In the early 20th Century, no one would have predicted the invention of the mobile or cell phone. Such a device was inconceivable to our ancestors. Today, the mobile phone is king and it's not unknown for people to change their phones at the drop of a hat. But what will society be using in the future, say in a hundred years time? You can bet it will look nothing like today's mobile phones, in fact, you won't even see it.

In today's world the mobile phone isn't something we can do without, it's an essential. Where I live, in the Republic of Cyprus, not having a mobile phone on you could have serious consequences. I live in the wilds of Cyprus and here, leaving your phone at home when you go out, is a serious problem if your car breaks down or runs out of petrol. In the summer especially, it would be a long hot walk to the nearest petrol station. This highlights one of the problems of the mobile phone, it's mobile and can end up anywhere if you're a careless owner. How many people do you know who have left their phone on the top of their car at a petrol station? How many have lost their phones in pubs or clubs? Mobile can mean lost.

Here's where the future of mobile communications will come in handy. Your new mobile phone will be in your head, not in your hand.

Think how small mobile phones are and compare the size they are today to what the first mobile phones looked like. The first mobile phones could easily have been used as clubs to fend off an attack from a mugger, they were that big. Miniaturization in manufacturing has meant the mobile has shrunk and shrunk, until it can shrink no further because you still need a keypad.

So, what happens if we remove the keypad? You can't make a call, that's what happens. But without the keypad, the mobile can truly shrink in size, to something so small you could have it implanted in your head.

Sounds a bit mad, doesn't it? But IBM has recently announced they have created the world's smallest storage device, just 12 atoms in size and have also manage to program the company's motto, "Think", onto an array of 96 atoms. Now that is truly staggering. But apply this new technology to the future mobile phone and the mind simply boggles. Without a keypad your mobile phone will literally be data stored on atoms inside your head.

So when we do get truly mobile, what exactly will you have to do to make a call? You are going to have to get used to the idea of a little surgery first and then maybe a little programming. What you need is a connection between your cognitive abilities and your optical abilities. What you will need is the ability to call up an optical, virtual, display in your mind and be able to create a virtual finger that will press the numbers on your virtual keypad. Phew!! Sounds a little far fetched, doesn't it? Maybe not though. Fighter pilots already use something called HUD - Heads Up Display. The HMD, Helmet Mounted Display, is technically still a HUD but it also allows the pilot to move their head in any direction and still allow them to view whatever data they choose depending on the task at hand. Now, apply that to a virtual display in your own mind where your virtual finger moves according to your wishes and taps out the number for your current girl/boy friend, all while your eating fish and chips on the number 32 bus into Ealing High Street. But the neat bit will be that you don't even have to utter a word, you simply think what you want to say and that will be what's transmitted to your loved one.

Isn't technology wonderful? Soon you will be able to virtually dump your latest beau while eating your lunch

Copyright (C) Tom Kane 2011