Day 29 — More cellphones that toilets
Making insurance more exciting — and fair
In the future, real-time data collection will enable insurance companies to charge pay-as-you-drive rates depending on people’s actual behavior on the road instead of generalized stereotypes of certain “at-risk” groups. Bad or high-risk individual drivers will end up paying more for insurance, regardless of whether they are men or women, young or old. The Big Brother connotations are ominous, but many people might agree to the real-time monitoring of their driving behavior if it means lower rates.
Training your brain to make you happier and healthier
VR can help children with autism build social skills in school so that they can learn more easily and effectively. By 2030, this type of technology- coupled with the experience accumulated by doctors and therapists over decades-might reduce the prevalence of psychological disorders by several orders of magnitude.
Arresting climate change with nanotechnologies
Nanotechnologies may help avert the climate tipping point of 2030 by improving energy efficiency. Higher-strength composites are already being used in all manner of goods, from aircraft and automobiles to skis and tennis racquets. They help reduce the amount of energy needed to do the job. The building industry will change as a result of the use of more durable materials and energy-saving, “Nanotechnology promises to make thermal insulation more efficient, less reliant on non-renewable resources,” and will be “an important strategy on the pathway to green buildings,” recent research indicates. “The application of nano insulation materials to limit the wall thickness is one of the greatest potential energy-saving characteristics for the existing buildings, as well as for the architectural heritage.”
2030 by Mauro.F.Guillen: 169–172
