Supersuits and robots await in the Scotland of tomorrow, says leading futurologist Dr Ian Pearson

Assuming, of course, that they ever leave their homes (in a driverless car), with life increasingly lived online while physical needs are taken care of by robots and androids.

The spectacular vision of what a future has been laid out by renowned futurologist Dr Ian Pearson, who has published a new report predicting the likely innovations he expects to appear within the next 50 years.

And while it may seem the stuff of sci-fi films and novels, Dr Pearson says that the groundwork for the world of tomorrow is already being made today.

He said: "The pace of technological change is growing and things which are commonplace today, like instant global communication at the touch of a button or access to a huge database from a device in your pocket, would have seemed like fantasy a couple of decades ago.

"We have just seen the latest bridge across the Forth open up, but the next one to be made won't be made of steel and concrete, it will most likely be built out of graphene which is much lighter and allows things to be made much thinner and even transparent. 

"While cities like Edinburgh will probably keep their traditional feel, ones like Glasgow where the architecture is more modern could see high-rises that tower into the sky made of the new materials. These need not go straight up, but could be pyramids, like you see in the first Blade Runner film."

He also predicted that polymer bodysuits capable of enhancing a wearer's strength and durability will become commonplace, with their development boosted by practical need and an increasingly ageing population.

Dr Pearson said: "It would be like an all-over suit, made out of a material in development which becomes incredibly hard when it retracts, boosting the strength of whoever's wearing it by about double.

"These would have commercial applications - it would be useful to workmen if they had to lift something heavy - but also to people as they get old and begin to lose their mobility."

Other areas highlighted in the report include implanted technology which will constantly monitor and diagnose people's health, travel by supersonic planes and submarines, space tourism and personal personal flying pods. 

Robots and androids will become more commonplace around the home as they become used to take care of domestic tasks, while car ownership could plummet as people become used to summoning driverless vehicles that come right to their door. 

The lines between the real world and the online realm will become increasingly blurred with people wearing technology which allows them to overlay what their eyes are showing them with fresh information.

Dr Pearson said: "If you don't like the architecture around you, just download a new look and away you go. This could also have implications for how we view others, with people 'wearing' avatars which say something about themselves.

"Suppose in an emergency situation you could look around and see immediately who was a doctor or a paramedic in the crowd? 

"Or if you were interested in a particular hobby, you could show something that denotes that to others with a similar interest." 

Dr Pearson's report‘Electric Dreams’ collated research from more than 100  sources, narrowing predictions to a definitive shortlist of the 35 key innovations people can expect to witness in the future.

It was commissioned to mark the launch of Channel 4’s new Sci-Fi series Electric Dreams, based on the stories of Philip K. Dick. 
Electric Dreams will air on Sunday 24 September on Channel 4.

Spaceflight from Scotland no mere flight of fancy as plans take shape

IT seems like something straight out of Star Trek – being able to pop down to a local spaceport and blast off into the atmosphere.

But space flight from Scotland is closer than most people think with two sites currently in the running to become the UK’s first spaceport. Prestwick Airport in South Ayrshire and Machrihanish, near Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula, have recently stepped up their attempts to move into the space age.

They have been liaising with the UK Government and the UK Space Agency over the possibility of licences being issued to break out of commercial airspace into orbit.

They are now waiting for a Bill setting out the requirements for a spaceport.

It all began five years ago when the UK Government announced that Britain should lead the way on commercial space flight and set a 2018 target for getting a spaceport up and running.

The sites needed to be a safe distance from densely populated areas and have a runway that could be extended to more than 3,000m (9,842ft).

The need for a long runway was because the government envisaged the spaceport launching horizontal take-off “spaceplanes”, not old-technology vertical rockets.

Most of potential spaceplanes, such as the British-built Skylon, are still quite some time away from flying but ministers wanted the UK to be in position to catch the first wave when it arrived. There was much talk of spaceports taking tourists on sub-orbital flights but the Scottish space community seems agreed that initially their main business would be delivering satellites into orbit or carrying out scientific research.

Two years ago a shortlist of five potential sites was announced. Stornoway on Lewis was also mentioned because it was one of the few sites that could accommodate vertical launch rockets.

The UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) says it had been working hard to develop the Modern Transport Bill but there was currently “no timetable” for its implementation.

However, a DfT spokeswoman recently admitted that events over the last year, such as Brexit, had made it difficult to find parliamentary time.