The Bank of America teams up MIT’s MediaLab to set up a Center for Future Banking. The new center will operate with a $3-5m annual budget for a period of five years and

“… explore new ideas in banking by inventing technologies that reveal and leverage insights across a wide range of physical and social scales, from one-on-one customer interactions to global transactions. Researchers will address such questions as: ‘How can every customer be empowered with the knowledge and tools to take better control of their financial futures?’ ‘How will banking interactions evolve as a customer’s physical and virtual worlds become completely intertwined?’ and ‘How will social networks and mobile platforms transform customers’ banking experiences, making it easier, more convenient, and better integrated with their daily lives?’.”

Prof. Deb Roy, Chair of MIT’s academic program in media arts & sciences who will lead the project, says:

“We will create a focus of intellectual energy that brings together researchers with radically different perspectives, including behavioral economists, social scientists, computer scientists, psychologists, designers, and others who share a passion for invention. It’s a recipe for producing unexpected new ideas that will trigger significant innovations in the world of banking.”

The world of banking is changing drastically, not only from within, but in major ways also under influence of external developments, which pose new challenges for existing players in the field as well as opportunities for new ones. For example, on the ‘cheap end of innovation’, discount banks popping up everywhere are forcing many players to change their businesses and offer added value in new innovative ways. Worldwide, local and networked communities are stepping up to fill gaps left by the business players and open new markets, introduce new (or redress old) models also in the banking sector. While still marginal now, initiatives such as Zopa, a p2p online loan bank, or community bank Umpqua (experience-designed by Ziba), but also initiatives such as the Grameen Foundation‘s microfinancing model (see also a previous post), the Children’s Development Bank by Butterflies in India, investing in kidpreneurs show the changing face of banking and the mechanisms behind it. As customers become pickier and more demanding, technology offers new possibilities and banks realize customer-centred reasoning pas off, many future-oriented initiatives of existing banks are focusing on improving the overall customer experience through better, more human-centred design of their spaces and products. See for example Deutsche Bank’s Q110 bank of the future. They also aim to enhance simplicity, flexibility and customer enjoyment.

Feel free also to check out this (slightly dated) IBM podcast on the future of banking (or read the transcript).

Catching up on some stuff waiting in our ‘drafts’ folder for a little too long, here is a belated post concerning WIRED’s Nextfest festival of last september. With a baseline reading Experience the future, it obviously attracted our attention.

The future of … 12 themes was explored in 12 pavillions, by exhibiting a series of innovative developments – technologies – in the domains of communication, design, education, entertainment, exploration, green, health, play, robotics, security and transportation.

Four videos were posted recently, labeled The future of design, yet it are the technologies developed through design, which are really at the center of attention rather than the profession of ‘design’ itself, its applications, roles, ways and means, tools, methods and techniques, etc. (see also here). Nextfest sees design as ‘the way we shape and communicate with the world around us’.

Lifestyle shows the e-taf automatic door by Tanaka Seisakusho, Alvaro Cassinelli’s Khronos projector (we covered here), the wine-m winerack by ThingM, PerceptivePixel’s multitouch wall (we covered here, here), the YouTube Mirror developed at the Courant Institute at NYU (also by Jeff Han), InformationLab’s Cellphone Disco,

Robotics features Kiyomori by Tmsuk, Chroino by Kyoto University’s RoboGarage, WL-16 bipedal robot by Waseda University in Tokyo.

Transportation features FastTrack’s Amphibian, the WheelSurf, the AirScooter II, Greg Kolodziejzyk’s Critical Power HPV, CuteCircuit’s Interactive fashion (we covered here).
Mind and body shows Aksioma’s Brain loop, StepintoFun’s BodyBug,  d3o lab’s D3O shock absorbing material.

Several designs/gadgets seem to be on display at Nextfest for several editions in a row. In this fast-paced world, it is hard to imagine a lack of future-oriented designs to fill an exhibition?

In the recently released scifi movie Jumper, a young man is able to teleport himself from one place to another in the blink of an eye. Hollywood publicist Warren Betts organized an evening putting on stage director Doug Liman and actor Hayden Christensen to meet & discuss with MIT physics professors Dr. Max Tegmark and Dr. Edward Fahri.

In physics teleportation stands for the transfer of quantum states from one atom to another. No Star Trek ‘Beam me up, Scotty’ yet, though progress is being made at the atomic level.

“Dr. Tegmark said that even inaccurate science fiction movies could inspire scientists to think. You could see something that you think is impossible, he said, but that might start you thinking. “Why is that impossible? It can trigger a train of thought,” he said.”

This resonates somehow with Nicolas‘ line ‘I do really prefer reading sci-fi, instead of so-called “futurists”.’ a while ago. The element of plot, narrative, the immersion & the engagement factor etc. are all elements central to the different way in which people deal with information differently when presented as an experience vs. as a rational series of info/data to process. Different kinds of triggers and carrier waves lie at the basis of different trains of thought.

Via The New York Times

Part two of our 2057 coverage. This time: 2057, the city. We bathe in datastreams as we walk through our city. Cars, streets & clothing exchange data around the clock and act intelligently to support us in whatever we do.

Read on … (more…)

From February 1st until March 30th, FACT – the Foundation for Art & Creative Technology in Liverpool – is organising the exhibition ‘sk-interfaces’.

“A groundbreaking exhibition on the uncertain limits between art and science, sk-interfaces explores, materially and metaphorically, the concept of skin as a technological interface. This multi-disciplinary exhibition launches FACT’s Human Futures programme.”

The Human Futures programme is divided into 4 main themes myBody (the biological environment and our relationship to the body), myMind (the digital environment and our relationship to artificial life), myWorld (the physical world and our relationship to the natural and built environment). The MyBody programme to be kickstarted with sk-interfaces, also includes film evenings (e.g. Peter Greenaway’s “The Pillow Book“ on Feb 6, “ORLAN, Carnal Art“ on Feb 27, “Strange culture“ on March 19).

Among the work on showcase at sk-interfaces are “designer hymens by medical artist Julia Reodica [vivolabs], a coat made of blended skin cultures by legendary French artist ORLAN, Jun Takita‘s model brain infused with glowing moss, and biotechnological ‘leather’ growing in the galleries by the Tissue Culture & Art Project“. The exhibition is curated by bio-art specialist Jens Hauser, tapping into science, politics, philosophy and architecture.

On February 8th and 9th, a conference will provide the forum for a more in depth discussion of aesthetic, philosophical, scientific and medical.

The notions of technology moving from 3rd (building, e.g. ambient intelligence) to 2nd (clothing, e.g. smart textiles) to first skin (e.g. dermal interfaces) to within (e.g. implants) is a powerful stimulant for future-oriented thought dealing not only with issues of new patterns of interaction etc. but also of notions of identity, humanity etc.

Although we live in an age where the visual still seems to dominate most of our other senses, shifts are taking place towards a more holistic usage of our sensory apparatus. It is fascinating to see what kind of effects this might have on our behaviour and ways of interaction with the world around us, if we take it a few steps further. For example, how might the use of smell change our world if it becomes a feature addressed explicitly and intelligently?

As a matter of fact, aromatherapy gets another boost, as scientists from Tel Aviv University have discovered a possible biological link between (loss of) smell and depression (see article).

“Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume,” explains researcher Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld, [...] “We also believe that depression has biological roots and may be an immune system response to certain physiological cues.”

While ‘moodsprays’ are already in use in shopping centres to stimulate people’s ‘buying mood’, also other applications are making their way into mainstream use. Happiness inducing fragrances, i.e. perfumes with alleged anti-depressant bio-nutrients, such as Smiley (an Ora-ïto design), are appearing on the shelves. Writing utensils producer Pentel puts smell into its pencils in order to enhance brain performance / mental capacity to people while studying. Also in computing, digital scent technologies are making headways (think: smell across the internet).
As smell offers another pathway into people’s experience, one that appears to run deep (e.g. smell is among the most powerful pathways into our memories), it would be interesting to explore how it could be used to bring future scenarios to life in new ways.

Few experiences awaken a dialogue with possible futures ahead of us, or renders them tangible via a change of perspective as well as describing ‘a day in the life of’ a person x years ahead in time.

At Pantopicon, we often challenge our clients (as well as students) to shed today’s skin and crawl into that of somebody else in a tomorrow’s world: a client, a citizen, a farmer, a dentist, etc. As they engage in describing as meticulously – and poetically – as possible, the events, actions and sensations throughout a day in the life of that someone in some distant future, their minds are stretched beyond the barriers of current-day assumptions, inspired by future possibilities, threats and challenges. While, as an exercise  already being a revealing and rewarding experience in itself, the results as such can be made tangible in various ways (e.g. illustrated maps, timelines, storyboards, videos, …), sharing, communicating with and feeding further reflection and dialogue.

Irene Pereyra & Tom Klinkowstein recently presented their “day in the life of a networked designer’s smart things or a day in a designer’s networked smart things, 2030″ at the Pratt Institute. The project was made for the Singapore Design Festival and deals with an imagined designer’s day, anno 2030. Irene & Tom created a diary like wall-sized map taking the viewer on a day’s journey through the life of a designer as if sitting on her shoulder and reading the world through her mind’s eye. A smart-tech-infused future comes to life through the experience of the designer via a fascinating, diverse yet integrated storyline.

The full map can be viewed as a pdf here.

Smashing Magazine brings together some user interface design trends which are likely to become more mainstream in the short to midterm future. Examples (mostly not at all that new) include 3D projection and interaction systems such as Vizoo’s Cheoptics360, interactice tabletop interfaces such as reactable or Microsoft’s Surface, perceptivepixel‘s multi-touch screens, photobased 3D space reconstruction Microsoft’s Photosynth, 3D desktop interface BumpTop.

Via Slashdot

The ever-inspiring design firm IDEO put together a nice concept video of a UMPC (UltraMobilePC) future for Intel. Focus is clearly on the possibilities and enabling factors of the technology and a tiny bit on its impact on some aspects of social life (e.g. headphone parties). It shows much less how ‘the future’ (or futures) as a new context influences the design, features or usage of the technology. Yet the video does show once more how strong the impact is of making the future (products and services) tangible. As such the video is definitely a springboard for discussion.

Via NoiseBetweenStations

For a long time, Japan has been aware of a tremendous challenge it faces, which is the rapid ageing of its population. Instead of focusing unilaterally on medicine, medical care, labor and social security system innovations, as many countries do, Japan has been investing heavily in robotics and cybernetics in order to amplify and expand its shrinking ‘human’ workforce as well as help to cater for the needs of elderly.

“What would it be like to live in a world in which robotic assistants are ubiquitous?”, was a question burning in the back of Martin Postler‘s mind. Starting at the Kyoto University of Arts and finishing it at the Royal College of Arts Design Products Department, he ran a project titled “Life/Machines”.

“Life Machines engages with the question of how an ageing population’s needs can be met through technology. It investigates a possible future society in which humans and robots coexist in domestic spaces and asks what issues arise in a symbiotic relationship between humans and technology. Questions about what kind of compromises and adjustments will have to be made are explored through scenarios of everyday routines in the relationship of an ageing individual and a robot. The design of domestic objects that reflect the needs of both machines and humans becomes a tool for exploring the human condition and our fascination with using technology to recreate ourselves.”

In a fascinating, very tangible and confronting way, the project gives a what if look into a possible future, questioning both the human and robotic condition. Several contextual themes shaped by human needs such as nutrition, hygiene and leisure are addressed.

Note: Do check out also PostlerFerguson’s other fascinating work on their website. As a matter of fact they also exhibited new work on futures of food during London’s Design Week in an exhibition titled “The future on your plate” at Designersblock07.

Via WeMakeMoneyNotArt, image courtesy of Martin Postler

The present can be a great stimulant to think about the future. A high emotional response to the rights and wrongs today is a powerful way to enhance contrast between the present and the future, to think further ahead, to be less bound by today’s reality, while staying in context.

John Berger once said: “We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.” Edward Burtynsky chose to look at our planet there where our impact on its landscape is strongly visible. He lets us look through his eye and judge for ourselves.

As a movie, Manufactured landscapes won the 2007 Genie Award for Best Documentary. Some of the amazing imagery reminds of Godfrey Reggio’s famous Qatsi trilogy.

Photo by Edward Burtynsky

Finally got it online, Serge. Thanks again for the pointer.

We all know that statistics can reveal interesting things. While their data might be revealing in itself, it is the information in terms of correlations and comparisons that best illustrate statistics added value. But the way in which we ‘communicate’ and ‘experience’ statistics makes all the difference.

Many books have been written on the topic of the visualization and communication of statistics, such as the marvellous works of Edward Tufte (e.g. the visual display of quantitative information, visual explanations: images and quantities, evidence and narrative). Statistics can tell stories and stories – because they contextualize, they bring closer and render abstractions tangible, experiencable – can influence actions, decisions.

In his second talk at TED, Professor of International Health at the renowned Swedish Karolinska Institutet, and co-founder of GapMinder (now part of Google Tools), Hans Rosling shows how statistics can tell their stories in a better way, touching heart and senses as much as mind and calculators.

Not only does he make use of his by now famous animated graphs (cf. Trendalyzer) showing the evolution of data and correlations over time, he also brings in a personal dimension by linking the data over time to for example family events, thereby enhancing the meaningfulness of the stats to its audience (cf. ‘grandma verified statistics’). Rosling also showed Dollarstreet, a project in which the annual income of families across time and the impact thereof on their life situation is brought to life. What does living on 1$ a day mean? How does it compare to 5$ or 10$? What does it mean? Look at the house, the sanitary conditions, the kitchen, the sofa … in the families’ houses and experience the meaning of sheer numbers.

From data and mind to sense and heart …
Image courtesy of gapminder.org

At Pantopicon, time and time again we tell our clients that not only today’s choices influence tomorrow’s future but also that the way one forms oneself an image, an experience of tomorrow’s world, as one sees it, influences the way in which one makes choices today. As soon as these images and experiences of the futures as we envision them, stop living only in our heads but make it physically into the real world, they become tools for thought, for discussion, for exploration, for inspiration, etc.

In the past, we already shared with you some of the fascinating visualizations of the future that people came up with in the past. For those of you, who are – like us – ever hungry for more, there is the inspiring paleo-future blog.

The topic of moving the future from inside our heads to out into the world, so that they can start leading a life, resonates strongly with the whole idea of prototyping. Prototyping can have an enormous added value in futures studies, not only as a series of established methods, techniques and best practices, but also more conceptually as as an attitude, a mentality of approach to deal with that which is not yet physically there but asks us to be ‘born’. ‘Prototyping futures’ is one of the ways in which we at Pantopicon try to move people to get ‘hands-on with the future’, rather than purely ‘heads-in’.
A few years ago WIRED published an interesting article on the value but also effects of prototyping.

Via Serendipity Book

One approach to bring the future to life is by taking elements present in our real lives today and turning them into or replacing them by ‘futurized’ alternatives (cf. something we also ask people to do in FFWD>>. btw join in on this month’s theme: education). The friction caused by a combination of a familiar element and a completely new one enhances the ‘future’ effect on the observer. Take for example advertising. In the future ads will promote different brands, products and services (cf. artifacts of the future), but also advertising itself will change.

Motion graphics company Foreign Office, put a showreel online of their fictional advertising (and other) work for the fascinating movie Children of Men. The reel shows in more detail what are environmental elements in the movie, all designed as subtle ways to wrap both the scenery and the viewer experience in an envelope of the future.

Via PSFK

Design prototyping is an excellent way to bring imaginable future(s) to life, to make them visible, tangible, ‘experiencable‘ and allow people to deal with their meaning(s) in versatile ways. Prototyping – whether conceptual or physical – makes for possible contextual scenarios in the foresight-sense to give rise to possible scenarios-of-use in the user centred design-sense. As such, in foresight activities these designs not only help to evoke more in-depth qualitative reflections from stakeholders, they can also give direct leads as to how to take up certain strategic challenges posed by the scenario, thereby co-creating new value(s).

In ways reminiscent of experimental projects by Philips Design as well as the EU research project Designing for Future Needs (see also here), and with a time horizon of about 10 years, industry partners and students at Victoria University of Wellington School of Design in New Zealand envisioned future solutions in an initiative titled Design Led Futures.

Professor Simon Fraser started it in order to challenge students “to step back from the constraints of daily practice, to look beyond the immediate product, to look at it in context, and to investigate the broader issues that surround it – human issues, issues of society, culture and behaviour – including emotional issues that are fundamental to industrial design as a discipline.”

So far three projects have been concluded, in which the focus lay explicitly upon the overall experience rather than the mere object of design :

• domestic bliss: students were required to create a new understanding of the role that appliances (such as fridges, washing machines and cookers) might play in the architecture and culture of the home
• inside-out: project on the theme of outdoor living and the role that appliances might play in making this possible and pleasurable
• energising water: project to explore and create a new understanding of the base material of water by creatively applying existing or new, specifically developed technologies

Check out the fascinating concepts that students developed.