It does not seem so ridiculous anymore to believe you could open a science fiction book today and look for innovative business ideas to pursue.

That is the conclusion I have drawn upon beginning to read this amazing new book “Infinite Possibility” by Joseph Pine and Kim C. Korn.  The book touches on where we are in the current world of technology, and how it relates to every day experiences, interfacing with our fellow human beings, and how wonderful entrpreneurs and companies are harnessing these technologies to create new experiences.

I would say the key is experiences. Since the dawn of man, we have moved from foraging and hunting, to agriculture, to manufacturing, to servicing, and now experiencing.  The latter 3 have come about only within the past 200 years.  Think about this – the ever-evolving usage of the internet, websites that come out every day including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. and the technology we used to manipulate them (tablets, mobile phones) – do they really lend any utility to our survival as humans?  They only add value to the experience that is our percieved reality.

The book works through various dimensions in which technology is being utilized to enhance real life, or the inverse, where real life is a backdrop to enhance technology.  This is the introduction of what the authors have coined “The Multiverse”.  For instance, what we know and have always known, is time, space, and matter;  however, in the multiverse, the inverse of each of these dimensions is examined in how technology is allowing them to occur in our current reality.

Woah.  Here’s an example:

Reality – time/space/matter – We can touch the ground, hear the birds, as we walk across a park, and these sensory experiences are happening in real time, over the course of a few minutes, and we can never have those moments back.

Virtual Reality – no time/no space/no matter – This is playing multiplayer online video games, surfing the world wide web, even reading a book.  We can (essentially) hit the back button in our browser, enjoy interesting content, re-read a book or webpage, listen to music, order goods to be delivered, and explore interesting virtual worlds that do not necessarily affect our reality.

Augmented Reality – time/space/no matter – This is where digital instances are layed out on top our existing world, simultaneously experiencing reality while being enhanced by technology.  This includes, the most obvious example, a GPS navgation system.

These examples go on and on, and become increasingly more abstract.  There are 8 in total.  In a later post, I will outline the book as it is very logically laid out, along with examples of current technology as well as concepts for future innovation.

The future seems to hold some type of marriage of ones and zeros and nature, as if we were to wake up one day and the idea that a tree operated seperately from a computer, would be completely absurd; as it would be so wrong for us to not walk down the street and know every bit of data about everyone and everything we see, hear, smell, touch, and with whom we’re speaking.

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” – John Muir