This is the first edition of our newsletter Creating Tomorrow. We hope you enjoy it! Sign up for future editions here.
The future – the one imagined by science-fiction films and novels such as The Matrix and Alien – used to be distant. But something has changed. In popular culture today, the future is almost now. Think of Theodore’s love affair with his Alexa-like home operating system in the 2013 movie Her (The Atlantic / 10 min read). We’re being presented with futures that seem not only possible, but highly probable.
Science fiction has moved from world creation to world acceleration. The same is true in the business world. Innovations are drawing the future towards us faster than ever. Connectivity is now inescapable, a post-financial crisis generation is willing to make its own luck rather than rely on established institutions, and customers are no longer playing by the rules that businesses expect them to (LinkedIn / 5 min read).
Some companies are preparing for when the future shows up. Others are accelerating its arrival:
- Airbus, rather than a start up, really is developing a modern, real-life version of the Jetson’s red hover car. The single-passenger, electric flying vehicle, Vahana, and the larger CityAirbus, could revolutionize urban mobility. Airbus aims to fly a prototype in 2017. (Climate Action / 2min read, Wired / 3min read)
- Meanwhile on the ground, IDEO has imagined a multi-functional mobility future. How long until roads are filled with electric self-driving cars that earn you money by giving other people rides? When will an autonomous vehicle use facial recognition technology to deliver your packages? Are you looking forward to mobile offices that let you commute, work and hold meetings from anywhere within city limits? (IDEO / 5-20min explore (design concept), Wired / 5min read)
- Cities that are built not of metal and neon, but of trees. In China, the Italian design firm, Stefano Boeri Architetti has started construction on Liuzhou Forest City, where every building will be covered with thousands of pollution-reducing plants that offset the entire city’s carbon footprint. (Engadget / 2min read)
- Its residents will be able to have their meals prepared by robo-masterchefs! Say goodbye to oven mitts and kitchen knives, Moley has created the first robotic kitchen. After you’ve selected a recipe, the robotic hands mimic those of Masterchef Tim Anderson as they prepare a series of recipes downloaded from an iTunes-like store. (Moley / 1min video)
Can your own organization gain valuable insights by thinking about the future differently? A few years ago, DHL imagined five different scenarios of the world in 2050 (Youtube / 6min video) – ranging from 1984-esque dystopias to sustainable, thriving utopias. We can already see some of their predictions coming to life today. We are witnessing how big ideas – both good and bad – can change the world.
Our future will be the product of ideas that once seemed implausible. We excel because of visionaries who wonder what could be. To shape a future that is sustainable and aspirational for all, we need to fill the present with big, radical ideas – and we need them close, so they’re ready and waiting when needed. (Wired / 15min read). |
