We as Science of the time conducted a two-continental Cool Tech Hunt. One hundred twenty Cool Tech Hunters participated in the master classes. A considerable amount of them blogged Cool Tech Signals. To celebrate our collaboration with www.datadriveninvestor.com please read the full article on the outcomes of the Cool Tech Hunt (part 1) here
In the article we forecast the Future of WORK (1), the Future of SPORTS (2), the future of FOOD (3) and the Future of Fashion (4). (More to come.) Please find below, the highest rates blogs as written by our Cool Tech Hunters on these four topics.
1) Tech and the Future of Work – Neons: a new kind of life.
A story by Velyan Stefanov, Netherlands/Bulgaria
What is it?
“Neon” is a platform. And also, like others say: an artificial human. In a bid to “make fantasy a reality”, Samsung’s future factory STAR Labs is developing Neons: AI-powered virtual beings that look and behave like real humans. Unlike artificially intelligent (AI) assistants Siri or Alexa, STAR Labs’ computationally created beings aren’t programmed to be “know-it-all bots” or an interface to answer users’ questions and demands. Instead, these avatars are designed to converse and sympathize with you, like real people, like hyper-lifelike companions. Neons are currently still in their early development phase, acting mainly as AI chatbots in human-like form. But the next-step developments are clear and unstoppable.
Why it’s cool
Neons stand for our striving towards a better life, a life more safe and more comfortable. Neons go where all other tech apps, devices and programs have left you. Neons will continue to evolve and assist you in many ways across digital platforms, not only for you to receive the best information but even to let you play with different lifestyles. All brought to you in a more human way than you could imagine before.
Why it has future growth potential
In the near future, STAR Labs envisions people having the ability to license or subscribe to Neons. These virtual human beings, will be able to supply you with different services: a customer service advisor, a financial advisor, a healthcare provider or a concierge. Their ‘humanity’ is constructed to apply to your wishes and desires. With further developments, Neons might work as television presenters, spokespeople or actors. Or they simply can function as empathetic companions or friends.
There are already many species on our planet. I bet with the Neons we will have an extra one. They are going to be our friends, collaborators, and companions, continually learning, evolving, and forming memories from their interactions with us.
2) Tech and the Future of Sports & Fitness – Chemical releasing sportswear
A story by Daniella Hvarchilkova, Bulgaria
Under Armour Inc. (2017, April 20). Application pattern of the invention. [drawing]. Retrieved from https://patents.google.com/patent/US20170106015A1/en
What is it?
The company Under Armour has a strong reputation for being an innovation leader in the sports world. They are driven by to help athletes perform better. Through the years they have developed different fabrics that enhance performance. Whether it is about keeping you cool, warm or dry, they can service a lot to athletes from different fields in achieving the best results. One of their recent patents is chemical releasing clothing (Maslakovic, 2020).
These new pieces of clothing are made of biomaterial which interacts with the skin of the wearer. It releases chemicals into the skin that affect the athlete positively. For example, one of the chemicals released is magnesium; when absorbed by the skin, magnesium can normalize the heart rhythm and reduce blood pressure. The product is not yet on the market and it is only patented. The inventor is Amelia Helmick.
Why it’s cool
- When doing sports, especially high-intensity ones, it is important to take care of your body. Normally, health supplements are taken as pills or in the form of shakes before or after a training session. While this is effective, Under Armour’s solutions gives the athlete full and immediate support during training itself.
- Magnesium also helps muscle tissue healing faster, speeding up the process of producing ATP (a molecule that carries energy within cells). This means that an athlete wearing magnesium-releasing T-shirt will achieve better results faster since his body is healing and performing faster.
- In the making of the alloy embedded into the clothing a few different substances can be used as well: calcium or strontium. Calcium and strontium both are not only good for the human body and important for bone formation, but they also strengthen the effect of magnesium. Another chemical used in the embodiment is zinc. Zinc also interacts with magnesium and strengthens its effect by slowing down its degradation. (Information from Under Armour company)
Why it has future growth potential
After patenting the chemical-releasing clothing, Under Armour continues in the same direction. In April 2019 they released their recovery apparel capsule collection which again focuses on providing the muscles what they need in order to recover faster. Here they partnered with Milan-based fashion brand Palm Angels and infra-red technology provider Celliant.
“The apparel will take the heat naturally produced by the body and re-emit it back in the form of infrared energy, aiding in the recovery process.”
-Under Armour.
According to a press release by Urban Sports Club in January this year, customers are now seeking short and effective workouts. A duration between 30 minutes to an hour is the high-intensity norm (Urban Sports Club, 2020). In addition, one of the most popular courses is the progressive muscle relaxation. The new invention of Under Armour is in line with these interests of people in 2020.
3) Tech and the Future of Food – Trust your gut
A story by Gustavo Silva, Portugal/Brazil
What is it?
DayTwo is an Israeli company that analyzes your gut microbiomes in order to offer you a personalized diet. The process works this way: DayTwo sends a stool sample kit, with a small tube, toilet accessory, and a scoop. The stool sample will tell all they need to know about your gut microbiome. Using a patent-pending algorithm based on your biometrics, stool sample, and a health questionnaire, DayTwo will be able to send you back a full report of your gut health and a personalized nutrition app, providing you with meal scores as well as prediction of how certain food will affect you.
Why it’s cool
In our guts we have around 100 trillion microbes, similar to the number of cells that we have in our entire body. The gut microbiome is unique to you and influences the way your body reacts to different foods. That’s why it is so important to be analyzed in customized ways.
“We have long wondered why a specfic diet works for one person, but not for another one. Now, we are beginning to understand that how a person processes food depends upon that individual’s gut microbiome, immune system and the community of bacteria in the gut. This is where the concept of designing individualized diets is developing. Given these multiple factors, we are exploring ways to develop customized diets that will maintain wellness and prevent the development of disease,”
-Heidi Nelson, M.D., director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine Microbiome Program. (Rosen, S. 2016)
This service is currently available only in the US and Israel but the company has plans to reach other markets. Even being a relative new service, its reliability is partly encouraged by a study from 2015 that found its 800 subjects post-meal glucose responses to drastically differ after consuming an identical meal, showing that gut microbiota are highly correlated with glucose responses (Zeevi D, et al., 2015).
Why it has future growth potential
According to UBS, the personalized nutrition market will generate annual revenues of $1.3bn by 2025, rising in an upside case to as high as $64bn by 2040. (UBS, 2020) With such growth potential in a still unexplored market, DayTwo is not alone. Large corporations like Nestle and Samsung are collaborating to develop a kindlike digital health platform. Startups like Habit, a nutrition tech company is partnering with Amazon Fresh and Fitbit to do the same. (UBS, 2019).
“With heightened health awareness amongst consumers, yet also with more people suffering from ailments which are attributable to poor nutrition, there is growing demand for solutions that can improve individual nutritional choices,”
-Charles Eden, UBS analyst (Fitzgerald, M., 2020)
Read the full story — with references at: https://medium.com/futurists-club-by-science-of-the-time/trust-your-gut-b7339b877c06
4) Tech and the Future of Fashion – Injecting pixels into our physical world
A story by Liza Peeters, Netherlands
What is it?
An army of virtual models is taking over the fashion industry. Luxury fashion house Balmain summoned the first CG, (computer generated) models in the summer of 2018 as brands increasingly turn to the virtual world to inspire and earn money. One year later Balmain has given life to three CG members, in collaboration with Cameron-James Wilson, a British artist (Balmain Paris, 2019). They are the new entrants to the fashion industry, blurring the lines between the physical and digital world, exceptionally and surprisingly. It will change our culture and reshape it forever, according to Dazed Fashion, 2019.
Meet here the top CG models representing this futuristic fashion phenomenon best:
Lil Miquela has established her presence in the fashion and beauty world ever since she was created in 2016. She has collaborated with multiple brands, among which Chanel and Prada. Every day she influences the lives of her 1.5 million Instagram followers. She is named makeup artist Pat McGrath’s muse. Miquela even has taken it off into the music world, with four hits on Spotify (Dazed Fashion, 2019).
Virtual model Perl moves from fronting in fashion campaigns to creating her own. She launched the first ever artificial intelligence beauty line, showing “a world where beauty isn’t exclusive to humans anymore”. Her collection for AI, by AI includes the ‘pixel injection’, which fills in dead pixels, and the ‘MHZ pallet’ which restores youth. Perl is pretty opiniated, shares her vision and personal experiences on body shaming and self-esteem (Dazed Digital, 2018).
With her slim silhouette, perfect skin and breathtaking beauty, Shudu is considered the first ever digital supermodel. She was created by photographer Cameron-James Wilson, who was inspired by the South-African princess Barbie doll. He brought her to ‘life’ because of the lack in diversity he saw in the modeling industry. Shudu is not shy at all to share her opinion on several progressive movements in order to inspire her followers (In Style, 2018).
Why it’s cool
“Over the next generation we’re going to see huge amounts of progress and development in the space of AI that will have real-world effects and impact, not least on beauty.”
-Bunny Kinney, editorial director at Dazed Media.
- The world of beauty and fashion is moving beyond its human form. Creating a virtual presence in the form of an influencer, model, artist, activist and so on, triggers a whole new space into existence. Young consumers are rapidly allowing this new phenomenon into their lives, using it as a new source of inspiration.
We’re inviting the CG models into our world because we believe they represent the future of beauty. They reshape the fashion industry and blur the lines from the digital and physical world. Breaking boundaries and making fashion available for everyone.
- Robots taking over the world has gone from a far-fetched thought to a potential reality, thanks to the recent development in digitalization, science and artificial intelligence. While we are probably still a few years away from living hand in hand with robots, social media is one place where human beings are already interacting with robots and it is quickly evolving. From AI makeup, clothes, avatars and more we increasingly are expanding our digital presence.
Perl’s Ai makeup line for avatars to express themselves.
Why it has future growth potential
These CG influencers are capable of breaking boundaries between the digital and physical world. Creating a world in which it isn’t possible to notice what is real and what is not. They help us imagining a space where everyone can be anything and live in their greatest imaginations (Dazed Digital, 2018). Besides this, they provide endless opportunities for companies and their marketing strategies.The CG’s are the perfect role models, never drunk or raising scandals, instead they represent big groups of friends, exclusive clothes, inspiring words and perfect looks. Therefore they have a great influence on their ‘followers’, for example on the clothes they buy, the way they act, and the information they believe. I’m curious to see how this will develop further. Is there a possible future where we live through our online character? Where CG influencers become a part of our society, work together, learn together, live together and be in perfect harmony? Will it enhance humanity or not? Even though you and I might feel they do not influence our lives greatly in this moment, think about what the future might hold in a few years from now. Who knows, perhaps will this be the key to a perfect, balanced society.
Bibliography: MIT. (2019). ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS STRATEGY. Retrieved from https://executive-education-online.mit.edu/presentations/lp/mit-artificial-intelligence-online-short-course/?gclsrc=aw.ds&&&ef_id=c:342455703495_d:c_n:g_ti:kwd-20061192138_p:_k:%2Bai_m:b_a:68600526368&gclid=CjwKCAjwlZf3BRABEiwA8Q0qqw4Q4s8pW0LY9kpp1dfJ-557
