by: Macy L. Tagaduar & Era Mae B. Suarez

Before taking a leap to the future, the long line of history on the advancement of communication and media paved the way to the existence of today’s system. Gone are the days of the clickety- clack of typewriters, snail mails, rotary-dial phones, and the beeping pagers. We bid goodbye to the first computers, black and white televisions, and antique radios that are now collected for vintage collections. People have been provided with a lot of options to make life convenient.

Human voice is the first means of communication (Tim Lambert, 2019). Yet turning the clock back to the earlier years of human life, cavemen inscribe accounts of their activities in cave walls. They adapted the use of signal systems such as smoke, instrument sounds, and flags to point out messages. Later, writing systems and the use of pigeons to transmit letters took place. All these emerged however the advancement continued.

The constant progression brought bezel-less touch phones, instant messaging and electronic mail, and smart language translation. Communicating became easier as a child learning his first ABCs. For just hitting that send button, poof, the receiver gets the message in no time.

Setting those aside, we wonder how it would be like 50 years in the future. The possibility of having hologram- like screens that are allowed for daily human use which just pop-up anytime and anywhere is positively probable. Holograms already exist yet not introduced to the commercial market because of the danger it could bring to human skin contact (Gorey, 2015). In addition, gizmos equipped with advanced human intelligence that can converse with humans could be the next version of Google. Also, sending thoughts directly to someone’s brain by a series of neural alteration might be possible. Scientists have even already started developing the neural- control interface which allows a person’s brain to give inputs to a computer and create an artificial output through the use of the recorded brain activity (Abhang et al., 2016). It may seem too futuristic but still, nothing’s impossible.

Communication and media are always interrelated. One day, all these predictions will be part of the long archive of evolution’s history. This proves that humans’ desire in seeking improvement does not end in a blink. Communication will continue to prosper and help humans strive for life. With media and technology’s aid, human interaction will be more efficient than we ever thought.

References:

Abhang P.,Mehrotra S. et.al. (2016). Introduction to EEG- and Speech-Based Emotion Recognition. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/brain-computer-interface?fbclid= IwAR1qPzIgULYBcp8XciC d2a7lPVir903Zkgfvs D7Wz2Vp7pvnQJ_ VcchTPJk

Gorey C. (July 2, 2015). A touchable, morphing 3D hologram has been invented in Japan. Retrieved from https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/a-touchable-morphing-3d-hologram-was-invented-in-japan?fbclid=IwAR3w0dcEW6NnqlNiF5UIEF1gzOISU1l11_mtth2z1-D0aaTXBIyEKjL1q6c

Kaul V. (April 22, 2012). The Changing World of Media and Communication. Retrieved from https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-changing-world-of-media-and-communication-2165-7912.1000116.php?aid=6473&fbclid=IwAR0Y6LZyzydkF7avYrPPxF9YnUYkWGT17Y-likXVNiTfbyP9Z4FuJ9x6hvM

Keefe, M. (2009). Evolution of Communication. (Cartoon). Retrieved from https://www.intoon.com/cartoons.cfm/id/68559

Lafayette, J. (2018). Media Planning’s Next Big Change Agent: AI (Digital Art). Retrieved from https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/media-plannings-next-big-change-agent-ai

Lambert, T. A Brief History of Communication. Retrieved from http://www.localhistories.org/communications.html

Montgomery, A. (2019). What visual communication might look like in 50 years. Retrieved from https://www.monotype.com/resources/articles/what-visual-communication-might-look-like-in-50-years/?fbclid=IwAR3w-D2ehTIuw0ny98nLJjo73AKK2ukZNBYt0_WsDrsKI4hflnzVOth-654

The future of communication and media has a myriad of opportunities and innovations to offer. Thanks to technology, communication is now just a click away. However, this was not the case back then. Many years ago, communication and media were quite different in comparison to what they are today. From writing a letter stroke by stroke in 500 B.C. to delivering a telegraph by horse in the 1970’s, message transmission has been progressing evidently, even before (Szabo L.V., 2014). Communication has developed despite distances when telephone lines and radio signals were introduced in 1890 and 1891. Media history was shaped when the television was created in the 1920’s and computer networks rapidly modified technology and thus, emerged the Internet in the 20^th century.

Social Media Network. Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay. Retrieved August 30, 2019, from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/social-media-social-network-3758364/

In the coming years, the possibility of inventions that were once considered far-fetched ideas could bring forth a digital culture with ease and convenience. Such predictions include the fast-charge battery, the language-translator, and robots or androids (Sterkenburg T., 2012). The Age of Graphene industrializes a fast-charging battery in replacement of the lithium ion battery for all types of gadgets. Moreover, a language-translating device would be made available to bridge the language barrier between locals and foreigners while travelling. Likewise, Artificial Intelligence robots or androids may take over by answering company phone calls for queries, providing data and displaying presentations in schools, giving directions to tourists, scanning for medical diagnoses and more.

Artificial Intelligence. Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay. Retrieved September 2, 2019, from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/artificial-intelligence-brain-think-4389372/

From this, we can infer that there is a vast difference in our daily life in the past, today in the present, and 50 years from now in the future. By now, we should expect and be open to changes in the trends of communication. Lastly, we should observe proper usage of these things once it is made available to us.

Altmann G. (2019) Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved September 1, 2019, from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/artificial-intelligence-brain-think-4389372/

Altmann G. (2018) Social Media Network. Retrieved August 30, 2019, from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/social-media-social-network-3758364/

Sterkenburg T. (2012) What’s the future of communication? Let’s ask the experts. Retrieved August 24, 2019, from https://thenextweb.com/media/2012/07/15/whats-the-future-of-communication-lets-ask-the-experts/

Szabo L.V. (2014) The Future of Communication: from New Media to Postmedia. Retrieved August 24, 2019, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814063848

by: Joshua Pionelo & Rica Mae Quidato

Through the years, communication has evolved significantly. The whole system of communication has been revamped tremendously through the incorporation of technology. The way we communicate is entirely different from ancient times. Previously, conveying is constrained to relational collaboration – individual to individual. Until it advanced to alphabets, signs and images, letters, and phone. Today, the Internet era has paved the way to innumerable means of communication.

Innovation has in fact reclassified correspondence. Individuals never again need to hang tight for quite a long time, months, weeks, and days to get data or message. Today, writings, messages, tweets, and individual messages can arrive at the beneficiary in merely a question of seconds.

In the distant future, we may be able to communicate by sending our thoughts through a network directly into someone else’s brain (Strickland, 2010). Bio implants or technologies embedded in our body for communication might become also a reality in the future for bio-implants have been used for indicators for our body in the medical field (Teshome and Kibret, 2018).

Unfortunately, the advancement of communication through the assistance of technology is not all rainbow and sunshine. Along with the innovation of long-distance communication is the pervasive shyness that developed within us. “Technology has made us shy away from face to face conversation” and this has extremely negative consequences, because “conversation is the basis of democracy and business, it supports empathy and is essential for friendship, love, learning, and productivity” (Salgado, 2017).

In no time, everything around us will be changed dramatically and these changes will be unnoticeable. We will just be realizing it one day that though the way we live our lives every day has become easier, the time we spend on new technology and social media is immensely increasing thus creating less time for real-life interactions (Eastman, 2013). As these kinds of lifestyle will grow, verbal and face to face communication will be nearly forgotten and become a mere trend in the past.

References

Kaul, V. (2012). The Changing World of Media & Communication. Journal of Mass Communication and Journalism, 2:116. doi:10.4172/2165-7912.1000116

Stricklan, J. (2010, April 12). What is the future of communication?. Retrieved from https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/future-of-communication1.htm

Salgado, A. (2017, February 28). so easy, yet so difficult… the disappearance of face to face conversation. Retrieved August 24, 2019, from https://blog.ferrovial.com/en/2017/02/disappearance-of-face-to-face-conversation/

Teshome, A. K., Kibret, B., & Lai, D. T. (2018). Wireless Implant Communications Using the Human Body. In M. Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Fourth Edition (pp. 6319-6334). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-2255-3.ch550