GET ready for talking wallpaper, robo-doctors, cars that drive themselves and human body shops where organs are made to order.
These are set to become part of our lives soon, says renowned American theoretical physicist Dr Michio Kaku, who is visiting Australia to discuss how technology will revolutionise the planet.
At the centre of our lives will be the computer, although you probably won’t be able to see it.
Dr Kaku, who has interviewed 300 of the world’s top scientists, predicts computers will physically disappear in 15 years but says we’ll be able to use them telepathically.
“You will simply think through the cloud and turn on the lights, call for your car, program your car, write a book, make articles,” Dr Kaku told reporters at the Queensland University of Technology.
“Computers will be everywhere and nowhere, and this is going to revolutionise every aspect of our life.”
As for the internet, Dr Kaku says we’ll access it through contact lenses at the blink of an eye.
And talking to a wall won’t be so pointless, with artificial intelligence embedded inside.
“You will go to the wall and say, ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, I want to talk to a doctor right now’ (and), boom, robo-doc appears.
“And if you are in a car accident, you will talk to robo-lawyer.”
But if you’re seriously injured, you needn’t worry.
“In 10 to 20 years, we will have a human body shop at which we will simply order organs on demand,” Dr Kaku said.
Scientists are already growing skin, cartilage and bladders, and Dr Kaku predicts the first liver will be grown in a matter of years.
But perhaps the biggest change we’ll see first is in the way we get around.
Dr Kaku says commercially available cars that drive themselves are only three years away and will be commonplace by 2020.
The jobs our cars drive us to are likely to be different, but Dr Kaku says you’ll always be able to get a job as a gardener, cleaner or police officer.
Repetitive jobs, such as factory work, are on the way out and middlemen, including tellers, agents and brokers, are also in the firing line.
However, blue-collar jobs were likely to survive in the near future because robot technology was still primitive, Dr Kaku said.
But will advancements in technology make us happier?
“The answer is no because we are genetically hard-wired to … bellyache at every single inconvenience,” Dr Kaku said.
“But it will make life easier, more productive, we will be able to unleash the potential in all of us because technology will make it possible to take the human mind’s creations and create industries out of these.”
The TV personality and best-selling author believes science is the engine of prosperity and is touring Australia to drive his message home.