Forget smartwatches – in just five years time the next generation of Brit teenagers could be head-to-toe in AI-powered wearable tech, according to a new report.
Scientist and leading futurist, Andrew Grill, claims that connected clothing will mean trainers will have the ability to ‘talk’ to each other and collate style from other feet on the street.
He believes that trainers could have a 5G-enabled chip built inside them, which will communicate to other people walking past.
They’ll hold data on your individual style, your preferences, budget and lifestyle, and collect insights on what new ‘looks’ similar shoppers are trying out.
Mr Grill told MailOnline: ‘Because standalone 5G can connect more devices, it means that not only will it connect more people with phones, it can connect more things.
‘So if you use your oyster card or use your ID card to get into the office, you’re probably using a little chip that’s inside the plastic, and that’s called RFID, which is a radio frequency identification chip.
‘So imagine if you married that with a 5G connection, it means that now you can enable multiple things that are on the move’.
A new report has revealed that in just five years, the next generation of UK teenagers could be head-to-toe in AI-powered wearable tech – including trainers that ‘talk to each other’
Scientist and leading futurist, Andrew Grill, has collaborated with Vodafone to share his top five predictions for how 5G technologies will transform the UK, if 5G Standalone (5G SA) is rolled out nationwide
Mr Grill added: ‘So that could then flow down to not just trainers, but pretty much anything that can have a small 1p coin sized device attached to it.’
The futurist has collaborated with Vodafone to share his predictions for how 5G technologies will transform the UK, if 5G Standalone (5G SA) is rolled out nationwide.
As well as improved speeds, longer battery life, and more places to connect, it also has the potential to change other aspects of our lives – including retail, entertainment and sports, Mr Grill claims.
These insights will power a personal AI style guide using the predictive power of platforms like ChatGPT, suggesting new looks, brands or designers for you to experiment with and products to try out.
Mr Grill compared the potential new phenomenon to the air tag concept, explaining: ‘At the moment Airtag relies on Bluetooth, so you’ve got to be connected to a phone.
‘Imagine the Airtag being completely independent and shrunk down so then you can tag things and then use that to inform your style choices.’
This means that if you see a piece of clothing that you like on a stranger in the street, you won’t need to go up to them to ask, your device will be finding out for you.
There’s the potential for a host of different apps to be made available using this technology in the future.
The scientist explained: ‘These innovations are happening now. I think there’s a real desire for people to have better informed choices about fashion and there’s a whole sustainability angle there’.
And it’s not just clothing – standalone 5G has the potential to transform other sectors of our lives such as entertainment and sport.
Ultra-personalised, made on-demand cosmetics could become mainstream within the next ten years.
Using apps on your smartphone, you’ll be able to scan your own skin or a colour you want to match on-the-go and then create a bespoke beauty product, such as a lipstick, using a combination of 5G, 3D printing and AI technologies.
He reveals that trainers could have a 5G-enabled chip built inside them, which will communicate to other people who have the same thing when you walk past them (stock image)
This will create less wastage, as people only produce the shade and amount they need by sending a digital request to a pop-up 3D printing concession in a department store, which can then print the product in as little as three minutes.
Mr Grill claimed these technologies will be more sustainable, as brands and consumers only order and manufacture exactly what shoppers need, in made-to-measure sizes and recyclable packaging.
He explained: ‘I think if you actually allow the end user to have some control over these things, brands aren’t being wasteful by printing and manufacturing products no one wants.
‘They actually will love this, because then they’re hearing, oh, okay, actually this shade that we didn’t even think about is really popular because people can choose it themselves’.
Scientists also claim 5G SA network could have the potential tonchange the way you watch your favourite TV shows.
The chips will hold data on your individual style, your preferences, budget and lifestyle, and collect insights on what new ‘looks’ similar shoppers are trying out (stock image)
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The report explains that this could happen with shows like ITV’s Love Island, for example, which attracts millions of British viewers every year.
In the future, during the programme, viewers could select, on their smart phone or TV, which pair of contestants they want to ‘couple up’.
Then thanks to a 5G SA network, producers will be able to use real life footage of the contestants alongside AI-generated content to generate endless different, personalised outcomes based on the choices of the viewer – blending the real-life elements of the show with AI-generated life-like scenarios.
Mr Grill said: ‘Using AI, you may actually be able to create your own virtual coupling because the video and voice cloning will be so good.
‘It sounds far-fetched and my job as a futurist is to have a look at things that are not too crazy. But right now I’ve actually cloned my own voice and I’m starting to play with video cloning.
He admitted: ‘It looks really close to the real thing, so we’re not far away from on demand at broadcast quality’.
As well as this, on-the-go entertainment could be as more accessible than ever, with palm-sized devices projecting images and video onto any available surfaces.
With sport, for example football, offside decision-making and incorrect Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decisions could beome a thing of the past.
SA-powered chips in match balls, players’ boots and on pitches, coupled with multiple live feed angles, shot from robotic agile cameras, which fans can access from their smart phones, will make VAR redundant.
Mr Grill said: ‘5G Standalone is not a technology of the future. It is here now, and green shoots of game-changing innovation are emerging.
‘What I’m most excited about is how these innovations will change the pastimes and hobbies we cherish most in the UK, and will have an impact on people up and down the country when a nationwide 5G SA network is introduced’.
CEO of Vodafone UK, Ahmed Essam said: ‘The predictions highlight the growing need for 5G SA infrastructure in the UK, which Vodafone UK is committed to delivering.
‘As part of its proposed merger with Three UK, it has pledged to invest £11 billion over the next 10 years and deliver 5G SA to 99% of the UK population by 2034.’
