Dal mondo analogico all'hyper-reality. I cambiamenti urbani, sociali e tecnologici del nuovo millennio

The last decade has represented one of the most significant periods and a turning point in the evolution of the planet. The advancement of technological innovation has always marked in the history of moments of strong change for society, economy, health, culture and the environment. There are numerous technological discoveries that have changed modern society, however with the studies undertaken since the 1960s, one more than the other has represented a point of no return: the Internet and the birth of the WWW. An epochal event that has revolutionized the way of living, working, buying, learning, communicating, entertaining. And while on the one hand this tool has opened up infinite development prospects for the contemporary and future world, on the other it has become so deeply rooted in the everyday life of today’s society. The vicious circle triggered by social networks goes beyond the desire for news and knowledge, activating a mechanism of dependence that envelops and isolates the individual in a sort of parallel virtual reality. The mechanism of dependence triggered by the passage of the analogical world to the virtual one is unparalleled in the history of humanity. There is no forecast of the future in which society’s addiction to technologies is not imagined. In this current and revolutionary historical, it is not surprising that there is a strong scepticism and fear of a future perspective in which addiction to technologies destabilizes society and human feelings. At this point of no return we can only ask ourselves what the boundary that technology will reach in the next decade, Gartner tries to answer this question by publishing its “Emerging Technology Trends” every year report. In 2019, it focuses attention on technological trends that will develop their full potential in the next 5/10 years. These are trends related to sensors and mobility, "augmented human”, biochip, AR Cloud which will provide a “digital copy” of the real world, post-classical computing and communication, digital ecosystems, editing of the human genome, advanced analysis and artificial intelligence. As futurist Gerd Leonhard says: «We are at a crucial junction in technological evolution. The change will become exponential, inevitable and irreversible. It is our last chance to decide how far we will allow technology to shape our lives» (Leonhard, 2016). The article will offer a reflection on the dynamics that have involved and distorted the last decade, focusing on the consequences that the transition to a hyper-technological and hyper-connected world could cause.