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Why Urban Technology Will Be The Impetus For Creating A Connected World

Forbes Technology Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Gideon Kimbrell

Technology has never been more integrated into daily lives, and the best example of this is our cities. At my Miami-based tech companies, I’ve seen firsthand how the internet enables exciting enhancements in urban areas around the globe.

As such, I was surprised to read a BBC piece on the future of urban tech echoing the old worry about robotic takeovers and human obsolescence. I knew something was wrong based on the title: “Tomorrow’s cities - nightmare vision of the future?” But I was particularly dismayed to read University College London professor Andrew Hudson-Smith, an expert on the internet of things and smart cities, stating, “The city will be one big, joined-up urban machine, and humans’ role on Earth will be done.”

I strongly disagree: Our role on Earth should not be maintaining cities. We’re meant for something nobler. Offloading urban management to technology will let humanity focus on inspirational goals like social change, space travel, disease prevention and spirituality. In fact, it’s already underway -- and making our lives better.

Urban Management: A Natural Fit For Technology

One issue is environmental regulation. As I’m well aware of based on InList’s booking reservations at worldwide events, busy urbanites rarely stop to consider how much automated city management runs behind the scenes. But it does, providing a better milieu for working and playing -- even stargazing.

For example, technology like automatic street light dimming in Reykjavík, Iceland, can preserve the natural wonder of the northern lights and night skies. Of course, each city will have its own requirements (Reykjavík is not Houston), and that will be coded into the tech, including other areas like flood prevention, air quality reporting and advising, and power grid management.

Environmental management dovetails with supporting safety, either over longer time periods, such as reducing air or water pollution to reduce disease, or shorter time scales, such as preventing crime on any given night in a major metropolis.

Crime is particularly open to internet solutions: Web-based Crime Stoppers programs and real-time crime mapping via sensors can inform better policing and allocation of resources as well as increase citizen caution through automated broadcast alerts. As someone in the urban nightlife business, I keep an eye on these trends to support client security, creating a better overall experience for event attendees.

Of course, underlying all of this is network technology, and citywide Wi-Fi will be an important advancement in this urban future. But it’s not a trivial problem to solve.

I witnessed this issue during a period when one of my companies developed systems for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, learning of its challenges with planned citywide Wi-Fi. It would be immensely beneficial, but wiring proved difficult for a coastal city partly below sea level. Major issues derailed the $5 million project that only featured select Wi-Fi zones -- not the 95% coverage promised by IBM. But as advancements in wireless technology continue, I expect the city to restart this project when it’s no longer reliant upon hardwired connections between access points.

But municipal funding need not be the only means to citywide Wi-Fi: Google and other companies have visions for providing it and may underwrite it through ads or tracking users’ activity and selling that data.

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New Fun In The Digital City

Once the basics of environment, safety and connectivity are robust, the real fun begins. Far from being a science fiction nightmare, a high-tech city is the perfect human playground. I love cities and engaging with art and culture, so the two areas that could potentially benefit that I find most exciting are tourism and urban cultural events. Developments in these areas are just as compelling.

In particular, expect that augmented reality and virtual reality will continue carving out a larger role in entertainment, nightlife and the arts. Museums and tours will use AR to enhance city newcomers’ exploration of cultural offerings. Tour guides will be optional; instead, one can pop on AR and get a personalized tour, with details overlaid on the city feature in view.

Performances will leverage VR-based special effects for new theatrical experiences, such as the live motion-capture technology that the Royal Shakespeare Company is working with Intel to develop, allowing virtual characters to “exist” right in the theater.

For many of us, most cities are too distant to easily visit, but VR is allowing us to enjoy cities from afar. International art can be experienced from home using VR, and music fans can livestream music festivals rather than pay thousands to attend in another country.

What's more, these remote experiences will soon become more immersive. Five years ago, webcam broadcasts used unmoving single cameras, but now feeds include multiple dynamic angles provided by drones. Companies are getting the point. TheWaveVR, a platform for just this kind of virtual broadcasting for music fans, has already received $4 million in funding.

It’s impossible to predict exactly how technology will shape the urban future. But far from people becoming obsolete or disenfranchised by city-focused technology, humankind is entering an exciting era in which urban technology will support the full flowering of our creativity, exploratory drive and community spirit.