Predicting Your Future for Real

Think of psychics in grubby, midtown Manhattan offices. Think of your aunt’s new love for Tarot cards. Think of your friend who’s always eager to share his prediction for your life, no matter how little of it he’s experienced.

Now in this third technological age of the microchip, and whatever this age of the app is called, prediction is at a new level of energy. With our digital devices synthesizing massive bodies of personal data and creating schedules, calendars, and to-do lists, it only seems the next step for a kind of prediction to be used.

Israeli design company Dor Tal envisions an app that interacts with a watch-like device to manage your day, predict what you will do, and offer suggestions on how to better structure your schedule.

Predictables is a combination wrist device, tabletop projector, and app that all display an interactive environment predicting your day and suggesting what you should do.

The displays project a user interface full of prospective events that you can manipulate via gesture recognition. The app uses an algorithm that records habits, calculates your activity, and recommends an action for you to take that will make you successful at the upcoming task.

If your girlfriend texts you a regret about her workload, Predictables could suggest for you to buy flowers and recommend a shop to go to. If you do want to reschedule a meeting, Predictables will make a judgment about your preparedness and suggest that you keep to your current schedule before adjusting it.

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS

While there are advantages to predictive applications and devices, is there a risk that we will be less attentive to our day? Especially in the context of human relationships, an app that predicts and recommends an emotional gesture for you to make implies that you may need help with empathy. Where can Predictables be really useful? In what context will it strengthen our awareness instead of replace it?

Photo Credit: Dor Tal