Imagining the Internet

A vision for the future

This is one of nearly a thousand foresight statements shared by people from around the world. To return to the Voices of the People home page, click here. To do a refined search of the Voices of the People statements, click here. To submit your ideas to this online archive, look to the upper right corner of this page, click on "Share Your Prediction" and fill in the pop-up form.

Name: Michael Henry

From: Louisiana

Bio: I've been using computers since I could read. I've been using BBS and such since the mid 80s

Area of Expertise: Author/Editor/Journalist

Topic: Technology

Headline: Web City

Nutshell: I see the Internet being navigated much like the streets of a virtual city.

Vision: My concept really comes from FASA's "Shadowrun" cyberpunk setting, and is also seen in "Johnny Mnemonic" and other "Cyberpunk" type stories.

Technology could turn the internet into a virtual landscape, where domains appear as buldings, and surfers actually have visual personifications. Browsing a web-based store would be as simple as window shopping in the mall. Interactions with virtual constructs of clothing racks would be the same as opening up windows with lists of items, complete with his-res 3-D models so that it was almost like the real thing. Every program online would have as kind of construct representing it. Everything from Logon script-security guards to flash animation-televisions.

Date Submitted: 11/12/2004