Transcriber: Hazen Orellana Reviewer: Elisabeth Buffard
As the world shut down in March of 2020,
we all made a rapid shift
from the face to face interaction we’ve been accustomed to,
to video conferencing.
Although it may seem that we all just made a tremendous technological leap,
I’m here to tell you that we are actually in the process
of evolving to the next phase of the human technology relationship.
What I'm referring to is the concept of the spatial web or web 3.0.
The idea that our physical world will be fully integrated
into a virtual environment.
I’m describing a future
in which everyday objects are connected to the Internet,
and talks such as this are conducted with tools
that allow me to remotely be in your living room with you.
To fully understand what I’m talking about,
we can take a step back and discuss the genealogy of Web 3.0.
Its older siblings, if you will.
Web 1.0 was the world's first introduction to the Internet.
Boy, did it have an impact!
This was that time between the eighties and the early 2000,
when Bill Gates’s dream of putting a computer in every home came to fruition.
Anyone old enough to remember can recall hearing the beeps of the modem
and having to ask your family members to hop off the phone
so you could hook up online.
(Laughter)
As the world was starting to become accustomed to the Internet,
we all still relied on that one computer-savvy friend
for any technical questions.
Although often underappreciated,
(Laughter)
these critically important individuals
were driving online content creation
and enabling the very first days of the Internet.
They were simply the only ones
actually taking the tim to learn how to create
The eventual shift to Web 2.0
was marked by the ability of anyone, regardless of technical skill,
to create posts and spread their ideas online.
It all started on January 9th, 2017, when Steve Jobs announced the iPhone.
Gone were the days you had to use a bulky computer
to connect to the Internet.
You can now browse the web
from a device small enough to fit in your pocket.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection has the ability to post online,
for better or worse.
(Laughter)
An expansion of different online devices
and technology that is simple enough for anyone to use
will enable the spatial web.
Web 3.0 simply builds upon concepts that everyone is already familiar with.
Who here has heard of a nest thermostat?
For those who said yes, you’ve already begun interacting
with spacial web technologies;
for those who haven’t.
Google’s Nest is a digital thermostat
capable of being controlled via your mobile phone.
To me, the Nest embodies
humanity’s movement towards a spatial web,
a world driven by data, sensors,
and Internet connectivity embedded into everyday objects.
It also highlights a much larger universe of tools
like artificial reality glasses,
wearable body monitors, autonomous cars
and other currently offline tools
that will soon enrich human interactions with the web.
My favorite example to help highlight the power of Web 3.0
is the spread of artificial reality glasses
and how they will change business and education.
Engineers will be able to train for and simulate
the construction of products in a fully virtual environment.
Sales teams will use full size virtual renderings of those very same products
in marketing demonstrations.
From their bedroom,
users will be able to access experiences
that previously required a significant time commitment,
your commute or maybe even a flight.
All the advancements that I've described will change the way humans live.
However, the majority of the benefits of the spatial web
can really be boiled dow to just one word:
Time.
By streamlining tasks and automating processes,
the spatial web will allow humans to spend their time
on those tasks that bring them the most value.
Think about all of the things that you do during the day,
like remembering to turn the lights off,
feeding your dog and scheduling that one meeting, that seems small,
but ultimately add to your cognitive burden
and chip away at your valuable time.
A world in which significant time-saving tools are at your disposal
is not as far off as it may seem.
The process by which we will achieve a mature spatial web
can be broken down into just three phases:
augmentation, optimization and unification.
Most businesses and individuals currently operate within the augmentation stage.
They leverage some spatial web technologies,
but these solutions don’t really communicate with each other,
and they take a lot more time to set up than they save.
An example of an augmentation stage advancement
is being able to control the temperature of your home
with the Nest Thermostat app.
It makes your life easier,
but it’s not necessarily a game-changing breakthrough.
The next phase, optimisation,
is marked by devices that are automated and cross-functional.
Technology will be able to draw insights
from external data sources and independently make decisions.
When you set your morning iPhone alarm,
your Nest thermostat should know to start heating up the house
before you wake up.
Your car should start defrosting before your daily commute.
These seemingly small innovations remove yet another task
that you’d have to otherwise think abou and dedicate your attention to.
Once we reach the final stage, unification,
all of your data will be centralized and accessible by devices,
regardless of brand, type or location.
You will know that we’ve reached this phase
when your Nest thermostat is teaching your kid algebra.
I’m kidding.
But the truth is that familiar objects
will take on totally new roles beyond what we’re used to.
In addition to practical dutie like regulating air temperature,
devices will become powerful analytics tools
aimed at anticipating consumer needs,
improving product capabilities,
and giving you more power over how and what you spend your time on.
Clearly there is tremendous potential on the spatial web.
We are experiencing only the very tip of its applications.
It will fundamentally change the way information is ingested
and even how we connect with each other.
By embracing it,
we will provide humans with the one resource
they can now get more of:
more time to spend on the things that they love.
Web 1.0 lasted roughly two decades.
And we’re approaching the second decade of Web 2.0.
Web 3.0 is right on the horizon.
We are already seeing the building blocks being introduced
for a totally interconnected world.
What we’ve learned from the past
is that those individuals bold enough to adopt emerging technologies
will benefit from being early movers.
Let’s be those leaders and lean in together
to take on the next phase of the human technology relationship.
Thank you.