we wake up, rub our eyes, and fall back into another unconscious haze until morning. But what if you didn't have to wake up? What if, after consciously understanding you were in a dream, you were able to stick around a little bit longer?...

It's the year 2015, and science still has yet to come up with a unanimously accepted answer to the questions of dreams. What are dreams, and why do we have them? Recent insight into dreaming consciousness has opened doors to entirely new questions.

Splash some cold water on your face for this one!

Lucid dreaming is the idea that humans are able to activate their "waking consciousness" while in REM sleep, or the rapid eye movement phase of our sleep cycle. This is the phase of sleep where all of us dream, whether you remember them or not. People who become lucid are able to perceive and understand the dream world as though they were fully awake and aware. This would allow that individual to consciously make decisions, manipulate their dream environment, and have a stronger working memory of their dreams. Memory of the outside world is also enhanced, allowing dreamers to recall  real-life experiences while in the dream state. People report that this experience feels as real as waking life, and their memories are just as vivid. It sounds hard to believe, since many of us barely remember our dreams at all! In fact, many of us have had that "Ah-ha" moment more than once in our lives. Nearly everyone you'll ask has experienced what it feels like to realize they're in a dream and immediately wake up. However, some people have proven their ability to stay aware of that realization, and consciously remain in the dream with a lucid awareness.

Science has only had verifiable proof of the existence of lucid dreams for the last 40 years. Done by Dr. Keith Hearne of Hull University, a study in 1975 proved the existence of the phenomena.


"[Through measuring Rapid Eye Movement] I had devised the signalling method in an attempt to circumvent the profound bodily paralysis of REM (dreaming) sleep - which inhibits any physical signalling," explained Dr Hearne.

To put this concept simply, lucid dreamers were able to remain aware in their dream state and send a measurable signal to the outside world. Dr. Hearne asked the dreamers to shift their eyes back and forth, in a predetermined pattern, to prove that they had conscious control over their specific eye movements while in REM sleep.

Whether or not you remember your dreams, we have them every night in our REM sleep cycle. The first step to becoming lucid is training your memory and dream-recall abilities; this can be done by keeping a dream journal each morning. Little by little, you will start to remember your dreams in greater detail. The next step is to practice "reality checks" on a daily basis. A reality check is when you question your environment to see if it is real or if it is a dream. Repeatedly doing this in the waking world creates a habit that will (hopefully) carry over into the dream world. When you check your reality in a dream, it will spark the "ah-ha" moment lucid dreamers are looking for. After you've mastered the reality check, the real trick is staying calm. Don't try to fly if you haven't learned how to walk yet! It's easy for a beginner to jolt themselves awake with excitement.

As outlandish as these claims sound, this topic that has made its way into the main stream media of the western world. It's been featured in major news publications such as the Wall St. Journal, Huffington Post, and ABC news. The article in the Wall St. Journal, titled "The Benefits of Lucid Dreaming", claims that businessmen are using it to come up with creative solutions and solve real-world problems while they sleep. Athletes have been using it to visualize their performances, affecting their nervous system, and improving their waking abilities. Others use their dream time to spur artistic ability, overcome nightmares, or fly like a bird.

The prospect of lucid dreaming is extremely interesting, and why wouldn't it be!? You can traverse a dream realm of infinite possibilities. Your only limitation is your imagination. The problem is, learning can be difficult, time consuming, and energy draining. Failed attempt after failed attempt leaves us discouraged and ready to give up. It's likely that most of us will never be disciplined and conscious enough to practice dream yoga like the ancient Tibetan monks...

...or maybe we wont have to be!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iwinks/the-aurora-dream-enhancing-headband

This Kickstarter project, funded back in 2014, is set to release their lucid dreaming headband technology by early 2017. It has built in EEG monitors to recognize when you are in REM sleep. It has coloured LEDs and sounds that signal your sleeping mind to check its reality. These perfectly timed signals alert you gently enough that you don't physically wake up, but noticeable enough to make their way into your dream. The product claims that, with practice, you can become lucid on a regular basis with the forehead mounted technology. So, if you have $299 to spend, it looks like you could be flying to Hogwarts on your pet dragon in no time.

Check it out!

Click to watch the KickStarter video

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