Inspiration from a Futurist

by Samantha Kraft, Shubha Tripathi and Erika Nolting Young

Technology is evolving at an increasing exponential rate. Rather than seeing this as a risk, we should embrace this evolution as an opportunity to innovate and unlock future opportunities that might seem impossible today. It all starts with strategic planning, identifying the end goal and then working back to identify the steps needed to reach that goal.

But how do you identify an end goal when technology advances exponentially on multiple fronts in concert, the “collision of exponential technologies” as Norman Winarsky describes it? By examining the convergence of emerging trends with the problem(s) you are helping customers solve and the probabilities of various scenarios occurring in the future. While it might sound daunting, this step is often both inspiring and energizing.

Coffee Talk with a Futurist

We were recently energized by conversations with Ted Schilowitz, Paramount Pictures’ resident futurist. We invited him to join us for a chat about the future of digital experiences. Ted has worked with Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount on the evolving art, science and technology of advanced interactive visual storytelling and on groundbreaking projects that have pushed the envelope of virtual and mixed reality storytelling.

During our Coffee Talk, Ted dove into the concept of viewing the world as an abundance of rectangles; TVs that are boxes filled with generated pixels, rectangular art framed on the walls of our homes, and cellphones that sit in our back pockets. As a result of rapid advancements in technology, the digital experience is moving “beyond the rectangle”. The screens we engage with in our daily lives evolved from the small TV that used to sit on kitchen counters, to a virtual reality (VR) headset that transports you into a classroom or a work meeting.

Part of how Ted arrives at ideas about the future is by immersing himself in virtual reality (“VR”), augmented reality (“AR”), and mixed reality (“MR”) experiences. He has created a life in which he can do almost every activity in an extended reality setting and shares these experiences with others. By observing their reactions, he is constantly imagining future possibilities across industries.

A Glimpse of the Future

As we reflected on the themes of our Coffee Talk with Ted and the extraordinary reality of living through a global pandemic, a glimpse of future scenarios “beyond the rectangle” arose. What problems might be solved with the “collision of exponential technologies” involving advanced 3D senses, new human to computer interfaces and seamless virtual experiences tracked through motion integrating visual, audio, olfactory, touch, and taste?

SOCIALIZING

Humans are social creatures. Because of the current social distancing requirement, the craving for community, connection and human contact has been confirmed as a universal primal desire. The film “Ready Player One” shows a world where people virtually sign-on, form relationships with other avatars and engage all of their senses.

Today millions of people are logging in to create and explore new virtual worlds through Fortnite, Minecraft, Animal Crossing and other virtual gaming experiences. Beyond socializing with your friends and family, these virtual worlds have also become a place to gather together as a community, to express political protest, or to celebrate Easter and gather for Bible study. A few short months ago, these things may have felt decades away, but social distancing has spawned new connections in digital spaces.

Expanding “beyond the rectangle’’, Sunday family dinners happen at an agreed upon virtual destination that changes weekly. From grandma’s favorite childhood vacation house in the rolling plains of Wyoming circa 1926 to your uncle’s favorite sake house in Tokyo circa 1982, your senses take in every moment and shared virtual experiences become cherished memories as if you were physically together sharing each other’s company. Even down to the goodbye hugs as you “return” home in an instant, thousands of miles away.

Meetups grow beyond local and regional gatherings around common interests into the realm of co-creating entire universes shared by people across the globe. Virtual worlds designed by individuals resonate with a community’s interest, from interplanetary exploration to collective farming, stoicism to tap dance. Starting a hobby, learning a new skill, developing a talent or just spending time with like-minded people, individuals and communities form relationships forged in kinship around ideas, identity, passions, or interests regardless of physical proximity. The possibilities for finding community and connection are endless.

SHOPPING

Retail is not dead, but consumer expectations are higher than ever before. Consumers crave the ease of personalized inventory and frictionless convenience. Today’s MR and AR shopping moves the dial by allowing you to see products in your space, try on that new ring you were admiring or the latest jeans from your favorite brand. It eliminates some of the friction arising from a customer’s indecision.

Now picture a virtual space where you can try on the latest cosmetic products and “switch” environments to get a sense of how the products look both in a darkened restaurant and outside on a sunny afternoon in the park. What if the virtual shopping trip included a curated set of clothes, already coordinated with other items you have in your closet, sized to your preference, with personalized suggestions for new and unique custom pieces that represent your own personal style, not tied to that of a single brand? Looking for advice from a stylist? Your virtual assistant will connect you to an expert.

Want to understand more about the companies and people who make the things you buy? Opt to go on an immersive tour and meet the people behind the brand. Interact with product designers and find answers to the questions you care most about, like product inspiration, other items people bundled with this product, or details of the product’s composition.

Secure, trusted, third party systems obtain unique combinations of biometric data collected to render 3D audio and video become your encrypted authentication for purchasing. Just indicate what you want shipped and the transaction occurs seamlessly between platforms.

FITNESS

Existing fitness experiences foreshadow professional guidance and increased socializing in the virtual world. Personal fitness trainers provide live feedback with products like Mirror and personalized workouts are customized through Nautilus’s JRNY Digital Platform. You can even work out virtually with friends by joining Peloton’s live classes together, leverage Aaptiv’s group motivation features, or record an activity and compete with friends and followers on Strava.

Reimagining the future, virtual fitness includes being “outdoors” wherever you might find motivation, community, and connection without the potential health risks of heat exhaustion, air pollution, natural disasters, or insects. Join classes with friends and family from around the world in a virtual paradise for sunrise yoga with a master yogi. Participate in a pickup soccer game with a team with members across the globe.

Safer body positioning for all exercises is enhanced by haptic reinforcement reducing instances of sport related injury, while biometric monitoring ensures optimal physical exertion to achieve your goals. In a digital world, motivation to keep going might come from hitting fly balls in your favorite major league ballpark, 3-point shots from the free throw line with your favorite team, catching the touchdown passes from the star quarterback, or serving to the most accomplished female tennis player.

EDUCATION

As the world has quickly moved online in response to the Coronavirus, it has become clear that this was a massive leap of change for some spheres of education and that there is lots of space for iterative improvement as students and educators adjust to this new normal. Google Expeditions already provides more than 1,000 VR and AR tours created in partnership with leading museums, universities, laboratories, and publishers such as National Geographic, Guggenheim Museum of Art and American Museum of Natural History. Timelooper created more than 60 time traveling virtual reality experiences for more than 20 iconic locations in 11 cities around the world with content fact checked by global experts. Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (“AI/ML”) is powering language acquisition models that are being trained to personalize learning. Labster built a set of 30 undergraduate biology virtual reality lab experiences covering the subjects of cell and molecular biology, ecology and physiology.

Fast forward to unbound education with students visiting locations virtually around the globe with their teacher and peers. Simply asking a question “activates” your surroundings perhaps providing engaging vignettes of how time shaped the land formations over eons, or sitting down to share a traditional meal with a family from a typical home in that community, or diving deeper into the molecular structure of sediment in a stream.

AI/ML recognition of an individual’s body language and facial expressions with complex language interpretation ensures each student is provided with challenging information targeting expansion of the student’s knowledge without demotivation caused by materials that are too advanced or mismatched to the person’s preferred learning styles. Distinct segregation of subjects falls away as inspiration and curiosity drive personalized curriculum and specialization.

Going beyond traditional education, how might AR and VR change the way a company trains its workforce or students select careers? What if training to be a rocket scientist began with virtual exploration of what a rocket scientist does day-to-day; shadowing experts in a virtual world, asking questions, listening to a wide variety of different experts explain why they are passionate about what they do. Individuals can decide to go deeper and develop relevant skills through experiential learning virtually, unlocking other potential careers that leverage their personal experience and emerging expertise.

At any point, companies in need of a particular set of skills or experience can contact resources that have already demonstrated them virtually. Reskilling and upskilling is personalized to each individual’s existing experience and interests tapping into intrinsic internal motivation and drive to grow in new ways.

Beyond the Rectangle

Looking ‘beyond the rectangle’ is one way to spark imagination when thinking about unlocking future opportunities. What might your extended reality look like if you were no longer bound by the rectangular screen? How will you engage your customers and employees in an unbound future?

“The future belongs to people who see possibilities before they become obvious.” ― Gayatri Gadre

Don’t lose sight of solving your customer’s problem while focusing on technology advancement., The “collision of exponential technologies” is fun, but at the end of the day, your business exists to solve your customer’s problem(s). To identify the convergence between emerging trends and problem solving, it is important to isolate trends that are most relevant to you. Research is often required to focus efforts on highly probable trends versus those that are simply possible.

Once you have completed this effort and identified your end goal(s), embrace the excitement and work back to create the steps necessary to accomplish them. At Slalom, we believe the future is shaped by our collective vision of what is possible.

To learn more, contact Slalom Strategy (strategy@slalom.com).