We live in a chaotic time of changing paradigms, including 5G, autonomous driving, IoT, and AI. As the massive whirlwind of these new concepts overwhelms us, what these technologies may bring to our lives and the world can seem almost frightening.
Looking back, there was no era free from chaos and change. About a decade ago or more, it was the wave of the Internet. It made us anxious about missing the timing and failing to lead the paradigm because we might fall behind.
But today, we’re faring quite well in this age of complex interactions between online and offline worlds. How about a few centuries ago? How did the people who were afraid of the new age unfolded by science balance themselves and find their ways? With these questions, I browsed through several books. After reading How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World, I was able to find a clue.
The book explains how six innovations—glass, cleanliness, light, refrigeration, sound, and time—were conceived, transformed, and affected human lives. For instance, the ice maker was invented by a doctor to lower malaria patients’ fevers. It later developed into refrigerators and other similar cold storage systems. What I learned from the book is that the significant scientific inventions that influenced the world were not only the products of one person’s ingenuity. They were the aggregate sum of long-term collective intelligence, from multiple social phenomena and convergence with other inventions. The sparks or triggers that set off such evolutionary processes were not only related to science or technology, but human affection and passion for helping their family, friends, colleagues, and patients.
What are such triggers for display manufacturers in the massive paradigm shift of 5G, AI, autonomous driving, and IoT? In the end, finding the trigger for setting off the technology that transforms the world amid the wide range of choices—OLED, LCD, Micro LED, and QLED—is predicated on analyzing the change in lifestyle patterns and discovering what people want or consider inconvenient, then implementing them technologically. To the investors in charge or IR, I asked what they will demand from display in the world permeated by 5G, AI, autonomous driving, and IoT.
In the age of IoT and AI, every object will be digitalized and communicate with humans based on AI, as does Alexa. The brain of an AI object is equipped with semiconductors, but its interface is created with displays. If the display becomes the face of AI devices, they must take multiple forms and be able to speak. Sound, touch, and various other sensors must be converged. Customizing sizes according to users’ needs will be a basic option, and portable formats will also be required.
In the age of autonomous driving, rest and entertainment inside cars are going to be emphasized. The role of the display will also become the most important. Diverse needs such as optimal design for automobile spaces (flexibility), transparency, and internalization of sound will be applied to display.
When the world is covered by displays, will you and your family’s eyes be safe from long-term exposure? When I asked questions about the future, many responses included concerns about their health.
These responses can be summarized as follows.
At the moment, the only mass-produced technology that can meet all these needs is OLED. Other technologies only satisfy some of these demands.
How does OLED make all these possible? With spontaneous emission, it doesn’t require a backlight, which makes it simpler for multi-function convergence and shifting formats. This strength is going to be perfect for advancing to various markets outside the existing TV, IT, or mobile industry. The simplicity of spontaneous emission may infinitely increase the possibility of pioneering new markets. The discussion with the investors ended with these questions and answers.
