By: Keseiah Joy Tavera, Trina Villaflor, and Freden Javelona

Communication was first made through verbal interactions between individuals. The mumbling of sounds evolved into an organized system of syllables and speech. As humans learned to utter sounds, oral culture developed naturally. However, a system of writing was introduced and consequently, literacy bloomed. Crystal (2004) emphasized that a standard was set shifting orality to literacy through formal characters such as grammar, spelling, pronunciation and vocabulary. With this development and that of technology and screen media, visual and audio elements such as pictures, voice recordings, and videos arise to accompany textual information. This emergence of electronic devices, the internet, and everything thereafter paved the way towards networked communication from traditional mass communication as Kaul (2012) suggested.

With this trend, we can foresee that the future of human communication will be closely tied with technology. According to Brandom (2019), society today will soon approach a time where face-to-face communication happening virtually is fairly common. An application of this would be telemedicine technology, a software where consultation services from volunteer medical professionals are provided (The Virtual Doctors, 2019). In terms of entertainment, Interactive Storytelling would emerge as a virtual storybook with a different plot for every person depending on the in-story choices they made (Raab, 2019). 

The situation now appropriates the introduction of Brain-Computer Interfaces, devices that allow for our thoughts (in the form of electrical signals of neurons) to be encoded in a computer system (Abdulkader, Atia, & Mostafa, 2015). Although it is still a longshot from creating electronic based telepathy, BCI allows for brain-to-brain communication to happen as seen in James’s (2009) experiment. In 50 years, this technology could be a major platform in digital communication. This direct link between humans and computers is an example of fully embracing the importance and integration of technology in human society, culture, and communication.

References:

Abdulkader, S. N., Atia, A., & Mostafa, M.-S. M. (2015). Brain computer interfacing: Applications and challenges. Egyptian Informatics Journal, 16(2), 213–230. doi: 10.1016/j.eij.2015.06.002

Crystal, D. (2004). The Stories of English. London:Penguin Books. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?q=http://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-1/crystal-on-the-multiplicity-of-the-english-language&sa=D&ust=1567695342742000&usg=AFQjCNFE3k4cuhcPl4y_j79XawZevg2GZg

James, C. (2009). B2B – BrainToBrain: A BCI Experiment – May 2009. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93p7oDkA5WA&feature=email

Kaul, V. (2012). The Changing World of Media & Communication. Journal of Mass Communication and Journalism, 02(06). doi: 10.4172/2165-7912.1000116

Lacamp, D. M. (2019). Retrieved from The Virtual Doctors. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.virtualdoctors.org/about-us&sa=D&ust=1567695342743000&usg=AFQjCNEaI-_xpyXOsKsxciU33BHW-1Fdkw

Raab, M. (2019). Is ‘Interactive Storytelling’ the Future of Media? One Zero. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onezero.medium.com/is-interactive-storytelling-the-future-of-media-df6de5138520&sa=D&ust=1567695342743000&usg=AFQjCNHyunLcSwiZVCti0S_nWQzB6gwF2g

The Verge. (2014). What is the future of communication [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcaCRqbxXME