How Corning Is Ushering in the 'Glass Age'

Do you remember that scene in The Graduate when Dustin Hoffman is talking to a friend's father, a salesman. "I just want to say one word to you. Just one word," he tells Hoffman. "Plastics."

That quote came back to me last week when I attended a Corning-sponsored symposium at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley about glass. A clip they showed (below) made me think that if The Graduate was made today, that salesman might have urged Hoffman to get into glass instead of plastics.

This short video looks back in history and details the various ages when materials and technology became important to mankind's progress. From the Stone Age to the Space Age, the clip shows how these various times in history defined the role technology has played in creating the world we have today.

The video ends by suggesting that we are now in the Glass Age, given the role that glass plays in so many buildings, automobiles, computers, smartphones, and thousands of other applications around the world. It goes on to show how innovations in glass are needed to deliver stronger and more durable products in all types of things, and how Corning is advancing this with next-generation Gorilla Glass, among other things.

Until I saw this video, it did not even occur to me that I carry a large piece of glass in my pocket every day. Various speakers at the symposium, which included folks from Microsoft, Google, eBay, Intel, and Dolby Labs, as well as groundbreaking startups, research universities, and creative consultants, pointed out that glass is at the heart of some of the most spectacular innovations shaping the modern world. It was clear from listening to these speakers that Corning is driving the conversation among top companies who are bringing those inventions to life. The company and its partners showed how they are working together to create a community of folks who share this vision and are working to address things that matter for people such as health, communication, entertainment, and just about anything that can use glass in one form or another. 

I was introduced to Corning's thinking about the future of glass when I stumbled on some YouTube videos it produced in 2011 and 2012. The clips show a futuristic view of how glass is used to get a family ready for their day and how they use various see-through and interactive screens. It is worth watching, as it gives one an interesting perspective on what could happen with this technology in the future.

I was fascinated by Corning's vision and have watched how it shares or advances the ideas represented in these videos. In fact, when I did the major session on disruptive technologies at CES 2013, I invited a senior executive from Corning to speak, and he showed bendable and rollable sheets of glass that could be used in a lot of futuristic applications.

Last week's symposium—the third based on ideas Corning introduced in its futuristic "A Day Made of Glass" videos—drew more than 200 leaders to explore new possibilities that breakthroughs in technology and materials science are now making possible. 

One good example of how glass is shaping the future of retail can be found in New York and San Francisco where—with support from eBay— shops have installed interactive dressing rooms with Corning Gorilla Glass touch screens doubling as high-fidelity mirrors.

Shoppers can request a different size or color through these screens, as well as see accessories to accent the outfit they're trying on. Healey Cypher, head of retail innovation for eBay and a symposium panelist, also fielded questions in a mock-up of the dressing room. He said the idea came straight from Corning's video.

"We saw it and said, 'Wow! We need to do that!'" he told attendees.

Another popular demonstration, from View, featured windows that respond to changing light conditions, dramatically improving building efficiency by blocking 97 percent of outside heat and glare. Dr. Rao Mulpuri, the CEO of View, said Corning's pristine glass surfaces provide the perfect substrate for View specialty coatings. View now has installations in more than 100 large buildings worldwide, and has at least 100 more installations in the works.

In moderating one of the panel discussions, Corning senior vice president Dr. Jeff Evenson mentioned the trend of self-driving cars. Jeff asked the audience if they'd consider flying in pilotless aircraft navigated from the ground, especially in light of several recent high-profile plane crashes. About three-quarters of the audience members raised hands, which reflects what panelist Dr. Bill Buxton from Microsoft Research called "trustification," or the notion that people are placing more trust in technology than ever before, and a reminder that innovators must spend their efforts in ways that advance the public good.

Keynote speaker Brian David Johnson, futurist and principal engineer from Intel, noted that Corning's videos helped establish some priorities for future innovations, simply by showing a family going through its day.

"Technology is all about people," he said. "How we use all this intelligence to make their lives better? How can we make them happier, healthier, safer, more sustainable, more entertained? If we hold ourselves to that bar, it's a great start."

According to Johnson, "Corning has given people a new future to imagine. Nothing great was ever built by human beings that was not first imagined. Together we must imagine a future far more awesome than what we have today – and if we believe the vision, we can push ourselves to achieve it."

What struck me the most about this event, and more specifically, what Corning is doing by pushing its partners and the tech industry forward, is how important partnerships are in bringing about technological changes that impact our future. I have seen that happen for decades, but this symposium was an interesting reminder about what can happen when a company is open to sharing ideas.

It also pushed me to really look at glass in a different way. To be truthful, most of my writing and thoughts about glass have been focused on its impact in mobile. But as this symposium showed, futuristic glass that can bend, roll, or serve as see-through tablets, among other things, pushed me to become more aware of how glass in all forms has become a critical part of our lives.

As an aside, the event took place at the Computer History Museum, which is one of the real gems in the tech world. Thanks to a donation by Bill Gates, it has a new, special exhibit called "Revolution- The First 2,000 Years of Computing," and it is a great showcase that includes many early computing devices that for a lot of us bring back interesting memories. If you are in the Bay Area or visiting it in the near future, it is worth dropping this great museum and especially checking out this new exhibit.