In 1970, the World Exposition was held in Osaka in Japan and as part of the event, two time capsules were filled with objects representing the life and technology of the day. The capsules were sealed and buried and one was to remain undisturbed for 5000 years, while the other was to be checked on in 30 years and 100 years after that. The objects placed in the capsules included an Olympus Pen FT which was found to be in perfect working order when one of the capsules was opened and resealed in 2000*. It is almost impossible to imagine what people will make of this camera when the capsule is next opened in 2100, let alone in 5000 years time! In the three decades since the capsules were originally buried, camera technology has progressed at an almost unimaginable pace. Perhaps in 2100, they will put another camera in the time capsule to keep the Pen FT company, but what on earth would it be like?

My vision for 100 years from now is of a tiny camera, worn almost like a piece of jewellery, say a ring or necklace. Being so small, it will of course be an Oly as Canon will have gone out of business, having been left behind in the race for smaller sensors. It will 'talk' wirelessly to the viewfinder which will be either a contact lens inserted in the eye, or a pair of sleek glasses, where one of the lenses will become the viewfinder when switched on. Camera lens focal length will be automatically adjusted by the action of the eye (squint for zoom, open wide for wide angle), but I don't know how the shutter would be triggered. Pictures taken could be viewed in 3d via the two lenses in the glasses (though walking while doing so would not be advisable!) Got any ideas for the shutter? A twitch of the nose perhaps, or via speech - "snap". No, kids would walk past you shouting "snap, snap, snap..." and fill your memory card. Although that won't be a problem as the memory card will probably hold 30,000 football-pitch sized pictures (good grief, how will we print them?)! Oh my imagination is running away...

* Source: Olympus's Global website http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/magazine/pursuit/feature_article/july2005/index.cfm