By Futurist Thomas Frey
The Commute That Changed Everything
It’s Tuesday morning, 2031. Jennifer Mitchell climbs into her autonomous Tesla for the daily commute from Oakland to San Francisco. But instead of scrolling through email or zoning out to a podcast, she taps her phone and selects “1906 Earthquake Tour.”
The car’s audio system comes alive with the voice of a narrator as they cross the Bay Bridge.
“Just ahead, beneath these waters, lies the wreckage of the ferry terminal that collapsed during the quake. Over there—” the system highlights a point on her window with a subtle AR overlay “—that’s where the fire started that would burn for three days, consuming more of the city than the earthquake itself.”
As they enter the city, the overlay intensifies. Ghostly outlines of destroyed buildings appear on her screen, superimposed over the modern skyline. Historical photos fade in and out. Survivor testimonies play as they pass locations where people huddled in refugee camps.
Fifteen minutes later, Jennifer switches to “Tech History Tour.” Now the same streets tell a different story: the garage where Hewlett and Packard started their company, the hotel where Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, the coffee shop where Instagram was conceived.
Same geography. Infinite narratives.
This is the future of driving. Or rather, the future of being driven.
Continue reading… “Every Drive Becomes a Tour: How Geography-Overlay Apps Will Transform Self-Driving Cars Into Time Machines”
