I have to hit the road tomorrow on a four-day trip. It’s the first time in weeks that I have to be away from home and I am dreading it. I’ve read that many office jobs have migrated to the home in this past year. There are conflicting reports, but a lot of people agree that many of jobs will never return to the office. For many people, the new norm of conducting business in your pajamas, all day every day, is here to stay.
Zoom Technologies, along with other virtual environment platforms are adding new features to make the virtual office environment more like the in-person environment. There is even a technology that allows a 3-D holographic representation of oneself to appear in the office with the poor suckers who still make the morning commute (I would make mine a loop of me looking very focused on a computer screen and saying, “Not now, I’m busy!”).
I know a lot of people would love to get back in the office and interact with humans in-person. If I worked in an office, that would not be me. I have discovered over the last year that I really like being in my own house. When I am hungry, I walk to the fridge. When I am bored, I have my stuff to keep me occupied. When I feel drowsy in the middle of the day, I take a nap. Basically, I have discovered the life of a household pet is the life for me. It got me thinking: What if all the jobs go virtual, including piloting.
Sure, there are all kinds of drone pilots now, but they don’t fly commercial airlines… yet. When they do, I may have to sign up. I think it would be great to greet people getting on the airplane as an avatar of myself. I’d be clean shaven, in a pressed uniform (I’d give myself a better build, a stronger jaw, and a flowing mane of hair). Meanwhile, the real me would be sitting at home, in my bathrobe, eating stale pizza crusts and smelling like a week-old Tuesday.
This may sound scary to you as a passenger, the idea that one or both of your pilots are holograms. How about this, though? Your pilots will be totally relaxed and in their own environment, so if there is a stressful situation, like an engine-fire, they won’t be burning up braincells by worrying about their own comfort. Also, they won’t be “all wrapped up” in their own mortality, so they can give full attention to the problem at hand. (Except when the game is on: if someone is hitting a homerun, catching a touchdown, or shooting a goal, then the emergency can wait; I mean, the game is on man!).
I know every futurist is thinking, “Oh, it’s just a matter of time before there are pilot-less planes, flyboy, your job is going away. One way or another, maybe 10 years, maybe 30 years, maybe 50 years, this is going to happen. Don’t fight it.” Here is what I will propose. At some point in the future, yes, the technology will be in place so that pilots won’t be needed. The pilots, willingly or otherwise, will be at home in their pajamas. But I am convinced there will be a place for me and everyone else. You see, if things keep trending the way they are, virtual reality will be even more amazing than it is now. So, people will decide they aren’t flying anywhere, they are just slipping on the virtual reality goggles and staying in their own homes.
So, I know what you are thinking, “Well if nobody is flying anywhere, they won’t need any pilots of any kind.” Ahh, that’s where you’re wrong, guy-who-sees-the-future. Since people like what they already know, they aren’t going to want to create a whole imaginary new infrastructure of how things are done in their virtual world. If they have a virtual business meeting in Boston and they live in LA, they are still going to want to get on a virtual plane and have a virtual flight across the virtual country. The only difference is that on virtual flights, there will be no delays (unless you want them). That’s where I come in: as a pilot of the virtual planes that fly virtual people back in forth. In fact, my job will be just one of many in the new virtual world economy.
The virtual businessman will ride to work in a virtual cab, driven by a virtual cab driver. When he gets to the virtual airport, he will have to go through the virtual TSA run by virtual TSA agents (except you can carry as much virtual liquid as you want, so load up on virtual shampoo). He’ll stop at the virtual Starbucks and get a virtual coffee (there will even be a virtual jerk who cuts in line), and then he’ll be greeted by a virtual gate agent, etc. You get the point. Everything will be the exact same as it is now, except everyone will be working virtually, from home, in their pajamas, with their Oculus on or whatever, and surrounded by an empty-walled apartment and stale Cheetos.
Wow. I think I just created a terrible version of the Matrix. I am not sure if I like this world at all. I don’t want this. Yes, I hate dragging a bag through the airport. Yes, I hate not sleeping in my own bed. Yes, I hate not being able to fly in my boxers, but this virtual world sucks! I think the purpose of writing this was just to convince myself to pull it together and pack for my four-day trip. It’s hard to go to work sometimes but is better than this virtual alternative. I’ll go fly real airplanes, everyone else, go buy real plane tickets and go somewhere for real. Hell. Go ahead and wear your pajama pants, I know half of you were going to anyway.
