Virgin Media Business looks to the Generation IP future - video

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Virgin Media Business has created a short film imagining the not-too-distant future, featuring advanced technology such as holographic touchscreens and 3D printers in people's homes.

The video is a result of a study conducted by Virgin with FutureLabs and a panel of experts into what gadgets and digital tools people could be using 13 years from now.

Virgin Media looks to the Generation IP future - video still


Taken from the viewpoint of an elderly father and his daughter, the film imagines a world where people never have to go to an office to work, but instead can collaborate and meet through technology.

Virgin Media's vision of 2025 imagines that entire workspaces will be conjured in the thin air via interactive surfaces, allowing the connected worker to hold virtual hologram meetings and conference calls.

Away from work, a personal avatar woud monitor your health and well-being, and doctors would be able to 3D print personalised medications at your home.

While this may all seem rather far-fetched, a number of futurologists, inventors and technology experts believe that it could be possible considering the way technology is moving today.

"We're giving Britain a picture of the future where barriers to innovation and change have been well and truly broken down and the way we work, rest and play has been revolutionised," said Mark Heraghty, managing director of Virgin Media Business.

"From homes that can monitor your health, energy consumption and whether you have enough milk in the fridge through to technology under the skin which will record and play back experiences so you can feel them again, the world in 2025 will be more empowering and connected than ever before. What's more, the infrastructure to enable the rapid transmission of that data will be vital but invisible."



In 2012, businesses already have the ability to use secure private networks to enable their workers to operate remotely from the office.

Generation Y is today at the forefront of a more "connected, agile and effective working world", but Virgin has said that they will be succeeded by Generation IP - the 'always-on generation.

Virgin believes that in the future we will enjoy "5G" self-organised networks and multi-antenna transmission arrays which will connect the UK's cities faster than ever.

Virgin Media estimates that this will result in the amount of data stored soaring to 100 zettabytes by 2025, equivalent to 36 billion years of HD video.

Araceli Camargo, the founder of Shoreditch-based innovation space THE CUBE, said that we are closer to some aspects of the technology imagined in the video than people may think.

"People are already striving to work closer together and pool resources to explore new frontiers in technology and services," Camargo said.

"This will be supercharged in the future and Generation IP workers will be drawing on huge collaboration, crowdsourcing information in real-time and, what's more, they'll be able to do this whenever and wherever they like.

"From virtual hologram meetings in your living room through to getting that killer statistic from the connected world around you while on the move."

Such a world in which every part of people's lives is connected to the wider world raises questions of privacy and intrusion, particularly as to who has access and control over the wealth of personal data being shared and stored.

However, Chris Sanderson, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, believes that people have "nothing to fear".

"Despite what seems today like a connectivity invasion, I truly believe that future generations have nothing to fear," he said.

"The wonder of the digital future into which we are all moving is that it is incredibly empowering. It gives every one of us the tools to create the lives we've always wanted to live, and allows businesses to engage with each consumer on a one-to-one basis."

Contributors to the study included Michael Bove, director of consumer electronics, MIT; Chris Sanderson, co-Founder of The Future Laboratory; Chris Yiu, Head of the Digital Government Unit, Policy Exchange; Ian Forrester, senior producer at BBC R&D; Richard Kitney, Professor of Biomedical Systems Engineering at Imperial College, London; John Qualter co-founder and director of media, BioDigital Systems; Anders Sandberg; Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University; and Mads Thimmer, founder, Innovation Lab, expert on intuitive technology futures.

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