The Man Who Predicted Text Messaging 25 Years Ago Has Some New Ones. And They're Amazing

For as long as the genre has existed, science fiction has tried to look into the future. You can only make your best guess based on what we can do now, but it's still amazing how many predictions that seemed ridiculous actually turned out to be true. 

For example, we may not have any Klingons running around, but thanks to Skype, we can talk to our friends the same way Captain Kirk used to talk to them. So what if someone could actually see these kinds of innovations coming on a regular basis?

Well, there's one man who thinks he can. And based on his track record, he might be right.

COMMENT and let us know what you think of his predictions.

This is Dr. Ian Pearson.

He has an extensive background in engineering, applied mathematics, and theoretical physics. But if you asked him, he'd say he's a futurologist. 

For over 20 years, his work with the future took place here at BT Research.

Technically, he was a performance engineer, but his research was all about future technology and the world it will find itself in.

In that time, he was responsible for about 1,600 inventions.

But above all else, his job is to predict the future.

And he claims he gets it right about 85% of the time.

He says "it's really just common sense and intuition. You've got to keep abreast of things but an awful lot of my time's spent thinking." 

And his new predictions are interesting, to say the least.

Anyone can just say they get it right that often.

What exactly was Pearson so right about?

One of his biggest predictions was the spread of texting.

Bear in mind that he made his prediction back in 1991.

Around the same time, he also foresaw the rise of search engines.

As you might have noticed, he predicts not only future tech, but also its popularity.

But he ran into trouble doing this with virtual reality.

It didn't turn out to be quite as popular as he expected. But he may still have the last laugh if the Oculus Rift does well.

But what is he predicting now?

He said we'll have "virtual immortality" by 2050.

We'll still die, of course, but the thoughts and experiences that make us will be uploaded and stored on the Internet. So our children and grandchildren can always have an "us" to talk to.

And while we are still here, we'll be merged with computers.

By 2070, Pearson claims we'll use this technology to improve our bodies and minds so much that we'll evolve into a new species called Homo Optimus.

And it sounds like we'll be bringing our pets with us.

Pearson predicted we'll all communicate with our thoughts using a global server, and our pets will get the same treatment. This means our pets will be able to "talk" to us with their minds.

He also said we'll be having sex with robots by 2050.

Actually, he predicted that by then we'll be having sex with robots more than we will with each other.

Be sure to COMMENT if you're looking forward to any of these predictions.

Main image via The Independent

Collage image via Maxim | Dr. Ian Pearson