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In this issue:

  * Google and Microsoft: Future Players in Virtual Worlds?
  * Advances in Synthetic Biology
  * The Future of Food
  * Human Augmentation
  * 30 Years for MacroMonitor
  * New Touch-Screen Designs
  * Prospects for Near-Field Communication
  * Signals of Change
  * Meetings and Presentations

	
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(Full text of SRIC-BI publications is available to
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------------------
 New Publications
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Google and Microsoft: Future Players in Virtual Worlds?

The virtual-worlds industry is currently dominated by a
large number of small players, but a number of analysts
are asking when the big companies will move in and how
they might disrupt the industry. Companies like IBM,
Cisco, Sony, and Sun Microsystems already have
significant interests in the field. But the two players
that could create the biggest disruption are Google and
Microsoft, which could shake the field up by making a
large acquisition, creating a de facto virtual-worlds
standard, or launching a new type of virtual world--a
"mirror world" in which people could explore
photorealistic representations of real places.
(August 2007 Virtual Worlds Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/VWC/VWviewpoints.shtml

(This publication is part of our Virtual-Worlds
Consortium [VWC]. To learn more about VWC, see
http://www.sric-bi.com/VWC/ .)

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Advances in Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology--also, constructive biology--is an
emerging field that focuses on designing and building
engineered microorganisms to perform specific tasks. The
goal is to enable researchers to create synthetic genomes
for existing organisms and even to create new synthetic
life forms. Thanks to the development of biological
"design libraries" and other advances, researchers hope
to transform today's specialized genetic-engineering
techniques to a systems level. A growing number of
start-up companies are entering the field, particularly
targeting the high-growth market for renewable
transportation fuels.
(July 2007 Biocatalysis Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/BC.shtml

(This publication is part of our Explorer service. To
learn more about Explorer, see
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer .)

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The Future of Food

Indications are that the trend toward more and cheaper
food is ending and that prices for basic food commodities
will rise. Food provides not only nutrition but sensual
stimulation, comfort, and context for sociability. Thus,
any discussion of the future of food has to address not
just the core questions of caloric quantity and
nutritional quality but also the changing cultural
meaning of food and the changing social contexts in which
it is produced and consumed.
(The Future of Food)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan/ScanMonthly/SM054.shtml#D07-2556

(This publication is part of our Scan[TM] service. To
learn more about Scan, see http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan .)

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Human Augmentation

Developments in wearable robots, bionics, and brain-
machine interfaces could enable people to work more
productively, increase physical performance, alleviate
the stress of strenuous or difficult jobs, and extend
people's lives. Advances in these and other human-
augmentation technologies continue to accelerate, with a
wide range of players in the medical and health-care,
industrial and professional, and defense industries
seeing potential to enhance human abilities or overcome
infirmities.
(August 2007 Robotics Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/ROBO.shtml

(This publication is part of our Explorer service. To
learn more about Explorer, see
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer .)

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30 Years for MacroMonitor

In 1978, SRI International, along with several major
financial institutions, set out to create a single,
representative data set that would accurately and
comprehensively portray U.S. financial consumers. In
addition to examining consumers' use of products (such as
checking and savings accounts, credit cards, retirement
products, and financial advice) and institutions (banks,
savings and loans, brokers, insurers, mutual funds, and
so on), the program sought to measure the impact of life
events, propensities, preferences, goals, motivations,
and financial attitudes. Now, 30 years later, the
2008-09 MacroMonitor builds on this vast reservoir of
experience and data to analyze the responses of more than
4000 financial decision makers to more than 90 questions.
An oversample of affluent households also contributes to
this insightful, comprehensive view of today's U.S.
consumers and their financial needs.

(MacroMonitor is part of SRIC-BI's Consumer Financial
Decisions [CFD] group. To learn more about CFD and the
MacroMonitor, see http://www.sric-bi.com/CFD .)

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New Touch-Screen Designs

People are increasingly comfortable with using touch
screens at automatic-teller machines and point-of-sale
terminals in retail stores, as well as on some notebook
PCs, handsets, or PDAs. In the ongoing search to make
electronics easier to use and to find new applications,
manufacturers are now producing touch screens that accept
input from more than one finger and, for some larger
displays, from several concurrent users. Among the
recently announced platforms adopting such multitouch
surfaces are Apple's iPhone and Microsoft's Surface. In
addition, some makers of large multitouch displays are
opting for horizontal or angled surfaces rather than the
typical mounted displays on conventional TVs and PC
monitors.
(August 2007 User Interfaces Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/UI.shtml

(This publication is part of our Explorer service. To
learn more about Explorer, see
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer .)

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Prospects for Near-Field Communication

Near-field communication (NFC) technology is a short-
range wireless-communications technology that offers a
remarkable opportunity for the convergence of a large
number of applications. Unfortunately, any attempt to
combine applications inherits all the problems and
competitors of each application. Thus, NFC technology is
unlikely to fulfill participants' and analysts'
expectations and could easily take a decade to achieve
commercial application. Most likely, it will be one of
several wireless technologies in the market, carving out
its niche in certain applications.
(Near-Field Communication Commercialization Issues)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan/ScanMonthly/SM053.shtml#D07-2554

(This publication is part of our Scan[TM] service. To
learn more about Scan, see http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan .)

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Signals of Change

Scientists are adapting printing technologies for
applications in the life sciences, including the design
and manufacture of a range of biomaterials such as skin,
cartilage, and bone. The latest issue of Scan[TM] Monthly
explores this and other signals of change, including
social impediments to a green future, the fallout of
parental pampering of young adults, advances in
neurotherapies, new approaches to modeling human
behavior, and advances in teleteaching.
(Scan[TM] Monthly, August 2007)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan/ScanMonthly/SM053.shtml

(This publication is part of our Scan[TM] service. To
learn more about Scan, see http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan .)

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----------------------------
 Meetings and Presentations
----------------------------

Kickoff Meeting for Virtual-Worlds Consortium

On 9 October, the formal launch of SRIC-BI's new Virtual-
Worlds Consortium (VWC) will take place at SRI
International headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
VWC analysts and external practitioners will examine key
virtual-worlds developments around the world, discuss SRI
research into uses of Second Life for innovation and
learning, demonstrate virtual-worlds platforms and
emerging applications, and hold round tables to discuss
key issues and challenges. For more information about the
meeting, contact Eilif Trondsen, etrondsen@sric-bi.com .


Next-Generation Learning Platforms

On 15 October, Eilif Trondsen, director of the Virtual-
Worlds Consortium, will speak on the next generation of
learning platforms at the Training Tech Solutions
Conference and Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah. His
presentation will focus on the implications of virtual
social worlds and online games for the future of learning
and training. Trondsen has also coauthored a paper on the
topic with Tony O'Driscoll of IBM and Jay Cross of
Internet Time Group. The article, "Another Life: Virtual
Worlds as Tools for Learning," appears in eLearn Magazine.


Scan[TM] Meeting in Washington, D.C.

As part of SRIC-BI's continuing efforts to explore
signals of change with client organizations, the Scan
service invites clients to attend a meeting from 9:00 a.m.
to noon at the U.S. Postal Service headquarters in
Washington, D.C., on 1 November. Scan director Kermit
Patton will lead the discussion, which will explore the
potential transformative effects of developments in the
computing infrastructure, starting with today's virtual-
world technologies. For more information about the
meeting, contact Steve Baughman, sbaughman@sric-bi.com .


The Future of Information Technology

SRIC-BI's technology navigator, Brock Hinzmann, will
speak at the ICE Technology Conference in Edmonton,
Alberta, on 5-7 November. Drawing from the work of the
Scan[TM] service, he will highlight signals of change
with implications for the future of information
technology.


Virtual Worlds in Business

On 14 September, Rob Edmonds, senior consultant and
technology analyst, participated in a panel discussion at
Serious Virtual Worlds '07 at the Serious Games Institute
in Coventry, England. The panel discussed the uses of
virtual worlds in business.



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