Unit 1: Activity 2: Vision of what ICT would be like in the future (i.e. 20 to 30 years from now)

Information and communications technology (ICT) refers to all the technology used to handle telecommunications, broadcast media, intelligent building management system, audio-visual processing and transmission systems, and network-based control and monitoring functions Although ICT is often considered an extended synonym for information technology (IT), its scope is more broad ICT has more recently been used to describe the convergence of several technologies and the use of common transmission lines carrying very diverse data and communications types and formats. For a further 20-30 years there will be a haptic technology. Haptic technology is a feedback technology (using computer applications) that takes advantage of the user’s sense of touch by applying force, vibrations and/or motions to the User. Simple haptic is used in game controllers, joysticks and steering wheels and is becoming more common in Smartphones. Haptic is gaining widespread acceptance as a key part of virtual reality systems (i.e. computer simulated environments) - adding the sense of touch to previously visual-only solutions. It is also used in virtual arts, such as sound synthesis, graphic design and animation. There are many possibilities for Haptic to be applied to gaming, movies, manufacturing, medical, and other industries. Imagine your doctor operating on you in Cairns from his computer in Brisbane or ‘feeling’ the texture of clothing for sale on the internet or interacting with a hologram. Haptic technology has the potential to create new industries in the future.