Spatial navigation, which is already being used in some software products, will let you go anywhere the information is by enabling you to interact with a visual model of a real or make-believe world. You can think of such a model as a map – an illustrated, three-dimensional table of contents. Spatial navigation will be particularly important for interacting with televisions and small, portable PCs, which are unlikely to have conventional keyboards. To do some banking, you might go to a drawing of a main street, then point, using a mouse of a remote control or even your finger, at the drawing of a bank … You’ll be able to jump into the map so you can navigate down a street of through the rooms of a building. You’ll be able to zoom in and out and pan around to different locations very easily.
Predictor: Gates, Bill
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “The Road Ahead,” Microsoft CEO Bill Gates writes: ”Spatial navigation will be modeled on the way we location information today. When we want to find out about some subject now, it’s natural to go to a labeled section of a library or bookstore … Spatial navigation, which is already being used in some software products, will let you go anywhere the information is by enabling you to interact with a visual model of a real or make-believe world. You can think of such a model as a map – an illustrated, three-dimensional table of contents. Spatial navigation will be particularly important for interacting with televisions and small, portable PCs, which are unlikely to have conventional keyboards. To do some banking, you might go to a drawing of a main street, then point, using a mouse of a remote control or even your finger, at the drawing of a bank. You will point to a courthouse to find out with cases are being heard by which judges or what the backlog is. You will point to the ferry terminal to learn the schedule and whether the boats are running on time … You’ll be able to jump into the map so you can navigate down a street of through the rooms of a building. You’ll be able to zoom in and out and pan around to different locations very easily.”
Biography:Bill Gates, the most influential technology entrepreneur of the late 20th century, was the primary author of the prediction-packed 1995 book “The Road Ahead” and is the founder and CEO of Microsoft Corporation. (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: The Road Ahead (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 4: Applications and Appliances
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 81
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne