Software Engineering; Past, Present, and Future

03 Sep 2020

I wasn’t always interested in software engineering. Initially I had always wanted to be an aerospace engineer; designing planes, making them more efficient. That didn’t pan out as well, I wasn’t able to keep up with the studies and one thing led to another ending with me dropping out of my first college. I did find a new interest during the times after, computers. Well, I had an interest in computer mainly gaming but I began to see it as a career option. Fixing and troubleshooting was what first came to mind, simple and nessecary, something that I have being doing for my family. Still feeling the sting from my failure, I decided to enroll into Kapiolani Community college. There were a couple of classes that was focused primarily on problem solving via coding and there it was that I found out the career I want to be in, programming. Programming feels a lot like an open ended puzzle, there are multiple ways to get to the end. After I graduated with an Associate in Information Technology, I decided that I needed for formal experience in the computer science field.

Nowadays I’m still studying and working my way towards a bachelor degree, the classes are a bit tough and the current situation is stressing everyone out. The more I learn about computer science the more I know where my interest lies. I want to work towards the future of visual information, where data and informations are printed out in real life. Augmented reality is vast field that need improvement, right now I believe the technology isn’t quite there yet. Sure we have games and small application but it is limited to our display like a phone or a projector. There are so much application that can be utilized; interactive map guide, real time simulator, holograms. This is one specialization I would like to be in, another one is close neighbor if not the same field.

Virtual reality, don’t like the rules of this world? just hop into another one for a hour or two. It’s an escape from the norms, the everyday life that one repeat. I’m an avid video game player, I enjoy experiencing the fantasy world where magic get toss around like it’s nobody’s business. But so far it’s only been via a screen or through words. Not very immersive. Being able to learn programming skill will enable me to potentially build a virtual world with my rules. Virtual reality isn’t only for games, just a major application of it so far, it can allow someone who is physically unable to experience something different or relive their memories. I’m pretty sure there are plenty different application and implementation for virtual reality like haptic feedback. More research could lead to feeding directly to the conscious.

While these are the fields I want to be in, only the future knows what’s the outcome would be. So far based on my knowledge, I’m still a long ways away.