Technology
Cryonics: Putting Death on Ice
Cryonics: Putting Death on Ice
There is a potent thread winding its way through generations of human culture. From Ancient Egyptian rituals to Kurzweil’s Singularity, many paths have sprung up leading to the same elusive destination: immortality.
Today, the concept is as popular as it’s ever been, and technological advances are giving people hope that immortality, or at very least radical life extension, may be within reach. Is modern technology advanced enough to give people a second chance through cryonics?
Today’s infographic, courtesy of Futurism, tackles our growing fascination with putting death on ice.
The Prospect of Immortality
Robert C. W. Ettinger’s seminal work, The Prospect Of Immortality, detailed many of the scientific, moral, and economic implications of cryogenically freezing humans for later reanimation. It was after that book was published in 1962 that the idea of freezing one’s body after death began to take hold.
One of the most pressing questions is, even if we’re able to revive a person who has been cryogenically preserved, will the person’s memories and personality remain intact? Ettinger posits that long-term memory is stored in the brain as a long-lasting structural modification. Basically, those memories will remain, even if the brain’s “power is turned off”.
Descending into the Deep-Freeze
There are three main steps in the cryogenic process:
1) Immediately after a patient dies, the body is cooled with ice packs and transported to the freezing location.
2) Next, blood is drained from the patient’s body and replaced with a cryoprotectant (basically the same antifreeze solution used to transport organs destined for transplant).
3) Finally, once the body arrives at the cryonic preservation facility, the body is cooled to -196ºC (-320.8ºF) over the course of two weeks. Bodies are generally stored upside-down in a tank of liquid nitrogen.
The Economics of Cryopreservation
At prices ranging from about $30,000 to $200,000, cryopreservation may sound like an option reserved for the wealthy, but many people fund the procedure by naming a cryonics company as the primary benefactor of their life insurance policy. Meanwhile, in the event of a death that doesn’t allow for preservation of the body, the money goes to secondary beneficiaries.
Even if we do eventually find a way to reanimate frozen humans, another important consideration is how those people would take care of themselves financially. That’s where a cryonics or personal revival trust comes into play. A twist on a traditional dynastic trust, this arrangement ensures that there are funds to cover costs of the cryopreservation, as well as ensure the grantor would have assets when they’re unthawed. Of course, there are risks involved beyond the slim possibility of reanimation. The legal code in hundreds of years could be vastly different than today.
If you created a trust for specific purposes in 1711, it is unlikely it would function in the same way today.
– Kris Knaplund, Law Professor, Pepperdine University
Cold Humans, Hot Market
At last count, there are already 346 people in the deep freeze, with thousands more on the waiting list. As technology improves, those numbers are sure to continue rising.
Time will tell whether cryonically preserved people are able to cheat death. In the meantime? The cryonics industry is alive and well.
Technology
Online Gaming: The Rise of a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry
By 2022, the online gaming market is expected to rake in $196 billion in revenue, more than box office and recorded music revenues combined.
Online Gaming: The Rise of a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry
From tabletops to virtual reality, how we play games is changing with the times.
In just a few short decades, the world of online gaming has exploded in popularity. Estimated to reach $196 billion in revenue by 2022, it is now considered to be one of the fastest growing industries on the planet.
The infographic above explores the humble beginnings of the online gaming market and dives into the technological possibilities driving its future.
The Birth of Online Gaming
Although video game prototypes were created by scientists as early as the 1950s, the very first gaming console was not introduced to consumers until the ‘70s. Subsequently, use of online games began to proliferate in the ‘90s as a result of widespread internet adoption.
- 1990s: Online gaming rapidly gains popularity due to the increasing availability of the internet
- 2003: Digital storefront Steam launches, allowing gamers to buy and review games online
- 2004: World of Warcraft launches, the first massively multiplayer online (MMO) to eclipse more than 10 million active subscriptions
- 2007: Online gaming starts shifting to mobile
- 2009: Minecraft launches and becomes one of the best selling video games in history with 176 million copies sold
- 2009: Apple announces In-app Purchase feature for iPhone apps
- 2015: 1.5 billion gamers around the world
- 2016: Augmented reality game Pokémon Go is launched, generating the most revenue grossed by any mobile game in its first month.
- 2019: Google releases Stadia, a cloud gaming service that allows gamers to play without a console
It is clear that technological innovation plays a huge role in fueling the evolution of online gaming, but there are also several other factors at play.
The Components of Online Gaming
In the world of gaming, there is often confusion between commonly used terms such as “online gaming” and “esports”—when in fact esports is just one segment that sits within the enormous online gaming ecosystem:
- Distributors and Retailers: Platforms that distribute and sell games
- Streaming Services: Services that allow users to livestream games
- Hardware Developers: Companies that build the electronic infrastructure required to play games
- Gaming Arenas: Venues that host gaming events
- Esports: Organized, multiplayer video game competitions, typically between professional players
- Software Developers: Develop applications that allow users to do specific tasks
- Game Publishers: Companies that finance and distribute games
- Game Developers: Studios that develop games
This ecosystem creates dozens of revenue streams for the industry as a whole. For every one of these channels, the shift to mobile gaming presents significant opportunities for growth.
Mobile: The Future of Gaming
Mobile is the largest gaming platform, producing $68.5 billion in revenue in 2019—45% of the total market that also includes PC and tablet gaming.
Although still a relatively new segment of the industry, mobile gaming has developed at an astonishing rate, with 2.4 billion people playing games on mobile in 2019. Part of mobile’s breakneck growth can be attributed to an innovative and seamless user experience which relies on engaging features such as in-app purchases and loyalty rewards.
With the 5G era quickly descending upon us, these pocket-sized game consoles could transform online gaming, and make the industry even more exciting.
Towards a New Age of Entertainment
As the number of players continues to grow, it is clear that the technological possibilities of online gaming are endless. Some are already beginning to take shape:
Virtual Reality
With industry leaders such as Oculus and Valve announcing cheaper headset options, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality is becoming more accessible for mass markets, and the pace could pick up further in 2020.
Cloud Gaming
Cloud gaming takes advantage of faster, more reliable internet connections by giving gamers the ability to stream games rather than playing on a console.
Real-time Personalization
In the future, games could automatically generate game content that is customized to fit each player’s personality and playstyle, based on their player data.
As these technologies develop, they alter the way users experience games, and provide new opportunities for brands and advertisers to tap into enhanced viewer engagement.
Many industry players will thrive in this new environment, while others will fall by the wayside. Who will emerge victorious, and lead us into the future of entertainment?
Technology
An Army of Swipers: Dating in the Modern Age
Online dating is a cultural force driven by Millennials and Gen Z. But it’s also a phenomenon dominated by just one company—Match Group.
Widespread cultural shifts from generation to generation are nothing new.
The digital era has helped fuel a surge in mobile and online dating among younger, tech-savvy generations. In fact, almost half of Americans today between the ages of 18 and 29 years old report having used a dating site or app to find a partner.
For the millions of people around the world diving into the world of digital dating, there are dozens of online dating platforms to choose from. Increasingly though, many of these brands are controlled by a single company.
A Match Made In Heaven
Forget traditional face-to-face interactions—online dating has emerged as the most popular way couples are meeting today. Though the volume of users is increasingly large, the number of companies in the space continues to narrow.
The largest in this space, Match Group, has gone all-in on online dating, acquiring some 20 companies throughout its brief history. As a result, Match Group now has an impressive 45 dating services in its growing roster.
Taking a familiar page out of the Big Tech playbook, Match Group’s big bet has so far paid off.
They’ve managed to execute on an asset-light, software-based subscription model that results in plenty of recurring revenue. This strategy has also led to operating margins that rival those of Big Tech companies like Facebook or Microsoft.
The result? Since their 2015 IPO, Match Group’s stock is up 600%, reaching a market capitalization of $25 billion, eclipsing many other well-known household names.
Wall Street Swipes Right
While Match Group does frequently boast about its diverse set of dating platforms, much of the success boils down to a few moving parts. One big part in particular, is Tinder and its impressive userbase of 59 million people.
Tinder’s “army of swipers” continues to grow. If the app’s userbase were a country, it would rank 25th in the world. Alternatively, imagine if every citizen of Canada, Jamaica, Ireland, Sweden, and Albania combined decided to pop open their app store and download Tinder at the same time.
Tinder now has upwards of 6 million paid subscribers, charging a subscription fee around $20 per month. These revenues continue to form a large piece of the overall equation.
How important is Tinder for Match? In their investor presentations, they provide separate data on Tinder while labeling all other apps under the “All Other Brands” category.
In recent times, Match Group has commented that they see “traditional dating” as their biggest competitor. Socio-cultural, demographic, and tech trends seem to suggest mobile online dating is not just a fad, but a concrete and dominant means through which people connect.
User growth figures have not shown weakness either. Both Millennials and Gen Z make up the bulk of Match Group’s userbase—and both generations are comfortable with digitalization as well as delaying life milestones such as marriage. This may suggest their layover in the so-called “dating period” will be lengthy—good news for giants like Match Group.
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