Considering DCC has been around for about 25 years, and none of the technologies you are describing were not invented or mainstream then - DCC looks pretty good.
I retired from the computer industry after 33 years about 4 years ago. Just give the industry time to shrink the product and the cost..
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
As a 30+ year veteran of the computer software and hardware industry (I currently work for Intel; my opinions are my own), I have a pretty good read on what's coming down the pike (sorry for the pun, couldn't resist) in electronics.
It has always struck me that DCC is an incredibly complex way to run a railroad. Yes, it gets the job done, but modern wireless technology leaves DCC in the dust.
Consider that you can buy an ARM-based wireless Linux PC with I/O for less than $10 (much less in some cases!). Assuming you can learn what Linux is and connect it to your home PC, isn't that cheap enough that many of us can consider putting a unit in every car and locomotive and wiring in electrically-driven couplers?
AFA sound, I, frankly, do not favor locomative-based speakers. I'd much rather see true ground-pounding sound coming from a Dolby surround-sound system than a tinny little 1" high tweeter. PBL had the right idea, but even more if we can use real-time position identification so that your headset gets only the sounds of the hardware near your train.It's important to catch the trends in development, especially high-volume consumer and industrial trends. Embedded boards for the Internet of Things are The Next Big Thing(tm) and, as I said, they're getting dirt cheap.I haven't even begun to get into what augmented virtual reality can do for us... can you smell the smoke and see the brakeman throw the switch?