An Ordinary Morning in 2030
What will a regular morning look like ten years from now? The Canada Media Fund’s Director of Industry and Market Trends, Catherine Mathys, pulls from our 2020 key trends report and imagines a world powered by 5G technology.
The doorbell wakes me up. I much prefer the gentle awakenings that my connected mattress usually provides. No need to worry ― it’s programmed according to the appointments on my calendar. I love the way it slowly rocks me out of my dreams. I hear that insistent ringing again. I check the doorbell camera on my phone. Oh, the groceries!
I get up and hurry to the door. The delivery man is waiting for me, looking somewhat impatient. “Here are your bags.” I thank him and close the door. Since my fridge is linked to my bank account and the local grocery store, all I have to do is select a week’s worth of recipes on Ricardo’s website and that’s it. To think that, in my mother’s time, you had to plan everything in advance, write a grocery list, go to the supermarket... What a strange era that was.
Speaking of my mother, I decide to call her. She appears as an AR hologram in the living room, dressed in a ball gown. “Isn’t it a little early to get dressed up like that?” She says that the museum’s ball is coming up, and that she is shopping for a dress. “Not the blue one, mom, that’s a little flashy.” She nods and goes off to put on the green one. The coffeemaker, networked with the mattress and the calendar, finally springs into action. I’ll be able to watch this impromptu catwalk with a cup of coffee.
“Turn so I can see you clearly.” There she goes, spinning in front of my couch despite the 500 kilometres between us. “Ah yes, the green one is definitely very pretty!” A strange beep interrupts our conversation. It’s her blood pressure monitor, which has just signalled to her doctor that she is experiencing high blood pressure. No matter the year or technology, choosing the right outfit for the right occasion obviously remains stressful.
Oh, but look at the time! I jump in the shower, get dressed and rush to my car. I’m not sure where my first appointment is, but my Smarta (it means “smart” in Swedish ― yes, Scandinavia remains fashionable in 2030) knows and will drive me there. It will be able to find what it needs in my agenda. Here it is, displaying the route on the windshield. I don’t know how we managed before in-car augmented reality, nor how we actually drove, for that matter. What a waste of time!
I finish getting ready while my Smarta drives me to my meeting. It still takes so long for the sun to rise in the winter. The streetlights go on and off as cars pass, like lights that waltz in the twilight.
I hadn’t noticed that my Smarta had just parked ― I was absorbed by Xavier Dolan’s latest flick, which I was watching on my smartphone. It only took a second to download his 16th feature film. I press pause. I can’t wait to watch the rest of the story. Dolan’s as much as ours.
