Toward people-driven IT

The 3D Internet will provide communication with a new dimension

“Technology – and particularly the internet - will alleviate many problems in the future – from the challenges of climate change to the loneliness of senior citizens and clashes between different cultures.´

This is the view expressed by Oulu technology expert Juha Hulkko, who began to think seriously about the internet and its content and potential a couple of years ago when he left an executive position at Elektrobit Corporation. “Of course technology will not solve problems at once; progress will be gradual,´ he says.

Technology-driven rather than people-driven

“People´s natural way to function and communicate has developed over tens of thousands of years. Today´s Information Technology, however, forces them to do things in nnatural and complicated way. For years, Microsoft and other big players have set up de facto standards how people interface with computers and internet. In the internet, all websites from online banks to entertainment operate with a different logic. At present, IT works to a great extent from the perspective of its developers. And its complexity from end user point of view has also increased steadily over the years,´ explains Hulkko.

In other words, people are no longer masters of Information Technology. As the internet expanded, we lost control. And there´s also an abundance of information available. “Even if you know what information is correct, you always have to consider how to access it via the various services available.´ Hulkko points out and wonders why we are always alone on the internet. People are social by nature. Existing internet does not support that much.

The internet is obviously full of various communication media like Messenger or Skype, but they are all isolated from each other and we still travel from place to place to be able to communicate. So how could we make IT more useful and thereby harness technology to assist us in many of today´s problems? Juha Hulkko found the answer – on the internet. The model must be sought from the way people naturally communicate.

In the future, there must be a visual, even 3D web where interaction and communication media are possible on people´s terms and not the other way around.

One world, one interface

Hulkko´s vision of the future internet led him to bring together a group of young people, talented experts and providers of funding. They began by developing realXtend – a technology platform based on an open source code. The point of departure was Second Life, launched in 2003 by Linden Lab.

“It´s a virtual world in which first lives and second lives are kept separate. I think we have only one life, and we all try to live it in our own way. The idea behind realXtend is to provide assistance and tools in our real life, rather than to build a second one.´ Hulkko´s dream is to use IT in the future via a simple, avatar-based interface. “realXtend avatar is an extension of you on the internet, a mirror image that you as the user control as naturally as possible. Technically, this will take place via cameras, sensors and software and will of course require years of development.´

Hulkko says that the aim of web technologies in the future will be to enable people to use their natural competence to interact with their environment and with other people.

“When you go to a home appliance store via the internet, you´d enter a space resembling a real store. Employees of international companies could meet their customers without physical travel and senior citizens living alone could visit their children elsewhere in the world. This would reduce physical movement from place to place´, Hulkko points out. To sum up, this scenario is presently being implemented by realXtend, a free platform in which anyone interested can work out their own applications and solutions. The point of departure is a natural interface through which people can use a variety of applications and services.

“realXtend is free, because I believe that people are no longer willing to pay for tools. They are, however, ready to pay for real content and service. We can all determine the value of that service ourselves´.

Juha Hulkko is one of the key figures behind Oulu´s technological expertise and hi-tech reputation. He is still a member of the board of Elektrobit Corporation, which he founded, and its major shareholder. He was also involved in setting up the internationally renowned CWC (Center for Wireless Technologies) at the University of Oulu.