Dreams of green, high-tech future at Shanghai expo
Imagine a refrigerator that orders your groceries. Or a house that builds itself. Or a car called a Leaf that runs on solar energy and wind power. These concepts and many other futuristic ideas – some already in use, some within reach, some just a dream – are being sketched out for visitors to the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. The theme of the Expo, which opened May 1 and continues through Oct. 31, is “Better City, Better Life.”
A fridge of the future reads expiration dates and orders new food for you. A toilet with a digital screen analyzes urine for medical information. An aerial tramway includes special cars to carry bikes, so riders can bicycle to and from stations. A store doesn’t require you to carry your purchases around; instead, you note the item with a handheld device and pick it up as you leave.
Most of these concepts are not found in the expo’s national pavilions, where individual countries offer exhibits about their history and traditions. But visitors who spend some time in the expo’s corporate zones, where companies, government agencies and a few localities have sponsored pavilions, will find a number of exhibits on new technology, products and designs.
One pavilion shows an experimental car called the Leaf, developed by SAIC, the Chinese partner of GM and Volkswagen AG. It looks a lot like a Smart car, but it produces its own energy, powered by sun and wind. In another exhibit, visitors step into a multimedia cube the size of a house, where images surround you on six sides.
A pavilion hosted by Cisco Systems explores a technology called TelePresence, which is a live video network that seamlessly connects many different devices and systems. Imagine a large flat screen on your living room wall that easily enables you to communicate with friends, family and co-workers in a live, Skype-like video feed. The same system will let you take a class remotely or help you change your transit plans if there’s a storm. “These are the kinds of products you will have in your home in 10 years’ time,” said Cisco pavilion director Anthony Elvey. These may not be reality any time soon. Then again, the television and air conditioning experienced by visitors to the 1939 World’s Fair in New York probably seemed just as out of reach. – AP
