Photo: Google Self-driving prototype with no steering wheel or pedal

Even ten years ago, self driving cars would have seen fanciful.  Now for most industry experts, the question is whether they are 5 or 10 years away.  BMW and Ford are promising fleets by 2021.  Google’s fleet of self driving cars, using advanced radar systems, have been logging in millions of miles on California roads for years.  A dozen or more competitors (some startups, other’s billion dollar firms like Ford and GM) have followed suit.  Most famous for its electric cars, Tesla already has an autopilot mode in which the onboard computer can recognize lanes and effectively drive the car on highways for you.

The impact on people’s life will be transformative.  Commutes will soon move from drudgery as cars become more like moveable lounges where passengers relax, watch movies, surf the web, work or sleep.  People may begin living further away from jobs.  For the youth without cars or the elderly too old to drive, self driving cars will mean independence and a new found ability to touch.  Public transportation like buses could be replaced fleets of minivans that pick and drop off passengers on routes constantly updated and optimized by computer algorithm, just as Uber pool and existing firms already are developing.  While it may take years of effort to increase their safety (especially in the early years where roads are populated by a mix of autonomous and driver controlled cars), is has the potential to save 30,000 plus lives lost per year in auto accidents.  Indeed, private auto insurance may also go away as accidents will be adjudicated among auto makers not passengers.

Automakers are excited, but also have two big reasons to be fearful.  First, what will set luxury cars apart where driving matters less – softer leather, bigger entertainment systems?  Cars may soon become commodities – movable couches that are hard to distinguish from each other.  Consumer will likely balk at paying significantly more for upmarket brands.  Second, why even own a car?  With self driving fleets, Uber or other companies may simply maintain fleets that you can order on command.  These big players will need far fewer cars and likely have a lot of bargaining power.

For labor markets, the productivity gains of autonomous vehicles are enormous.  But so is the potential to destroy jobs.  About 5 million people earn a living driving taxis, cars, vans, buses, delivery trucks.  If cars become something you use on demand, how many jobs in auto dealerships, parking lots and even gas stations will be lost.  With fewer accidents (and more electric vehicles), how many car body and repair shops or insurance agents will be needed?  One entity soon to become obsolete that people may not miss?  The DMV as who needs a license for a car you don’t own that drives itself!

Source: WorldWatch Institute – Growth of global Solar and Wind Energy Continues: http://bit.ly/2qnCbXP

While domestic politics have focused more recently on coal jobs, the solar industry actually employs more people than oil, coal and gas combined.  Fields in Texas once famous for oil now support the largest wind farms in the country.  Over 12% of Texas electricity now comes from wind and is growing every year (in parts of Europe like Northern Germany, wind generates over 40% of local electricity).  Similarly, solar power in sunnier parts of the world now has an electrical generation cost comparable to fossil fuels.  The greatest challenges of both solar and wind have been their inability to deliver dependable electricity when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine to speak (leaving even renewable electricity generators dependent on fossil fuel as a backup energy source).

Source: Renewables 2016 Global Status Report http://bit.ly/2qnCbXP

The solution to this electric storage question is larger, cheaper batteries and leads to our second trend – electric cars.  The biggest barrier to electric cars have long been range and cost, but each of these barriers are now collapsing.  Not only do modern electric cars now have ranges exceeding 250 miles, but they can get an 80% charge in 30 minutes (a longer than normal, but still reasonable, pit stop for most drivers). As batteries have slowly become cheaper and more efficient, firms like GM and Tesla have gotten closer to releasing lower priced, mass market electric vehicles. The biggest technological constraint is now the cost of batteries and the world’s ability to produce them in sufficient volume.

Breaking the cost/capacity constraint may ultimately be the greatest contribution of Tesla and Elon Musk.  In the desert of Nevada, Tesla’s first gigafactory is slated to come online in 2018 (with plans for 4 more facilities under way).  These factories are designed to produce batteries on such a grand scale that they will cut the cost of batteries by 30% and be able to power hundreds of thousands of new cars a year (while also selling batteries to utilities, homes and other industries).

This is where the growth of electric cars is truly transformative.  Affordable batteries will not only allow electric cars to displace the gasoline powered cars, but provide a convenient way for society to store wind and solar power for periods when those sources are not available (e.g night, cloudy days, low wind conditions).  For electric power operators, maintain banks of batteries for on-demand electricity will still be relatively expensive.  But a smart electric grid will allow the owner of a car plugged in at home or work to sell electricity back to utilities in periods of peak usage (or to power houses in an emergency/power failure).

The combination of these trends in power generation, cars and battery technology will create a future world of limitless, clean and increasingly cheap renewable energy.  This green energy transition will take decades, but it is one of the most profound changes of this century, will turn this into perhaps our most important industry (and largest employer) and hopefully will happen fast enough to limit the coming impact of climate change.

Virtual Reality content is perhaps the breakout technology this year.  VR has been growing in popularity as we now have the ability to make 360-degree videos by YouTube and other content providers at a reasonable price. However, remember that while the application of this technology is gaining speed, it will likely take 2 or 3 more years to gain traction in industry and academia and eventually consumers in a more meaningful way.

You can already find 360-degree videos on multitude of topics such as entertainment, extreme sports, get up close with animals, travel to space and underwater, and go to places than one can only imagine.

Beyond entertainment, VR is showing promising future in both medicine and education. In the field of medicine, researchers and doctors now have the ability to simulate scenarios such as that in the operating room and for students to follow a doctor’s surgery and steps through special cameras and imagery. For a list of some new ideas in healthcare through VR, see http://medicalfuturist.com/5-ways-medical-vr-is-changing-healthcare/.

In the education area, the use of VR is being explored for enhancing students’ abilities in concentration and learning. One can only imagine complimenting learning content in books with videos incorporating 3D maps or the immersive VR depiction of everything from the inside of the human body to the stretches of space.

Select YouTube Live 360 Videos

Here are a few select 360 degree videos on some entertainment and educational topics that demonstrate some of the potential of VR technology.

Disclaimer: NextStep Lifestyle is not the originator of this content and is not responsible for the content.

Space:
Journey to the edge of space by Seeker VR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCve1w1GFOs

Flying:
Experience the Blue Angels : Climb aboard Blue Angel 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6SsB3JYqQg

Nature:
Experience 360 degree Underwater National Park by National Geographic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v64KOxKVLVg

Surrounded by wild elephants by IM360
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlOiXMvMaZo

Entertainment:
Hamilton: An American Musical 360° – Wait For It from CBS

An American Musical performance of “Wait For It” – an exclusive look at the cast getting ready for The 70th Annual Tony Awards on Sunday June 12th 8/7c. – live on CBS and CBS All Access.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9AyO8h2I0k

Let’s face it, when you are in college, your most important criteria for shopping is affordability. So whether it is shopping for fall fashion or cool summer, upgrading your wardrobe can be made more affordable with these popular student discounts:

In-Store Student Discounts:

1. Eddie Bauer: Students save 15% off full price items in-store only with an ID.

   Credit: Eddie Bauer

2. Loft: Save 15% off full-price purchases in-store year-round

   
   Credit: Loft

3. Steve Madden: Students save 10% in the month of August with a valid ID

   Credit: Steve Madden

4. J. Crew: Offers a 15% student and teacher discount with a valid ID year-round at any store
   https://www.jcrew.com/help/teacher_student_discount.jsp?sidecar=true

   
   Credit: J. Crew

5. Banana Republic and Gap: Students and teachers receive 15% discount year-round for full-price in-store purchases.
   http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/info.do?cid=48137
6. Vineyard Vines: They offer students a 15% discount at vineyard vines retail stores. Students must show a valid college ID at checkout to receive this discount

   Credit: Vineyard Vines

In-Store and Online Student Discounts:

1. Club Monaco: Save 20% in-store or online year-round with promo code after registering at clubmonaco.com

   Credit: Club Monaco

2. ASOS: College students get 10% discount year-round with UNiDAYS discount service by registering at myunidays.com
3. Topshop & Topman: 10% discount with a valid student ID year-round in-store or online with student Beans. Simply register with Student Beans to verify your student status and get your student discount today!
   http://us.topshop.com/en/tsus/category/student-beans-3363922/home?geoip=noredirect&intcmpid=W_FOOTER_MAIN_STUDENTS

   
   Credit: Topshop

4. Reebok: Students get 20% discount by registering and verifying your student status through myunidays.com
   Credit: Reebok.com
5. Levi: College students can benefit from an 15% STUDENT DISCOUNT by registering and verifying student status with UNiDAYS.

   Credit: Levi.com

6. PacSun: Unlock a 10% online student discount at PacSun with Student Beans. Simply register with Student Beans to verify your student status and get your discount. http://www.pacsun.com/studentbeans.html

Credit: PacSun