Trends Report 2014 ARIANE VAN DE VEN Telefรณnica Digital
Global Trends 2014
What is the report about
Trends are manifestations of people’s emotional needs. Humans are driven by emotions and their emerging behaviours are a reflection of new needs that they are trying to fulfil. Consequently, in this report, you will see that all the trends we created are related to an emotional driver. In addition, because people behave differently depending on the context they are in, we organised the trends according to 3 dimensions: - Individual - Society - Technology The aim of this report is to provide insights that will help us innovate in ways that are meaningful to people and society as a whole.
How to use the report Typologies
This report is a source of insights and information to help you design your future strategy in a human-centric way. To create innovations that are meaningful to people, we need to have a point of view about future needs they might have that we can help fulfil. As a result, we design this report so that it includes: Trends 2014
Insights
Concepts and ideas that are related to the trends to help you get a deeper understanding and also encourage you to learn more about the trends.
Facts & Statistics
Extracted from reports and surveys to help you ‘quantify’ and ‘measure’ the potential impact and/or market of the trends.
Case Studies
Every year we introduce new consumer trends that are bespoke to Telefónica. This year there are six:
Blissful Equilibrium
Implications
Sensory Wanderlust Open Agora
Scenarios
Walled Gardens Supercharge Me Better for Us
Represent people’s mind-sets instead of specific consumer segments. Also help you think about attitudes and behaviours, which we think are more relevant and useful than age and demographics.
Quiz
Examples of existing products and services, as well as prototypes that are related to the trends. They help make the implications of the trends more tangible. First thoughts about the impact that these trends might have on our business in terms of challenges and opportunities. Future scenarios to explore the possible outcomes of innovating using these trends. We think these trends should speak to you, that's why you can see which typologies most reflect your own personality.
TH E
H
SIS
Global Trends 2014
MORP
O
M
ETA
In many ways, the state of the world reflects what people are going through in their personal lives. The world’s problems and opportunities are created by individual actions. To understand how people’s emotional landscapes are evolving and deduce future consumer trends from this, we need to find clues in the current world. Many reports describe a world in crisis, with a widening gap between the rich and poor, a staggering decrease in trust placed in governments and institutions and record levels of protests around the world. They paint a picture of chaos, peopled by individuals struggling for ways to escape their plight. In this report, we argue that the world is not going through a transient state of crisis. In fact we believe that the world is going through a metamorphosis, a long process of fundamental transformation. What we are experiencing is more than crisis and chaos.
It is a tectonic shift. Life as we know it will never be the same again.
We have to overcome our feeling of grief for the ‘old world’, and accept this metamorphosis in order to strive in the future. Besides adopting a survival approach we have to fundamentally transform our behaviours and find a new strength and enthusiasm for the future. To be able to build the future we want for ourselves, we have to become active participants of the metamorphosis. As described by Noam Chomsky: “As long as people sit by passively and let things happen to them, dynamics of the system will drive in a certain direction- and that direction is self-destruction”. We have to reconsider the essence of how we do things and rethink the main guiding principles of our lives. Thanks to technology, People will transform themselves and society. Every single aspect of life will go through a massive metamorphosis, characterised by a fundamental shift in the way power is gained, lost and distributed. We have to establish new value systems that work better for individuals, society and the planet. We need to seize this rare moment in time and transform ourselves into new, evolved human beings with new sets of behaviours and aspirations. We need to metamorphose ourselves and embrace change. We must accept the uncertainty of the future and believe we can create new opportunities for ourselves. We must embrace this total metamorphosis to create a better future.
Welcome to The Metamorphosis.
CONTENTS
Individual Dimension
Trend 1
Trend 2
Blissful Equilibrium
Sensory Wanderlust
Introduction
1-2
Introduction
39-40
Insights
3-9
Insights
40-47
Typologies
10-13
Typologies
48-50
Additional insights
13-19
Additional insights
51-54
Facts & Statistics
20-25
Facts & Statistics
54-59
26-32
Case Studies
60-66
Implications
33-34
Implications
67-68
Additional sources
35
Additional sources
69-70
Case Studies
Society Dimension
Trend 3
Trend 4
Open Agora
Walled Gardens
Introduction
74-75
Introduction
Insights
75-80
Insights 110-117
Typologies
81-84
Typologies
118-121
Additional insights
85-89
Additional insights
122-128
Facts & Statistics
90-96
Facts & Statistics
128-133
Case Studies
97-103
Case Studies
109-110
134-139
Implications
104-105
Implications
140-141
Additional sources
106
Additional sources
142-143
Technological Dimension
Trend 5
Trend 6
Supercharge Me
Introduction
Better for Us
147-148
Introduction
191-192
Insights 148-155
Insights 192-199
Typologies
156-160
Typologies
200-201
Additional insights
161-164
Additional insights
202-206
Facts & Statistics
165-175
Facts & Statistics
207-212
176-183
Case Studies
Implications
184-185
Implications
222-223
Additional sources
186-187
Additional sources
224-225
Case Studies
213-221
KEY WORDS
Better for Us Supercharge Me Walled Gardens
4chan 4DX
A
Academics Against
113, 120, 134-35 46, 65-66
Adam Harvey Aging Population
127 97 120, 139 154, 181-182
Brain Shift Radio
C
Ambify Amelia Boone
Open Agora
Anil Dash
Sensory Wanderlust
Amulyte
Appcessory
202 199, 203 128 152, 178 48 154, 181-182 11, 15
Anonymity
79, 110, 111, 112, 116,
Anxiety
3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 16, 20,
129-130, 134, 141
196, 216 136
California’s “Do Not Track” Law Carlo F. Ratti
Blissful Equilibrium
Ascend P6 Augmented Reality
Charles Stross
Aura AwayFind
B
Babies Baratunde Thurston Bas van Abel B Corporation
154, 180 30
41, 51, 154, 181
5, 15 159
Chris Dancy
158, 164
Choking game
42, 52, 56, 59
Christopher Poole
120, 135
Chüne
153, 179
Cities
4, 26, 49, 50, 53, 60 195-197, 200, 201, 203, 205 208-209, 213, 214-218, 22-222
Citizens
78, 83, 126, 192, 194-197, 200
151, 176 40, 45, 46, 63-65
124 201
Cell Phone Jammers
22, 25, 28, 29, 41, 128 163
193, 202-203 6, 29
Budget Games
201, 219 192-193, 202-203, 209
50
Brain science studies on Altruism
Alastair Parvin
Amazon
40, 41, 51
Bradley Garrett
Burn Note
Altruistic technology
195, 216
Boredom
194, 213
Altruism or selflessness
27 44, 61
Block by Block
Air Quality Egg Altruism
114, 136
Black Tomato Blink
Mass Surveillance Accessibility
Blackphone
203, 206, 213, 216,221 City 2.0 website
195, 221, 222
Civil Tech
207
Clothes
78, 79, 101-102
Cloud
134
Clyde
152, 178
Cognitive diversity
13
Commerce
83
Communication
7, 19
76, 78, 87, 106 77, 78, 86, 87, 102, 152, 169 44, 61, 113, 114, 118, 120, 134-
136, 150, 154, 176-177, 183, 213
Beauty Photo Box
151, 177
Confide
113, 135
Beddit
154, 180
Connected Citizen
195, 216
Bethany Mota Big data Biomimicry BlaBlaCar
156
Cortisol
2, 13
115, 116, 123-125, 142,
Creepy
192, 197
Crime
42, 52, 76, 98
198, 202
Crowdfunding
178, 179, 216
80, 103, 104
Crowdsourcing
4, 26, 195-197, 214, 215
11, 134
Crowdsourcing the Quiet
4, 26
5, 6, 17, 27, 152, 178
127
Cryptocurrency
162, 149
Cult of personality
8, 75, 76, 79, 84, 85, 88, 96
Culture
Emotions
98, 101, 102, 182, 198, 202, 204 76, 84
Cultural Capital
78, 88, 91, 98
Cultural diversity
87
Cultural pluralism Curtis Wallen
119, 143
Cyber attacks
127
D
182, 195, 217, 218 Empathic city Empathy
195, 203, 222
76, 96, 200, 203, 204, 218
151, 163 15, 35, 222
"Dan" Howell
158
Daniel Goleman
110, 122
Datafication Data Privacy Day
126
Datasexual
163 28, 194, 213
Data Visualization
214, 219 42, 48
David Blaine
114, 136-137
DeleteMe
41, 51
Dérive
4, 10, 26
Digital Detox
195, 205
Endemic technology
193, 205
Happy people ride bicycles
Enliken
116, 139
Health
Enjoy Your Privacy
114, 137
“Epidemic” of narcissism
161
115-116, 128
Drones
127-128
Echelon
121, 136
Edward Snowden
32, 76, 77, 96-98, 126, 153, 179, 199, 221
Eidos Electronic Product EnEmerging markets
8, 19
Holvi
80, 104
Expereal
6, 27-28
Human skills
5, 17
51
Humblebrag
150, 162
Explanatory Drive
F
81, 90
Report FaceSubstitute
114, 139
Facetune
151, 177
Fair Data Mark
91
Fairphone
27, 81, 83, 104
Flow
5, 7, 18
Flow-based economy FlowingData
7, 18 194, 212, 214
Freedom of information FrontBack
82, 91
iBeacons
152, 169
iDoneThis
8, 30-31
IllumiRoom
G
46, 65
Immersive Experiences
46, 53-54
Information is Beautiful
113, 214
64-66 Inner net
164
Interactive Global
104
Manufacturing Map Internet Of Everything
150, 176 2, 3, 5-9, 12, 15, 18, 28-29 3, 11, 14
Internet of Things
170, 173
Gift economy
195, 204
198, 220
Global Sharing Day Gordon Bell
125, 152, 153
173, 179, 204, 213, 220 Internet.org Irene Serra
6, 42, 56-57, 179, 196, 216
153, 194
11, 125, 204, 205
Introspection
Gary Wolf
154, 164
I
31-35
Games
16
Hyperthymesia
Facebook´s Transparency
Focus
163, 151
Hyperstimulation
Global Lives Project
97
Holacracy Homophily
64
vironmental Assessment Tool, EPEAT
41, 51 193, 203, 205
154, 183
FOMO
E
185, 193, 200, 206, 221
Eterni.me
114, 138
DuckDuckGo
Education
46, 63
206
154, 159, 163, 180-182
Helper’s high
63, 65
83
Digital Taste Interface
208-209, 216
Ephemeral Communication
77, 97, 102, 127
167, 170, 179
32, 93, 204-206
Helicopter parent
Financial Services
Digital Natives 16, 42, 52, 56, 59, 153
Happiness
Entertainment 41, 44-46, 53-54, 60
119, 120, 122, 124, 132-139 154, 183
77, 101
Emotional Cityness
Federico Zannier
143,154, 164, 183
102
Härnu
152, 178
Digital Identity 11, 113-114, 116, 118
Digital Legacy
Handshake
EmoSPARK
69, 17744, 57, 61, 113, 127, 2, 140
Daily Me
H
J
100 3, 18 118
Jamal Edwards
150, 157
76, 99
James Kingston
49
91, 98
JOMO
157, 186
Journalism Julie Price
3, 11, 15 77, 98 160
150, 176
Just.me
K
MBSR training MIMMI Mimo Baby Monitor
197, 216
Kaggle
197, 207, 212, 220
Karma
197, 219, 220
KeyWifi
52-53
Knockout
Minerva Schools MIVOR
162 10
Lev Felix
Life-logging 149, 150, 154, 157-159 161, 164, 167, 169-170, 176-177 182, 183, 186 152, 154, 178, 180-181
Light
84
Lisa Gansky
N
3, 16 3, 33, 53
New Economic Foundation (NEF)
119 60, 79, 11, 216, 219 200, 203 43, 44, 50, 53
Marat Dupri
McAfee Social Protection Meditation Meedan Melon MeMeMe Generation Meta Currency Project Michael Saba Milestone Millennials
114, 138
158
205 100
Nest Thermostat
220
Networked thinking Neurocam
52
Owlet Baby Monitor
154, 181
Oxytocin
200, 204
P
43, 49, 52, 70
Paul Miller
3
Paul Zak
200
Peace of Mind+
15, 26-27
Peak
8, 30 79, 102
People Make Parks Personal Data
44, 61, 92, 110, 113
116, 118, 119, 120-122, 124 129-130, 135-136, 140, 143
156
Economy
Nico Sell
118
Personalization
Nismo Watch Concept
181
Nomophobia
177-179 45, 61-62
Phone
27, 45, 62, 79, 81, 101, 114
Photos
45, 49-50, 60-61, 114
Nudge
44, 60
136, 151, 176
81, 104-105
138, 149-151, 153, 137, 138 154, 176-177, 179, 182 PIP
31
Oculus Rift
46, 65
7, 9, 20, 24, 53-54, 76
Open Cities
194, 214
Open Data
151-153, 163
Pheed
6, 29
O
79, 89, 98
3, 13, 22, 25 153, 180
Nudie Jeans Co
195, 218 42, 48-50
Nicholas Felton
Notch
100, 197, 207, 212
193, 208-211 3, 13-14, 35
49-50, 53, 57, 60, 70 Outsider
Personal Information
77, 101
159
30 4, 10, 26, 43, 44,
182
151, 177
77, 98
OtherInbox
193, 199, 202
Noppl
149, 161
(OCCRP)
Performance
Newspaper Map
78, 101
Corruption Reporting Project
PeerTrust
4, 10, 14, 31
93, 149, 150, 161, 166-170, Mindfulness
18, 205
of Well-being
150, 177
Mara Ballestrini
154, 182
National Accounts
Looxcie
Maps
161, 168, 174
Naveen Selvadurai
154, 183
45, 62
Organized Crime and
Parkour
76, 99
Long-term thinking
Malte Spitz
137
194, 214
Ophone
Outdoor activity
113, 138, 141
MyPermissions
Narrative
Madeleine
76, 99
49
MVNO´s
154, 183
M
100
197, 218-219
OpenStreetMap (OSM)
29, 45, 63, 64, 70, 99
Mustang Wanted
LivesOn
157
OpenSpending
114, 152-154, 178-180
Narcissism
Logan Paul
181
15, 16, 58
Music
154, 182
Locus of control
99, 201, 213, 218-219
(Museu da Pessoa)
Lively Living Library
Open Source
45, 63
Mountaintop Project
164, 157, 186
Lifelog
88-89
218
28
MixPerceptions
Museum of the Person
Legsie
Open Sharers
77, 99
Multitasking
L
14
214, 219, 222 Open Data Initiative
197, 219
6, 28
Pixtr
151, 177
Play-i
153, 179
PlayMeNext
153, 179
Polaroid Socialmatic
150, 177
Camera
45, 63
Poppy 3D
Secret
113, 135
Stress
2, 6, 8, 14, 15, 20, 28, 33, 43
197, 217
Secret.li
138
Stop Watching Us
126
PrioVR
46, 65
Security
114, 118, 121-122
Stop The Cyborgs
115, 123
Privacy
79, 81, 86, 92, 95, 111-117
Porch
120, 122-124, 126-127
126-127, 135-138, 142 Self-expression
130-131, 133, 137-143 116, 138
Privacy Visor
Private Photo Clouding Badge
137
154, 180
Pulse by BioBeats
149, 161, 169, 176, 186
Senate Bill 568 (S.B. 568) Senses
97, 153, 179
Qualcomm Quantified Self (QS)
153, 156, 158
160-161, 163, 167, 170-173, 182
R
85
Rachel Botsman
178
Rather
150, 176
React Messenger
63
Reading
113-114, 138
Ready SIM
6, 29
Relaxed
31
RescueTime
196, 215
Reporting API in Helsinki Reputation economy
89
77, 82, 86, 99, 100
5, 16, 17, 45, 46, 63, 67
Sensory Fiction
Rhizomatiks Right to Know Act 2013 Rise of Sufferests
134 46, 64 164 69
Robots 5, 17, 28, 152, 153, 154, 183
78, 79, 88, 98,
Silent Circle Silentium Skywalking
SaneBox Scentee
199, 220, 221
199 , 221
5, 17, 30
Smart Cities
201, 214 213
Smart Home 97, 152, 153, 154, 169
The Social Coin Social Innovation
Sproutling Square
154, 182
Squawk
Human Tom Ryaboi
49-50
Tor-Search
113, 134
Tough Mudder Tourism Transparency
42, 48, 66 4, 10, 26, 27, 42, 66 75, 80, 81, 90, 91 98, 104, 105, 106, 107
Transparency Report Transport
81, 90
44, 60, 78, 100, 101
173, 178, 179, 182
181, 196, 215
152, 179
Trust 74-80, 82, 83, 86, 99, 103, 104
218 7, 19, 76, 77, 81
82, 96, 105, 200, 201, 203, 211, 219
113, 134
3, 11, 15
Today's Favourite
Slow Web
SmartThings
17
114, 136
31
Smart citizen
125
5, 8, 17, 30, 31
154, 180, 181
Slow Watch
The Data Slaves Revolution
Time Management
44, 53
Sleeping
Spring Break
3, 11, 15 113, 135, 136
102, 106 5, 27
Singularity University
Sprav
77, 101
Tech Shabbat
Tiffany Shlain
Spartan Race
45, 62
Tea Leaf Nation
Thinking Slow
49, 53
SAGA app
T
159
Sono
75, 102, 197, 220
Tactilu
44, 60
Rooftopping
Safeplug
120, 123, 126-128
Telegram
Sharing economy
197, 219
112, 115, 116, 118
Sustainability
Seth Roberts
Sound
8, 19
Surveillance
Serendipitor
76, 84
S
185, 217
NYC (NESCI)
Ronni Abergel ROWE
45, 63
Sentiment Map of
103, 184 Respect Network
116, 124 43, 44, 52
80, 81, 90
Radical transparency
45, 63, 76, 96
Sunlight Foundation
162, 168-169, 176, 179, 186 Selfie
Sensation seeking
Q
Reputation
55, 149, 150, 153
156, 157, 158, 159, 161
Story Telling
5, 27 4, 5, 15, 26, 27, 45, 63 42, 48, 66 198, 220 42, 52, 69 154, 181
142, 184, 200, 203-205,217-218 TrustCloud Tumblr
77, 90 16, 40, 45, 61, 68
Twitterspirit
U
Uber Ultimate immersion
61
80, 103 46, 53-54
trend
81, 105
Ungogleable
118, 122
44, 60
Unplugging
4, 10, 11, 15, 23
29-30
Stealth Wear
116, 139
UP Singapore
45, 62-63
Street Bump
196, 215
Urbangems
197, 216, 217 215, 216
V Video
Waze app
196, 215
Wearable Technology 44-46, 52-54, 61, 63, 65
116, 123, 153, 171, 173
67, 76, 77, 99, 114, 135, 136 139, 149-150, 152, 156-157 Viggle Vine Visually Vowch
W
Waldorf School of the
213 151, 178
3-6, 8, 10-11 13-15, 17-18, 31, 35, 205
WICKR
113, 118, 135
WikiHouse
197, 201, 219
Whisper
113, 135
Whistle
154, 182
W/Me 32
Work
28 6-8, 19-21, 30, 34
World Day for Cultural Diver-
Peninsula in Palo Alto War Zone Tours
180-182, 182, 187 Well-being
79, 102 44, 61
22, 63, 115
42, 66
91
sity for Dialogue and Development
X Xenophily
Y
Youth
87
16, 22, 42, 48, 52, 56 59, 69, 130, 157, 166, 167, 170
YPlan
Z
Zady
60
80, 105
Trend 1
BLISSFUL EQUILIBRIUM
“That’s been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Steve Jobs
People will surrender in the race with technology and they will instead embrace their human characteristics, taking a more analogue approach to life but also leveraging technology to overcome their limitations. 1
- Staccato culture - People develop smart curation strategies to participate in collective knowledge. - Superhuman - People don’t want to be ordinary, they embrace technology to reach their full potent.
- Labour of love - People want to differentiate themselves by achieving mastery in a specific field. - Man-made People are interested in the ‘human’ touch, whether it is through craftsmanship or more physical encounters.
The collective cortisol is dangerously rising, with more than two-thirds of adults reporting high stress and saying that it increased in the past years.1 Others see the bigger picture and accept the fact that in this new context, being an ordinary person is not enough. They leverage digital technology to excel and create new opportunities for themselves (Superhuman trend). Similarly, the Specialists we described in the (Labour of Love trend) design strategies to differentiate themselves. They carefully select very few niche topics they can contribute to and ‘master’ instead of chasing every opportunity available to them. This enables them to manage their information and knowledge ‘absorption’ without feeling overwhelmed.
We predict that in order to handle the ever-increasing amount of opportunities and choices available to them, people will actively seek to bring more focus into their lives. Focus is important as studies 2 reveal that human beings cannot do more than one thing at the time well. Focus helps people find their own pace and place within the digital age. 1
Source: American Psychological Association, American Institute of Stress, NY. Research, 2013 — http://www.statisticbrain.com/stress-statistics/ 2 Source: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-study-082409.html 2
Introduction
- Always-on People expect to be hyper-connect and get access to the things they want regardless of where they are.
In the past trend reports, we talked about the fact that technology is fundamentally transforming our lifestyles, enabling us to feel hyper-connect-ed (Always-on trend) and providing us with an abundance of information and choices (Staccato Culture trend). Increasingly, speed and the quantity of work done are becoming measures of intelligence. Some people find these changes overwhelming; their stress levels are rising as they strive to keep up with the pace of the digital age.
Blissful Equilibrium
Emotional driver: focus
Past trends
Typology: The Clearheaded
The Clearheaded look for focus to achieve a Blissful Equilibrium. They are motivated to prove their personal value and to create a lasting legacy. The Clearheaded are wise, they focus on what really matters. Their achievements will be measured according to the success of their "immortality projects". They focus on bringing meaningful value to the world.
t
thing, the (Staccato Culture trend) we discussed in our 2012 report. For them, slowing down and taking time to accomplish something is more challenging, but their motivation to create their own immortality projects, will help them bring focus into their lives.
he Clearheaded are resilient and calm in a context of constant change and movement. They have a strong locus of control that enables them to create alternative plans in the midst of adversity and to display selfleadership and mindfulness. The Clearheaded resist the pressure of time. They do not have FOMO the Fear Of Missing Out or Nomophobia, the fear of being out of mobilephone contact. Instead they have JOMO, the Joy Of Missing Out, they actively seek moments of introspection, reflection and downtime.
The Clearheaded cherish the long-term thinking, creative, contemplating thought-consolidating pieces of their brain. They embrace SlowThinking: the long-form attention and mindfulness that helps them focus on meaningful achievements. Sometimes, they might engage in a digital cleanse, or Tech Shabbat to switch off and reconnect with their inner selves. Even Paul Miller, senior editor at
Digital Natives in particular, have grown up in a world of fast every3
These reflective moments provide opportunities for the Clearheaded brain to relax and creative ideas that will help them pursue meaningful achievements.5
the Crowdsourcing Quiet project, organise events where the Clearheaded can switch off from the pace and the demands of digital life to
3
Source: http://blog.euromonitor.com/.m/2013/10/wtm-global-trends-report-correctly-predicts-the-future-of-the-travel-industry.html?p=2 4 Source: http://www.psyn-journal.com/article/S0925-4927%2810%2900288-X/abstract 5 Source: http://www.psyn-journal.com/article/S0925-4927%2810%2900288-X/abstract 4
Insights
experience reflective moments. During these unplugged experiences some might retreat to the countryside to escape the noise, pollution and traffic from the city. Others might engage in activities such as meditation to rewire their brains. Indeed, recent studies found that meditating can lead to increase in regional brain grey matter density.4
Blissful Equilibrium
The Verge went off the Internet for a whole year as part of an experiment which he documented. He said that: “by separating myself from the constant connectivity, I can see which aspects are truly valuable, which are distractions for me, and which parts are corrupting my very soul”. Indeed, unplugged and analogue experiences are becoming popular with Euromonitor listing digital detox as one of the next big trends to hit the hospitality industry in the coming years.3 For The Digital Detox and
To reach a Blissful Equilibrium, the Clearheaded want to be in touch with their Flow, the mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment. As a result, we will witness a renewed interest for activities that are slow and that take time and focus to accomplish. Writer Jack Cheng argues for a Slow Web movement and says: “Fast Web is about information. Slow Web is about knowledge. Information passes through you; knowledge dissolves into you. And timeliness, rhythm, and moderation are all essential for memory and learning6 .”
Technology can be a great enabler to achieve focus with Cell Phone Jammers that create a temporary "dead zone" to all cell phone traffic in their immediate proximity and innovations such as Sono and Silentium that block out the unwanted noise so that people can reflect and feel connected to their flow. Additionally, activities such as craftsmanship, a slow process that
requires an engaged, focused and collected mind will appeal to the Clearheaded. It requires time and focus to develop the skills required to create the artefacts and experiences that can only be made by a human hand and people will highly value them. Whilst automation and mass production will continue to grow to make life easier, consumers and companies will value and promote human service and artisan goods more in the future. According to a recent report7: “man and machine are not at war, and the challenge is to use automation as something that gives us more time to focus on being more human." Indeed, the Clearheaded celebrate everything uniquely human and they value the fact that unlike machines and algorithms, they have unique abilities. Futurist Marina Gorbis argues that unique human skills such as social and emotional intelligence, novel and adaptive thinking, moral and ethical reasoning should be more capitalised on.8 The Clearheaded embrace their
6
Source: http://jackcheng.com/the-slow-web Source: http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/mintel-corporate/mintel-announces-the-globallaunch-of-mintel-futures 8 Gorbis, Marina: The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, 2013 7
5
9
Source: http://worklife.wharton.upenn.edu/research/life-interests-of-wharton-students/ 6
Insights Blissful Equilibrium
natural rhythms and demand that is becoming a key aspiration. Welltechnology syncs up with them to being is becoming less defined in create a Blissful Equilibrium. terms of material pursuits and more Indeed, media theorist Douglas in terms of purpose and meaning Rushkoff argues that: “we can defend according to the New Economic Foundation’s National Accounts of our access to our personal kairos Well-Being. A by letting the The Clearheaded are not fazed by the recent survey digital care for revealed the chronos”. The ubiquity of digital: they embrace the new products and services that enable that for MilClearheaded believe that tech- them to understand themselves better lennial men, and to manage their emotions so that “doing good” nology should is increasingly work for people they can get a better sense of focus. connected to instead of the creating a greater balance and other way around. harmony between work and family9. For example they use apps like In this context the meaning of Expereal to track their mood and to achievement will be re-defined. understand how to improve their People will be less interested in wellbeing and the PIP biosensors that communicate stress levels wirerising fast to the top. Instead they will lessly to an app and offers games and focus on investing their time wisely entertainment to visualise and master on causes that truly matter to them. stress. Other examples include Melon, Organisations will have to adapt a headband and mobile app to and ensure that they communicate measure focus, the Brain Shift Radio clearly their purpose and meaning to that uses music streaming and audio motivate the Clearheaded. brain stimulation to improve focus Indeed, behavioural economist and Relaxed, an auto-reply service Daniel Ariely observed: for social media so that people can “People will work more for relax and focus on meaningful things a cause than for cash”. during the holidays. Additionally, wellbeing through work-life balance The Clearheaded are interested in
demonstrating their personal value to the world and in focusing on activities that are meaningful and beneficial to themselves but also the widercommu84% of Millennials say nity. that helping to make a Giving positive difference in the their world is more important time, than professional their 10 attention, recognition . and their resources to something that is meaningful will enable the Clearheaded to achieve their immortality projects.
ladder and establishing new ways of climbing it. As a result, individuals will reassess how they behave and where they focus their energy. For example, a recent survey found that 73% of Millennials volunteered for a nonprofit organisation and 79% were working on a cause they were passionate about11. The Clearheaded will favour working for good businesses and B Corporations as they provide them with a sense of achievement. Media theorist, Douglas Rushkoff refers to this new paradigm as the Flow-Based Economy, whereby people who actively create value are the ones who are rewarded. To succeed and achieve wellbeing people will have to focus on demon-
In this way, they are contributing to building a new ‘aspiration’ 10 11
Bentley University: Millennials in the Workplace, 2012 The Millenial Impact Report, 2013 7
Innovative companies are responding to this shift in people’s aspirations. For example, Zappos recently announced that they are introducing a Holacracy system whereby the management structure is based on tasks instead of the standard reporting culture. This means that authority and decision-making are distributed through self-organising teams based on tasks as opposed to being vested at the top of the hierarchy. Other examples geared at improving work-life balance include, Bloomfire ‘s Free Time Off (FTO) policy, which means that employees are trusted to take the time off they need, as much as they need. Similarly, Gap Inc has implemented ROWE, Result Oriented Work Environment. They originally introduced ROWE at Gap Outlet as a response to employee feedback in exit interviews about burnout and their attempts to achieve a better work-like balance in their lives. They turned to ROWE as a way to address these challenges. ROWE enables employees to not stress 12
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/employment/plaindealer/index.ssf/2013/11/minimizing_ digital_distractions_in_the_workplace.html 13 Sparks and Honey: 20 jobs of the Future, 2013 8
Insights
about respecting the working hours and instead places accountability on the actual work that needs to be done. With ROW Gap Outlet achieved a drop in voluntary turnover of 50% with consistent service levels and subsequently introduced the ROWE culture to their sister brands, Gap and Banana Republic. Such positive results demonstrate that when employees are given clear objectives and the flexibility about the way to achieve them, the productivity increases. Helping employees achieve focus is a top priority as businesses lose a reported $650 billion in lost productivity and innovation each year due to the cost of unnecessary interruptions12. Innovations such as iDoneThis and Peak, enable teams to focus on their work without interruptions. Companies with the help of Productivity Counsellors13 will create more flexible and productive working environments that are conductive to reflection to nurture the creativity and innovation spirit of their workforce.
Blissful Equilibrium
strating their value to the world.
Millennials and Digital Natives will take the lead in making this metamorphose happen from fast thinking to a Blissful Equilibrium. In many ways Millennials are wiser than previous generations because of their desire to accomplish a lasting legacy that goes beyond material and individualistic pursuits. They have developed strategies to manage hyperstimulation and they know where to focus their attention. Indeed, they harness technology as an enabling force to create a Blissful Equilibrium. They will focus their energy and time on creating meaningful immortality projects that will demonstrate their personal value to the world. The Clearheaded will show us that focus offers an alternative path to lead more fulfilled and ultimately happy lives.
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PEOPLE LEVI FELIX
“On our return we realized that the world had not slowed Source: http://techzulu.com/ down, everyone was always plugged-in, and burnout levi-felix-creator-of-thewas all around us (or looming on the horizon especially digital-detox-retreatfor those involved in tech). So we decided that we wantunplug-and-rewind/ ed to share what we had learned traveling with those back home. We created The Digital Detox retreat as a way to provide people with the opportunity to put aside their digital arm, ”re-format” their own personal hard-drives, and get an experience that would inspire them to make changes to lead a more balanced life. We wanted to help prevent burn-out and inspire others to take time for themselves. We were eager to give people the “feeling” of travel without having to go far- the sense of freedom, presence and transformation – and in turn, have time to reflect, grow and dream.” 10
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sonal wellness retreat where attendees give up their smart-phones and gadgets, unplugging in exchange for serenity and a piece of mind. His mission at The Digital Detox is to provide people with the opportunity and permission to put aside their digital arm and ”reformat” their own personal hard-drives… so they can return to their job and family feeling rejuvenated and relaxed, with a new found perspective, in order to live a more balanced life online and off. In 2009 after the near death experience, Levi packed his bags for the Middle East and he spent the past 2 years backpacking around the world with his partner Brooke.He left the tech world to wander the analogue - seeking balance, studying yoga and meditation, working on farms, living on a secluded island in Cambodia (with only rain water, solar power and 9 other people), building websites for nonprofits, and consulting tech companies from overseas... getting his roots together again and re-evaluating what it means to live in one of the most interesting times on the planet: trying to discover how to find balance in the digital age.
Typologies
Lev Felix is the Co-Founder of The Digital Detox, a tech-free per-
ANIL DASH
He has weighed in with his counter-phenomenon: JOMO. That is: Joy of Missing Out. Dash writes:"There can be, and should be, a blissful, serene enjoyment in knowing, and celebrating, that there are folks out there having the time of their life at something that you might have loved to, but are simply skipping."
“Being the one in control of what moves me, what I feel obligated by, and what attachments I have to fleeting experiences is not an authority that I'm willing to concede to the arbitrary whims of an app on my mobile phone. I think more and more people are going to retake this agency over their feelings about being social, as well. That's a joyful thing.”
More information: http://lifehacker.com/5931549/ find-joy-to-overcome-the-fearof-missing-out-fomo
TIFFANY SHLAIN
Filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, perhaps best known her film Connected and for founding the Webby Awards, goes without electronics from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday every week--a kind of Tech Shabbat (Friday evening to Saturday evening is a Jewish day of rest, known as Shabbat). Her whole family takes the time with her. She says it turns every weekend into a mini-vacation and prevents the technology fatigue that's so ever-present among those of us who spend all day in front of screens.
“Unplugging for a day makes time slow down and makes me feel more present with my family. I not only appreciate this quality time with them, but it has also made me appreciate technology in a whole new way. I think today with all potential of the internet we also need to know when to “not” be online.” 11
In a video from her new short video series, The Future Starts Here, Tiffany explains the value of taking some time every week away from gadgets. Source https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=L8rVTPQcYoI
PAUL J. MILLER
More information: http://www.theverge. com/2013/5/1/4279674/imstill-here-back-online-after-ayear-without-the-internet
ALEXA CHANG
She is the author of the Misfit Economy, musings on topics and trends where narratives have yet to crystallize: transmedia, poetry, DIY, new economy, authenticity, tech, innovation. Amish Futurist was a provocation in search of tech’s human underbelly. It was an experiment in slowing down, talking to strangers, and playing with her sense of identity. She says “One of the more surprising things about this experiment was to begin to shift my field of attraction. I felt I encountered and drew people to me that I may not normally. Through a certain naive innocence, others came into my world almost as guides. It was a nice feeling of not being in control. And I was also able to own feelings of confusion and vulnerability that I normally don’t co-exist with very regularly.”
“When I use digital tech for extended periods of time, I don’t like what it does to me. My mind becomes unfocused and scattered.” 12
More information: https://twitter.com/amishfuturist http://www.youtube.com/watch? feature=playerembedded&v= 3JG_OrojEb4#t=24v
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“By separating myself from the constant connectivity, I can see which aspects are truly valuable, which are distractions for me, and which parts are corrupting my very soul.”
Typologies
Is an American technology journalist from Springfield, Missouri. A former editor of Engadget, he left in 2011 to become a senior editor at The Verge. As an experiment, he didn't use the Internet for a year, from May 1, 2012 to May 1, 2013. As of August 2013, Miller was no longer working full time at The Verge. He made waves online when The Verge published his article detailinga unique personal experiment: going one full year with absolutely no internet.
BARATUNDE THURSTON
Left the internet for 25 days. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller How to Be Black and CEO and cofounder of Cultivated Wit, a creative comedic digital agency and product development company.
“I didn’t want to be alone. I just wanted to be free of obligations, most of which asserted themselves digitally.“
In this article he talks about tkaing 25 days off social media: http://www.fastcompany. com/3012521/unplug/baratundethurston-leaves-the-internet
ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS Cortisol N. A stress hormone, known more formally as hydrocortisone (INN, USAN, BAN), is a steroid hormone, to be more specific a glucocorticoid, produced by the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex.[1] It is released in response to stress and a low level of blood glucocorticoids. Its primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis; suppress the immune system; and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol
Nomophobia N.
Is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The term, an abbreviation for "no-mobile phone phobia", was coined during a study by the UK Post Office who commissioned YouGov, a UK-based research organization to look at anxieties suffered by mobile phone users. The study compared stress levels induced by the average case of nomophobia to be on-par with those of "wedding day jitters" and trips to the dentists.
Mindfulness N. (Awareness)
Is a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that, according to the teaching of the Buddha, is 13
considered to be of great importance in the path to enlightenment. It is one of the seven factors of enlightenment. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness (Pali: sammā-sati, Sanskritsamyak-smṛti) is the seventh element of the noble eightfold path. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness
Meditation N.
Is a practice in which an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefit or as an end in itself. The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices (much like the term sports) that includes techniques designed to promote relaxation, build internal energy or life force (qi,ki, prana, etc.) and develop compassion, love, patience, generosity and forgiveness. A particularly ambitious form of meditation aims at effortlessly sustained single-pointed concentration single-pointed analysis, meant to enable its practitioner to enjoy an indestructible sense of well-being while engaging in any life activity. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation
FOMO N.
The fear of missing out is defined as “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent.” It’s characterized by the desire to be constantly connected and vigilant of what everyone else is doing and saying. As a result individuals develop a social anxiety based on comparisons they make between their lives and others. Source: Przybylski, A.K. (2013) Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior (29). Retrieved December 16, 2013 https://www.academia.edu/4500287/Motivational_emotional_and_behavioral_correlates_of_fear_ of_missing_out) 14
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One of the most widely used mindfulness training programs, has been reported to produce positive effects on psychological well-being and to ameliorate symptoms of a number of disorders. Recent study showed that mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain grey matter density. The study suggests that participation in MBSR is associated with changes in grey matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective taking. Source: http://www.psyn-journal.com/article/S0925-4927(10)00288-X/abstract
More Insights
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) N.
JOMO N.
It´s the flip side od FOMO: consciously opting out of the endless social media stream, the 24/7 news cycle, the deluge of email and countless other distractions and demands. People are putting their fear of missing out to rest by excising the extraneous and often irrelevant, finding a joy of missing out (blogger and entrepreneur Anil Dash coined the acronym JOMO). They’re consuming information on a need to slow down, savour the moment and focus on what´s really important without feeling anxious or stressed. Source: JWT: 100 things to watch in 2013
Tech Shabbat N.
Refers to the time people takes to refrain from the use of electronic devices and technology in order to stay away from distractions, slow down the pace of their days and to gain quality time in which they can focus on really important things. More and more people and initiatives advocate for this type of unplugging, realizing that even just a day away from a screen lets them reconnect with what really matters in their lives.
Cell Phone Jammers N.
Cell phone jammers are devices that create a temporary "dead zone" to all cell phone traffic in their immediate proximity. They come in a range of shapes and sizes including models that are about the size of a cell phone. Traditionally used by the police to control or disrupt communications during a hostage situation, they now are being designed to ensure undisturbed meetings and provide peace of mind.
Daniel Goleman People. Psychologist and author of Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence says that in a time where digital tools enrich day-to-day children's learning, these tools might be harmful especially when they encounter problems focusing. He advocates for a digital sabbath everyday, when devices are not distracting kids at all, and the idea to teach kids concentration abilities as part of the school program, as in that case they’ll be able to use the digital tool for what they have to get done and then to use it in ways that they enjoy. Mental price of multitasking N. The Stanford study shows that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time, a group of Stanford researchers has found. 15
High-tech jugglers are everywhere – keeping up several e-mail and instant message conversations at once, text messaging while watching television and jumping from one website to another while ploughing through homework assignments. But after putting about 100 students through a series of three tests, the researchers realized those heavy media multitaskers are paying a big mental price. "They're suckers for irrelevancy. Everything distracts them." said Professor Clifford Nass.
Locus of control N.
Refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them. Understanding of the concept was developed by Julian B. Rotter in 1954, and has since become an aspect of personality studies. A person's "locus" (Latin for "place" or "location") is conceptualised as either internal (the person believes they can control their life) or external (meaning they believe that their decisions and life are controlled by environmental factors which they cannot influence). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locus_of_control
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Refers to the fact that young people have had to grapple with the realities of distraction from an early age so, by necessity, they have developed strategies for coping. According to Rebecca Eynon, a researcher at Oxford University and the author of the book Teenagers and Technology,: "Young people are developing a lot of techniques. They're very aware of what each of those tools does for them, what it's most appropriate for and who they can reach on that particular medium. They're flexible in being able to mix those things to meet their own needs." But even if not supertaskers, those who have grown up with the web seem to have developed strategies to order demands on their attention in a hierarchical flux. Teenagers are great at constantly ranking their priorities because the asynchronous technologies they like -- texting, Tumblr -- let them. Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/12/features/hyperstimulation A study -- now under review -- by Reynol Junco, a psychologist at the Youth and Media lab at Harvard University, found that, although first-year college students' academic performance deteriorated when multitasking on social networks, the same was not true for second-years and above: "Clearly, something's going on; they're developing skills to deal with that," he says. Danah Boyd, a researcher at Microsoft, identifies "super log-offs" -- where teenagers deactivate their Facebook account instead of just logging off, and whitewalling, where users delete a Facebook comment or post after they've read it -- as strategies for managing networked life. Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/07/camp-grounded-digital-detox-andthe-age-of-techno-anxiety/277600/
More Insights
Hyperstimulation N.
Thinking Slow N.
In the book Kahneman describes the two different ways the brain forms thoughts: · System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control. · System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration. System 2 is in charge of self-control. Kahneman covers a number of experiments which purport to highlight the differences between these two thought processes, and how they arrive at different results even given the same inputs Source: Kahneman, Daniel: Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2013
Slow Web N. Describes a feeling we get when we consume certain web-enabled things, be it products or content. The main characteristics of the Slow Web are: timely not real-time. Rhythm not random. Moderation not excess. Knowledge not information. The biggest difference between Fast Web and Slow Web is that the Fast Web is about information and Slow Web is about knowledge. Information passes through you; knowledge dissolves into you. And timeliness, rhythm, and moderation are all essential for memory and learning. Source: http://jackcheng.com/the-slow-web Human skills N.
Those unique human skills that differentiate us, at least for now, from smart machines include: · Sensemaking: the ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed. · Social and emotional intelligence: the ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions. · Novel and adaptive thinking: proficiency at coming up with solutions and responses beyond the rote or rule-based. · Moral and ethical reasoning: the ability to filter ideas through nuanced sets of values.
These are the skills we should all be honing as the transition from institutional to socially structured production unfolds. When everything can be decoded, standardized, and programmed can be done better by machines, it is important that instead of competing with machines we hone what we are really good at: the emotional, idiosyncratic, and, yes, social. Source: Gorbis, Marina: The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, 2013 David Brooks in his article called ¨What Machines Can´t Do¨ said: 17
“A computer can calculate a zillion options, move by move, but a human can provide an overall sense of direction and a conceptual frame. In a world of online distractions, the person who can maintain a long obedience toward a single goal, and who can filter out what is irrelevant to that goal, will obviously have enormous worth.” Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/opinion/brooks-what-machines-cant-do.html
Flow N. Is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, this positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields. According to Csikszentmihalyi, flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate experience in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow, the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_ Flow-based economy N.
It favours those who actively create value. Source: Rushkoff, Douglas: Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, 2013
New Economics Foundation’s National Accounts of Well-Being
Launched in January 2009 by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), is a radical robust proposal to guide the direction of modern societies. The NAWB have been created in reaction to the fact that indicators such as GDP have only reflected a narrow perspective of human welfare. NAWB also result from the fact that such indicators as GDP have hidden other vital parts of economy such as economy of family, neighborhood, community and society, and the natural economy of biosphere, oceans, forests and fields. Their authors claim to shift towards more meaningful measures of progress which capture 18
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Is a reflective looking inward: an examination of one's own thoughts and feelings. In psychology the process of introspection relies exclusively on observation of one's mental state. Introspection is closely related to human self-reflection and is contrasted with external observation. Introspection can determine any number of mental states including: sensory, bodily, cognitive, emotional and so forth. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introspection
More Insights
Introspection N.
the richness of people’s lived experience. Source: http://www.nationalaccountsofwellbeing.org/
ROWE N.
Results-Only Work Environment is a human resource management strategy where employees are evaluated on performance, rather than presence or the number of hours worked. In a ROWE, people focus on results – increasing the organization’s performance while creating the right climate for people to manage all the demands in their lives, as there is no judgement on how people spend their time. Source: http://thedigitalattitude.com/tag/social-eminence/
B Corporation or B Corp certification N.
Is a certification issued to for-profit companies by B Lab, a United States-based non-profit organization. B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Corporations are unlike traditional responsible businesses because they meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards, institutionalize stakeholder interests, and build collective voice through the power of a unifying brand. B Corporations' legal structure expands corporate accountability and enables them to scale and achieve liquidity while maintaining mission. B Corporations' transparent and comprehensive performance standards enable consumers to support businesses that align with their values, investors to drive capital to higher impact investments, and governments and multinational corporations to implement sustainable procurement policies. As of July 2013, there are 780 certified B Corporations across 60 industries in 27 countries. Source: http://www.bcorporation.net/
Holacracy N.
Invented in the early 2000s by entrepreneur Brian Robertson, is a management structure based on the tasks a company needs to accomplish, rather than a standard reporting structure. Hence the lack of titles. As Robertson describes it, holacracy is sort of like a game: Everyone in the organization sets up a constitution with rules to adhere to. The group decides to distribute tasks. Those responsible for tasks own them. There is no micro-management. Additionally, no one has to be stuck doing one thing all the time. If you're a whiz at programming, for instance, you can make your job 100% about doing that, but you can also spend, say, 10% pursuing an interest, like helping run events or marketing, if you're so inclined. Zappos, which has 1,500 employees, will be the largest company to date to implement Holacracy. Source: http://mashable.com/2014/01/03/holacracy-zappos/?utm_campaign=BD-Pulse-AllFull&utm_cid=BD-Pulse-All-Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_ source=pulsenews 19
Facts & Statistics 48% OF AMERICANS FEEL THEIR STRESS HAS INCREASED OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS. 1
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In the last five years, 62 % of Millennials and 63 % of Gen Xers have tried to reduce their stress, compared with 59 % of Boomers and 50 % of Matures. 5
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44 % of both Millennials and Gen Xers report experiencing irritability or anger due to stress, compared to 36 % of Boomers and 15 percent of Matures. 4
RAGE STRESS L E 10 E AV
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IS CONSIDERED THE 2 CAUSE OF STRESS IN THE US.
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4.9 NATIONAL AVERAGE 1
“STRESS IN AMERICA”, A STUDY COMMISSIONED BY THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 3 20
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Stress 1 American Psychological Association, American Institute of Stress, NY. Research Date: 7.28.2013 http://www.statisticbrain.com/stress-statistics/ 2 American Psychological Association, American Institute of Stress, NY. Research Date: 7.28.2013 http://www.statisticbrain.com/stress-statistics/ 3, 4, 5 “Stress in America”, a study commissioned by the American Psychological Association http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2012/full-report.pdf Technology addiction http://thedigitaldetox.org/about/the-digital-detox-explained/
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Work-life balance The Pew Research Center: Modern Parenthood. Roles of Moms and Dads Converge as They Balance Work and Family, 2013 11 Accenture: Defining Success 2013 Global Research Results, 2013 http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-IWD-2013-Research-Deck-022013.pdf 12 The Pew Research Center: Arts Organizations and Digital Technologies, 2013 10
Dependence on technology Pew Research Center: Teens and Technology 2013 15 Harris Interactive poll, June 2013 http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/mid/1508/ArticleId/1255/ Default.aspx 13,14
Automation Report from the Oxford Martin School’s Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology attempts to quantify the extent of that threat
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Nomophobia Study by the UK Post Office
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Unplugging: http://nationaldayofunplugging.com/ndu-2013-impact/
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Distractions and productivity 21 http://www.cleveland.com/employment/plaindealer/index.ssf/2013/11/minimizing_digital_distractions_in_the_workplace.html 22, 23 http://socialmediatoday.com/bradfriedman/300641/social-networks-drain-productivity Purpose The Millennial Impact Research, 2013 25 Bentley University's Center For Women And Business http://www.bentley.edu/centers/center-for-women-and-business/millennials-workplace 24,26
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Case Studies
http://thedigitaldetox.org/
DIGITAL DETOX PACKAGE was introduced
in 2012 by The Westin Dublin Hotel in Ireland to combat this gadget addiction. Guests that partake in the package stash their electronic devices in a safe, and in exchange get a detox survival kit, which includes a board game, a walking map, a tree-planting kit, and other reminders that life exists beyond the confines of an iPad. http://www.thewestindublin.com/
http://www.stereopublic.net/
THE DIGITAL DETOX is an organization dedi-
cated to creating balance in the digital age. They produce device-free events, lead workshops, host retreats and summer camps, run corporate trainings + seminars, and bridge the gap between
PEACE OF MIND+ is an open-source project
developed by Kwame Corporation for the Fair-
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It was founded in 2011 in Canada. Weekend retreats offered by The Digital Detox cost between $595 and $1,400. More than 320 people attended The Digital Detox's no-technology summer camp for adults,"Camp Grounded," from June 14 to 17, 2013 in a rural part of Northern California.
that asks people to navigate their city for quiet spaces, share them with their social networks, take audio and visual snapshots, experience audio tours and request original compositions made using their recordings. Every time a user happens to be in a new quiet spot, the app asks them to take a 30-second recording to capture the noise, or lack thereof. Crowdsourcing the Quiet is a participatory art project created in 2013 by Jason Sweeney and his team through their Stereopublic project. Since March 2013, users have recorded more than 600 recordings of quiet spots from the 35 activated cities.
Case Stuides
CROWDSOURCING THE QUIET is a project disconnecting and connecting.
phone. Peace of Mind+ silents and disconnects from the world: no e-mail, no status updates, no SMS and no phone calls. Users can choose how long they wish to disconnect (up to 12 hours). Peace of Mind+ is basically Airplane Mode with a timer. All phone calls, including emergency calls, are disabled during the Airplane/PeaceOfMind Mode.
it harvests the energy of electromagnetic noise from Wi-Fi, and similar signals and this way also reduces the level of e-smog pollution in your environment. In our loud and busy world a moment of silence has become a scarce and almost luxurious experience. "sono" lets you reclaim that silence for your home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player embedded&v=Mv6sBuwzLhk
https://github.com/mudar/Fairphone
BLACK TOMATO, a tour company, offers SILENTIUM is a leading provider of Active
Noise Reduction technology. Silentium Customers embed the chip, speaker and microphone in their products to reduce noise levels of their products. For quieter and more energy-efficient “everything” – air conditioners, ventilation systems, appliances, cars, medical equipment, computers, et. They produce an opposite sound wave in order to reduce product’s noise energy by 90%. http://www.silentium.com
a nine-day digital detox in the remote Caribbean islands of St Vincent’s and the Grenadines for $3800 (includes airfare from London and accommodations). The company strips you of your devices and offers a life coach to help you with the detoxification process. http://www.blacktomato.com/country/the-world/ detox-in-st-vincent-and-the-grenadines/
SONO turns your window into an advanced noise cancelling system that allows you to eliminate and/or control the sounds that pass through. With its concentric broadband antenna rings,
EXPEREAL is an app in which users can rate
their feelings throughout the day, labelling those ratings with specific notes like where were they, 27
what were they doing and with whom, allowing them to attach also text descriptions and pictures. The app founded by Jonathan Cohen, is hoping to make a positive impact on people's lives and the world, as they can focus on what really makes them happy, by analysing their lives with the help of data visualization and analytics. Expereal was created in 2011 by Jonathan Cohen in 2011 and the version 2.0 was released March, 2013. The app is free and is available for iOS.
Robot that is designed to visualize the user’s inner self. MIVOR uses HTML5 Web Speech API to ‘listen’ to the users. It prompts the user with questions, which the user answers by speaking into their computer’s microphone. The device then converts what the user is saying into text, which is interpreted with code. The text is analyzed and depending on the words or sentiments behind the words, MIVOR determines whether what the user said is positive or negative. MIVOR pulls info from a database to analyze the sentiments of words and phrases. Based on the general sentiment of the user’s responses, MIVOR then creates a visualization of the user’s general state of mind. It is a Chrome experiment and it was created by Seattle-based creative studio. https://mivor.wintr.us/
http://expereal.com/
THE PIP by Galvanic is a revolutionary biosen-
sor that helps people relax through play. The PIP detects whether you are stressed or relaxed in real time. The PIP is super-easy to use, users just need to hold it between their fingertips and it will communicate the stress level wirelessly to an app running on smartphone or tablet. It allows users to visualize and to master the stress in a fun and engaging way. The project was successfully funded on Jul 20, 2013 and it managed to raise $103,916 through Kickstarter. They are currently working on the pre-ordering a PIP.
W/ME is a wristband sensor that monitors a
wearer's feelings via the autonomic nervous system. The goal is to help wearers get a glimpse at how physical factors affect their mood, and how to control them. The W/Me wristband is a wear28
Blissful Equilibrium
MIVOR is a Mood Interpreting Voice-Operated
Case Stuides
http://galvanic.ie/portfolio-view/the-pip-3/
BRAIN SHIFT RADIO is a platform designed
able sensor that monitors a wearer’s autonomic nervous system, which provides feedback on body activity that they may not be aware of. The project was created by Phyode and it was successfully funded on Jul 2, 2013 and it managed to raise $140,422 through Kickstarter. The device costs $189.99. http://www.phyode.com/
to stimulate the brain to help improve focus, fall asleep, or reduce anxiety using rhythmic and ambient tracks. The interactive Internet radio features rhythm and ambient tracks that adjust the mix between the psychological and physiological aspects of music to ‘shift’ your brain to different moods. Brain Shift Radio was created by the Strong Institute founded in 1994. It is based on nearly three decades of research conducted on Rhythmic Entrainment Intervention (REI) and its core musical elements. http://brainshiftradio.com/
MELON helps users to understand their mental
focus by gathering brainwave data through a sensor-enabled headband and providing feedback through a unique and beautiful mobile app. By sensing and interpreting brainwaves, the Melon hardware is designed to make the invisible activity of the brain visible. The Melon app provides tips and insights for achieving better focus. From these tips and insights, Melon strives to help users understand themselves better and, thus, feel more confident and mindful in their everyday lives. The project was successfully funded on Jun 13, 2013 through Kickstarter. Additionally, Melon has received $25k in Venture Round funding.
RELAXED helps people stay focused on the im-
portant things during the holiday season. It is an auto reply service for social media with the online TV and movie platform Viaplay. In three steps, users connect their social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter), choose their away message and how long they want it to be set for, and they are set to relax without the feeling of guilt that they have to be quick to respond to anyone. Instead, Relaxed will respond with an automated message. It was created by the Swedish innovation agency Rodolfo for the Viaplay, Scandinavia’s leading online service for television and film. http://autorelaxed.com/
SANEBOX is smart email management tool
that analyses email relationships and decides what’s important based on past user behaviour. Their algorithms determine the importance of incoming emails, move unimportant messages out of the inbox into a separate folder, and sum-
http://usemelon.com/ 29
https://www.sanebox.com/
OTHERINBOX is dedicated to making email
better and it helps millions of people organize and improve their email and take control of their inbox. It offers a free “Organizer” feature that sorts receipts, newsletters and social media emails into folders. OtherInBox was a TC 50 finalist in 2008. It was acquired by Return Path in 2012. It has raised $3.8M in funding. http://www.otherinbox.com/
http://www.usepeak.com/
AWAYFIND is a web application that lets you
IDONETHIS is a productivity service that helps
stop checking your inbox every 5 minutes but still allows urgent emails to find you quickly by pushing them right to you with alerts. In the case of an urgent email, AwayFind will call, SMS, IM, DM (Twitter), or notify you through iPhone and Android apps. The application lets both individuals and organizations get away from their inboxes without having to worry about missing urgent messages. AwayFind offers a free basic service in addition to its Pro Plan packages. It has raised $800 in funding. http://www.awayfind.com/
people catalog the things users have accomplished each day. iDoneThis sends you a daily email at your specified time, and you simply reply with a list of things you did that day. It’s useful for teams who want to keep track of what everyone is working on, and for individuals who just want to keep track. iDoneThis is a part of the slow web movement. After you email us, your calendar is not updated instantaneously. But rest up, and you’ll find an updated calendar when you wake. iDoneThis was founded in 2011 in San Francis-
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Blissful Equilibrium
everyone is working on. Interruptions are the biggest enemy to the team's productivity. Studies have shown that it takes as long as 30 minutes to get back "in the zone" after getting disrupted. Thus, Peak lets the team stay focused on their work without interruption, while automatically keeping everyone in the loop. Peak gives smart insights to understand better the way a team works, like what are the hours when specific people work best, what days are the most productive, who's busier than usual, and more. Peak is a product of MetaLab company founded in 2006.
Case Stuides
PEAK is the automated way to keep track of what
marize them in a daily digest. This means that the users inbox is filled exclusively with important/ high-priority email.
co, California. Since then, people at companies like Zappos, Shopify, Uber, Heroku and Reddit have used iDoneThis to track and celebrate over 5 million dones.
the traditional linear narrative has been disrupted by social media and the ‘always on’ mentality. Milestone was designed by Marcel Wanders. The designer hopes that his app will allow people to reflect upon emotional connections with memories they might otherwise forget.
https://idonethis.com/
RESCUETIME is an automatic time and atten-
tion tracker that helps individuals and teams propagate good processes and eliminate bad habits. It measures the call time and mobile app use time to manage people´s digital life for business and productivity. RescueTime helps people to understand their daily habits so they can focus and be more productive. The RescueTime has received over $920k in seed funding. The RescueTime Premium costs $9 per month and $72 per year. The first 4 months are free. https://www.rescuetime.com
http://milestone.co/
SLOW WATCHES, that come with a Swiss Made
Ronda Caliber 505.24H GMT movement, are slightly different from a traditional watch, instead of an hour, minutes and seconds hand, the Slow Watches feature a single watch hand. The Slow Watches feature a 24-hour dial, and the single hand moves around the dial over a 24-hour period, a normal watch features a 12-hour dial and the hour hand would move around the dial twice in a
MILESTONE is both a measurement of and a
meditation on time, allowing users to create personal milestones and build a timeline of their lives. The app counts the hours, minutes and seconds either until or since each event. As a manmade construct, time is a perennial subject of human interest, especially in this digital age where 31
24-hour period. The fact that the 24-hour dial allows you to see the entire day in one view fundamentally changes the way you look at your watch and it will give you a much better consciousness about the progression of your day. https://www.slow-watches.com/
gate the challenges of the 21st Century in order to find success, purpose, and happiness in their lives.
Alto was established in 1984 by parents and educators motivated by the great need for a school that would address the heart and will—as well as the mind—of the child. Employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard send their children there. Waldorf School is based on the Rudolf Steiner principles, in which children are educated without technology. Computers are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home. The parents sign a contract agreeing to "No technology, no computers, not even movies at weekends.” The school subscribes to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans. The video, called “Preparing for Life”, takes viewers inside the Waldorf School of the Peninsula where the focus is on creativity, resilience, innovative thinking, and social and emotional intelligence over rote learning. Entrepreneurs, Stanford researchers, investment bankers, and parents who run some of the largest hi-tech companies in the world, weigh-in on what children need to navi-
Blissful Equilibrium
http://waldorfpeninsula.org/ http://waldorfpeninsula.org/about-us/film/
Case Stuides
WALDORF SCHOOL of the Peninsula in Palo
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Implications
As smartphones and multiple screens encroach ever more on all aspects of our professional and private lives, attention is increasingly drawn towards how technology can cause stress and distraction.Blissful Equilibrium reveals the following implications for TelefĂłnica Digital:
1
2
We can offer products and services that encourage long-term thinking and reflective moments
We can help people track and monitor their stress levels to enhance their focus and improve their wellbeing
Currently, most digital products and services focus on reducing latency and on providing more immediacy. We could automate people’s routine and mundane tasks so that they can spend more of their time thinking and reflecting about meaningful things.
From people’s interaction with technology, such as the tone of their voice and the amount of pressure they exert on their keyboard we are able to detect their stress levels. This information could be used to provide them with feedback and recommendations for slowing down.
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Internally, we can create better working environment and systems that encourage and reward focus
3
We can offer solutions to limit interruptions and enable a sense of flow Based on contextual information we could manage digital interruptions for people (be it voice calls, text messages, emails, etc.). We could archive and prioritise interruptions based on the sender to ensure that people don’t miss important information. This would require a great personal understanding of the user’s need, but it would be a great help for people to achieve better focus.
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As a digital company, we tend to communicate primarily via emails. We could encourage employees to send fewer emails, waiting to make sure each email is comprehensive, rather than sending frequent, brief messages. Additionally, we could create productivity tools that keep employees fluidly aware of what everyone is working on without the need to ask. We could create physical environments, like a closed room, that enable people to isolate themselves from interruptions. Setting long-term objectives (more than one year) would require people to focus in a more sustained way, and give them a deeper sense of connection to what they are doing.
Blissful Equilibrium
4
Implications
Blissful Equilibrium shows that well-being will be a key concern. We need to develop digital solutions so that people can find more and new ways to relax and reflect, at home or on the go. Technology can become an enabler to achieve great focus and get a stronger sense of fulfilment.
Additional sources
BOOKS Brooks, David: The Social Animal: the Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement, 2012 Goleman, Daniel: Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, 2013Â Gorbis, Marina: The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, 2013 Kahneman, Daniel: Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2013 Thompson, Clive: Smarter Than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds For the Better, 2013 Kaipa, Prasad & Radjou, Navi: From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading with Wisdom, 2013 Thich Nhat Hanh: Savor: Mindful Eating Life, 2011
VIDEOS Free the Mind: Can you rewire the brain just by taking a breath? Documentary on Mindfulness http://danishdocumentary.com/site/freethemind/#video_trailer The Spoon, the Bowl and the Knife: Craftsman Wille Sundqvist by Joggle Sundqvist, 2013 A story of traditional Scandinavian woodcraft told through the life and work of craftsman Wille Sundqvist, master of the knife and axe Happy: The World's first 24 hour music video by Pharrell www.businessinsider.com/pharrells-happy-is-the-first-24-hourmusic-video-2013-11 Brain Power http://letitripple.org/brainpower/ Yelp: With Apologies to Allen Ginsberg’s Howl http://connectedthefilm.com/yelp/
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Trend 2
SENSORY WANDERLUST
"The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety."
Goethe
Human beings possess an innate exploratory drive that motivates them to want to test themselves and the world around them. This desire for exploration will continue to grow in the future and people will find new ways to satisfy it. 39
- Enriched Reality People leverage technology to enhance their perception of themselves and the world around them
- Soft Power - People and organisations are becoming aware of the importance of creativity and culture to be successful in the new economy.
- Playground People want to bring more fun and playfulness into their lives. Play is the best way to change behaviours for the better
- Curious Mind - People want to fight boredom and bring more serendipity and surprise into their lives
Typology: The Daredevils
- Personal Odiyssey - People value the process of exploration they want to accumulate multiple experiences to reach their full potential
The success of Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram reveals that selfexpression and creative stimulation (Curious Mind trend) are important to people. The Explorers we described in the last report (Personal Odyssey trend) use technology to discover more about themselves and the world around them. Thanks to geo-location and augmented reality services they find new opportunities for self-exploration and discovery (Enriched Reality trend).
These people are the Daredevils. They want to escape the sometimes numbing or negative aspects of everyday life, by choosing to live on the wild side, to feel alive, now. They actively seek to experience a Sensory Wanderlust, an exploratory state filled with extreme sensations. They expose themselves to extreme risks in order to feel challenged and to get a sense of ‘rush’.
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Introduction
- Author Me People are embracing digital technology to express themselves and engage in personal storytelling
In our past trends reports we explained that people increasingly use technology to express themselves (Author Me trend) and to embrace their imagination (Soft Power trend).
Sensory Wanderlust
Emotional driver: Feeling alive
Past trends
T
he Daredevils chase adrenaline filled magic moments to experience a Sensation Wanderlust. Indeed, for many people, life has become hyperconvenient, risk-free and comfortable, thanks to technology. Paradoxically, what constitutes a great progress in some respects causes people to yearn for the opposite: extreme experiences in order to feel alive and vibrant. Indeed, people’s desire to improve their lives has, to some degree, taken away some of the elements that make life exciting. Contemporary life is in many ways suppressing people’s exploratory drive for the benefit of safety. For example helicopter parenting is aimed at protecting children but in fact it shields them from many important aspects of life. Some of these children grow into adults without ever having experienced getting lost or feeling hurt.
Boredom is a modern luxury and an important proxy for risk factors. Studies have found that easily bored people are at higher risk for depression, anxiety, drug addiction, alcoholism, compulsive gambling, eating disorders, hostility, anger, poor social skills, bad grades and low work performance1. Social theorist Guy Debord explains this chain-reaction through the dérive: "a mode of experimental behaviour linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances." Indeed, some people who feel bored 2 and unchallenged are more likely to engage in the dérive as a way to bring more texture, pleasure and roughness into their lives.
Additionally, the convenience that technology brings, offering people at a click of a mouse virtually anything they might need through constant stimuli of entertainment and information, leads people to feel restless and unable of dealing with boredom. 1
In the U.S. 52 % of teenagers regularly use drugs or alcohol simply because they are bored. Equally, in countries of extreme comfort, such as Saudi Arabia, the proportion of drug addicts is rising. A recent U.N. Report found that:
Scientific American Editors: From Abuse to Recovery. Understanding addiction. 2013 Source: http://www.militaryschoolalternatives.com/MSA/bored-teens-more-likely-to-drinktake-drugs.htm 2
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30% of amphetamines seized by counter narcotics officials worldwide came from Saudi Arabia, a country with less than 1% of the world’s population3.
"take people out of their boring, 3
Scientific United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2013). World Drug Report. Source: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/secured/wdr/wdr2013/World_Drug_Report_2013.pdf 4 Monbiot. Geroge, Feral: Searching for enchantment on the frontiers of rewilding 5 Living on the Edge: Extreme Sports and their Role in Society, 2006 6 Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2000/nov/19/news/cl-54095 7 The Harris Poll, 2012 by Harris Interactive 42
Sensory Wanderlust
The Daredevils experience magic moments when they are risk-taking and testing their limits. sensation-seekers, who They are look for ways to achieve sensory stimulation by going out of their comfort zones. For some, risk-taking is an impulsive, short-lived experience such as a Spring Break to take them out of their comfort zone or engaging in choking games to feel extreme sensations. For others, risk-taking is a lifestyle choice. They relate to people who push the envelope: the mavericks, the rebels, the outcasts. They aspire to walk on the wild side, everyday. They feel rebellious by experimenting with their bodies and getting tattoos7 or by practicing extreme Tough obstacle-course races like Mudder or Spartan Race, and they go holidays in areas on conflict with War Zone Tours.
Environmental and political activist George Monbiot observes that: “our sublimated lives oblige us to invent challenges to replace the horrors of which we have been deprived” 4. Indeed, whilst people see the benefits of comfort and security they also are afraid of losing their fundamental right to risk 5. Instead of being contented by the comfort of their lives, the Daredevils aspire to live in an intense world full of adrenaline filled magic moments. For example, David Blaine, a professional illusionist and endurance artist from Brooklyn, has set and broken several world records, by performing unusual and extreme stunts like being buried alive in the streets of New York for one week. He explains the importance of bringing magic into people’s lives as a way to
Insights
problematic day and give them a moment where they completely forget about everything past and present, and leave them in a moment of astonishment 6".
According to a recent report: “Individualistic and highly intensive extreme sports, comprising a wide variety of adventurous/gaming activities ranging from Moto-X to snowboarding command more popularity than the conventional sports8 ”. Since 2010, more than three million Americans have participated in obstaclecourse racing9 and it is America's fastest growing sport10. Engaging in extreme physical activities is way for the Daredevils to escape from boredom and to release stress. For example, young women in Iran practice Parkour. As one student from a Tehran Parkour clan says: "It gives us courage 9
and helps us release our pent-up energy. It's great to feel that nothing can stand in your way11 ”. The Daredevils hate fragility and, paradoxically, it is through putting themselves in vulnerable and precarious situations that they gain an inner sense of strength and power. This is especially true for Millennials, who are confronted with massive global unemployment12 and adopting extreme lifestyles and engaging in extreme sensation seeking activities can sometimes be the only way for them to feel that they have some type of control and choice over their lives. For example, Marat Dupri is a Daredevil Skywalker, which is
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/races-tough-mudder-safe-article-1.1524946 http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/multisport/Love-that-Muddy-Water-Guideto-Obstacle-Racing.html 11 The Guardian. (2013, June 10). Parkour life: Iranian women get physical. Source: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2013/jun/10/parkour-iranianwomen-get-physical 12 International Labour Organization. (2013). Global Employment Trends For Youth. Source: http:// www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_212423. pdf 43 10
The Daredevils embrace technology that can surprise them such as the Serendipitor app that incites them to wander and to explore alternative routes, and Nudge, an app that encourages them to try new adrenaline filled activities and adventures. The Daredevils are impatient and they have an unusual relationship with time. Indeed, especially for Millen-
13
Brooks. David, The Social Animal: The Hidden Source of Love, Character, and Achievements, 2013 Source: http://www.gendiff.com/docs/TheTetheredGeneration.pdf 15 Source: http://jackcheng.com/the-slow-web 16 GlobalWebIndex, 2013 http://blog.globalwebindex.net/facebook-teens 14
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Insights
nials, research has shown that their brains make it harder for them to project themselves in the long-term14. As a result the Daredevils embrace the Fast Web, which “demands that you do things and They try to pack as do them now15” many experiences says writer Jack as possible into the Cheng. shortest timescale In this way, possible. They ephemeral comsnap and collect munications their achievements with apps such and share them as Snapchat, instantly with their Squawk and peers. They don’t Blink allow the want to miss any Daredevils to moment and they share their magonly worry about ic moments in“the now”. stantly with their peers, without having to worry about the consequences. The Daredevils engage in extreme experiences because of the intensity and immediacy of the storytelling they provide. Video is a growing communications medium for them with services such as Vine growing by 639%16. They want to show off the vibrancy, and unex-
Sensory Wanderlust
both an extremely dangerous and illegal activity. Marat has been arrested in the past and he said: “ I only need to look down to forget all my problems. At such times, I experience a sensation of freedom. No one can disturb me. No one tells me what's good and what's bad.” For Marat Dupri, Skywalking is his Sensation Wanderlust. Extreme sport activities are also increasingly popular among the ‘geriatric gangstas’ 13 : seniors who are actively sensation seeking. They want to feel alive and to take risks before it’s too late. Through these extreme experiences, the Daredevils are able to prove to themselves their strength and to escape from the dullness of their everyday.
pectedness of their lives, full of magic moments. The Daredevils place a lot of importance on visual communications instead of written ones because of the immediacy they provide. Social network Pheed that enable users to share texts, photos, videos, audio and live broadcasts was listed by Fortune as: ‘The #1 Social Network to Watch in 2013’ because of the level of immediacy and engagement with users it is able to create.
era capable of capturing viewing and sharing full motion, full colour and stills in 3D. The Daredevils also want to bring additional senses to their visual language. For example the MixPerceptions app allows people to interact with artworks, using an augmented reality application to enhance visual and auditory elements. Another example, Sensory Fiction aims to bring touch and temperature to augment storytelling. Such multisensorial experiences are extremely compelling for the Daredevils as they make them feel alive because they engage all their senses. There is a kind of 4D communication happening with devices such as Ophone and Scentee that make it possible to send fragrant messages, Tactilu, a bracelet that creates a sense of touch remotely and the Digital Taste Inter-
Among 13-18 Overall, visuals years old, 61% have become the Daredevils’ use Tumblr everyday form compared with of communica55% who are on tion. As they Facebook17 develop their visual language, they look for ways to augment it. For example, Poppy 3D can turn an iPhone into a 3D cam-
17
Leggatt, H. (2013, January 14). Survey: Teens use Tumblr more than Facebook. Source: http://www.bizreport.com/2013/01/survey-teens-use-tumblr-more-than-facebook.html 45
For example, Microsoft’s the IllumiRoom augments the area surrounding a television screen with projected visualisations and provides a new type of immersive experience within the home.
We discussed the importance of this in our Ultimate Immersion trend in our consumer video report. Technology with sensors, lighting and augmented reality enables the Daredevils to feel immersed.
Other examples include; PrioVR, a multisensory feedback suit that enables people to hear and feel what is happening in a game and Oculus Rift, a low-latency headset that allows the user to enter a game in 360 degrees in real time.
Sensory Wanderlust
For example Rhizomatiks, a Japanese innovation lab, specialises in developing multi-sensory experiences that enable people to navigate through various immersive environments. Indeed, in Japan, the concept of immerse entertainment is very popular, with cinema chain Korona World , providing the first full-body, immersive 4D movie theatre. The cinemas are equipped with 4DX technology that adds motion, humidity, aromas, strobes, bubbles and additional effects while its customers are watching a film. As technology opens up new possibilities for deeper immersion and sensations, the Daredevils will want to experience a Sensory Wanderlust, full of richness and texture in their homes, so that it becomes part of their everyday.
Insights
face that digital simulate the sensation of taste. Beyond communications, the Daredevils are interested in engaging in immersive multi-sensorial physical experiences.
46
As technology develops, more people will be able to experience a Sensation Wanderlust, without having to engage in extreme physical activities. Technology is now enabling people and especially the Daredevils to become extreme and active participants, instead of passive observers. The Daredevils show the importance of indulging our exploratory drive. They open up new avenues and new possibilities because they are sensation seekers and they are not afraid to push the envelope. Their Sensation Wanderlust is infectious and contagious, full of life, vibrant and textured.
Thanks to 'Daredevils', new sensory experiences will be created so that we can all become stimulated and active participants that feel alive and vibrant in our everyday.
47
PEOPLE AMELIA BOONE
She is Obstacle Racing's Breakout Star. The 30-year-old Portland, Oregon native has won, or scored a podium spot in, each of the 14 races she's entered, whilst still working 80-hour weeks as a corporate bankruptcy attorney for one of the world's largest law firms. At
last year's World's Toughest Mudder, a 24-hour championship race
ahead of the man in third. As an encore, this summer at the eight-mile Spartan Super Championship, she got lost and was forced to run an extra mile—and still won the women's division.
"I'm petrified of electricity now. I crawled through the Electric Eel nine times at World's Toughest Mudder last year. One time I got blasted so hard I nearly blacked out. I fell and hit my head and started crawling in the wrong direction."
DAVID BLAINE
A professional illusionist and endurance artist from Brooklyn, who has set and broken several world records, by performing unusual
and extreme stunts like being buried alive in the streets of New York for one week, or stay encased in a massive block of ice located in Times Square, for 63 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds before being removed with chain saws.
"Magic is the ability to take people out of their boring, problematic day and give them a moment where they completely forget about everything past and present, and leave them in a moment of astonishment"Â 48
More information: http://articles.latimes. com/2000/nov/19/news/cl54095
Sensory Wanderlust
than 300 obstacles to take first place among women. She also finished second overall and a full ten miles
Typologies
in Englishtown, New Jersey, Boone traversed 90 miles and more
JAMES KINGSTON
Parkour daredevil, captures his hair-raising acrobatics on camera. The adrenaline junkie gives online viewers an incredible first-
person view of his death-defying stunts, filmed from the rooftops
of Cambridge. James has also completed other hair-raising stunts on tall structures in Los Angeles and Italy. In June 2013 he played down his stunt with the crane and said he climbed the structure as
a way of living life to the full. It all began in 2004 when James felt unable to attain his creative potential through the constraints of an oppressive educational system that pushed him to academically achieve.
"I wasn't scared. You can't afford to be scared when you're hanging by your fingertips. I did it for the adventure. I didn't go up there to die. I went up there to live."
More information: http://www.jameskingston. co.uk/
MUSTANG WANTED
The Ukrainian Spider-Man and amateur stuntman scales high-
rise structures to pose for stunningly scary photographs. Mustang Wanted shares the death-tempting images and videos on his web-
site and YouTube page, where he has amassed more than a halfmillion views.
"Death is not the worst thing that can happen. Everyone dies — but not everyone lives the way they want."
More information: http://www.mustang-wanted. com/en/
TOM RYABOI
One of the crusaders of “Rooftopping”. The 27-year-old, from Toronto in Canada, has climbed more than 100 buildings and produced some of the most stunning examples of the craze. On April 24th
2011, he took a photograph entitled “i’ll make ya famous” while
sitting on top of a high rise in Toronto, Canada. In the following month, this photo was used as a lead in for several news stories
about rooftopping that were published on city culture blog My Modern Met, photography site PetaPixel, 49
the Daily Mail and Laughing Squid. In February 2012, the photo was posted to Reddit and received 3978 up votes and 1180 points overall. The photograph led to several career and licensing opportunities for Ryaboi, who published a retrospective on his famous photograph a year after it was taken.
'It's addictive and I am always looking for a higher roof in the city. But I still feel the buzz whenever I reach the top and feel the wind. It's a pure rush of adrenaline.'
More information: http://www.tomryaboi.com/
MARAT DUPRI
Is a famous skywalker whose mission is to scale the highest build-
ings he can find before dangling precariously over their edges to
past guards and climbing on to the roofs of Moscow landmarks, be-
fore setting his sights even higher – on Dubai’s towering structures.
“The height exhilarates me. It gives me energy and fills with enthusiasm to make new and great shots.”
More information: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168616/Marat-Dupri-Man-scalesworlds-tallest-buildings-capture-earth-air. html#ixzz2nk9v2u6N
BRADLEY L. GARRET
(Born c. 1980) is an American-born social and cultural geographer
at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Ox-
ford. He is the author of Explore Everything: Place-Hacking the City, an ethnographic account of activities of the London Consolidation
Crew (LCC), a group of urban explorers Garrett calls "place hackers". Plotting expeditions from London, Paris, Berlin, Detroit, Chicago,
Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Bradley L. Garrett has evaded urban security in order to experience the city in ways beyond the boundaries of conventional life.
“A lot of urban explorers perhaps would have gotten involved with rock climbing or caving or scuba diving, but they didn't have the money. When you live in an urban environment, it is a really liberating feeling to pack your backpack with your camera kit, walk out the door, and an hour later you're wandering around through a sewer or climbing up a skyscraper.” 50
More information: http://www.brad leygarrett.com/
Sensory Wanderlust
bought his first camera just three years ago, started by sneaking
Typologies
take his extraordinary shots. The fearless 19-year-old, who only
ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS Explanatory Drive N.
Some cognitive psychologists consider it as an essential attribute of the human mind, a constant pursuit of explanations that motivate us to actively test hypotheses about causal relations in the world. It is a feature that appears at an early age, research suggests that questions about ‘why?’ and ‘how come?’ appear early in language development (Gopnik & Sobel, 2000), and continues to evolve during adolescence and adulthood. Psychologist Alison Gopnik suggests that, “Explanation is to theory-formation as orgasm is to reproduction. It is the phenomenological mark of the fulfilment of an evolutionarily determined drive.” This explanatory pleasure encourages humans to seek this kind of “eureka moments” or what she calls “aha” the recognition of the fact that an explanation has been reached. Source: http://www.alisongopnik.com/papers_alison/Explain%20final.pdf
Helicopter parent N. (also called a cosseting parent or simply a cosseter)
Is a parent who pays extremely close attention to a child's or children's experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions. Helicopter parents are so named because, like helicopters, they hover overhead. American parents are more involved in their children’s lives than ever: they schedule play dates, assist with homework and even choose college courses. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/opinion/sunday/too-much-helicopter-parenting.html
Boredom N.
The boredom is best described in terms of attention. A bored person doesn't just have nothing to do. He or she wants to be stimulated, but is unable, for whatever reason, to connect with his or her environment — a state Eastwood describes as an "unengaged mind." Source: Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2012
Dérive N. [literally: “drifting”].
A mode of experimental behaviour linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances. The term also designates a specific uninterrupted period of deriving. In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by 51
the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. Source: http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/theory.html
Sensation seeking G.
Is "the need for varied, novel and complex sensations and experiences, and the willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experience." (Zuckerman, 1979)
Type T N. (for thrill-seeking)
Refers to a person who does not belong to a particular organization or profession. A person who is not accepted by, or who isolates themselves from, society. Oxford Dictionaries: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/outsider?q=outsider
Parkour N.
According to the World Freerunning Parkour Federation, parkour in its most basic form is the act of moving from point “a” to point “b” using the surrounding environment and the obstacles along the way to increase efficiency. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/sports/24iht-athlete24.html?_r=0
Spring Break N.
Is a recess in early spring at universities and schools in various countries in the northern hemisphere, that usually lasts one week, in which hoards of college students flock to cities and beaches around the world for a great time.
Choking game N. (also known as the fainting game and a wide variety of local slang names)
Refers to intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain with the goal of inducing temporary syncope and euphoria. It is not new and it's been around for years. But now kids are getting their friends to film them doing it and posting the videos on YouTube, which has breathed new life into this dangerous fad. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/youtube-helping-choking-game-thrive-teens/story?id=16102359
Knockout N.
Sometimes called "One-Hitter-Quitter," involves randomly selecting a pedestrian and punching them 52
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Outsider ADJ.
Additional insights
Personality types can be described as “risk-takers and adventurers who seek excitement and stimulation wherever they can find or create it.” (Psychologist Frank Farley)
in the face or head with a goal of knocking them unconscious. One YouTube video that has drawn more than 560,000 views shows a teacher being punched and falling on his face. Later in the video, a young man explains that teens play Knockout "for the fun of it." Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/usanow/2013/11/19/knockout-street-trend/3638345/
Rooftopping G. Is the heart-stopping photography movement which involves thrill seekers climbing to the top of city skyscrapers, hanging off the edge and taking pictures of the spectacular view beneath them. Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093801/Rooftopping-Photographs-taken-daredev ils-skyscrapers.html Skywalking G.
An extreme sport that involves standing or walking atop very tall structures at dangerous heights, such as the rooftop of a skyscraper building or a bridge. It started when Russian teenager Marat Dupri began scaling buildings and other high-rise structures in Moscow to take landscape photographs as early as 2011. Now it is a photographic trend popular amongst Russian teens. Skyscrapers, electrical towers, monuments -- if it's tall and dangerous looking, teens in Russia are climbing it to capture some breath-taking shots. Source: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/skywalking
Millennials and long-term thinking N.
Scientists once believed the brain was almost completely formed by age 13. But, in the past two years, neuroscientists have discovered that parts of the brain—specifically the prefrontal lobes, which are involved in planning and decision-making—continue to develop well into the late teens and early 20s. “The prefrontal cortex is important for decision-making, planning, reasoning and the storage of knowledge” explains Jordan Grafman, chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md. That means Millennials’ brains are still developing reasoning, planning and decision-making capabilities while they are depending heavily on technology—cell phones, IM and e-mail as well as parents and friends at the other end of the technology. As a result, some experts believe Millennials struggle to make decisions independently. Source: http://www.gendiff.com/docs/TheTetheredGeneration.pdf
Ultimate immersion trend N. (from video report 2013) People are giving more importance to immersive experiences that enable them to focus their atten53
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Facts & Statistics
Facts & Statistics
tion on a specific topic and delve into a specific world. This trend is important for our business because whether it is for entertainment purposes, for communications, or work, people are searching for ways to achieve an enhanced, more engaging experience. We are witnessing a strong appetite for recreating a cinematic experience at home and for engaging in immersive video experiences through gaming for example. People are willing to pay for the experiences that are meaningful to them. Currently access to immersive experience is limited to people who have a large budget or who are tech savvy. We need to prepare for the future and develop solutions that are simple and affordable to use that enable people to feel ‘immersed’ in the content they are viewing. This would help us secure a strong place in people’s home and content consumption rituals. Source: https://ekiss.intranet.telefonica/comunidad/ekiss/docs/DispForm.aspx?ID=292&lista=KSDo cumentos31
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Facts & Statistics
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Sources Wealthy Life 1 http://luxuryinstitute.com/blog/?tag=american-express On tattoos 2 http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf 3,4 The Harris Poll, 2012 by Harris Interactive. Source: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/ mid/1508/articleId/970/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/Default.aspx 5 http://www.statisticbrain.com/tattoo-statistics/
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Facts & Statistics
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6 7
http://infographicsmania.com/the-world-of-tattoos/ http://infographicsmania.com/the-world-of-tattoos/
On Choking 8 http://www.yalemedicalgroup.org/stw/Page.asp?PageID=STW048209 On Knockout 9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knockout_(violent_game) Obstacle races 10 http://www.uwec.edu/newsbureau/release/past/1999/99-11/110199farley.html Ephemeral Communications Snapchat. (BI Intelligence, Nov. 2013)
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Multitasking 12 13 14
Ofcom report, 2012. Source: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr13/UK_Key_Points.pdf Nielsen, 2012 Ofcom report, 2012. Source: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr13/UK_Key_Points.pdf
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Case Studies is a mobile and desktop web app that allows users to create, share and explore an endless range of activities and adventures from adrenalinefilled skydiving to watching a beautiful sunset. Nudge crowdsources activities from people in the area and surfaces the best ones to the top of the list. It is centred around inspirational and motivational activities, like bike rides, hiking trips, sunset watching, etc., as opposed to other socialplanning apps that focus on restaurants and bars. Nudge has a similar format to Reddit, allowing anyone to post an entry with a picture and a few hashtags that can then be upvoted by other members of the community. Users can search by nearby, “out there,” and “Serendipity.” http://nudgemobileapp.com/
SQUAWK is a social network built around mes-
saging that allows people to connect and engage with others in a fun way. It allows to send animated stickers, memes, selfies, drawings, filtered photos, GIFs, emoji, text and voice messages to individuals or groups of friends. Users have fun sending secret disappearing messages and choosing backgrounds for each chat. It’s easy, fast, and free to share moments with friends in a meaningful way. It was launched in 2013. http://squawkapp.com/
www.serendipitor.net
YPLAN is an app that has gone live on 20% of iPhones in London in just one year. It is a marketplace for last-minute events. The app allows you to browse, preview, book and pay for a list of events in your vicinity, encouraging spontaneity and allowing easy access. http://yplanapp.com 60
Case Stuides
NUDGE, with the slogan “Try something new,”
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SERENDIPITOR is an alternative navigation app for iPhone that helps you find something by looking for something else. The app provides inventive directional routes and suggested actions inspired by Fluxus, Vito Acconci, Yoko Ono, among others. Enter an origin and a destination, and the app maps a route between the two. Serendipitor, by Mark Shepard, was developed at V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media. Serendipitor is a component of the Sentient City Survival Kit, a project of Creative Capital that asks questions about the way intelligent systems, cities and the people who live in them interact.
SNAPCHAT is an ephemeral photo messag- oper Pierre Legrain.
http://twitterspirit.com/
ing application developed by Evan Spiegel and Robert Murphy on May 2011. Using the app, users can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. These sent photographs and videos are known as "Snaps". Users set a time limit for how long recipients can view their Snaps after which they will be hidden from the recipient's device and deleted from Snapchat's servers. As of November 2013 more than 400M snaps were shared each day thus making Snapchat one of the most popular apps. Facebook tried to acquire it for $3 billion which Snapchat declined. Since its creation, it received more than $123M in funding and its valuation is estimated at $3.5 billon.
BLINK is a mobile application for ephemeral
messaging. It allows users to text, plus share photos, and soon videos, with other friends as well as with groups. Blink raised $1M in Seed. http://www.blinkapp.co/
VINE is a mobile app released in January 2013. The app enables users to create and post short and looping videos (up to 6 seconds long) on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. The company which was acquired by Twitter in October 2012 for $30M became within just a couple of months, the most used video-sharing application on the market. www.vine.co TUMBLR is a mix of social network and microblogging platform founded by David Karp, that allows users to post multimedia content into short posts, create and personalize their blog, follow other Tumblr users, and re-blog posts. www.tumblr.com
PHEED, launched in November 2012, is a free
multimedia social network for mobile devices that competes with Facebook, Twitter, YouTubeetc. Aimed at a younger audience than Facebook's demographic, Pheed combines text, video, images, audio, and includes a live broadcast option. While it is free to join and use, users have the option to monetize their content by applying a monthly subscription fee to their channel or
http://www.snapchat.com/
TWITTERSPIRIT, a service that lets users set
an expiration time for their tweets with a simple hashtag. Think of it as a Snapchat for Twitter, complete with its own ephemeral imagery. The service was created by former Twitter devel61
setting up a pay-per-view live stream broadcast event. They can select the pricing and earn directly from their own original content that they owned and controlled. Pheed retains no rights or ownership toward content. Fortune listed Pheed as ‘The #1 Social Network to Watch in 2013,’ and Business Insider ‘the social media company of the year.’
a notification. The next time you get a Facebook “like”, you can smell something like strawberry, mint, coffee and lavender. The device's LED lights also light up with each notification. Each cartridge yields 100 sprays and refills cost $5. A bacon scent may be in the works. http://www.scentee.com/
https://www.pheed.com/
OPHONE is a small Bluetooth-enabled cylindrical device that looks like a phone but it does not transmit or receive sounds. It can receive encoded transmissions that tell it what kind of smells to play. The contemporary art and design sensor, founded by academic and scientists David Edwards and his Harvard students in 2007, was showcased at Wired’s 2013 event in London. http://vaporcommunication.com/#he-t SCENTEE made by Japanese firm ChatPerf and launched in November 2013. It is a white, round device available on iOS and Android, that plugs into your phone's earphone jack and releases a small spray of fragrance each time you receive
http://pangenerator.com/#projects/projecttactilu
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munication. Using Bluetooth or a WiFi connection, the bracelet is capable of transmitting the touch between two individuals. The system is comprised of two elements: a bracelet that sends data and a bracelet that receives data. A touch sensor located on upper side of the bracelet coverts swipes into tactile or haptic motion for the user with the receiving device. It was created by the Polish new media art group, panGenerator. Tactilu is still in an early alpha version, but they are working on the next version that will be 50% slimmer and where the textile will be replaced with casted polyurethane.
Case Stuides
TACTILU is a bracelet for remote tactile com-
DIGITAL TASTE Interface simulates the taste The prototype story used is 'The Girl Who Was
Plugged In’ by James Tiptree due to its incredible range of settings and emotions. It was designed by Felix Heibeck, Alexis Hope and Julie Legault from MIT Media Lab in 2013. It is at prototype stage.
sensations digitally on the tongue. It consists of two main modules, the control module (to formulate different electrical and thermal stimuli) and the tongue interface (which has two silver electrodes to wear on the human tongue). The electrode uses electrical and thermal stimulation in a non-invasive way to produce various taste sensations. It can reproduce salty, sweet, sour and bitter sensations. Digital Taste Interface was developed by Scientists at the National University of Singapore and it is at prototype stage.
http://scifi2scifab.media.mit.edu/2013/12/19/ sensory-fiction/
MIXPERCEPTIONS is an app that allows users
to interact with artworks, using an augmented reality application that enhances visual and auditory elements. MixPerceptions reveals rich and dynamic (visual and auditory elements repetition) creating an engaging multi-sensorial experience. MixPerceptions is an experimental project created by a multidisciplinary team from Telefónica R&D Barcelona Lab. It was exhibited at the ACM Multimedia 2013 Art Exhibition in Barcelona. http://www.mixperceptions.com/
http://www.nimesha.info/digitaltaste.html
SENSORY FICTION was created to introduce
a new level of experience when reading novels. Instead of focusing on audio or motion, Sensory Fiction focuses on a combination of touch and temperature. Through the use of a special book that is connected to a wearable harness of sorts, sensors embedded in the latter vibrate and change pressure and temperature in line with the plot. Sensory Fiction also involves the book cover which changes colour to signify its mood.
POPPY 3D is a device that turns an iPhone into
a 3D camera capable of capturing, viewing and sharing full-motion, full-colour video and stills in 3D. Poppy’s mirrors capture two stereographic 63
images using the iPhone’s single camera, allowing users to capture and share the world the way they really experience it: in three dimensions. Poppy project was successfully funded on July 2013 and it managed to raise $190 through Kickstarter. Poppy costs $ 59.95 http://poppy3d.com/
bring the environment around you to life. It enables immersive experiences for users, and is an opportunity for brands, products and touristic destinations to integrate useful information into real environment settings. https://blippar.com/en/
RHIZOMATIKS founded in 2006, Rhizoma-
ing from architects, media artists, musicians and programmers. Harnessing their passion and expertise in technical matters, they are able to challenge existing formats from interactive to spatial design. The results have lead to the creation of new formats, which have been recognized through numerous awards received over the years. They recently designed an immersive interactive installation LED treadmill for the Nike Lunarglide+ 3 running shoe. The user is able to try on the Lunarglide+3 and run inside of the shoe on a treadmill that calculates the users' stats and outputs them onto the RGB LED grid for onlookers to see. The user is also able to choose in which environment to run through; from cities to forests, the variable design opportunities are limitless.
http://timbouckley.com/work/design/eidos.php http://vimeo.com/58771063
BLIPPAR is an augmented reality application that can be integrated into Google glasses to
http://rhizomatiks.com/ 64
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equipment that can give people superhuman sight and hearing through two different headsets. The sight headset, in the shape of a pair of glasses, slows down movement in real-time by transferring images to a computer where they’re processed and then sent back, allowing the user to take note of hidden traces and patterns. This method is comparable to long exposure photography, which uses particular techniques to capture stationary and moving objects in one frame. EIDOS was built by Royal College of Art students and it is at prototype stage.
Case Stuides
EIDOS is a range of sensory augmentation tiks consists of an eclectic mix of creators, rang-
ILLUMIROOM augments the area surrounding
a television screen with projected visualizations to enhance the traditional living room entertainment experience. IllumiRoom uses a Kinect for Windows camera and a projector to blur the lines between on-screen content and the environment people live in allowing them to combine their virtual and physical worlds. For example, the system can change the appearance of the room, induce apparent motion, extend the field of view, and enable entirely new game experiences. IllumiRoom is a proof-of-concept system from Microsoft Research. http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/illumiroom/
http://www.oculusvr.com/
PRIOVR is essentially a full-body motion-cap-
ture suit, ideal for gaming and capable of accurately sensing the pose of all parts of the user’s body in real-time. The suit brings users and their movements into virtual environments where they can see their bodies move as they move, manipulate items as if they were right in front of them, and interact with the virtual world as naturally as they would with the real world. PrioVR is at prototype stage. The project’s funding goal was not reached on Kickstarter in 2013. They don't have exact prices yet, but the upper body option should be under $300 and the full body options should be under $400. http://www.priovr.com
OCULUS RIFT is a low- latency headset that
allows videogamers to enter the action, in 360 degrees, in real time. With unique images shown to each eye and a 110-degree display (wider than one’s peripheral vision), the Rift mimics a stereoscopic 3D viewing experience with depth, scale and a parallax effect, without the typical constraints of a screen or headset. The headset tracks even subtle head movement. Plus, the whole setup weighs about the same as a pair of ski goggles. Oculus has raised more than $90 million, grown to almost a hundred employees and has sold 50,000 units to developers. The Oculus Rift 'Crystal Cove' prototype is 2014's Best of CES winner.
4DX is a motion picture technology owned and
developed by South Korean company CJ 4DPLEX. 4DX allows a motion picture presentation to be augmented with environmental effects such as motion, scents, mist and wind, outside the standard video and audio. As such, it requires a theatre with special equipment (in the same way that IMAX theatres require special equipment/ design).
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The technology was introduced commercially in 2009. Due to the huge success of the film Avatar, the technology has expanded to more theatres. As of August 2013, the 4DX technology has achieved over 10,000 seats in 16 countries and 58 cities.
stacles are designed by the United States military. Spartan Race's parent company, Peak Races, hosts the Spartan Death Race, 48+ hour extreme test of endurance and resilience. ESPN describes the Spartan Race as "a true test of will."
http://www.spartanrace.com/
WAR ZONE TOURS takes travellers to loca-
tions include Iraq, Iran, Syria and Mexico and can cost up to $40,000 (€29,940, £24,980), founder Rick Sweeney told The Financial Times. The company is explicit about the type of travel that customers can expect, stating on its website that it guides people through ‘areas of conflict as well as areas that could be perceived as being a higher than average level of risk.’ But War Zone Tours is at the extreme end of the spectrum. Most extreme travel operators that venture into countries normally associated with war strictly eschew danger zones. Clients are generally older, between 40 and 70, who ‘have a bit more time, are interested in current affairs and history, and want to step behind the headlines’. There is a market of adventure-seekers who want a mind-opening cultural adventure. http://www.warzonetours.com/
SPARTAN RACE is a series of obstacle races
of varying distance and difficulty ranging from 1 mile to marathon distances. In 2012, they were voted Outside Magazine's "BEST OBSTACLE RACE". They are held in North America, Canada, Europe, South Korea, and Australia. The series include the Spartan Sprint (3+ miles of obstacle racing), the Super Spartan (8+ miles), the Spartan Beast (12+ miles), and the Ultra Beast (26+ miles - one of two marathon obstacle courses along with Mudderthon). Spartan Race also has a time-trial obstacle course race that is one mile in length, and has a military series in which ob66
Sensory Wanderlust
ries in which participants attempt 10-12 mile long military-style obstacle courses. Designed by British Special Forces to test mental as well as physical strength, obstacles often play on common human fears, such as fire, water, electricity and heights. The organizers encourage teamwork, and many obstacles are designed to be very difficult to complete alone. The events are untimed, and an average 78% of entrants successfully complete the course. Tough Mudder started with three races in 2010 and has grown to include 53 events worldwide in 2013. http://toughmudder.com/
Case Stuides
TOUGH MUDDER is an endurance event se-
Implications
Technology brings a lot of comfort, security and convenience into people’s lives but it shouldn’t take away the excitement and fun that makes life worth living. Sensory Wanderlust reveals the following implications for Telefónica Digital:
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We can bring more serendipity into people’s lives to make them feel adventurous.
We can develop products and services that create immersive and multisensorial experiences
There is a risk with too much personalisation to offer services that are too ‘expected’. It is important to be part of people’s discovery experiences and ensure that we surprise and delight our consumers.
With the digital home and video services in particular, we had a big opportunity to help consumers access immersive experiences in their home for both entertainment and work. We know from our research in the video area that immersion is a key trend. This is something we can also help achieve through multi-play services (multiple screens for example).
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Sensory Wanderlust shows the importance for people to communicate in a more emotional and immersive way. We have a great opportunity to differentiate our video and mobile services by providing more emotional and immersive features. We should also ensure that we provide more serendipitous and unexpected experiences for people to discover content for example.
We can help people express themselves through their digital communications in a more compelling way, using visuals and emotion tools. If we want to be part of people’s communications repertoire we have to offer them more visual and emotional tools to communicate with. This can happen through partnerships (like for instance the partnership with Line in Spain) and through our own innovations. We need to remain relevant within a communications landscape that is constantly evolving, with the likes of Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. This can be something that the IoT group help us tackle, by enabling the communications through multiple devices and objects to be more emotional and visual. 68
Some of our internal innovation projects such as Awazza that anticipate users’ behavior and prepares the websites so that the browsing experience is ‘accelerated’ (awazza.com). We could develop more services that push important content to notify consumers immediately and delay irrelevant or less important content to a later time. Being able to anticipate when and what pieces of information are important for consumers to access would be a key differentiator.
Sensory Wanderlust
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We can help people keep up with the pace of digital life by offering ways to communicate in a fast and immediate way.
Implications
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Additional sources
DOCUMENTARIES & FILMS Rise of the Sufferfests Is a forthcoming documentary that explores the history of obstacle racing, the psychology behind it, the socioeconomic factors that led to its overnight success, and most importantly, what the phenomenon says about us. But it's not only about mud, blood and barbed wire. The film suggests that Colour Runs, Electric Runs and such were all forged from the same social-sport DNA. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFQDtpgv5G0 Stacked Is a short documentary made to chronicle the rising east coast star Balaram Stack and his journey to get to the Quiksilver Pro New York. Source: http://stackedmovie.com/ Spring Breakers Is a 2012 American comedy and drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine. Starring James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine, the film follows four college-aged girls on their spring break and subsequent descent into use of drugs, crimes, and violence. REM Is the first documentary to comprehensively explore the human conditions in and around Rem Koolhaas's buildings from a ground level perspective. The film not only reveals Rem's life and working methods from an unprecedented 'behind the scenes' perspective but the film gives the architecture greater meaning as the viewer witnesses the one thing that gives it function and purpose - how it is used by people. The stories incorporated are not only that of Rem and his collaborators but the construction workers who physically put these structures together piece by piece, the inhabitants of the buildings who live every day surrounded by this dramatic architecture, a homeless man who shelters daily in the Seattle library and describes the building's free internet and access to 69
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Web Junkie Documentary China is the first country to label “Internet addiction� a clinical disorder. With extraordinary intimacy, Israeli filmmakers Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia investigate a Beijing rehab center where Chinese teenagers are deprogrammed. The focus is on three teens, their parents and the health professionals determined to help them kick their habit. Source: http://webjunkiemovie.com/about
Additional Sources
musical instruments as a "lifeline" that "gives him hope for the future," a free-runner (aka parkour) who uses the ambiguous surfaces of the Porto Concert Hall interchangeably; running across and flipping off wall, ceiling and floor alike. Source: http://www.remdocumentary.com/remdocumentary. html
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Trend 3
OPEN AGORA
“The mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size.�
Albert Einstein
People will display openness and relate to a global conscience. Openness will impact behaviours and bring more trust to human interactions. 74
- New Norm - People develop smart curation strategies to participate in collective knowledge. - Making Meaning - People don’t want to be ordinary, they embrace technology to reach their full potential.
Typology : The Undogmatics
- Sustainable Utopia - People want to differentiate themselves by achieving mastery in a specific field.
Additionally, as digital technology brings more transparency, people around the world collaborate with each other to create positive and systemic change (Sustainable Utopia trend). Indeed, people increasingly relate to a new global conscience. They are able to compare and contrast their lives with others’, and they relate to them like never before. In a context where challenges are increasingly global and complex, it is encouraging to see more people actively attempting to acquire multiple perspectives on issues.
These people are the Undogmatics: they embrace Openness because they understand that diversity can lead to better collaboration and deeper learning from each other. The Undogmatics are not afraid to step out of their world to become part of the real world. They want to create an Open Agora: a new paradigm where new cultures, new business and new processes that are based on openness flourish and succeed. Openness impacts behaviours and brings more trust to human interactions. For the Undogmatics Openness is the path to success.
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Introduction
- Better World People expect to be hyper-connected and to get access to the things they want regardless of where they are.
In the past trend reports, we discussed the fact that people and organisations are becoming increasingly concerned by Sustainability (Better World trend) and the efficient management of resources (New Norm trend). Indeed, people and organisations are committed to their own wellbeing and the one of the planet (Making Meaning trend).
Open Agora
Emotional driver: openness
Past trends
T
he Undogmatics value cultural capital such as knowledge, culture, customs and trends. They actively look for ways to expose themselves to different points of views through various sources. For example, the Museum of the Person in Sao Paulo tells the personal stories of thousands of individuals so that visitors get exposed to different point of views that will open their minds. In the same way, the Living Library, a Danish initiative aims to discourage prejudice. It allows "readers" to borrow "human books" and discuss their lives as ex-stripper, refugee or policeman. According to Ronni Abergel, the founder: “When they talk to one another, they re-think their own positions.“ The Living Library has inspired many similar initiatives around the world, offline and online, making it a global movement for the promotion of cultural capital, diversity and openness. In the same way, the Global Lives Project “a volunteerbased creative collaboration focused on the cultivation of empathy across cultures1” hopes to reshape how individuals conceive cultures, nations and people outside of
1 2
their own communities, with the creation of a video library of human life experiences. Such initiatives are important because they reveal the richness of the world and encourage people to learn from others, to become Undogmatics and to contribute to the Open Agora. Indeed, contrary to popular belief, cultures are not becoming more alike instead they are becoming more diverse as expressed by the Pluralism theory. The Undogmatics are xenophiles: people who find inspiration and creative energy in the vast diversity of the world. They are interested in opening their minds to the world and they increasingly see themselves within a global context.
6 in 10 BRIC Millennials see themselves as a global citizen first and a citizen of their homeland second2. As the Undogmatics live in a connected world where they are exposed to the thoughts, feelings and opinions from people around the world,they actively seek to broaden their knowledge and understanding. They might do this
Source: globallives.org/about/overview/ Source: JWTIntelligence: Meet the BRIC Millennials, 2013 76
through initiatives like, for example, Minerva Schools, which promotes global cultural immersion through openness and exploratory learning. In the same way, the Undogmatics open up their media consumption towards more diverse and ‘authentic’ sources of information. For example, Newspapermap.com offers links to more than ten thousands newspapers from more than one hundred countries. The content is accessible online and machine translated from more than a dozen languages. Other examples include Tea Leaf Nation, Meedan.net and Härnu. They translate local news and stories into English language so that more people can contribute
3
Caryle Murphy, A Kingdom’s Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of Its Twentysomethings, 2013 77
Open Agora
They have an enhanced awareness of a multiplicity of views on any given subject that make them feel entitled to question the authority3. This is a great progress towards the Open Agora as it shows that technology can positively promote cultural
Insights
to the Open Agora. According to Brent Turner, the co-founder of Härnu, his objective is to “connect the entire world in conversation”. Such platforms are powerful as they contribute to evolving the thinking of the Undogmatics, breaking their preconceptions and stereotypes. For example, Caryle Murphy observed that in Saudi Arabia “questioning is now the biggest effect” of the Internet on young Saudis.
diversity for the benefit of the globally connected society.
challenges that previously only large organizations could.
The Undogmatics embrace cognitive diversity: the differences between people, not the identity differences, like race, gender, ethnicity or religion. Cognitive diversity is a key principle of the Open Agora: it allows people with diverse talents, skills and point of views to work together better. Indeed, Scott Page, a scholar in complex systems argues that a team of cognitive diversity will solve problems better than an equally talented team of like-minded individuals4. With the increased complexity of the world’s challenges, cognitive diversity appears to be a helpful and hopeful tool.
For example, the Organize Crime and Corruption Reporting Project is a virtual organization that brings together journalists with local knowledge and local connections from different parts of the world, to collaborate with each other on investigative projects. They are able to disrupt global organized crime on a scale that no police department would be able to match. Such initiatives show that through openness and collaboration, the Open Agora can help fight injustice. Indeed, by engaging in the sharing economy the Undogmatics are able to perceive the rewards of openness. The Open-Sharers are a breed of Undogmatics that are highly digital and who are happy to share their personal information. Indeed, a recent survey found that:
We already start to understand the benefit of cognitive diversity through the sharing economy. The sharing economy provides the Undogmatics with many opportunities to make new connections and to contribute to open systems by engaging with communities. These communities of amplified individuals are extremely powerful and efficient as they have the collective intelligence to take on
Almost 50% of people say that they are receptive to having trusted brands track their data in return for personalised rewards.
4
Page, E. Scott: The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, 2008 78
Being able to track, monitor and reward people according to their reputation trail will be essential to ensure sustainable participation in the Open Agora. 79
Insights
Legit, a start-up working on a universal reputation system, which was acquired by Facebook in 2013, says that they are trying to "become the credit system of the sharing economy". Other examples, such as the MetaCurrency project aim to build technology platforms and protocols that support the flow of interactions of multiple currencies such as reputation, trust, knowledge, information and value. People’s reputation trail affects the dynamics of exchanges and contributions within the sharing economy.
Open Agora
The Personal Information Economy is likely to grow in the future, with more companies building services such as the Viggle app, a loyalty program for television that gives people real rewards for checking into the television shows they are watching. As people perceive the value of their personal information, they will actively seek to manage their reputation. Indeed, expert in collaborative consumption, Rachel Bostman argues that: “with every trade we make, comment we leave, person we flag, badge we earn we leave a reputation trail”. Some start-ups including PeerTrust and TrustCloud, are designing systems that attempt to manage people’s reputation trail. According to Jeremy Barton, cofounder of
A recent survey found that interpersonal trust has a substantial impact not only on individuals but also on a country’s level of entrepreneurship and therefore economic growth5. The Undogmatics create new businesses that offer services that are based on openness. For example, taxi service Uber (recently valued at $3.5 billion)6 operates within an open and transparent system. The passengers receive the photo, (first) name and phone number of the driver and both passengers and drivers rate each other after the ride. Services based on open systems breed trust. Indeed, BlaBlaCar, a community ridesharing network that operates under Frédéric a similar open Mazella, founder and transparent of BlaBlaCar system released observed: a study that “Trust in any found that their community is an community activity enabler. members trust No trust, no each other transaction”. more than their neighbours. Such shift in business practices reveal the power that
Undogmatic companies have to disrupt traditional ways of delivering services. Indeed, the Undogmatics embrace openness to innovate. The power of openness is impacting many industries such as the finances industry, which is not traditionally known for its transparency and openness. For example, Finnish start up Holvi7 offers a disruptive alternative to traditional banking. Holvi brings radical transparency to finances and enables people and organisations to open up their financial information including all the expenses drawn in and out from different accounts. It makes finances management totally open, easy, collaborative and transparent. Nordic politicians have started using Holvi as a way to demonstrate their honesty and gain citizen’s trust and votes. Additionally, the openness of individuals and organisations is impacting the way products are made. For example, Nike, Zady.com and
5
Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/11/countries-full-of-mistrustful-people-are-less-entrepreneurial/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews 6 Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/25/uber-tpg-3-5b/ 7 Source: https://holvi.com 80
Nudie jeans expose their supply chains through interactive maps so that consumers can understand how the products are made. These types of initiatives are still relatively new but as digital technology brings more transparency, it is likely that more companies across most industries will open up their own manufacturing process. For example, Fairphone carved a new niche for itself, by focusing on transparency of supply chains, pricing and design. They open the complete costs of manufacturing a Fairphone to consumers so that they can see exactly what they are paying for. So far it has been a successful strategy with a sold out first product run of 25,000 units.
Open Agora
This in turns infers an immense sense of openness and trust throughout the company. Recently, in light of the NSA scandal, several companies such as Facebook and Apple released transparency reports, in an attempt to regain the trust of privacy concerned consumers.
The Undogmatics celebrate open cultures and transform working environments. They model them after the Open Agora where collaboration and transparency prevail over secrecy and anonymity. For example, Undogmatic company Square8 uses Radical Transparency as a way to shift traditional corporate power.
8
Insights
CEO and founder Jack Dorsey insists that any meeting of more than two people (and this includes board meetings) has a dedicated person to take notes and to send the minutes to the whole company.
Source: https://squareup.com/ 81
The Undogmatics are forcing new rules to emerge to enable the creation of the Open Agora. The Freedom of Information Laws that allows anyone to access government data and the Fair Data that will be awarded to companies and organisations that collect personal data ethically are great examples of necessary rules for the Open Agora. The Undogmatics’ vision of openness is fundamentally transforming the fabric of our lives from an economic, political and societal perspective. The Open Agora will reveal that, ultimately, the path to success is Openness.
Openness, collaborative spirit and transparent mindset will enable society as a whole to flourish and become vibrant because it will create an atmosphere of trust and vibrancy.
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PEOPLE FEDERICO ZANNIER
A 28-year-old Italian-born master’s student at NYU, is offering to hand
over a day’s digital footprint for a measly $2. He launched a Kickstarter campaign in May 2013 to find out if it´s possible to make money by
choosing to give away logs for his most intimate data. Emails, chat logs, location data, browser history, screenshots—you name it, the He says he “violated his own privacy” starting back in February for about 50 days straight, recording
screenshots and webcam snaps of himself every 30 seconds and tracking his every footstep using GPS technology. He logged the address of each Web page he visited—storing some 3 million lines of text—and
accumulated a massive trove of 21,124 webcam photos and 19,920 screen shots. Zannier’s aim, somewhat paradoxically, is to take ownership of his own data by selling it. He points out that we often hand over our
Typologies
New York-based software developer is selling it all.
online services. Companies rake in millions of dollars selling our information to marketing firms while we
receive little in return. But Zannier’s Kickstarter is not just out to make a statement about online privacy—he plans to use the funds to create a browser extension and a smartphone app that he says will help others
sell their own data. “ If more people do the same, I'm thinking marketers could just pay us directly for our data” he writes on his Kickstarter page. “It might sound crazy, but so is giving all our data away for free.”
“I will try my best to remain transparent.”
More information: http://www.kickstarter.com/ projects/1461902402/a-bit-e-of-me
BAS VAN ABEL
Founder of Fairphone, is passionate about changing the relationship between people and products. He believes that by opening up
the design processes behind everyday things people can re-engage and become active owners of their stuff. This was the inspiration on which he based the model for his social enterprise Fairphone, 83
Open Agora
private data unwittingly, given that few people take the time to read the terms and conditions of apps and
which is opening up systems on a step-by-step journey to making the world’s first fairly designed and produced smartphone.
“We’re prepared to be completely transparent about the steps we’re taking to open up the supply chain, including the elements we’ve not yet been able to change.”
RONNI ABERGEL
Founder and Director at Human Library Organization.
The son of a Moroccan and a Dane, Abergel studies journalism at Odense University. But after a friend was stabbed in 1993, Abergel
and four other friends founded an organization, Stop The Violence, focusing on interracial violence. Since then, Abergel has become more of an activist, lecturing on conflict resolution at schools and
organizing concerts. In fact, he spends so much time organizing political activities that he isn't sure when he'll be able to complete his media studies.
"We want to disarm people, we want to help fight prejudices. When they talk to one another, they re-think their own positions."
Video: http://vimeo.com/82688803 (2013)
LISA GANSKY
Is an entrepreneur, angel investor, instigator, speaker, and author of the bestseller, 'The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing.' In July 2010, she launched the Global Share Economy (Mesh)
Directory to support the growing community of Share based businesses and organizations. For more than 18 years, Gansky has been an entrepreneur and environmentalist focused on building com
panies and supporting ventures where there is an opportunity for well-timed disruption and a resound-
ing impact. A founder and CEO of several internet companies, including GNN (the first commercial web publication) and the largest consumer photo sharing and print service, Ofoto (now Kodak Gallery),
Gansky’s attention is on sustainable ventures with positive social impact. Gansky currently serves as a Director of Dos Margaritas, an environmental foundation focused in Latin America. 84
“We need a way to get the goods and services we actually want and need, but at less cost, both personal and environmental. Fortunately, we're quickly gaining more power to do so. A new model is starting to take root and grow, one in which consumers have more choices, more tools, more information, and more power to guide these choices. I call this emerging model "The Mesh."
RACHEL BOTSMAN
Is the co-author, with Roo Rogers, of the book What's Mine Is Yours: speaks on the power of collaboration and sharing through network
technologies, and on how it will transform business, consumerism and
the way we live. Her new work focuses on trust and reputation capital. She is the founder of The Collaborative Lab, an innovation incubator
Typologies
The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, and she writes, consults and
that works with startups, big businesses and local governments to deliver innovative solutions based nonprofit organizations around the world on brand and innovation strategy, and was a former director at the William J. Clinton Foundation.
“With every trade we make, comment we leave, person we flag, badge we earn, we leave a reputation trail.” "Reputation capital is becoming so important that it will act as a secondary currency, one that claims "you can trust me". It is shaping up as the cornerstone of the 21st-century economy […] It's the ancient power of word-of-mouth meeting the modern forces of the networked world.”
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Video: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=kTqgiF4HmgQ
Open Agora
on the ideas of Collaborative Consumption. She has consulted to Fortune 500 companies and leading
“We need a way to get the goods and services we actually want and need, but at less cost, both personal and environmental. Fortunately, we're quickly gaining more power to do so. A new model is starting to take root and grow, one in which consumers have more choices, more tools, more information, and more power to guide these choices. I call this emerging model "The Mesh."
HUGO VALENZUELA @HUGOLEONROJITO
In March 2011 taxi driver Hugo Valenzuela (a.k.a. @hugoleonrojito), motivated by the mentions about Twitter in the radio shows he
listens to during his workday, started to offer his service to his Twitter followers who could book a ride through a mention or hashtag.
By word of mouth, his idea started to gather more followers and six months later, the story was published by the national newspaper
El Espectador, amplified in the radio by La W and broadcasted on TV by local channel City TV. His fame and followers went through the roof, inspiring other taxi drivers to adopt the same mechanism and, almost
by accident, ended up creating an alternative transportation system for a specific and influential niche group in Bogota: “Twitteros” – hard-core Twitter users. @Hugoleonrojito decided to bet on the quality of the
service and his role as a model driver, using Twitter to break the barrier between taxi drivers and citizens.
“Technology, accompanied by good customer service, is the future.”
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More information: http://thisbigcity.net/twitter-taxi-drivers-technology-transformed-into-trust/
Additional Insights Cultural Capital
Refers to non-financial social assets that promote social mobility beyond economic means. Examples can include education, intellect, style of speech, dress, or physical appearance. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_capital
Xenophily - Xenophilia
Means an affection for unknown/foreign objects or peoples. It is the opposite of xenophobia or xenophoby. The word is a modern coinage from the Greek "xenos" (ξένος) (stranger, unknown, foreign) and "philia" (φιλία) (love, attraction). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophilia
Cognitive diversity
Is defined as the extent to which the group reflects differences in knowledge, including beliefs, preferences and perspectives. Source: Miller et al 1998 Scoot E. Page unpacks the notion of diversity. He focuses on cognitive differences between people, not identity differences like race, gender, ethnicity or religion. He suggests that cognitive diversity has four dimensions: perspectives, interpretations, heuristics, predictive models. · Diverse perspectives: people have different ways of representing situations and problems; they envision the set of possibilities confronting them differently. · Diverse interpretations: people put things into different categories and classifications. To some people, I might be someone who worked at the World Bank. To others, I might be a leadership storyteller. To others, I might be an author about radical management. All are true. They are different interpretations of the world. 87
Open Agora
Is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider culture provided they are consistent with the laws and values of the wider society. Cultural pluralism is often confused with Multiculturalism. Multiculturalism lacks the requirement of a dominant culture. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_capital
Additional Insights
Cultural pluralism
· Diverse heuristics: People have different ways of generating solutions to problems. Some people like to talk through their thinking about problems; others prefer to write out this solutions first and then talk. · Diverse predictive models: Some people analyse the situation. Others may look for the story. Source: Page, E. Scott: The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, 2007
Cultural diversity
Is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, as in the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural decay. The phrase cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each other's differences. The phrase "cultural diversity" is also sometimes used to mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. The culturally destructive action of globalization is often said to have a negative effect on the world's cultural diversity. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_diversity
Sharing economy (a.k.a. the share economy, the shared economy, the mesh or the collaborative economy) Is a sustainable economic system built around the sharing of human and physical assets. It includes the shared creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services by different people and organisations. These systems take a variety of forms but all leverage information technology to empower individuals, corporations, non-profits and government with information that enables distribution, sharing and reuse of excess capacity in goods and services. A common premise is that when information about goods is shared, the value of those goods increases, for business, for individuals, and for the community. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharing_economy Amplified individuals
Individuals who seize new opportunities to create, learn, and share from each other. Source: Gorbis, Marina: The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, 2013
Open Sharers
Is one of the five global online personality types identified by the Master Card study. The Open Sharers are highly digital consumers. They are progressive in their mobile and social attitudes, exempli88
Is the economy where consumers manage, trade and track their information in ways that benefit them. Personal information is known as the “oil” of the 21st century. The digital and mobile revolution has brought possibilities to monetize personal information to develop new personalized services and to create new revenue streams. Source: http://www.ericsson.com/news/130220-keys-for-success-in-the-personal-informationeconomy_244129229_c
Reputation economy
Is the economy where the online history becomes more powerful than the credit history. An aggregated online reputation having a real-world value holds enormous potential for sectors where trust is fractured: banking; e-commerce, where value is exponentially increased by knowing who someone really is; peer-to-peer marketplaces, where a high degree of trust is required between strangers; and where a traditional approach based on disjointed information sources is currently inefficient, such as recruiting. Furthermore, Norihiro Sadato, a researcher at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, found that making money and making a reputation engage much of the same reward circuitry in the brain. In other words, our brains neurologically compute personal reputation to be as valuable as money.
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Additional Insights
Personal Information Economy
Open Agora
fying open behaviour in both. These consumers tend to lead a less risk-averse lifestyle in general, including travel and clothing, but especially regarding online activities. Open Sharers are online consumers and creators—half are online more than 10 times per day, using the web to help organize and share their lives. Along with daily social networking, Open Sharers strongly believe online shopping saves a lot of time and hassle: they store their shipping information on sites they purchase from regularly. Eight in 10 Open Sharers love getting special offers and discounts just for “checking in” via a mobile device, emphasizing not only their willingness to trade location data for deals, but also the sophisticated use of their mobile phone. They are particularly aware of targeted marketing, with nearly full understanding of the value of their data and how merchants, marketers, and consumers interact online. Nearly all of them know that social media sites, search engines, and marketers use their personal information to tailor specific search results and advertising. When they share their personal information, they expect deals, access, and offers in return. At the same time, Open Sharers also know how to manage the privacy settings on their browsers, ensuring that they only share when they know how their information will be used. Source: MasterCard report. How Global Consumers Think about Their Data Online, 2013
Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/09/features/welcome-to-the-new-reputationeconomy/page/2
Radical transparency
Is a management method where nearly all decision making is carried out publicly. All draft documents, all arguments for and against a proposal, all final decisions, and the decision making process itself are made public and remain publicly archived. Two examples of organizations utilizing this style are the GNU/Linux community and Indymedia.
Transparency Report
Apple published its first transparency report on November 5, 2013, detailing the number of requests it receives for user and customer data from governments around the world. Apple is not allowed to publish detailed information about national security-related requests due to a gag order. Apart from that, the company says the data it is releasing constitutes "all the information we are legally allowed to share." The data published reflects requests from Jan. 1, 2013, to June 30, 2013. The company divides requests into two categories: those about accounts, which contain personal information, and those about devices, which arise in cases of stolen or missing iPhones or iPads. In the first category, Apple reveals that the United States government has requested information on 2,000 to 3,000 user accounts. For these requests, a gag order on data related to national security prevented Apple from specifying how many times it released information. Instead, it used a range; the company said it released data for between zero and 1,000 accounts. Source: http://images.apple.com/pr/pdf/131105reportongovinforequests3.pdf
Facebook´s Transparency Report
For the first time ever, Facebook released a transparency report in 2013 that outlines the number of government requests for user data the social network has received, and how often it complies with those requests. Facebook joins a growing list of Internet companies that release periodic transparency reports. The list also includes Google, Twitter, Dropbox, LinkedIn, and Microsoft. According to Facebook’s “Global Government Requests Report,” which covers the first six months of 2013 ending on June 30, the United States government issued the more requests for user data than any other country, with 11,000 to 12,000 requests that concerned between 20,000 and 21,000 users. In total, world governments issued more than 25,000 requests for user data connected to more than 38,000 user accounts – approximately 0.0033 percent of Facebook’s 1.15 billion monthly users. Source: https://www.facebook.com/about/government_requests
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Fair Data Mark
Freedom of information laws (FOI laws)
Additional Insights
Global Sharing Day
Open Agora
It was launched by The Market Research Society (MRS) in 2013, which will be awarded to companies and organisations that collect personal data ethically. To earn the new Kitemark, organisations will agree to 10 key principles, including the training of staff in handling data with respect, and transparency in the ways in which they use the data they own. ‘Public concern is at an all-time high and we are receiving increasing numbers of complaints about data usage,’ says MRS CEO Jane Frost. ‘This is about fundamental respect for the people whose data we all rely on for commercial and public purposes, and about getting to the basis of the right way information should be gathered.’ Although the Kitemark is aimed at market research companies who are in the business of collecting data, consumer-facing brands can also benefit from the mark. Source: http://www.fairdata.org.uk/ They allow access by the general public to data held by national governments. They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions. Also variously referred to as open records, or sunshine laws (in the United States), governments are also typically bound by a duty to publish and promote openness. In many countries there are constitutional guarantees for the right of access to information, but usually these are unused if specific support legislation does not exist. Founded by The People Who Share and is annually hold on June 1st.
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
Is annually held on May 21 to help people learn about the importance of cultural diversity and harmony.
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In a recent Unify survey of knowledge workers, respondents reported:
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Sources Transparency 1 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/opinion/brooks-midlife-crisis-economics.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/opinion/brooks-midlife-crisis-economics.html?_r=0 Velocity Digital report, 2013 4 Pew Research Centre: Privacy management on social media sites, 2012 Sharing 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Latitude: The New Sharing Economy, 2010 13 The People Who Share: The State of the Sharing Economy: Food sharing in the UK, 2013 14 15 16 Latitude: The New Sharing Economy, 2010 17 The Global Sharing Day, 2013 Sharing Personal Information 18 Accenture Interactive: Today´s Shopper Preferences: Channels, Social Media, Privacy and the Personalized Experience, 2012 19 Ericsson Consumer Lab: Personal Information Economy, 2013 20 CO-OPERATIVES UK: The great sharing economy: a report into sharing across the UK, 2011 21 Source: http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/19/uber-and-disruption/ 22 Desire for Open, Inclusive Leadership Cultural Diversity 23 Source: http://www.pewforum.org/survey-methodology-islam-and-christianity-in-sub-saharan-africa.aspxwere 2 3
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Case Studies
http://humanlibrary.org/index.html
GLOBAL LIVES PROJECT is a volunteer-based
creative collaboration focused on the cultivation of empathy across cultures. The mission of the organization is to curate an ever-expanding collection of films that faithfully capture 24 continuous hours in the life of individuals from around the world. With the slogan “Step out of your world” Global Lives Project celebrates the diversity of human experience through the study and exploration of culture, status, ethnicity, language, and religion. This project, which is funded by individual donation, is designed to remain a work-in-progress. http://globallivesorg/?gclid=CPjv6rnFj7wCFfMP tAod_BwASQ
LIVING LIBRARY (Menneske Biblioteket = Hu-
man Library) is an innovative method designed to promote dialogue and tolerance, reduce prejudices and encourage understanding. It enables groups to break stereotypes by challenging the most common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner. It all started when in 2000 the organizer of a famous summer pop and rock festival, the Roskilde Festival, was looking for a new activity to be held during his event. The idea that came up was a Human Library where participants were invited to hear life stories of people they might have formerly harboured preconceptions about. In its initial form, the Human Library was a mobile library set up as a space for dialogue and interaction.
MINERVA SCHOOLS at Keck Graduate Institute is
a non-profit organisation committed to providing an exceptional and accessible liberal arts and sciences education for future leaders and innovators across all disciplines. Its goal: to create the next online elite American university,and help rethink the role of higher education in the Digital Era. Minerva’s students travel all around the world and only have 99
Open Agora
was founded in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1991. Its aim is to record, preserve and transform into information life stories of any and every person in society, thus bringing about social change through valorising individuals and communities. Today it has 4,000 texts and over 10,000 photographs in digital format from personal collections – collected during projects, events, open sessions to record statements, as well as stories received through the Internet. From its inception, the Museum of the Person aimed to establish a virtual network of life stories. The idea of building a museum of life stories led us to reconsider the notion of “space”, since people are innumerable and stories intangible. http://www.museudapessoa.net/_index.php/ v2013/home
Case Stuides
MUSEUM OF THE PERSON (Museu da Pessoa)
online classes. Thanks to an algorithm developed by Minerva, professors can have real-time feedback on each student's strengths and weaknesses. Minerva Project raised $25 million in venture funding in 2012. http://www.minervaproject.com/
MOUNTAINTOP PROJECT The co-founder of
retailer Urban Outfitters, Scott Belair, has donated $20m (€14.8m, £12.4m) to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to create a satellite campus where students will focus solely on ideas and innovation.‘There will be no lecture halls and no lectures,’ Belair, an alumnus of the university, told local paper The Morning Call. ‘It’s not just about new ideas and new products. It’s a new way to educate people. It’s limitless.’ The campus, known as the Mountaintop Project, will consist of refurbished former steel research labs that the university bought earlier this year. Lehigh students will be able to spend a semester at the campus working on responses to global issues with mentorship from Lehigh professors. ‘We need to breed a new generation of risk-takers,’ said Lehigh University president Alice Gast. ‘Our current system of education rewards the risk-averse: it’s listening to lectures and passing tests. This is an effort to break through and show what education can be.’
INTERNET.ORG is a partnership between social
models for Internet access provision. Internet.org was launched on August 20, 2013. At the time of launch, Facebook's principal founder and current CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a ten-page whitepaper he had written himself on the vision. According to him, "connectivity is a human right”, and Internet. org is a further step in the direction of Facebook's past initiatives, such as Facebook Zero, to improve Internet access for people around the world.
NEWSPAPER MAP founded in 2011, is a com-
prehensive free web-app that catalogue over 10,000 of the world’s local and national newspapers on a Google Map. You can zoom-in to find all of the newspapers that are published from a particular geographic region and read them online. The site may be especially useful if you want to get a local take on what's happening in a particular place. You can search by place or address, as well as newspaper name. Another usage scenario is finding more news sources in your chosen language, since you can also filter the newspapers by language.
networking service company Facebook and six mobile phone companies (Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, and Qualcomm) that aims to bring affordable Internet access to everybody by increasing affordability, increasing efficiency, and facilitating the development of new business
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MEEDAN is a non-profit social technology company
which aims to increase cross-language interaction on the web, with particular emphasis on translation and aggregation services in Arabic and English. Through its use of Machine Translation (MT), Machine Augmented Translation (MAT), and distributed human translation, Meedans goal is to increase dialogue and exchange between Arabic and English speakers primarily by launching a cross-language forum for conversation and media sharing. This service will be designed to stand as a digital gathering place for a linguistically, culturally, and geographically diverse community of Arabic and English speaking Internet users. http://meedan.net/
THE ORGANIZED CRIME AND CORRUPTION REPORTING PROJECT (OCCRP) is a consortium of non-profit investigative
centres and for profit independent media stretching in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Central America. Its goal is to help the people of the region better understand how organized crime and corruption affect their lives. OCCRP seeks to provide in-depth investigative stories as well as the latest news pertaining to organized crime and corruption activities in the region. In addition to the stories, OCCRP is building an online resource centre of documents related to organized crime that will be an invaluable resource centre for journalists and the public alike. OCCRP is supported by grants from the United Nations Democracy Funds and the Open Society Foundations.
HÄRNU is a Seattle based start-up that launched
its service in 2012. Harnu brings people closer together through a new social networking platform.
https://reportingproject.net/occrp/
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Case Stuides
TEA LEAF NATION is an e-magazine founded in 2011. It is a Foreign Policy blog dedicated to fresh coverage of brewing trends and grassroots sentiment in China. They aspire to be a must-read source for China experts of all stripes–journalists, diplomats, academics, analysts–while remaining fun and accessible to casual China watchers. Their founding team, based in China and the United States, scours Chinese social media every day to spot trends, gauge sentiment, and carry major news stories one level deeper. They hope to deliver content that brings China to life, humanizing the countless millions behind the text. http://www.tealeafnation.com
Its map-based interface allows its users to choose a country, post a question and receive replies from people inside that country. Its mission is to connect the world in a global conversation thus enabling its users to get a local’s perspective on a specific matter. To some degree, Harnu is a combination of Facebook, Wikipedia and Quora – all on a global map. http://www.harnu.com/
Open Agora
http://newspapermap.com/
VIGGLE app is a loyalty program for television,
launched in January 2012 and available for Android and Apple devices. It is an entertainment Reward Platform that automatically identifies the television shows users are watching and awards them points when they check-in. Viggle users can redeem their points in the app’s rewards catalogue for items such as movie tickets, music, gift cards or they can convert them into charitable donations. http://www.viggle.com
https://trustcloud.com/
HANDSHAKE is a secure marketplace for personal PEERTRUST, founded in 2012, is creating a digital data, which creates better relationships between consumers and brands. You can share as much or as little personal data with selected brands as you want to, and will receive rewards based on how hot (or not) your information is. For the brands involved, this means better data, real-time customer interactions and much more positive relationships based on that better data. http://handshake.uk.com
TRUSTCLOUD, founded in 2009, is a credit system
for the Sharing Economy that measures virtuous behaviour online to build a portable and contextual trust score you can use anywhere. The company, which received $500K through Angel funding, built an algorithm to collect your online "data exhaust" -- the trail you leave as you engage with others on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, commentary-filled sites like TripAdvisor, and beyond -- and calculate your reliability, consistency, and responsiveness. The result would be a contextual badge you'd carry to any website, a trust rating similar to the credit rating you have in the offline world.
identity document, the passport, in the form of a mobile application that stores your identity information privately (it is never sent to the company servers, and only sent to others once encrypted and agreed by the user). It allows users to get their identity checked and stamped by as many PeerTrust passport bearers as possible. PeerTrust’s key issue is to help participants trust one another in the sharing economy by knowing who they are dealing with beforehand. http://peertru.st/
METACURRENCY PROJECT, founded in
2008, is about defining an approach to create a currency network. MetaCurrency is the name for the infrastructure and protocols necessary for an open source economy, and Free Currencies to flow in an interoperable and standardized way. This requires new technological capacities which need to function in a non-monopolizable manner. The company builds the tools to enable the emergent currency systems, such as complementary currencies, alternative currencies, local currencies, digital currencies, virtual currencies, reputation currencies
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or targeted currencies. The company even defined the Open Data approach for distributed, digitallysigned transaction chains over a year before bitcoin was invented. http://metacurrency.org/
University of Chicago, Madrid Complutense, and ESMT. The methodology reduces psychological and sociological biases like the Echo and Matthew effects.
http://traity.com/
UBER, founded in 2009, is a venture-funded start-
up and Transportation Network Company based in San Francisco, California that makes a mobile application that connects passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire and ridesharing services. Today the company arranges pickups in dozens of cities around the world. Cars are reserved by sending a text message or by using a mobile app. By using the apps, customers can track their reserved car's location. Last August, Uber managed to close $362.2M funding from various investors and a valuation at $3.5 billion. https://www.uber.com/
TRAITY crowd-sources people’s traits and profile as BLABLACAR is a popular car sharing website worldwide '360-degree' feedback from references and social media profiles. It proves online reputation and makes users more aware of their strengths and areas for self-development. Job seekers with no references or previous experience can demonstrate skills and endorsements outside of their CV. The scientific methodology has been endorsed by the
which was set up in 2009 in France. It allows users to sell seats in their car, a far more economical option for the customer than the cost of a train ticket. The company takes 10p/fee from every transaction. Blabla car has created a new, affordable and sustainable way to travel in Europe that is such a hit that the company is now transporting more people per month than Eurostar.
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Open Agora
is a non-profit international standardization organization of individuals and companies committed to enabling and nurturing OpenID technologies. OIDF provides infrastructure to promote and support the expanded adoption of OpenID. This also entails managing intellectual property and brand marks. The Foundation announced at the MWC 2014 that its members have ratified the OpenID Connect standard. Organizations can now use OpenID Connect to develop interoperable identity Internet ecosystems. This means that digital identities can be easily used across websites and applications, via any computing or mobile device. OpenID Connect has been implemented worldwide by Internet and mobile companies including Google, Microsoft, Deutsche Telekom, salesforce.com, Ping Identity, Nomura Research Institute and others. It will be built into commercial products and implemented in open-source libraries for global deployment. http://openid.net/foundation/
Case Stuides
THE OPENID FOUNDATION, formed in 2007,
The site provides security features facilitating the connections between drivers and passengers (ex: members specify how chatty they are on the scale “Bla”, “Blabla” and “Blablabla”, hence the name BlaBlaCar). In 2012, Blablacar revealed their website was visited more than 40M times per month.
to develop a mobile device that does not contain conflict minerals such as gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten and with fair labour conditions for the workforce. Fairphone’s focus on transparency doesn’t just encompass supply chains. It also extends to pricing and design. The company publishes a complete breakdown of the Fairphone’s costs, so customers can understand exactly what they are paying for. 25,000 Fairphone have already been sold in 2013.
http://www.blablacar.com/
HOLVI is a banking service that incorporates book- http://www.fairphone.com/ keeping and money management in a simple interface. Holvi is a new kind of online bank account for creative projects, associations, popup activities, hobby groups, events, freelancers and small businesses. Users can associate different accounts to their profile, allowing them to see the status of their finances at a glance. It can completely replace any bank account thanks to a service that offers a smart checking account. https://holvi.com/
FAIRPHONE was founded in January 2013 as a
social enterprise with the aim to develop a smartphone designed and produced with minimal harm to people and the planet. The company is supported by the foundation Waag Society that aims to foster experimentation with new technologies, art and culture. The main motivation behind Fairphone was
INTERACTIVE GLOBAL MANUFACTURING MAP by Nike, was the first company in its industry to
disclose its factory list in 2005, providing a complete list of contracted factories for NIKE Brand. They have now furthered their commitment to transparency by disclosing the more than 800 factories worldwide that manufacture all NIKE, Inc. (NIKE Brand, Converse, Hurley, Jordan Brand and Nike Golf) products. They continue to update their publicly available list to encourage and thereby support transparency and collaboration around issues affecting suppliers. On the Interactive Manufacturing Map, the supplier list is available for export (suppliers can be filtered for collegiate factories). http://nikeinc.com/pages/manufacturing-map
NUDIE JEANS CO has manifested itself as market
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http://www.nudiejeans.com/productionguide/
ZADY, founded in 2012, is a shopping platform
and lifestyle destination for consumers who care about the origins of the items they purchase. Just as Whole Foods sparked a movement based on the belief that consumers should question where food comes from, Zady is creating a new vision for shopping at the forefront of conscious consumerism.
Manufacturing transparency is at the heart of Zady; every item sold is from a designer who is conscious of where and how their products are made. Each product is personally vetted by Zady’s founders, using criteria for sustainability, including whether the product is locally-sourced, handmade, uses highquality raw materials, is environmentally-conscious, or made in the U.S.A. In 2013, Zady managed to receive $1.35M in funding. https://zady.com/ iPad, and Android devices. Square Reader allows anyone to accept credit cards anywhere, anytime, for a low transaction rate of 2.75% per swipe, with no hidden fees. Square Register serves as a full point-of-sale system for businesses to accept payments, manage items, and share menu and location information. Square is known for its transparent culture. Every Friday at Square the company holds "Town Square" meetings where the staff welcomes new members and gives updates on what's been launched throughout the week. The meetings are attended by the entire staff, including founders Jack Dorsey and COO Keith Rabois. After every meeting at Square a note is sent out to all employees with information about who attended the meeting, action items from the meeting, and what was discussed. Any meeting that's held at the company, whether it's about product changes or potential acquisitions or partnerships, is public knowledge. https://squareup.com/
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Case Stuides
SQUARE is a free credit card reader for the iPhone,
Open Agora
leader when it comes to sustainable production, and for a year the company has proudly supplied denim lovers all over the world with a complete range of all-organic jeans. With the Nudie Jeans Production Guide the eco-friendly and caring Scandinavians have taken business transparency in the world of denim to the next level. Unparalleled by any other jeans producer, maybe any clothing brand for that matter, the guide thoroughly explains every production aspect of the companies conducts. Under each product category suppliers are listed by country. In addition to a little background information on the supplier there are details about the last audit of the supplier and whether any non-compliances of the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) requirements, which all audits are based upon, were found. Nudie even check their subcontractors if and where applicable.
Implications
The new rules of the digital economy are all about openness and transparency. This is a fundamentally new way for individuals and organisations to behave and it has the potential to bring huge rewards. Open Agora reveals the following implications for TelefĂłnica Digital:
2
1 We can offer products and services that enable people to nurture their cognitive diversity.
Services that enable people to access content that comes from various international sources for example are a great way for people to get access to different perspectives on issues. Educational services that encourage openness and global mindset are also becoming more popular as people realise they need to have an open mind to succeed in the globally connected society. 106
We can create products and services that contribute to the Sharing Economy and introduce features to improve existing ones (like Trust and Reputation metrics). For the Sharing Economy to grow and keep momentum, trust is essential. We can leverage our understanding of individual consumers and provide trust metrics and reputation scores to facilitate interactions between unknown parties. Trust is the key engine for collaboration and we have the opportunity to attest of people’s trustworthiness based on their communication patterns and social graphs. We can help companies manage people’s contributions and reward them accordingly, to ensure they build strong and open communities.
For people to contribute to the Open Agora they need to be able to perceive some rewards. We have an opportunity to create the necessary frameworks and mechanisms so that people are rewarded for their contribution. This would enable the creation of a truly flow-based economy where individuals and organisations are rewarded to the degree of their contributions.
We can create transparent processes (internally) and also provide more transparent products and services.
We have the opportunity to leverage the information and data we have access to and disrupt specific industries. For example, we could offer 100% transparent tariffs. From an internal perspective we could adopt a radically transparent approach where the information is shared with everyone. Adopting transparent processes internally could help employee understand better the reasons for specific outcomes.
The Open Agora reveals the facts that openness and transparency are creating a new paradigm for individuals and businesses. We need to include these to our internal process and also to the way we deliver and build our products and services. Openness brings trust in relationships and could be our path to build deeper relationships with our customers. 107
Implications
We can ensure that individuals are personally rewarded for their digital contributions.
4
Open Agora
3
Additional sources
BOOKS Gorbis, Marina: The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, 2013 Page, E. Scott: The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, 2008 Gensky, Lisa: The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing, 2010 Botsman, Rachel: What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, 2010Â Rise of the Sufferfests
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Trend 4
WALLED GARDENS
“ In the future, everyone will be anonymous for 15 minutes. ”
Banksy
People are finding new strategies to avoid leaving a digital trail. They are creating personal Walled Gardens to protect their secrets and their identity. The Walled gardens allow them to be anonymous so that they cannot be profiled and spied on. 109
- Micro Mightiness -Â People and organisations realize that being smaller enables them to be more agile and thanks to digital technology they can scale their ideas globally.
Typology : The Guardians
- Intelligent Disobedience -Â People and organisations defy authority and expose wrongdoing. They try to find alternative (and sometimes illegal) solutions to the existing system.
These people are the Guardians, they are individuals and organisations that feel empowered to act independently from established systems and entities. They want to be part of the digitally connected society, but in their own terms and whilst retaining their anonymity.
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Introduction
- Pioneer of Change People challenge the status quo and are catalysts of societal change.
In the past trend reports we talked about the fact that people empower themselves to impact the world around them thanks to technology. We explained that increasingly people identify with the whole world and have the know-how to bring about innovation and change at a local level (Pioneer of Change trend). People also harness digital technology to start projects independently and grow them on a global scale (Micro Mightiness trend). The democratization of technology provides tools for people to create the change they want to see in the world. It gives them a sense of power. Individuals and groups are defying the established systems and proposing alternative solutions (Intelligent Disobedience trend). As digital users become more mature and savvy, they are realising that governments and organisations have picked up on their digital trail and identity. Individuals and groups are increasingly aware that they are being spied on and that some secret mega-dossiers are being made about them. The datafication of the world whereby anything can be turned into a quantifiable format exposes people and their behaviours whether they like it or not.
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Emotional driver: anonymity
Past trends
A
nonymity is becoming the new aspiration. Fashion designer Phoebe Philo famously said: “The chicest thing is when you don’t exist on Google. God, I would love to be that person! 1”. Anonymity is the way for people to become the Guardians of their digital identity. In the past, people were looking for strategies to rise from anonymity. They had to accomplish something spectacular to lose their anonymous status. Now, anyone is famous or at least visible, for nothing special and often despite not actively trying to be so. For many people, digital contributions are not a matter of choice anymore. They feel forced to update their various online profiles to attest of their existence, credibility and future potential. Their quest to build social capital is becoming overwhelming because it requires constant engagement, monitoring and input. Especially for the Digital Natives that have grown up with the Internet and this economy of self-representation for their entire lives, living and sharing ‘everything’ online can feel like a burden. People feel pressured
about having to contribute online. It is almost suspicious nowadays to not have an online presence. However, the Guardians represent a growing, educated minority, who refuses to feel pressured to have a digital identity. They are fully aware of the extent of the digital trail they leave behind through their digital contributions. As a result, they take on the impossible challenge to control their identity and privacy. Thanks to software packages such as Creepy that builds maps from the information posted on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other geo-located services, they can find out that even without using these services, data is leaked just by using a mobile phone. Already we can see that the appeal of social networks is diminishing.
Facebook lost 2M visitors in the UK and 9M visitors in the US between November 2012 and April 20132
1
46.8% of the people who left Facebook did it as a result of privacy concerns3
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jun/12/internet-anonymity-chicgoogle-hidden 2 Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamespoulos/2013/04/30/facebooks-millions-of-lostusers-highlight-our-bizarro-economy/ 3 Source: http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/09/facebook-quitters-personality-traits 111
People are increasingly aware that their digital contributions can be used against themselves, as the data they generate enables corporations and governments to predict their future actions and could be used to punish them in advance based on these predictions. Indeed, 68% of Internet users believe current laws are not good enough in protecting people’s privacy online and 86% are saying they have taken steps from time to time to avoid surveillance by other people or organizations when they were using the Internet5. Professor
4
Pew Research Center: Anonymity, Privacy, and Security Online, 2013 Anonymity, Privacy, and Security Online Report – Pew Research Center’s Internet Project 6 Source: http://blog.ted.com/2013/06/14/the-battle-between-public-and-private-alessandroacquisti-at-tedglobal-2013/ 5
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Insights
46.8% of the people who left Facebook did it as a result of privacy concerns3 86% of Internet users have tried to be anonymous online and avoid being tracked. 18% of users have used fake name or untraceable username4.
and author, Alessandro Acquisti6 cautions against a “future without secrets,” suggesting that greater information will not necessarily make us immune to biases. He maintains that transparency laws, while important, are not sufficient in protecting privacy because they can be misdirected by big businesses. If this model continues, he warns that organizations will have so much knowledge about people they will be able to infer their needs and desires before they even form them. For the Guardians, finding the right balance between “what to share” and “what not to share” is crucial. They want to be able to control when and where they are visible online. If they decide to contribute to the digital world, it has to be in their own terms: without having to worry about a potential backlash or being taken advantage of by companies or governments that are using their personal data without their permission. Indeed, 35% of US Internet users indicate they have stopped doing business with a company or have stopped using their website because of
Walled Gardens
When people do engage in these social networks, they find strategies to stay in control of their identity. For example they use pseudonyms to attempt to protect their privacy.
privacy concerns. Over four-in-ten (46%) of those who feel privacy is a really important issue have stopped doing business due to concerns 7. As a result, the Guardians increasingly engage with parallel anonymous or hidden digital worlds. For example, through Tor, an anonymised network where start and end-points cannot be correlated and where websites cannot see who the visitors are, is being repackaged for the mass market. The $49 Safeplug device was launched in November 2013 and makes it relatively easy to route a home Internet connection through the Tor network. Other examples of anonymous networks include 4chan, Whisper and Secret,
which are both gaining more interest. The Guardians engage in ephemeral communications with apps such as WICKR, Telegram and Confide that allow users to send encrypted messages without leaving a trace thanks to their own disappearing message system. WICKR alone has been popular with over 1M downloads between android and iPhone users8. Increasingly, these encrypted services are able to charge a premium for the privacy they offer. There is even a new MVNO, Ready SIM that claims to be completely private as no registration or any personal information is required. They also redirect all data traffic through a proxy server making it
7
US 2013 Consumer Data Privacy Study, TRUSTe Inc. Source: http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com.es/2013/11/encrypt-everything-storenothing-leave.html 8
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9
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57589133-71/is-there-happiness-in-being-ungoogleable/ 10 Source: https://duck.co/blog/friends-newsletter-45 114
Insights
as DeleteMe and Mcafee Social Protection are popular because they give control to the users. To remain anonymous the Guardians can also literally transform their identity with FaceSubstitute, an app that currently has 17 different faces for you to “wear”, from celebs like Nicolas Cage and Brian Cranston to stranger, cartoony masks like “Picasso”, or “Abstract” that intentionally distort your face in freakish ways. The Guardians actively seek to become Ungoogleable and they change their names so that they cannot be identified through the search engine. For example names such as: !!!, Merchandise, and Google-Me-And-I'll-Send-TheAlbanian-Mafia-To-Your-House9 make it almost impossible to find these music bands online. These strategies enable people to protect their Walled Gardens. The Guardians also use anonymous Internet search engine such as DuckDuckGo that protects searchers' privacy and avoids the “filter bubble” of personalised search results. DuckDuckGo has been incredibly popular with more than 1 billion searches processed in 2013 alone10.
Walled Gardens
harder to track users. Each Ready SIM already comes preloaded with a plan, available only for 30 days, time after which the service will be deactivated. Other examples such as the Blackphone, a joint venture between Silent Circle and Geekphone that provides encrypted communications, and Norton Anti-Virus’ Enjoy Your Privacy, a mobile security system which gives users the power to remotely lock their phone and wipe the device so that the personal information stays private. In the same way, Mozilla in cooperation with Deutsche Telekom has developed three user-friendly features to bring data privacy closer to customers such as Location blur that allows people to decide how precisely specific apps can access their location: a weather app, for instance, does not need to know your exact street address, whereas a navigation app does. Many organisations are trying to combat people’s tracking such as the Future of Privacy forum that provides guidelines for developers and tools for users such as the Mac ID opt out that protects their privacy. Additionally, apps and software such
Additionally, with the growth of technologies such as facerecognition, drones used for spying and the Internet of Everything, people’s lives appear to be under mass surveillance. Indeed, increasing numbers of connected objects, from car tyres to e-books and kitchen appliances, capture personal data about users. This resembles mass surveillance. Indeed “society has built up a body of rules to protect personal information. But in an age of big data, those laws constitute a largely useless Maginot Line11.” The Guardians are well aware of this situation and even if there
are clear benefits to data analytics, such as greater personalisation, safety and anticipation of user’s needs (Supercharge Me trend), the Guardians are increasingly worried about their lack of control over how their data might be used. The Guardians organise themselves in groups to try to combat potential attacks on privacy. For example, Stop the Cyborgs campaign warns about the fact that wearable devices might socially normalise surveillance. Journalist Ryan Gallagher argues that: “we can expect to see increasingly creative and innovative
11
Mayer-Schonberger, Viktor and Cukier, Kenneth: Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, 2013 115
The Guardians are forcing Big Data companies and governments to create a new framework to protect people’s privacy and digital identity. Anonymity now has to be engineered, with the help of governments and new regulations. For example, the California’s Senate Bill 568 states that starting in 2015, websites, mobile apps
For example, Enliken offers a service that allows consumers to exchange data about interests in exchange for premium content from websites. Enliken’s users voluntarily download the software that tracks their online activity and a personal dashboard that lets them limit what gets captured and sold to advertisers.
12
Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/11/stealth_wear_adam_harvey_s_ clothing_line_safeguards_against_surveillance.html 13 Source: http://news.yahoo.com/california-law-gives-teens-%E2%80%9Ceraserbutton%E2%80%9D-on-the-web-185709626.html 116
Insights
Such initiatives demonstrate the growing awareness and discontent that people have at the prospect of having their privacy compromised by connected devices.
and online services geared toward minors must give them the option to delete information if they request it13. The Guardians also campaign to be rewarded for their digital contributions and the use of their data. As expressed by Jaron Lanier: “In a world of digital dignity, each individual will be the commercial owner of any data that can be measured from the person’s state or behaviour.”
Walled Gardens
efforts to challenge it coming from all corners of society12”. For example, the Guardians experiment with antisurveillance wearable technology such as Stealth Wear Anti-Drone garments that blocks drones tracking them and the Privacy Visor so that people can control if they want to be recognized or not by Google Glasses.
The Guardians force a public debate about privacy and digital identity. They expose the shortcomings of current protection laws and they identify the flaws of the digital economy. As a result, they encourage us to reconsider the frameworks of the digital economy so that people’s digital identity isn’t exploited or misused. They believe that privacy shouldn’t be compromised. It is only a matter of time before international regulations are put in place to protect people.
In an ideal future people won’t need elaborate strategies to build Walled Gardens. Everyone will be allowed to be a Guardian of their digital identity and manage it as they wish.
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PEOPLE NICO SELL
The cofounder of a secure communication app called Wickr, has appeared on television twice. Both times, she wore sunglasses to pre-
vent viewers from getting a full picture of what she looks like. Sell, also an organizer of the hacker conference Def Con, places herself
in the top 1% of the “super paranoid.” She doesn’t have a Facebook
she sends will be searchable by the general public at some point in the future. Many of her friends once considered her habits to be of the tin-foil-hat-wearing variety, but with this summer's revelations of the NSA's broad surveillance program, they’re starting to look a little more logical.
“My friends that are not in the security industry come up to me, and I hear this all the time, ‘You were right.’ ”
More information: http://www.fastcompany. com/3019847/think-you-can-liveoffline-without-being-tracked-hereswhat-it-takes
IRENE SERRA
She chose the name -isq for her band deliberately to make it hard
to find online. As it contains a hyphen, it cannot deliver an easy result. The band have a website but they don't want it to be too easy to find.
“We didn't want to give everything away straightaway. If you want to hear about us you'll need to try just a little bit harder. And then when you do actually find us online we have lots in place.” 118
Walled Gardens
proof envelope when it’s not in use. And she assumes that every phone call she makes and every email
Typologies
account. She keeps the device that pays her tolls in a transmission
MALTE SPITZ
He went to court to obtain the information that his cell phone
operator, Deutsche Telekom, gathered (and kept) about his activity. The results astonished him. Over the course of six months, they had
tracked his geographical location and what he was doing with his phone more than 35,000 times. Working with the German newspaper Die Zeit, an infographic was created that shows Spitz's activity
across an interactive timeline, combined DT's geolocation data with information relating to his life as a politician, such as Twitter feeds, blog entries and website. By pushing the play button, viewers can set off
on a detail-rich trip through six months of his life. And more, because he keeps asking the telecom com-
pany for his most recent data. Spitz, a member of the Executive Committee of the German Green Party, is responsible for media and new-media policies, civil liberties and privacy issues.
"European data retention is a blueprint for how to control a society."
Video: Your phone company is watching http://www.ted.com/talks/malte_ spitz_your_phone_company_is_ watching.html
CURTIS WALLEN
He spent 10 bitcoin and six months scouring the deep web for
enough details to create an entire new person in order to feel safe about his digital identity
“I tried to figure out how to stop that, how to stop people from knowing what I’m browsing on the Internet, and I found out it is basically impossible (…) I realized what could be more effective is put myself behind another person through creating this whole fake identity.“ 119
More Information: http://www.fastcompany. com/3020695/reverse-engineered/ creating-a-digital-person-onlinetracking#4 Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/malte_ spitz_your_phone_company_is_ watching.html
ADAM HARVEY
Is an artist exploring the possibilities of counter-surveillance fashion, the use of camouflage to evade facial recognition systems and outfits that allow users to be less visible to heat detector.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=kTqgiF4HmgQ
Typologies
“I think building privacy into modern garments can make them feel more comfortable and, like armour, more protected. Data and privacy are increasingly valuable personal assets and it doesn’t make sense to not protect them.”
known online as “moot,” founded the forum-based social net-
work 4chan when he was 15. Coding in secret, he spent late nights
in high school hiding his online life from his friends and family, eventually turning 4chan into one of the Web's best-known memelaunchers and online communities.
Christopher Poole kept his real life identity hidden until it was
revealed on July 9, 2008, in The Wall Street Journal. Before that time he had used the alias "moot". The same day, Lev Grossman of Time published an interview describing Poole's influence as a non-visible
administrator as "one of the most [significant]" on the evolution of content collaboration. Although Grossman's article began with the confession that "I don't even know his real name", he claimed to iden-
tify moot as Christopher Poole. Later, on July 10, Grossman admitted that there was an outside chance
that Christopher Poole was not moot's real name, rather an obscure reference to a 4chan inside joke. The Washington Post concurred that "Christopher Poole" could be "all a big hoax, a 'gotcha'. It would be just what you'd expect from the creator of 4chan." In March 2009, Time backpedalled somewhat on the issue by placing the moot persona on the 2009 Time 100 finalists list. 120
Walled Gardens
CHRISTOPHER POOLE
“What’s unique about [4chan] is that it’s anonymous, and it has no memory. There’s no archive, there are no barriers, there’s no registration. … That’s led to this discussion that’s completely raw, completely unfiltered.”
Video: The case for anonymity online http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_m00t_poole_the_case_for_anonymity_online.html
EDWARD SNOWDEN
is an American computer specialist and a former CIA employee who worked for the National Security Agency through subcontractor Booz Allen in the NSA's Oahu office. After three months work-
ing there, Snowden disclosed top-secret documents regarding NSA surveillance practices, to different media outlets, which reveal
operational details of a global surveillance apparatus run by the
NSA, its Five Eyes partners, and numerous commercial and international partners.
”I don't want to live in a society that does these sorts of things ... I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.”
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More Information: http://www.theguardian.com/ world/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-why
Additional Insights Datafication
The Future of Privacy Forum
Aims to provide application developers with the tools and resources necessary to implement responsible information collection and use practices. It is important that both users and developers understand how the data collected is used when the user interacts with the app, and what recommended practices developers should adopt to best protect the privacy and security of their consumers. Source: http://www.applicationprivacy.org
Ephemeral Communication
As its name states, the term is related to time-bound and impermanent communication. Nothing people send is stored, and nothing is searchable. Source: http://bbh-labs.com/why-the-ephemeral-is-here-to-stay/
Ungogleable (or unGoogleable) Is a term for something that cannot be "googled" - found easily using the Google Search online web search engine. It is increasingly used to mean something that cannot be found using any web search engine. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_(verb) Ungoogleability increasingly means privacy, says Cameron Hulett, executive director of digital marketing company Undertone. "There are firms managing people's online reputations. Ungoogleable is the extreme form - you are not just managing it you are removing it altogether," he says. For some, being ungoogleable is about being unknowable. It's about preserving one's mystique. Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21956743 122
Walled Gardens
Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier describe the “datafication” of society – taking something that has never before been treated as data and turning it into a numerically quantified format. Source: http://www.palantir.com/2013/10/datafication-and-you/
Additional Insights
Is the unearthing of data from seemingly undatafiable sources. The reality is these days almost anything can be datafied – from pressure points across a retail floor, through to measuring sleep patterns via our mobile phones. Source: http://blog.oxfordcollegeofmarketing.com/2013/08/16/summary-ofbig-data-a-revolution-that-will-transform-how-we-live-work-and-think-by-vikto-mayer-schonbergerand-kenneth-cukier//
Generation D and Privacy
For members of Generation D, younger consumers born between 1995 and 2002, privacy is becoming an increasingly important issue, says Jamie Gutfreund, chief strategy officer of The Intelligence Group. ‘The awareness of younger consumers of the value of personal data is increasing every day,’ she tells LS:N Global. ‘They want a distinction between their voice and their identity.’ Gutfreund attributes this thirst for privacy to a reaction against ‘sharenting’, where parents freely share information about their children: ‘This generation has grown up with their information exposed. If you’re 14 or 15 now, then your parents will have put out all your information. These young people don’t have any control of it.’ According to the Review of the Data Broker Industry: Collection, Use, and Sale of Consumer Data for Marketing Purposes conducted by the Comittee for Commerce, Science, and Transport in 2013, companies such as Acxiom, Experian, or Datalogix collect disparate data about hundreds of millions of American consumers and sell that data to retailers, advertisers, credit agencies, and other businesses who want to know as much as possible about their target markets. In addition to actual data, they also sell modelled data--profiles of, for example, whether someone is likely to own a SUV, based on all of what the firm knows about an individual and individuals similar to them. Source: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3024381/how-companies-harvest-data-to-target-the-most-financially-and-emotionally-vulnerable?partner=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
Stop The Cyborgs
Is a campaign founded in response to the combination of wearable technology with ‘big data’. The aim of the movement is to stop a future in which privacy is impossible and where the iron cage of surveillance, calculation and control pervades every aspect of life. With a camera or a phone taking a picture is clearly delineated act where the social signal is clear. You are taking a photo and taking on the role of camera man. With wearables like Glass, Autographer or Memoto only the mode that the device is in changes. There is no physical stance and no change of role on the part of the person. You just happen to be recording. The issue is not covert recording. Spy cameras exist and the current generation of Google Glass is not particularly good for covert recording. Rather the first issue is that that wearable devices socially normalise ubiquitous surveillance. That is they create a society where we expect to be recorded, where every moment is shared, documented and data-mined. The second issue is that wearable technology blurs the line between people and tech, between individuals and institutions. The moral agency of the individual is reduced when a corporation forms part of their extended body, when every decision is mediated and influenced. The freedom of society and the possibility of genuine authentic response is threatened when every action is monitored and gamified. The threat is not just to privacy 123
but liberty, fairness and justice. The risk is that we will be ruled, not by an obvious dictatorship, but more insidiously and completely by authority embedded in the design of techno-social systems. True totalitarianism made invisible because it appears in the form of code, electronic devices and feedback loops. Source: http://stopthecyborgs.org/
Aims to bring transparency to online tracking. The notion is that if a company is in the business of tracking users, it’ll have to disclose how it treats the Do Not Track setting in popular browsers. The amendment to AB 370 requires an operator that collects PII about an individual consumer's online activities over time and across third party websites and online services to disclose in its privacy policy how the operator responds to browser "do not track" signals or other mechanisms that provide consumers with choice regarding the collection of such information. Source: http://webpolicy.org/2013/09/10/do-not-track-in-california/
Big Data
“Big data refers to things one can do at a large scale that cannot be done at a one, to extract new insights or create new forms of value, in ways that change markets, organizations, the relationship between citizens and governments, and more.” “At its core, big data is about predictions. Though it is described as part of the branch of computer science called artificial intelligence, and more specifically, an area called machine learning, this characterization is misleading. Big data is not about trying to “teach” a computer to “think” like humans. Instead, it’s about applying math to huge quantities of data in order to infer probabilities.” Source: Mayer-Schonberger, Viktor and Cukier, Kenneth: Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, 2013 124
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California’s “Do Not Track” Law (amendment AB370)
Additional Insights
Senate Bill 568 (S.B. 568)
Signed by Governor Brown on September 24, requires that websites, social media sites, and applications (apps) provide California minors with the ability to delete online material. By signing S.B. 568 into law, Governor Brown attempted to give California minors a way to remove information they post online. As of its effective date of January 1, 2015, the law will require operators of Internet websites, online services, online apps, or mobile apps to permit a minor (defined in this law as anyone under 18) who is a registered user of their service or site to remove, or request removal of, information posted by the minor. The operators must also provide notice of this “delete” option to minors and the fact that using this “delete” option does not guarantee complete removal of the content. Source: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6e17ffa8-2262-4a58-9e02-bf7a7bd8cad7
Data exhaust
Is a term to describe the digital trail that people leave in their wake. It refers to data that is shed as a byproduct of people’s actions and movements in the world. For the Internet, it describes users’ online interactions: where they click, how long they look at a page, where the mouse-cursor hovers, what they type, and more. Many companies design their systems so that they can harvest data exhaust and recycle it, to improve an existing service or to develop new ones. Source: Mayer-Schonberger, Viktor and Cukier, Kenneth: Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, 2013
The Data Slaves Revolution
Peter Vander Auwera is the Co-Founder of Innotribe, the innovation branch of SWIFT, a global provider of secure financial messaging services, and the co-creator of Corporate Rebels United, a global network of change catalysts geared to create actionable value practices within organizations. On a recent bog post called Dystopian Futures Vander outlined a disturbing future ruled by technology, algorithms, and huge amounts of data stored and used by what he calls “Siren Servers” -a metaphor used before by Jaron Lanier. Vander advocates for a revolution focused on empowering humans towards a more critical vision about the future. A breaking point against the glorification of technology, and the need to consider our role in building the society that we want. “We have come at a point where our only options out are a revolution of the data slaves and evolving as a new kind of species in the data ocean, trying to preserve what makes us human.”[…] Where data slaves dare to stand up and call for a revolution; where value creation and tax declarations go way beyond being compliant with the law; where we see the emergence of ethically responsible individuals and organizations. But it will be very difficult to turn back the wheel that has already been set in motion several decades ago.
Internet Of Everything
Cisco believes IoE brings together people, process, data, and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before — turning information into actions that create new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses, individuals, and countries. While sensors and machine-to-machine communication are important parts of these solutions, it’s not just the “Internet of Things” that is making all of this possible—it’s the Internet of Everything—the networked connection of people, process, data, and things. And Big Data analytics is what brings the intelligence to all of these connections, enabling new kinds of processes, 125
and helping us make smarter decisions. Source: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/innov/IoE.pdf
Data Privacy Day
Stop Watching Us
Is an initiative that gathered US citizens around privacy concerns after the NSA surveillance revelations, which they consider an abuse of the basic rights. Recently on the 12th anniversary of the signing of the USA Patriot citizens held a rally against NSA surveillance, and more than half-million petitions were handed to Congress to demand the full extent of the NSA's spying programs and remind them that won’t tolerate mass surveillance any longer. Source: www.rally.stopwatching.us
Anonymous email addresses
Previously associated with criminal activity, the creation of fake email addresses is an increasingly recommended method for individuals to protect their online privacy and shield themselves from spam when they sign up to new websites. Some different types of fake email addresses include: - Disposable/temporary: For one-time use. You may not be able to return to the inbox. Source: http://www.fakemailgenerator.com - Permanent/shielded: Allows you to create a fake email address and have all messages sent 126
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Data flows freely in today's online world. Everyone - from home computer users to multinational corporations - needs to be aware of the personal data others have entrusted to them and remain vigilant and proactive about protecting it. Being a good online citizen means practicing conscientious data stewardship. Data Privacy Day is an effort to empower and educate people to protect their privacy, control their digital footprint, and make the protection of privacy and data a great priority in their lives. Data Privacy Day is led by the National Cyber Security Alliance, a non-profit, public-private partnership dedicated cyber security education and awareness, and advised by a distinguished advisory committee of privacy professionals. Source: http://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/about
Additional Insights
Is an international effort to empower and educate people to protect their privacy and control their digital footprint. Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. Data Protection Day commemorates the January 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. Data Privacy Day is now a celebration for everyone, observed annually on January 28.
to a specific box. Source: http://hidemyass.com - Masked Email: Creates disposable emails that forward to your email address and allows you to create messages originating from your disposable account within your real inbox. Source: https://www.abine.com/maskme/emails/
Academics Against Mass Surveillance
Is an online declaration signed in January of 2014 by hundreds of academics from 26 countries, in order to stand out against mass surveillance and call upon nation states to take action and guarantee the right to privacy. “The right to privacy is a fundamental right. It is protected by international treaties (…) Without privacy people cannot freely express their opinions or seek and receive information. Moreover, mass surveillance turns the presumption of innocence into a presumption of guilt. Nobody denies the importance of protecting national security, public safety, or the detection of crime. But current secret and unfettered surveillance practices violate fundamental rights and the rule of law, and undermine democracy.” Source: http://www.academicsagainstsurveillance.net/
Cyber Attacks
According to Singer and Friedman, cyber attacks are divided into three main categories: availability attacks, which try to block access to a network or a site (the classic Anonymous-style denial of service attack); confidentiality attacks, in which hackers try to steal data or monitor information inside protected networks; and integrity attacks, where hackers try to sabotage or disrupt physical devices or infrastructure controlled online. They add, “In cyberspace, an attack can be literally move at the speed of light, unlimited by geography and political boundaries. Being delinked from physics also means it can be in multiple places at the same time, meaning the same attack can hit multiple targets at once.”
Cryptocurrency
A form of currency based on mathematics alone. Instead of fiat currency, which is printed, cryptocurrency is produced by solving mathematical problems based on cryptography. Source: http://www.coindesk.com/information/bitcoin-glossary/
Echelon
Echelon is the name given to an international electronic eavesdropping network run by the intelligence organisations of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Civil rights groups say it can be used to intercept almost any electronic communication, be it a phone or mobile phone conversation, 127
e-mail message, fax transmission, net browsing history, or satellite transmission. The wildest estimates of its capabilities report that it can sift through up to 90% of all Internet traffic. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/1357513.stm
Drones
Originally referred to remotely piloted planes used for anti-aircraft target practice and is now closely associated with long-range surveillance and strike vehicles operated by the military. Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/view/516061/flying-robots/
Facts & Statistics
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It gained a patent for what the company calls "anticipatory shipping", which will let them ship items to customers before they have even technically purchased them. Amazon's new anticipatory shipping strategy, which is meant to cut down on delivery time, is based on previous searches, purchases, wish lists and more that customers have made on the site. They even know how long someone has hovered their mouse over a product. Source: http://gawker.com/amazon-can-read-your-mind-1504642063?utm_medium=referral&utm_ source=pulsenews
Facts & Statistics
AmazonÂ
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Sources Anxiety about personal Information 1 Anonymity, Privacy, and Security Online Report – Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, 2013 234 Source: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3015860/people-are-changing-their-internet-habits-now-that-they-know-the-nsa-iswatching?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews Online Anonymity 5 Anonymity, Privacy, and Security Online Report – Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, 2013 67 Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project Omnibus Survey, conducted July 11-14, 2013, on landline and cell phones. 89 Pew Research Centre: Teens, Social Media and Privacy, 2013 10 The Intelligence Group’s 2013 Cassandra Report Attitudes to sharing Data 11 Source: http://adage.com/article/consumer-electronics-show/consumers-trusting-google-warier-facebook-twitter/290992/ 12 13 14 GSMA Report: MOBILE PRIVACY- Consumer Reseearch Inisghts and considerations for Policymakers- February 2014 Government Spying 15 Source: http://www.fastcompany.com/3021222/fast-feed/apple-calls-out-us-governments-lack-of-transparency-in-requestsfor-data?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews Mobile Identity 16 WinterGreen Research 17 Ericsson : Privacy, security and safety online: Consumer Insight Summary Report, February 2014
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Case Studies
www.torproject.org
SAFEPLUG, developed by PogoPlug,is a $49 device
http://ilektrojohn.github.io/creepy/
RESPECT NETWORK is a San Francisco-based
company founded in 2011 to build the world’s first personal cloud network. Personal clouds will enable individuals to safely store and share personal data with other people and businesses with strong assurance that their privacy will be respected. http://respectnetwork.com/
TOR-SEARCH is “The Google of the hidden In-
ternet.” It is a search engine for hidden onion sites that allows Tor users to browse anything privately. It is called the “anonymizing network” as there is no way to correlate the start and end points of any traffic passing over it, and as a consequence web-
launched in November 2013 that can effectively stop web- sites from knowing who you are and where you live. Safe- plug allows you to use your existing web browser to go on the Internet with complete anonymity and peace of mind. Indeed, you wouldn’t post your home address just anywhere online. Every website you visit can easily know your IP address (a unique number that identifies your computer) and consequently your physical location and home address. This information could be accessed, hacked or even sold, exposing your identity and location to unknown parties and putting your family at risk. Safeplug makes sure your anonymity is preserved at all times. https://pogoplug.com/safeplug
4CHAN is an English-language image board website. Users generally post anonymously, with the most recent posts appearing above the rest. 4chan is split into various boards with their own specific content and guidelines. Registration is not required, nor
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geolocation related information about users from social networking platforms and image hosting services. The information is presented in a map inside the application where all the retrieved data is shown accompanied with relevant information (i.e. what was posted from that specific location) to provide context to the presentation.
Case Studies
CREEPY is an application that allows you to gather sites aren’t able to identify who is accessing them.
is it possible (except for staff). 4chan was started in 2003 in the bedroom of a then-15-year-old student from New York City named Christopher Poole, who posts as "moot." Its boards were originally used for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime, as the site was modelled on Japanese image boards. The site quickly became popular and expanded, though much of 4chan's content still features otaku, anime and other Japanese cultural influences. http://www.4chan.org/
Internet is forever. Your private communications don´t need to be.” Launched in June 2012 by a group of security experts, Wickr allows users to send encrypted messages (text, photos, videos, voice and pdfs) and to choose how long they want their digital missives to last: as short as one second, and as long as 5 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds…Wickr believes privacy and security is a universal human right that is extremely important to a free society.
WHISPER is a free iOS and Android mobile app
which allows users to anonymously post their secrets. Messages can be sent on the anonymous social network for $5.99 per month while posting a reply is a free service. Displayed as text superimposed over an image, similar to greeting cards, messages on Whisper help people connect through sharing experiences. Released in March 2012, Whisper was valued at $100 million in July 2013. http://whisper.sh/
SECRET is a new social networking app that lets people post anonymous confessions. Users can post anything they want without revealing their real name. The setup process for the app builds up a network based on existing contacts in your phone book. Posts will come from people in users’ contact lists and friends of your friends. It was launched in January 2014 and since than it’s spreading fast in San Francisco. https://www.secret.ly/
WICKR is an app which mission is to provide
secure communications that Leave No Trace: “The
www.mywickr.com
CONFIDE, a text-based iOS app described as the “Snapchat for professionals”. Have you ever wanted to post something on Facebook or Twitter, but didn't want the world to see it? With Confide, you can share your deepest secrets, frustrations and express your joy completely anonymously. Launched on January 2014, the service is aimed at professionals who want to speak candidly about delicate personnel or legal matters without leaving a trail that exposes proprietary information. http://confideapp.com
TELEGRAM is a new messaging app that offers
speed, security and features such as secret chats with end-to-end encryption and self-destructing messages. Brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov began working on Telegram 18 months ago as a research
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project because they wanted to create something that was “really secure and fun at the same time.” The importance of Telegram was underscored when Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA and PRISM were first made public in June.
VoIP (Voice-over-Internet-Protocol) calls. It has been produced by the secure communications firm Silent Circle and manufacturer Geeksphone. Pre-ordering begins on February 2014 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. https://www.blackphone.ch/
BURN NOTE is an online message, which can be
viewed only once by the recipient. Each Burn Note is displayed using the patent pending Spotlight system for resisting copies. A timer starts when the recipient opens the note and automatically destroys the Burn Note once the recipient is finished reading it. Once a Burn Note has been deleted it cannot be viewed again. Every message on Burn Note is automatically deleted and uses patent-pending technology to prevent copying. Deleted Burn Notes are completely erased from the Burn Note servers so it impossible for anyone to retrieve them. https://burnnote.com/
BLACKPHONE is the world’s first smartphone
which prioritizes the user’s privacy and control thus aiming to avoid surveillance from governments, industry rivals and hackers. The device offers completely encrypted peer-to-peer communications, with encrypted video, encrypted text and secures
Walled Gardens
https://telegram.org/
for Android and iOS that works on a paid subscription model. Users will have access to encrypted phone calls, emails, VoIP videoconferencing, SMS text messages, and MMS multimedia messages. Security varies depending on whether communications are made to another user on Silent Circle's closed network, or to an outside user.
Case Studies
SILENT CIRCLE is a secure communications product
https://silentcircle.com/
DELETEME is a mobile app that removes personal
data such as users’ contact, personal, and social information from the leading websites that collect and sell it. Nearly all online activity leaves a traces, which data brokers collect to create and sell public profiles. DeleteMe allows users to search and delete
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this public information about themselves. Launched in January 2013, DeleteMe is free to download. A $24.99 subscription is available for 3 months with unlimited deletions. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/deleteme-mobile/ id549886663?mt=8
it up. When you find it, you can delete it or add a raindrop filter to obscure your image and protect your privacy. It is at concept stage.
MYPERMISSIONS is an app that monitors all
connected applications across social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, Dropbox and more. It gives users control over the data that apps are able to access. MyPermissions protects users from unknowingly sharing photos, documents, locations, contacts, emails, or any other sensitive information, and allows them to approve or revoke which apps access their data, and how. http://mypermissions.org/
PRIVATE PHOTO CLOUDING BADGE is a
small electronic device linked to an online service that allows users to locate photos of themselves that have been posted online, and then cloud or delete them. It was designed with privacy protection in mind. The service has two components: a badge and a website. The badge has two modes: active and inactive. When you want to prevent unwanted photographs being taken, you wear the badge on your collar and switch it to active mode. It uses an electronic signal to interfere with the camera as the photographs are being taken, and make the photos cloudy. When you are having a photo taken with your friends, you can set the badge to inactive mode. The badge will code the photo by overriding the camera (or other device). The code is cannot be modified – even when the photo is edited. To track where the photo has been uploaded, you can access the Private Photo Clouding Badge website to look
http://www.red-dot.sg/en/online-exhibition/conce pt/?code=1087&y=2013&c=24&a=0
ENJOY YOUR PRIVACY, was created by Leo
Burnett Chicago for Norton Anti Virus to promote their new Mobile Security system, which gives you - the user - the power to remotely lock your phone and wipe a device so that personal information stays private. www.enjoyyourprivacy.com
MOZILLA IN COOPERATION WITH DEUTSCHE TELEKOM has developed three
user-friendly features to bring data privacy closer to customers. With Guest Mode, users can hide their personal data including call and Internet browsing history and their address books when they are sharing their phones with other people. Location blur allows them to decide how precisely specific apps can access their location: a weather app, for instance, does not need to know your exact street address, whereas a navigation app does. The Find My Phone feature enables the user to locate and delete all the data from their smartphone if it is lost or stolen. Unlike other similar solutions, this feature does not require central registration of the device.
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app that allows users to protect their photos, preventing unauthorized viewing, sharing, downloading, or printing without their permission. It helps users to control who can have access to their private information. Mcafee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation, the world's largest dedicated security technology company, announced in August 2012 the availability of its new app for Facebook. Only friends who have been granted access can view photos, but remain unable to share, copy, print, or take screenshots of them. Those that have not been granted access will not be able to view the photos at all. In short, your photos stay your photos. https://apps.facebook.com/socialprotection/
https://duckduckgo.com/
READY SIM is an MVNO, launched in November
SECRET.LI is an iPhone application that lets you 2012 by Roam Mobility, that claims to be completely share your photos for a limited time with some or all of your Facebook friends in a secure viewing environment. Photos can be posted only through the iPhone application but they can be viewed on Facebook through any device. Secret.li works to preserve your privacy so all photos shared using its service are never stored as such anywhere in the network. http://www.secret.li/
DUCKDUCKGO is an Internet search engine that
emphasizes protecting searchers' privacy and avoiding the "filter bubble" of personalized search results. DuckDuckGo distinguishes itself from other search engines by not profiling its users and by deliberately showing all users the same search results for
Case Studies
MCAFEE SOCIAL PROTECTION is a Facebook
a given search term. Launched in September 2009, DuckDuckGo was initially self-funded by its founder, Weinberg. It is now advertising-supported. By May 2012, DuckDuckGo’s own traffic statistics showed 1.5M visits per day. The Washington Post created a profile of the company indicating that searches on DuckDuckGo numbered up to 45,000,000 per month.
private as no registration or any personal information is required. The company runs its own private Access Point Name, a proxy service that cannot see what you are doing on the mobile service: “We don’t even know who our users are.” Each Ready SIM comes preloaded with a plan. You can get talk, text, and data, and use the phone for up to 30 days. Once you activate the card, a timer runs down to the end date. Then the SIM will be deactivated and the number will be recycled. http://www.readysim.com/
PRIVACY VISOR, created by Tokyo’s National
Institute scientists is a pair of glasses that could make you invisible to facial recognition technology. By wearing this “privacy visor”, still in the prototype
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http://www.laboratories.telekom.com/public/english/ newsroom/news/pages/future-of-mobile-privacy.aspx
stage, people can control if they want to be recognized or not. The glasses use near-infrared light sources to disrupt the facial-recognition software without affecting the wearer’s vision. Lights create interferences across key areas needed to identify your face (like eyes or nose). Goggles are connected via a wire to a power battery supply in the pocket.
http://auduno.github.io/clmtrackr/examples/facesubstitution.html
ENLIKEN is an online data company founded in
http://www.electricfoxy.com/2013/02/preventingthe-invasion-of-privacy/
STEALTH WEAR, designed by Adam Harvey
from the School of Visual Arts, are products that make you invisible to technology. The collection of counter-surveillance garments includes a shirt to protect from X-rays, clothing that blocks thermal imaging and pockets that cut out phone signals. Stealth Wear explores the aesthetics of privacy and the potential for fashion to challenge the rise of authoritarian surveillance by addressing the power of those who survey, and the growing need to exert control over what we are slowly losing, our privacy. http://ahprojects.com/projects/stealth-wear
August 2011 that claims “transparency as a service”. Its platform makes it simple and safe for companies to be transparent with consumer data. Through the Enliken interface, businesses can show consumers data they've gathered and ask for feedback. Companies that rely on consumer data use Enliken to protect their brand, promote a safer Internet, and make their marketing more user friendly.
FACESUBSTITUTE is an open-source JavaScript
project that allows people to use their webcam to map 70 distinct points of their face, and then lay someone else’s face on top. The effect happens in real time, so that as they move, the digital mask moves with them.
www.enliken.com
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We can provide products and services that enable people and organisations to monitor how much information is gathered about themselves
This is not an easy task, but given the current debates about data privacy, it seems that providing an overview of the data we hold about our consumers and showing how we use it is crucial. For example, we could show the tangible of gathering personal data such as providing personalised services, better tariffs, etc. We could also position ourselves as a trusted company that can reveal how much data users generate and provide them with some solutions to improve their privacy/control. 140
2
We can develop encrypted and ephemeral solutions to help people and organisations stay in control of their communications
It is clear that consumers have a growing desire to stay in control of their communications. There are many start-ups offering solutions in that space but none currently offer truly integrated services. We have the opportunity to offer end-to-end solutions to help encrypt communications but also control where the communications go (if they are being forwarded without the approval from the original sender)
Implications
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Implications
As people and organisation engage more with technology, there is a need to create frameworks to protect their privacy and digital identity. Walled Gardens reveals the following implications for Telefรณnica Digital:
3 We can provide products and services that guarantee anonymity
Currently we only found one MVNO that offers total anonymity to its customers (Ready SMI). It could be interesting to trial such a service through a new MVNO to gauge how appealing such services are for our consumers. In an industry where data is gold, enabling our consumers to be totally anonymous, even from us could be a disruptive move.
4 We can offer products and services that enable people to control and protect their identity
People’s digital identity is extremely precious and misuse of it can be very dangerous. As more services become digital, people’s digital identity is spread across many platforms. There is a clear need to help people manage and protect their digital identity so that it is not used against their will. This is something that is crucial for individuals and also businesses, to ensure that people continue to engage win the digital economy.
Walled Gardens reveals the need for organisations and individuals to manage their digital identity so that they can be anonymous or at least protect their privacy. Planning for the protection of digital assets is moving into the centre stage is crucial as technology is advancing fast quicker than the laws to deal with digital assets. We can play a key role in ensuring that privacy and digital identity are protected. 141
Gorbis, Marina: The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, 2013 Page, E. Scott: The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, 2008 Gensky, Lisa: The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing, 2010
Bruce Schneier Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust That Society Needs to Thrive. Lanier, Jaron: Who Owns the Future?, 2013 Zuckerman, Ethan: Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection Mayer-Schönberger , Viktor and Cukier, Kenneth: Big Data Singer, P.W. and Friedman A. Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press. USA 2014
DOCUMENTARIES & FILMS “Terms & conditions may apply” A documentary that exposes what corporations and governments learn about people through Internet and cell phone usage, and what can be done about it. Video I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4taIHAaLdKE Video II: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2013/ sep/19/terms-and-conditions-may-apply-trailer-video We live in public Is a 2009 documentary film by Ondi Timoner that profiles the effect the web is having on our society and the loss of privacy in the Internet age, seen through the eyes of the Internet pioneer Josh Harris.
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Additional Sources
Botsman, Rachel: What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, 2010
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Additional sources
BOOKS
Through his experiments, including a six-month stint living under 24-hour live surveillance online, he proved how in the not-sodistant future of life online, people will willingly trade their privacy for the connection and recognition they all desire. More Information: http://weliveinpublic.blog.indiepixfilms.com/ Panopticon Control on our daily lives increases and privacy is disappearing. How is this exactly happening and in which way will it affect all our lives? Source: http://panopticondefilm.nl/ Disconnect It is a drama centred on a group of people searching for human connections in today's wired world. Source: http://www.disconnectthemovie.com/
VIDEOS Video about surveillance: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/stop_watching_us/ Also the problem of trolls/online bullying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_ embedded&v=H_pqhMO3ZSY Aaron Brown case – fake identity created by artist Curtis Wallen: http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/how-aaron-brown-a-fakeperson-was-created-for-real-on-the-deep-web
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Trend 5
SUPERCHARGE ME
“When someone comes up and says something like, ‘I am a god,’ everybody says ‘Who does he think he is?’ I just told you who I thought I was. A god. I just told you. That’s who I think I am.”
Kanye West
People will integrate technology into every aspect of their lives to enhance themselves and also to reflect, reminisce, compete, challenge and feel inspired.
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- Smart Habitat -Â People expect their homes to be more intelligent, anticipating their needs and individual preferences - Citizen of the World -Â People are embracing global challenges and opportunities as they adopt more mobile and flexible lifestyles
Typology : The Egoists
- Newborn Identity -Â People are leveraging technology to experiment with their identity, expressing multiple facets of their personality online.
As a result, we will see more people using technology to feed their individual pursuits. These people are the Egoists. The Egoists use technology for their personal benefits to Supercharge themselves. The more they learn about themselves through technology, the more they want to know to improve, promote and surpass themselves. The Egoists are self-obsessed and addicted to technology.
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Introduction
- Enriched Reality People leverage technology to enhance their perception of themselves and the world around them
In the previous trend reports we discussed the fact that people are increasingly using technology to discover more about themselves (Personal Odyssey and Enriched Reality trends) as well as to enhance their experience within a given environment (Enriched Reality and Smart Habitat trends). We predict that technology will continue to develop in this space, enabling people to create their own personal tech bubbles. This is exciting because it shows that not only the world is in metamorphosis but also that people are metamorphosing. They integrate more technology into every aspect of their lives to reflect, reminisce, compete, challenge, inspire and enhance themselves. In a context of turmoil and constant change, it is not surprising that individuals adopt an inward focus and self-centred attitude. This is a common survival strategy. With global competition for employment and solo living rising, spending time thinking about oneself first will become the new norm.
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Emotional driver: egocentricity
Past trends
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riter Joel Stein refers to these self-obsessed people as the “MeMeMe Generation” and he believes that Millennials make the most of it. Indeed, the number of narcissistic people in their 20s is three times higher than the generation that is now older than 651. This is due to the fact that they have been growing up with technology that has fed their ego throughout their lives. Indeed, increasingly, parents start building the digital identity of their unborn children on social media, preparing them for the fact that their personal life will be forever documented and shared with the world. As a result of this new phenomenon for constant sharing and self-expression, the Egoists feel totally at ease with being the heroes of every story and every experience they engage with. According to Harvard researchers, disclosing information about oneself activates the same sensation of pleasure as the brain experiences from eating food or having sex. 1
They found that some participants would even forgo money for the chance to talk about themselves. Unsurprisingly, the same researchers found that more than 80 % of social media consists of announcements about oneself (compared to 30-40 per cent of human speech)2. In some ways, the Egoists engage in a cult of their personality and Sherry Turkle’s observation: “I share, therefore I am 3” is becoming the motto of this generation that is very aware about the importance of self-representation. Already, three-quarters of Millennials have created a profile on a social networking sites and one-in-five have posted a video of themselves online4. For Millennials, self-expression is part of their everyday. Instagram alone reports more than 36 million photos tagged "selfie" and 98 million tagged "me". Dr Mariann Hardey observes that: "the selfie is revolutionising how we gather autobiographical information about ourselves and our friends (…) It's about presenting yourself in the best way 5”.
Source: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143001,00.html Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/12/features/hyperstimulation 3 Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/opinion/the-documented-life.html?_r=0 4 Source: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/02/24/millennials-confident-connectedopen-to-change/ 5 Source: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/14/how-selfies-became-a-globalphenomenon 149 2
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Source: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/humblebrag.html 150
Insights
For example, Jamal Edwards was a 17 years old amateur filmmaker who was posting videos on Youtube. He managed to build a solid audience and now at 23 years old, he is a media mogul, worth more than ÂŁ8m. Indeed, beyond a need for self-expression, the Egoists aspire to build their personal brand and they go to great length to build a strong presence in the digital world. The ones who can command the most attention online are the ones who will have to biggest chances of becoming successful. Thanks to technology, everyone is able to have their 15 minutes of fame. As a result, the Egoists feel like mini-celebrities. And like celebrities, they enjoy using technology as a way to augment and enhance themselves.
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Indeed, Millennials engage in what is called Humblebrag, a term recently added to the dictionary, which means making a “statement in which you pretend to be modest but which you are really using as a way of telling people about your success or achievements�6. Apps such as React Messenger, just.me, and Front Back are trying to capture a new market based on this self-obsession phenomenon. Additionally, social video apps such as the Polaroid Socialmatic Camera and Looxcie allow the Egoists to capture and to share videos directly to their social networking profiles. Similarly, Youtube is evolving into a personal broadcasting channel where everyone can document and share their lives with the world.
Photo editing apps such as Facetune, Beauty Photo Box and Pixtr enable Egoists to retouch their faces to look like their better selves. Even Chinese manufacturer Huawei launched a new smartphone with “instant facial beauty support” that reduces wrinkles and blends skin tone. The Egoists strive for perfection and they put a lot of pressure on themselves to give the illusion that they are indeed perfect. A recent study revealed that especially for ‘Digital natives born after 2002, having a constant layer of effortless augmentation in their lives’ is normal7. The Egoists don’t like to be average; they want to be extraordinary. The more people are self-obsessed the more they expect personalised experiences. They harness technology to create personal tech bubbles or what Nicholas Negroponte described as The Daily Me8, the virtual daily newspaper customized for an individual's tastes. Indeed, the Egoists use blocking apps such as Rather and Noppl to keep their personal tech bubbles away from unwanted web feeds and Vowch
to filter in relevant content. Whilst the personal tech bubbles create a feeling of comfort and convenience they also enhance the homophily tendency, whereby people tend to associate and bond with similar others. If this filtering becomes excessive, there is a danger for the Egoists to isolate themselves and to prevent themselves from encountering unexpected but potentially delightful content. Scholar Cass Sunstein believes that a hyper-personalised world could be dangerous and that personal tech bubbles could potentially become akin to “echo chambers”, where serendipity and discovery are absent9. The more the Egoists engage with technology the more they perceive the rewards and the more addicted they become. Digital Natives are described as Natural Born Hackers10 because of their ability to use and manipulate technology so that it answers their personal needs. For them, technology is just an extension of the self and it should respond as fluidly and intelligently as a human being. A recent survey revealed 77%
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LS:N Global: Generation I, 2013 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Me 9 Cass: Republic.com 2.0 , 2007 10 LS:N Global: Generation I, 2013 8
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The Egoists expect physical environments and especially their homes to adapt to their evolving needs. For example, Clyde, and LED desk lamp and Ambify, a smartphone app changes the colours of the environment they are in, depending on their mood. 9
Source: http://latd.tv/kids/kidsTech.pdf 152
Insights
SmartThings allows people to control different elements of the house via their smartphone and Emospark an emotionally-aware AI console for the home uses facetracking and language analysis to assess human emotion and deliver relevant content accordingly. Furthermore, iBeacons, a new indoor Bluetooth technology from Apple is set to enable devices to communicate with each other in a way that could transform not just homes, but also retail experiences, allowing, for example, customers to receive personalised messages directly on their phones about products in their vicinity that are of interest.
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of children requested more dynamic, human-level responsiveness from computers, often anthropomorphizing them as robots or virtual companions11. The Egoists embrace the Internet of Things as their playground. It enables them to enhance and to personalise every single experience according to their personal and unique needs.
Increasingly, the Egoists will want to transport their personal tech bubbles with them, regardless of the physical environment they are in. They will enjoy appcessories that personalize their experience such as ChĂźne and PlayMeNext that enables users to decide which music gets played, regardless of where they are, simply by using their iPhones. In the future, we will see more individual personalisation of technology thanks to the development of educational tools such as the Play-I robot that teaches children the basics of coding. So we can expect more smart devices that the Egoists can hack into. Additionally, the growing population of singles and seniors is going to drive the demand for more personalised experiences through connected devices and within the home. But to fully leverage the opportunities of the Internet of Things and create physical environments that morph and adapt to the specific needs of people, the Egoists will have to learn from the Ecoists to think more in terms of systems. For example Qualcomm, is building 12
products and solutions to enable open, end-to-end connected home platforms, across devices and across networks to effectively bring the Internet of Everything in the Connected Home. Also, as they engage more with technology, the Egoists will increasingly be interested in analysing the personal data they generate. They will contribute to the Quantified-Self movement and they will be referred to as Datasexual: they are obsessive selftrackers who want to enhance their self-knowledge but also to embellish their self-presentation, especially on social networks. In a way, this self88% of Xers and surveillance encourages Ys agree that them to personal tracking display selfand documenting control and to websites as well enhance their performance. as devices have made them more For example, self-aware and 64% Notch, a wearable say that technology sensor, records make them a better the movements person12 of different
The Curve Report: Counter Culture, 2013
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Eventually, technology will enable the Egoists to enhance their abilities so that they can become Supercharged humans or ‘living gods’. They will attempt to compete with robots and machines’ abilities. For example, the Madeleine, a camera named after Marcel Proust’s story of involuntary memory attempts to induce Hyperthymesia, the ability to remember everything from the past. Currently only machines and very few people are able to experience hyperthymesia but thanks to the Madeleine camera, people are able to record scents that they want to remember. The Egoists see themselves as the first ‘immortal’ species, as their self-logging and data trail will outlive them. As a result, they start planning the future of their digital legacy through services such as Eterni.me and LivesOn that enables users to tweet from the afterlife.
The Courve Report: Counter Culture, 2013 154
Insights
Mimo apparel to help the Egoists become better parents by tracking and monitoring their new-borns and toddlers, as well as services such as Lively and Amulyte that allow them to monitor their ageing family members and even their pets with the Whistle Collar.
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parts of the body to gives people a chance to analyse their own postures and dynamics, allowing them to improve their own techniques and discover movement profiles from people across the world. Another example is Pulse by BioBeats, an app that converts users’ vital signs into custom-tailored music to keep them meditating, running or fighting a disease. Additionally, technology through life logging enables them to see the narratives of their lives and provides them with infinite ways to self-reflect. For example, apps such as Narrative and Saga help them track their lives and store their data automatically. The Egoists believe that they are personally responsible for monitoring and tracking their bodies. They embrace products and services that can improve many aspects of their lives. For example OMsignal bio-sensing apparel, sends them information about how to improve their health. Apps such as Aura and Beddit monitor their sleeping patterns and provide feedback on how to improve their sleep, and Nissan’s Nisma Watch monitors driving to improve it. There is also an increasing number of life-logging and self-quant apps such as Sproutling, Owlet and
The Egoists will help spread the Quantify-self movement so that more people can become Supercharged. They will eventually work hand in hand with the Ecoists to take full advantage of technology, ensuring that as people metamorphose themselves into Supercharged individuals, so does the environment they live in.
The Egoists will push the development of technology in order to have access to increasingly more accurate and personable services.
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PEOPLE BETHANY MOTA
Is an American teenager who has more than 4.8 million subscrib-
ers in youtube, upward of 2.2 million followers on Instagram and
1.15 million on Twitter. She is considered a “haul video” superstar. In this YouTube genre, women go shopping and then discuss their
More information: http://www.businessinsider.com/ haul-teenage-youtube-shopping-starbethany-mota-2014-1#ixzz2qx4AtPiL
NICHOLAS FELTON
Quite possibly the king of the ‘quantified self’ is info-addict Nicho-
las Felton, most famous as designer of the Facebook Timeline. Feltron has long been admired by graphic designers for his ‘Annual Report’ work, in which he attempts to log every tedious detail of his
life and then present it as a highly detailed series of infographics. Each year he attempts to record more information about his life
than the last,and last year he commissioned an app, ‘Reporter’, to help further regiment his data collec-
tion. The app prompts him for information every 90 minutes, automatically logging his GPS position and asking him to answer the same questions each time: ‘Where are you?’ ‘Who are you with?’ ‘What are you
doing?’ ‘How productive were you today (on a scale of 1-5)?’. And so on. The fruits of this obsessive life logging are his 2012 Annual Report, which shows almost every detail of his life, including the fact that he drank 1,484 glasses of water.
“The more information you have, the better. I’m always finding a new data point.” 156
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“Making new videos for my viewers, always tweeting, always posting Instagram pictures, interacting with them and really getting to know them is a big priority to me. I think that's like my responsibility. Without them I wouldn't be here so I want to give them what they want to see.”
Typologies
latest “hauls” for the camera.
JAMAL EDWARDS
At the age of 15, Jamal Edwards was starting to build a social media empire. Using a hand-held camera, he filmed his mates rap-
ping, giving them a platform to showcase their skills. The response
the videos received was phenomenal. With so much demand for his videos, Jamal quit his part-time job and by the age of 20 had signed a deal with Sony RCA to become CEO of his own record
label, Just Jam Records. Now 22, Jamal Edwards is CEO of SB.TV, the UK's most successful online youth broadcaster with over 150 million views.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/JamalEdwardsVLOG
GORDON BELL
is a researcher emeritus in the Microsoft Research Silicon Valley
Laboratory. His interests include extreme lifelogging, digital lives, preserving everything in cyberspace, and cloud computing as a
new computer class and platform. He digitally records just about
everything he does, collecting an endless stream of documents, emails, photos, videos, and audio clips. The Microsoft researcher
and Silicon Valley legend hopes all this digital data can at least come close to showing future genera-
tions what he was really like. It’s a way of living forever. Bell — best known as one of the early engineers at onetime Silicon Valley giant DEC — may seem like an extreme case, but he’s part of a larger movement that seeks to digitally capture the length and breadth of individual lives.
More Information: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/
LOGAN PAUL
Is a new Vine´s superstar. 18-year-old Ohio University student Logan Paul is a self-proclaimed "goofy dude" who has racked up more than 1.5 million social media followers in just a few months of
working with the app that enables users to make and post 6-second video clips. But it was when Paul released a YouTube compilation of his best Vines that he really began getting national attention. 157
That video has accumulated more than 4 million views since it was published last week. More information: http://vinebox.co/u/wuyei07pi8O
DANIEL JAMES "DAN" HOWELL
(born 11 June 1991) is an English professional vlogger and radio personality. He is best known for his YouTube channel
danisnotonfire, which reached 2 million subscribers on 30 July 2013. Together with Phil Lester were hired as presenters on BBC Radio 1(Dan and Phil).
NAVEEN SELVADURAI
Since leaving the start-up, Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai’s interests have moved towards the budding Quantified Self
Typologies
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/danisnotonfire
releasing a personal API or a ‘quantified Naveen’ that includes his
own check-in data. This data exposes information on his sleep, weight, steps, fuel/activity and check-ins. He noticed that data
tends to exist in isolation, and he wanted to start a bigger conversation about personal tracking and quantified self data with an aim to keep all the information stored in one place for ease of access and better analysis.
More Information: http://x.naveen.com/post/51808692792/a-personal-api
CHRIS DANCY
He is recording his existence on various cloud services in an effort
to prove their worth in the workplace, while projects like LifeNaut are
collecting personal data with an eye on a kind of virtual existence beyond our physical world.
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movement.His most recent project sees the Internet entrepreneur
CHARLES STROSS
“10Tb is an interesting number. That’s a megabit for every second in a year — there are roughly 10 million seconds per year. That’s
enough to store a live DivX video stream — compressed a lot rela-
tive to a DVD, but the same overall resolution — of everything I look at for a year, including time I spend sleeping, or in the bathroom.
Realistically, with multiplexing, it puts three or four video channels
and a sound channel and other telemetry — a heart monitor, say, a running GPS/Galileo location signal, everything I type and every mouse event I send — onto that chip, while I’m awake. All the time. It’s a life log; replay it and you’ve got a journal file for my life.”
MICHAEL SABA
Is a 15-year-old from Boca Raton, Florida, whose Instagram photos
often find their way to the app's Explore tab among teen pop stars, professional athletes and professional photographers. But despite his 45,000 followers and hordes of teenage fans, Saba is not a ce-
lebrity. He is, as his Instagram profile says, "just a kid who takes pictures."
SETH ROBERTS
Called the "champion of self-experimentation," is a Professor of Psychology at Tsinghua University in Beijing and Emeritus
Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of the bestselling book The Shangri-La Diet. He is
well known for his work in self-experimentation which has led to the discovery of his diet, multiple publications and a popular blog.
In the early 1980s, Roberts suffered from insomnia. Through self-experimentation, he set out to solve
this problem by varying aspects of his lifestyle, like exercise and calcium intake. After many failures to see an improvement in his sleep, he eventually discovered that delaying breakfast, seeing faces in the morning light, and standing solved this problem. When Roberts discovers a trend or solution, he typically
looks backwards evolutionarily for an explanation. Roberts would later apply this mentality to solving
problems in health, sleep, and mood, among other things. Professor Tyler Cowen called Roberts' theme of experimenting on the self the "highest stage of science." 159
GARY WOLF
Is a writer and contributing editor at America's Wired magazine. In 2007, with Kevin Kelly, Wolf co-founded the Quantified Self, a
collaboration of users and tool makers who share an interest in self-knowledge through self-tracking. In 2010, he spoke about the movement at TED.
Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_wolf_ the_quantified_self.html
Typologies
” We usually associate self-knowledge not with numbers but with words - a kind of inner voice of consciousness and conscience. Supplementing that with quantitative tools is one of the most interesting trends emerging in our culture.” Gary Wolf in IFTF Health Horizons Report
is a marathon runner who started tracking her running using a va-
riety of tools to see if there was any evidence that her training was working or that she was accomplishing what she wanted to. She recently gave a talk for a Quantified Self event sharing what she
has learned from tracking 10 years of running, and all that experience allows her to advice and coach new runners in order to get the most of them.
” If you don’t measure what you are doing, you can’t figure out what you might need to change in order to improve and progress.”
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More information: http://quantifiedself.com/
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JULIE PRICE
Additional Insights
Narcissism
Is a term that originated with Narcissus, in Greek mythology, who fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water. Currently it is used to describe the pursuit of gratification from vanity, or egotistic admiration of one's own physical or mental attributes, that derive from arrogant pride. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism
“Epidemic” of narcissism
According to the study conducted by the University of California Los Angeles the language in books have shown the trend develop over the past 200 years. “The currently discussed rise in individualism is not something recent but has been going on for centuries as we moved from a predominantly rural, low-tech society to a predominantly urban, high-tech society,” said psychology professor Patricia Greenfield, who conducted the study. Words like “unique,” “individual,” “self,” “feel,” “choose,” and “get” increased significantly over time. Words like “authority,” “belong,” and “pray” are more rare than before. Source: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/selfies-havent-made-us-narcissists/
Selfie
Refers to a slang term used to describe a photograph that is taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media or image sharing websites, such as Facebook, or Instagram. Source: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/selfie 161
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“In the U.S., Millennials are the children of baby boomers, who are also known as the Me Generation, who then produced the Me Me Me Generation, whose selfishness technology has only exacerbated. Millennials have come of age in the era of the quantified self, recording their daily steps, their whereabouts every hour of every day and their genetic data. […] They got this way partly because, in the 1970s, people wanted to improve kids' chances of success by instilling self-esteem. The problem is that when people try to boost self-esteem, they accidentally boost narcissism instead.” Source: http://aflv.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=9oRpYJDnhCw%3D
Additional Insights
The MeMeMe Generation – extract from Time magazine, 20th May 2013
In 2013 selfie became Oxford Dictionaries' international word of the year, as its frequency in the English language increased by 17,000% since 2012. Celebrities like James Franco are releasing more and more photos on social networks; in a recent press article he explained why selfies are important and what the behaviour says about our culture: ”In this age of too much information at a click of a button, the power to attract viewers amid the sea of things to read and watch is power indeed. It’s what the movie studios want for their products, it’s what professional writers want for their work, it’s what newspapers want — hell, it’s what everyone wants: attention. Attention is power. And if you are someone people are interested in, then the selfie provides something very powerful, from the most privileged perspective possible. […] We all have different reasons for posting them, but, in the end, selfies are avatars: Mini-Me’s that we send out to give others a sense of who we are. I am actually turned off when I look at an account and don’t see any selfies, because I want to know whom I’m dealing with. In our age of social networking, the selfie is the new way to look someone right in the eye and say, “Hello, this is me.” Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/arts/the-meanings-of-the-selfie.html?_r=1&
Legsie
'Lastly, the boldest beach-baskers have recently taken to a new kind of selfie – the legsie. They hold the camera under their chins and aim down their resplendent, golden bodies making sure to get in [sic] their legs in … Beyond the honeyed limbs, the sand and sea are usually visible. Source: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/jul/31/how-to-survive-summer-holidays-socialnetworks
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. While the cult of personality generally applies to the enhancement and promotion of a political or religious doctrine, it stands to reason that it is also asserted in everyday situations where popularity is used to advocate conformity to philosophies and lifestyles, even products and attitudes by way of peer pressure and herd mentality. Source: http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Cult_of_personality.html
Humblebrag
Is subtly letting others now about how fantastic your life is while undercutting it with a bit of selfeffacing humor or "woe is me" gloss. Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=humblebrag 162
Daily Me
In 1995, MIT technology specialist Nicholas Negroponte popularized the term The Daily Me— to describe a virtual newspaper that you design personally, with each component carefully screened and chosen in advance, customized for an individual's tastes. Source: https://moodle.hollandchristian.org/pluginfile.php/40508/mod_resource/content/0/News/ The_Daily_Me.pdf
Refers to an app in a mobile device that activates something in the physical world. It can use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or it may require a device that plugs into the charging/data transfer port. For example, smartphones and tablets are commonly used as remote controls for TVs and home theatre. They can control toys such as cars, planes and other objects. Using a sensor plug-in, they can monitor a person's vital signs, and with a credit card plug-in, they become point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Source: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/65135/appcessory
Quantified Self (QS)
Is a term coined by the writers Kevin Kelly and Gary Wolf to describe: “A collaboration of users and tool makers who share an interest in self-knowledge through self-tracking.” The QS community is made up of people who continuously monitor aspects of their lives, often focusing on health, and then share this information with others. You can think of QS members as researchers on the self, constantly monitoring their lives through a wide range of applications. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantified_Self
Datasexual
Refers to a person who’s an obsessive self-tracker, not just to enhance self-knowledge but also to embellish self-presentation, especially on social networks. Source: http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/test-and-measurement/meet-the-datasexual
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Appcessory (APPlication - acCESSORY)
Additional Insights
Homophily
A term coined by Lazarsfeld and Merton (1954), refers to the tendency of individuals to associate disproportionately with others who are similar to themselves. Indeed, homophily is one of the most pervasive and robust tendencies of the way in which people relate to each other. Source: http://www.stanford.edu/~jacksonm/homophily.pdf
Lifelog
Is a record of a person´s everyday life produced by a portable device, which they regularly carry around. Source: Macmillan English Dictionary
Inner net
A term coined by Chris Dancy (see Typologies) to describe his immersive self-quantification: “I spent the last four years connecting all the devices that I wear to all the smart technology in my home, and piping all that data through to a single online platform, so I can search my entire life. I call it my ‘inner-net’.” Dancy believes that the importance of the 'Inner net' –the mapping of the self within its environment, will overtake that of the Internet. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZOQkp80_BU#t=35
Hyperthymesia
Is extremely unique neurological condition in which people used to remember practically every detail of their life. They seem to recall every single event that has happened to their lives. It is curious that these people spend a large amount of time whilst reminding the past events. You may not remember as to what you were doing in the same day last week, what you ate, what you wore, whom did you meet, but people having hyperthymesia are capable to tell you precisely all these. It appears as if there is a recording device in the brain where everything has been amazingly stored. However, their memory is only limited to their own life-events which is why it is also called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) or Hyperthymesia Syndrome. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia
The Right to Know Act 2013 (AB 1291)
Is the California’s recently proposed bill, which would require companies to the personal data the company has stored on them—as well as a list of all the other companies with whom that original company has shared the users' personal data—when a user requests it. It would cover California residents and would apply to both offline and online companies. Source: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB1291
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Sources On solo living 12 Klinenberg, E.: Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, 2012 Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/25/eric-klinenberg-going-solo/?iid=SF_F_Lead On technology use 5 Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/krystine-dinh/forget-the-stereotypes-kn_b_3984552.html 6 Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/baby-boomers-vs-millennials-how-internet-savvy-are-you-infographic.html 7 LS:N Global: Generation I, 2013 8 Source: http://latd.tv/kids/kidsTech.pdf 34
Self Documentation: 9 10 11 The curve report: Counter Culture, 2013 On Selfies Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/12/features/hyperstimulation 13 Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/selfie-word-of-the-year-2013/ 14 Source: http://readwrite.com/2013/01/31/instagram-selfies-narcissism#awesm=~ooAQq5y0cSaVY3 15 Source: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143001,00.html 16 Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765636838/Selfies-a-sign-of-self-absorbed-society-or-harmless-way-to-stayin-touch.html?pg=all 17 Source: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/14/how-selfies-became-a-global-phenomenon 12
On social video apps Source: http://blog.buzzfork.com/post/56198678766/visualizing-vine-infographic 19 Source: http://www.sherpasoftware.com/blog/social-media-statistics-for-2013-how-vine-became-a-game-changer/#sthash. DlfDQxLX.dpuf 20 Source: http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/nine-vine-videos-posted-every-second-says-unruly/#IUHgusICqBaEFpzK.99 21 Source: http://blog.buzzfork.com/post/56198678766/visualizing-vine-infographic, http://digiday.com/brands/15-statsvine-and-instagram-video/ 18
On tracking / Quantified Self movement The Courve Report: Counter Culture, 2013 23 Tracking for Health 2013 - Pew Research Center Source: http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_TrackingforHealth%20with%20appendix.pdf 24 The Courve Report: Counter Culture, 2013 25 Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/health-fact-sheet/ 26 The Courve Report: Counter Culture, 2013 27 Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/10/04/berg-insight-8-3m-wearable-devices-were-sold-in-2012/ 28 Research2Guidance from: https://www.lsnglobal.com/insight/news/view/5688 22
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Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/2013/PIP_TrackingforHealth%20with%20appendix.pdf ABI Research: Body Area Networks for Sports and Healthcare, 2012 31 Pew Internet - Tracking for Health Report from: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/01/28/main-report-8/ 32 33 Source: https://www.lsnglobal.com/ 34 Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/health-fact-sheet/ 29 30
On IOT / Smart Home Fortune Magazine. “The future issue”. January 2014
35 36 37
On smartwatches 38 Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/disruptions-coming-in-2014-extremely-smart-watches-and-wearabletvs/?src=recg 39 Source: http://www.geekwire.com/2014/smartwatch-growth/
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Case Studies post it to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the app's news feed that includes friends' and editors' picks. Frontback was created by start-up Checkthis founded in January 2011. The app was released in July 2013. Its success was instant and the app was quickly adopted by celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and the Prime Minister of Belgium who are fond of it .
REACT MESSENGER is a selfie-messenger app that turns selfies into sticker-esque emoticons that capture real-time facial expressions. The point, says the start-up, is to inject more expression into text messaging.
http://frontback.me
ASCEND P6 is a smartphone manufactured by
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id727789669?mt=8
FRONTBACK APP makes taking two photos — one of what you’re seeing, and one of you — as simple as humanly possible. The ingenious camera interface juxtaposes both images on one screen as you're
the Mobile company Huawei. The world’s slimmest smartphone (6mm) comes in white, black and baby pink. Its language is associated with skin creams rather than computer technology. Its maker claims the camera's "instant facial beauty support" software reduces wrinkles and blends skin tone. The phone capitalises on the growing popularity of the selfportrait or "selfie", examples of which now litter the internet. It was unveiled on June 18, 2013. http://www.huawei.com/minisite/ascendp6/#home_ landing
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successfully brings the functionality of the camera app, video capture, voice messages, texting, email and other messaging apps all into one powerful application. The user can save memories for themselves; share with family, friends or colleagues; or publish for the world to see; all with a single app. Memories, Messages or Posts can have unlimited photos, videos, voice and text. Recording life events and deciding who to share them with is here. http://www.just.me/
Case Stuides
JUST.ME is a free mobile messaging platform that taking them. Once you've taken a photo, you can
POLAROID SOCIALMATIC CAMERA is an
intuitive device that allows you to capture and share your photos directly to your social networking profiles instantly. Its unique thin, squared shape resembles the Instagram logo that is built specifically for this particular social photo sharing app. http://www.facetuneapp.com/
BEAUTY PHOTO BOX is an app designed to
http://www.polaroid.com/socialmatic
LOOXCIE is a hands-free video camera that's small
enough to be attached anywhere on your person. Its built-in Wi-Fi allows you to live stream everything to your Facebook Wall and YouTube. The company Looxcie was formed in September 2008. It very first camcorder was sold in September 2010.
FACETUNE is the image editing app for iPhone
that helps users make Photoshop-style changes to their pictures before posting them online. In March 2013, the app was released by a small company called Lightricks. Facetune reached #1 paid photo and video app ($1.99) in over 60 countries and sold more than a million copies in the first 7 months of its creation.
instantly make you look better in your smartphone pics. There's never been an easier way to make yourself look beautiful! You've seen Beauty Box Photo™ used on singers and movie stars on NBC, HSN, E! Entertainment, Universal Music. It's used by professionals every day. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beauty-box-photodigital-makeup/id581817647
PIXTR
“Putting your best face forward.” Pixtr, still in beta, uses computer vision and machine learning algorithms to gauge parameters such as your age, likes and dislikes, and then touches up your pictures accordingly — eliminating red-eye, skin “artifacts” and asymmetry. http://www.pixtr.me/
NOPPL is a free Chrome extension that blocks
things we don’t want to see on facebook such as ads, politics or anything else. You just need to install noppl into your browser and type words into the filter. They don’t track or record what you block, so it’s private. Noppl was launched in 2012.
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CLYDE is an expressive LED desk lamp that can be
http://www.noppl.com/
VOWCH recommends everything from songs to
sites, restaurants and more based on your likes. Follow friends and tastemakers to see what they’re into and start sharing the things you dig complete with pictures, video, and more. In the world of selfpromotion, it’s the clear next step. Vowch was named one of the Top Ten Apps of 2013 by Complex Magazine and one of the 18 best startups to have launched in 2013 by The Business Insider.
http://vowch.com/
AMBIFY is a mobile application that syncs
with Philips hue to react to music being played and create dynamic in-room visuals in nearly infinite colour combinations. It is uniquely designed for Philips Hue, a smart LED light bulb that can be controlled through an app using a smartphone or tablet. It brings an endless colour palette into the home and advanced white light to help people relax, read, concentrate or energize and can be connected to the Internet for many more options. http://getambify.com/
the user and its environment in unique ways. Using Arduino, an open-source electronics software, the lamp can be ‘taught’ to respond with different colours and intensities of light based on when certain conditions occur. For example, when Clyde is in ‘afraid of the dark’ mode, it can light up depending on how dark a room is. In ‘touchy feely’ mode, Clyde cycles through different light colours when users touch its flexible legs. The project was created by Canadian design company Fabule and successfully backed through crowdfunding site Kickstarter. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/metamanda/ clyde-an-expressive-lamp-for-creative-homes
EMOSPARK, is a cube-shaped “artificial intelligence console” with a built-in chip that uses face-tracking and language analysis to create an Emotional Profile Graph of the people in the house. It assesses human emotion, gauges the user’s likes and dislikes to then delivers relevant emotional responses through music, videos and other content accordingly. EmoSPARK’s crowfunding campaign was launched on Indiegogo on January 2nd 2014. Early adopter pledges are available for US $224 with shipping estimated for May 2014 if all goes to plan. So far, EmoSPARK managed to raised $41K out of the total goal of $100K.
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And Twitter to replaces things one dislike with things one like. http://www.getrather.com/
Case Stuides
RATHER (formerly Unbaby.me) scrubs Facebook programmed with personality modules to react to
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/emospark-firsta-i-home-console
SMARTTHINGS makes it easy to connect the
your phone on top of Chüne to add your taste to the playlist. The app keeps track of what you like to listen to and lets Chüne know.
things in your physical world to the internet. For example, you can monitor and control different elements of the house via your smartphone. SmartThings was created in April 2012 and since this date received more than $15 million funding from various investors. http://www.smartthings.com/
iBEACONS are small devices for indoor use that http://chune.co.uk/ enable an iOS system to recognise other similar devices in its proximity and emit push notifications over Bluetooth. Still an emerging technology, it has been touted as a possible NFC competitor, with potential to transform commercial propositions like retail, and for possible use in home automation systems and educational institutions. The product’s unique selling point is its indoor functionality, by contrast with the weak nature of indoor mobile signal.
PLAYMENEXT allows everyone become a DJ who
may request and reorder songs safely, simply by using their iPhones. For even more fun, anyone can be a Paparazzi and post photos to the shared photo wall, that can be displayed live on your TV. If you dare you can also have those photos uploaded to Facebook or Flickr automatically. http://playmenext.info/
CHÜNE speaker is a playful social music service that intelligently curates playlists. The tiny box works with an app that allows party guests to share their musical tastes. Simply download the app, drag and drop your favourite music on to the logo and tap
PLAY-I makes programming fun and accessible for children through games. Play-I’s role is to give children the means to respond to the shift in how we use technology and allow them to be successful in tomorrow’s society. The team is developing clever, imaginative, and unconventional ways of open-ended play that naturally leads children to experience the joy of programming. Play-I was founded in November 2012. In June 2013, it had received $1.4M in Product crowdfunding. https://www.play-i.com/ QUALCOMM is an American global fabless semi-
conductor company that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services. Headquartered in San Diego, California, USA, the company has 157 worldwide locations. Lately it seems Qualcomm is doing everything it can to shed its image as a nerdy purveyor of microprocessors and radio chips for phones and wireless networks. http://www.qualcomm.com/
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NOTCH is a wearable movement capture interface same bed. In addition, Aura comes with a bedside
PULSE by BioBeats is an app that uses your iOS
device to detect your heart rate, and then generates custom music in any genre you choose. BioBeats build technologies that respond to physiologic data and learn from how users interact with them, to help people lead healthier lives. Pulse app shows insight of the user’s health. Hearts beating like a drum? Make the drum beat like your heart. Pulse was awarded the 2013 EchoNest prize at South by Southwest festival and was in the top three finalists in the Music Accelerator. BioBieats received $650K in Seed funding. http://biobeats.com/
AURA is a self-monitored sleep sensor. The device
features a padded sensor that slips under your mattress to record your body movement, heart rate, and breathing cycle -- the sensor is smart enough to record the data for two people sleeping in the
http://www.withings.com/en/aura
BEDDIT is a thin sensor that straps to your mattress, undetectable beneath your sheets, and analyses your heart rate and breathing patterns to determine your quality of sleep. While the company launched in 2006, it is only now making its product available to everyday consumers. After years of tweaking, the company has created a sleep-tracking device that would be effective while also available at a reasonable price point. The Beddit sensor is connected to an app via Bluetooth and can monitor all your sleeping habits to assess your quality of sleep. The sensor measures a person’s heart rate, breathing, rhythm and movement whilst they sleep as well as tracking how many times they get up in the night and whether they snore. The app has a coach that can make recommendations based on the data received, to tell a person how to get an
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Case Stuides
http://www.wearnotch.com/
device that studies noise and light levels and room temperature, and it changes colours from blue to yellow to red during the course of the night, based on research findings that different light wavelengths affect hormone secretion. Users can analyse data and receive feedback on their slumber via the companion app. Withings hopes to start shipping the Aura this spring at the price of $299.
Supercharge Me
seamlessly integrated with lifestyle. This wearable sensor is designed to be concealed within clothing at natural hinge points around the body to track and capture specific body movements — sending that data back to a companion (iOS) app for tracking and review.
optimal night’s sleep, as well as a smart alarm clock that can be programmed only to wake a person up during light sleep.
NISMO WATCH CONCEPT, introduced by Nis-
san, is designed to connect and collect data from both drivers and their cars to improve their driving skills. The Nismo Watch Concept is the first piece of wearable technology created by an automaker virtually linking the driver to the car and vice versa. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wjpe0ZOxY
http://www.sproutling.com/
OWLET BABY MONITOR is a "smart sock" developed by a student team at Brigham Young University. Babies could benefit from health trackers more than most adults. After all, they can't exactly speak up for themselves about why they are feeling unwell. http://www.owletcare.com/ MIMO BABY MONITOR: Mimo’s organic cotton
kimono is fitted with non-contact machine washable
SPROUTLING is a company that makes parent- sensors that measure a baby’s respiration. When ing a little less scary and a lot more fun. It raises parenting IQs with the help of a sensor system for babies that can be wrapped around their ankles and provide real time, trustworthy insights. By taking the worry out of parenting, they help them focus on building happy families. For example, the accompanying app for the Sproutling monitor looks at patterns specific to a baby and its environment to offer insights that might help the child sleep better. Created in December 2012, Sproutling has announced in September 2013 the closing of $2.6 million funding Round with various investors.
paired with the Mimo Turtle, you can monitor your infant’s respiration, skin temperature, body position, and activity level. The data is sent to the Mimo Lilypad Base Station via infant safe Bluetooth Low Energy. The Mimo app enables parents to do three things: see their baby’s data in real-time; set alerts to let them know if anything changes; and to view trend and analytics about their baby’s sleep (and more!) over time. http://mimobaby.com/mimo/
AMULYTE is a device, worn by seniors, that tracks
activity and contains a help button to automatically alerts caregivers in the event of an emergency. The system allows seniors to keep their freedom and independence while providing peace of mind to family members and caregivers who can stay connected and informed at any time. Amulyte was founded in 2012 and received one year later a funding of $255K in Venture Round funding.
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that gives you a searchable and shareable photographic memory. The app for iPhone and Android organizes the photos to work as a photographic memory even after many years.
http://amulyte.com/
SAGA APP is an innovative ambient location tracking
smartphone application. It uses smartphone sensors to enable a new kind of automatic lifelogging, and offer users key insights about their behaviour. http://www.getsaga.com/
OMSIGNAL is designing bio-sensing apparel in
order to change people's approach to their health. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMiOmJHXy C4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
WHISTLE is a hi-tech, wearable collar that monitors NEUROCAM is a wearable camera system that dog’s activity, whether it’s going for walkies, running around and playing, resting, eating and, ahem, crapping, even when the owner can’t be around. The smart doggy device is equipped with 3-axis accelerometer, LED indicators, Single push-button interface, Waterproof (IPX-7), WiFi, Bluetooth, Shockproof and ruggedized, and weighs 16g. It attaches to a dog’s collar via an adjustable strap and its rechargeable battery lasts for up to 10 days. http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/06/06/bigdata-goes-to-the-dogs-with-smart-whistle-collars/
detects the user’s emotions. It automatically records moments of interest based on an analysis of the brainwaves. The prototype headset, called a Neurocam, combines a brainwave scanner with an iPhone dock. The users’ interests are quantified on a range of 0 to 100. If the individual scores over 60, the device records a five-second film on their iPhone which can then be used to remember what they have seen and liked during the day and share them on Facebook.
NARRATIVE is a tiny, automatic camera and app 182
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longer. It provides an activity-sharing experience with its product using passive activity sensors that are applied to everyday objects in an older adult’s home and LivelyGram, which gives family members a way to share the events of their life with elder loved ones through pictures and short messages. Lively’s passive activity sensors log day-to-day patterns like kitchen activity, time spent getting out and when medication is taken. www.mylively.com
Case Stuides
LIVELY keeps older adults living independently http://getnarrative.com/
recreate your personality after death. Seemingly, it will allow loved ones to ‘contact’ the deceased and have a conversation with them, interacting with their memories. ‘It’s like a Skype chat from the past’ asserts the site. http://neurowear.com/projects_detail/neurocam.html
THE MADELEINE – named after Marcel Proust’s
story of involuntary memory prompted by biting into a cake – is a new kind of camera that records not images, but smells. The Madeleine is a device that captures the scent of your memories in tune with the trend of moment – capturing on Instagram and other social media. It consists of a funnel to be placed over the object or environment you wish to capture, then a pump sucks the air across an odour trap. It can take anything from a few minutes to capture the scent of fresh strawberries, to around 24 hours to store the more subtle aroma of an atmosphere. The Madeleine was exhibited in Milan in April 2013. http://www.psfk.com/2013/06/smell-recordingcamera.html
ETERNI.ME, created by a group from MIT’s Entrepreneurship Development Program, is an app that gathers information about a person to create a chatbot that emulates their personality after they have passed away. Eterni.me promises “…a virtual YOU, an avatar that emulates your personality and can interact with, and offer information and advice to your family and friends after you pass away.” The website hints that it creates this avatar by compiling ‘almost everything’ you’ve ever created in your life and uses artificial intelligence and algorithms to
http://eterni.me/
LIVESON is an experiment of a London-based ad agency Lean Mean Fighting Machine with the shiver-inducing slogan “When your heart stops beating, you’ll keep tweeting” - attracted much media attention when it was announced earlier in 2013. According to estimation, today there are about 30 million Facebook accounts belonging to dead people. LivesOn is looking to keep you tweeting even after you’ve passed away. How does it work? A digital robot analyses a user’s outputs, interests, tastes and syntax. As time goes on, LivesOn feed will start posting. Users will be able to favourite tweets to give feedbacks, increasing the system's intelligence. A separate “you” would start existing as an online twin, ultimately outliving the real “you”. http://liveson.org/connect.php
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We can create highly perso- nalised tech bubbles.
People often feel overwhelmed by all the options and information on offer. We could filter these, cut through the digital ‘noise’, and provide only the most relevant information. Today consumers expect digital services to recognise them and tailor the experience to their specific needs. Increasingly they even claim they won’t do business with companies that don’t understand their personal preferences. Currently, one of our internal projects, Frappé, aims to provide contextual-based recommendations and KIMI, a wearable device, enables people to personalise any device they chose to connect to with their unique information and profile. 184
2 We can provide product and services that help people build and manage their personal brand.
In the digital economy, reputation is everything. We have the opportunity to enable people to get more exposure to help build their personal brand online. We can also help people manage their reputation and create ‘trust’ and reputation scores so that people can demonstrate their personal value. Currently there is no standard to measure trust digitally. We could be the company that brings one. This transparency would help drive both the shared and digital economy.
Implications
1
Supercharge Me
Implications
People integrate technology into many aspects of their lives to improve and promote themselves. Supercharge Me reveals the following implications for Telefónica Digital:
3 We can enable people to track and monitor their behaviour.
With life expectancy and solo living rising, people are realising that they need to take a pro-active approach to life. Technology can help people track and monitor their behaviours so that they can improve their performance. We have the opportunity to provide such services for health, wellbeing, financial services but also learning. Tracking and monitoring behaviour through a mobile device can help provide greater information to users, such as the impact of different context on their performance and wellbeing.
4 We can help people manage their digital legacy.
There are new services helping people manage their digital legacy and identity after their lifetime. We hold a big part of people’s digital data and we could therefore offer packages that enable people to decide what happens to it once they pass. Managing people’s legacy throughout their life as they go through various milestones could become part of our offering.
Supercharge Me reveals technology as the enabling force to enhance people’s lives. It is clear that people expect more personalised experiences and we have the opportunity to position ourselves as the company that knows its consumers in a personal way and who anticipates their unique needs. 185
Klinenberg, E.: Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, 2012 Dr. Larry Rosen: iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming Its Hold On Us, 2013
"Self-trackers gain too much respect for the numbers and forget that other ways of telling the story--and generating action out of it--are possible."
VIDEOS "Is This You?" Lifelogging, privacy and scandal by Tom Scott at Electromagnetic Field 2012 More information: http://www.tomscott.com/ Documentary about the lifelogging movement: the documentary includes interviews with experts in the field like Steve Mann and Gordon Bell, along with the technical lead of Google Glass — exploring the past, present and future of lifelogging. Video: http://lifeloggersmovie.com/ Erica Wexler is Online A faux-documentary meditation on posthumous social networking. Doron Hagay’s darkly comedic short features a community dealing with the consequences of a dead girl who can Facebook from the beyond the grave. Source: http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2012/08/31/erica-wexler-is-online/ Selfie Phenomenon Documentary A 4-minute-doc interviewing some self-confessed selfie addicts. Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QamW5XcByok
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Additional Sources
Morozov, Evgeny: To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism, 2013
Supercharge Me
Additional sources
BOOKS
Future of wearable technology: A mini-doc interviewing professionals from diverse fields on how wearable technology is affecting their industry. Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_ embedded&v=4qFW4zwXzLs Her In this 2014 Oscar-nominated film a lonely and recently heart-broken protagonist falls in love with an artificial intelligence system that he speaks to on his mobile phone. Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/ InRealLife A 2013 documentary that roams from the bedrooms of British children to Silicon Valley, examining the positive and negative impact the Internet has on teenagers. Source: http://inreallifefilm.com Catfish A 2010 gonzo documentary where the protagonist discovers that a person whom he has met online is not all she appears in the virtual world. This film went on to spark Catfish: The TV Show, a talk show where the hosts help guests meet online acquaintances in real life. Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1584016/
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Trend 6
BETTER FOR US
“What’s really needed is a deeper shift in consciousness so that we begin to care and act, not just for ourselves and other stakeholders but in the interests of the entire ecosystem in which economic activities take place.”
Otto Scharmer
People are concerned about what is Better for Us as a globally connected society. They realise that thanks to technological progress they are now able to impact people and planet fundamentally for the better. 191
- New Kinship -Â People embrace the power of collaboration and sharing
Typology : The Ecoists
- Social Shake-up -Â Social influence trumps social status and people are actively building their digital presence to succeed.
Through Big Data and sensors, technology increasingly creates a bigger picture of what is going on around people and around the world. This impacts people’s outlook and instead of thinking in terms of isolated issues or focusing only on the wellbeing of their own community, people are realising that most things are interconnected.
These individuals and organisations are the Ecoists: they are driven by altruism. They want to add value to the system instead of solely extracting personal value for themselves. They aspire to contribute collectively to the greater good. They are smart citizens who harness technology to create new collaborative and sustainable systems. They build ecosystems that can fundamentally improve living standards, thanks to technology.
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Introduction
- We Society People are more interested in collective success and collaboration
In the past trend reports, we explained that people are experimenting with new systems to create more sustainable living alternatives (Sustainable Utopia trend). As digital technology creates more transparency, it motivates people to create systemic change for the collective good (Better World, New Norm, Making Meaning trends). Additionally, people harness digital technology to collaborate better and form groups that can create new communities and positive change (We Society, New Kinship, Social Shake-up trends).
Better for Us
Emotional driver: altruism
Past trends
T
he Ecoists assess whether something is good or not for the majority of people and the planet. Indeed, new brain science studies suggest that we are hard-wired for altruism. Scientists call this the helper’s high to explain that when people give and engage in acts of kindness, the “pleasure” and social attachment centres of the brain are activated1. Through their networked thinking the Ecoists look for ways to improve key areas of life such as urban living, healthcare, transportation and resource management. They understand that everything within a system is interrelated and they look for ways to create positive leading behaviours. Already, we see that 61% of Millennials say that they are worried about the state of the world and they feel personally responsible to make a difference2. The Ecoists are transforming society’s landscape with their vision of better, more efficient ecosystems. The Ecoists leverage technology to metamorphose society. They
embrace endemic technology, as they believe that efficiency and innovations will be gained through thinking and acting locally first and then leveraging digital technology to share best practice and create systemic change. The Ecoists are not interested in silo solutions; instead they want to create new ecosystems that can be scaled globally. The Ecoists believe in Altruistic technology: technology that can be optimized for something other than profit, such as quality, fairness and collaboration. Indeed, the majority of adults believe that digital technology makes it easier to accomplish various activities integral to positive social change, for example following news and events related to this topic (79%) and increasing awareness about a positive social change issue or need (77%)3. The Ecoists believe that technology can help ensure that systems work Better For Us. To make informed decisions, the Ecoists leverage data as it provides them with insights about where improvements are most needed.
1
Source: http://intentionalworkplace.com/2010/01/21/what-can-you-do-to-help-youare-hard-wired-for-altruism/ 2 Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trevor-neilson/philanthrop-and-millennia_ b_3269238.html] 3 Walden University: Social Change Impact Report, 2011 193
4
The Ecoists are smart citizens who are engaged in the city’s decisionmaking process. They embrace the Internet of Everything because it enables them to monitor everything, everywhere and to build smarter systems that are more interactive and efficient than before. Thanks to advances in technology, everyone is able to become a sensory node to collect and to contribute data. For example, sensor-laden personal electronics such as Air Quality Egg sensors system enable data
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/technology/personaltech/04volunteer.html?_r=0 194
Insights
of Port-au-Prince in just two days, building "the most complete digital map of Haiti's roads".4
Better for Us
To extract value from the data, visualization is important because it reveals patterns and helps them think in terms of ecosystems instead of isolated issues. For example, data visualisation websites such as visual.ly, flowingdata.com and informationisbeautiful.net enable the Ecoists to spot at a glance where an issue might be happening and to easily share this information with others, thereby enabling them to design solutions in collaboration. For instance, during the 2010 Haiti earthquake, OpenStreetMap, a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world used available satellite imagery to map the roads, buildings and refugee camps
collection about environmental conditions like urban air pollution. SmartCitizen, an open-source environmental monitoring platform connects data, people and knowledge to build productive and open indicators as well as distributed tools that enable people to collectively shape the city. Such initiatives enable data collection that can be used to create empathic cities: cities that are kinder to citizens. For example, scientists at NESCI have found an ingenious way of utilizing collected Twitter data in order to check the emotional and sentimental pulse of a city. This data is compiled into an overview ‘mood map’ of the city that gives a very clear, real-time snapshot of how the citizens are feeling. Using this information, the Ecoists can come up with solutions to foster more engagement and more personalised interactions. For example, the interactive website People Make Parks promotes the Emotional Cityness –empathic and more personal treatment within cities - by enabling people to participate in the creation of parks. Such initiatives help show the connection between
5
the impact of the environment people live in and their wellbeing. The Ecoists believe that citizens can collaboratively redesign systems through crowdsourcing. They participate in the gift economy, whereby according to Futurist Marina Gorbis, “people everywhere are beginning to see the value of goods not only in terms of possessions but in terms of circulation5 ” as a way of enriching their lives and those of others. In the digital world we live in, ‘goods’ are increasingly digital and open-data platforms such as Open Cities, iCity or LIVE Singapore! enable the Ecoists to get together, share their ‘goods’ (or resources) and collaboratively find solutions for their communities. The Ecoists value such opportunities for collaboration and they leverage participatory online platforms and visual tools such as the City 2.0, Block by Block and the Connected Citizen game to design their communities. Crowdsourcing projects enable the Ecoists to improve many aspects
Gorbis, Marina: The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, 2013 195
6
created the Budget Games to help citizen collectively allocate resources. According to Luke Hohmann, founder of Conteneo, such initiatives enable citizens to:
There is a wave of entrepreneurs leveraging open-data made available by governments and setting up innovative companies that are geared at improving living standards. A recent article revealed that cities that make their data publicly available are experiencing a rate of new business formation "ahead of the national average".
Source: http://conteneo.co/conteneo-city-of-san-jose-produce-fourth-annual-budget-games/ 196
Insights
“have a voice in this process since budget decisions can make a big difference in the quality of life for all members of the community�6.
Better for Us
of everyday life through innovative crowdsourcing services such as Street Bump and Waze app that help manage traffic and road information. Additionally, opendata platforms can help create more citizen engagement and more proactivity. For example, in Helsinki, citizens can use a reporting issue API. The first service to connect to this feedback system of the city is the local Metro.fi website. Through this system citizens are also able to follow the handling process of the issues they have reported. The pilot service has been a success and the plan is to use the issue reporting API for other issues as well. These platforms often include a gamification element, which generates more participation. For example, working together with the city of San JosĂŠ, Conteneo has
For example Newton Circus created UP Singapore a ground-up innovation platform that makes creative use of technology and data to improve the city’s urban environments. Other examples include Kaggle, a platform that uses government Big Data to engage the scientific community to solve problems, and Porch. com, an online business that uses Seattle Department of Planning and Development information on work permits, professional licenses and other home-construction information to help boost the visibility of industry professionals. William D. Eggers and Paul Macmillan coined this phenomenon The Solution Revolution, in their eponymous book.7 They are explaining that this new breed of entrepreneurs use “business models that are unusual, and their motivations range from new notions of public accountability to moral obligation to even shareholder value.” The Ecoists want to be able to measure the impact of people’s actions within a system.
Transparency is important for them and initiatives such as the Open Data Initiative, The Sunlight Foundation and OpenSpending.org are a great way for them to review their personal share of public works, examine local impacts of public spending, rate and vote on proposed plans for public spending and monitor the progress of projects that are or are not underway. Tracking platforms such as these help Ecoists keep engaged and motivated. Crowdsourcing also enables the Ecoists to live according to a ZeroWaste philosophy. They leverage new person-to-person commerce systems to enable citizens to harness underused resources. For example, Karma and KeyWifi transform excess Wi-Fi bandwidth into a valuable service that can be traded with both neighbours and visitors. In the same way, the WikiHouse project offers a blueprint allowing everyday people to build their own homes using open-sources designs and locally sourced materials to try to apply a Zero-Waste policy to buildings.
7
Eggers, William & Macmillan, Paul: The Solution Revolution, 2013 Source: http://www.solutionrevolutionbook.com/ 197
They care about protecting the environment Currently, we are and want using 50 per cent to create more resources systems that than the Earth can help tackle the earth provide8 energy debt. As a result, Ecoists actively promote initiatives that contribute to the preservation of the planet such as epeat.net, an easy-to-use resource for identifying high-performance, environmentally preferable products. They engage in efficient resource management and they create systems that can monitor energy consumption more efficiently. For
8
WWF: Living Planet Report 2012 198
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example TriCascade has developed a smart thermostat that displays real-time energy consumption and Sprav offers simple water meter clips.
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The Ecoists are also often inspired by nature to create new ecosystems. Biomimicry: the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modelled on biological entities and processes enables them to understand how the earth regulates and conserves resources within its own giant ecosystem. They are motivated to create new systems that are ethical and ecological, that can enhance cultures and nurture diversity.
The Ecoists fully leverage technology to implement their altruistic vision of society. Their networked thinking enables them to tackle big challenges without the need for large monetary resources. The Ecoist mindset is inspiring new educational initiatives such as the Singularity University and Today’s Favourite Human that are inspiring more people to change human lives for the better thanks to technology.
In the future, we will see more Ecoist created systems that will demonstrate how it is possible to create changes that are Better For Us and the planet.
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PEOPLE MARA BALLESTRINI
Is a creative technologist. She believes that ubiquitous technolo-
gies can empower citizens to create in a collaborative way, rethink society, culture and the media. She has worked in many projects
across Latin America and Europe such as Taller de celumetrajes, an itinerant film school using mobile devices; MobilePOEMES3gp, an urban installation for digital citizen-generated poetry; or
Research Institute on Sustainable Connected Cities (ICRI-Cities) at University College London (UCL).
“ I think one of the most interesting ways to the realization of a “smart citizenship” has to do with the participation and collaboration processes that are based on (and simultaneously encourage) empathy and trust among citizens.”
More information: http://empathiccities.org/
PAUL ZAK
A neuroscientist, has shown that acts of altruism can flood your sys-
tem with a happy hormone known as oxytocin. His premises are that happy people tend to engage with others, and that cooperative engagement is key for a society’s economic health. We buzz cognitively and existentially during moments of connection. Our bodies fill with oxytocin—“a pure, social chemical released within seconds
of positive social stimulus.” He is one of the creators of the People Make Parks project, promoting empathic and more personal treatment within cities. Paul Zak and Emanuele Castano explore the role played by empathy and compassion in urban life. They try to encourage citizens to participate in the design, location and creation of parks, since they are convinced of the need to have more profound social encounters —parks, for example, are the perfect stage for this to happen.
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sourced memories of the community, among others. She is a PhD candidate at the Intel Collaborative
Typologies
CrowdMemo.org, a technology-enabled intervention to augment the physical space with the crowd-
ALASTAIR PARVIN
Is one of a team behind WikiHouse, an open-source construction
set that allows anyone to freely share model files for structures, which can then be downloaded, "printed" via CNC cutting machine and easily assembled. Parvin calls WikiHouse a very early experi-
ment, the seed of what he sees as design’s great project in the 21st century: the democratization of production.
“As a society we’ve never needed design thinking more, but most people - particularly those in cities of growing density and poverty - can’t afford it.” “For too long, cities have been made by the 1% and consumed by the 99%. We wanted to see what it would take to create something that would allow the 99% to make cities for the 99%.”
Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/ alastair_parvin_architecture_ for_the_people_by_the_people.html
CARLO F. RATTI
Is an Italian architect, engineer, inventor, educator and activist who teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, where
he directs the MIT Senseable City Lab, a research group that ex-
plores how new technologies are changing the way we understand, design and ultimately live in cities. Ratti was named one of the "50 most influential designers in America" by Fast Company
and highlighted in Wired Magazine's "Smart List: 50 people who will change the world."
“It’s not about technology, it’s about people.”
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Biomimicry or biomimetics
Is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms biomimicry andbiomimetics come from the Greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomimicry
Altruism or selflessness
Is the principle or practice of concern for the others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core aspect of various religious traditions, though the concept of "others" toward whom concern should be directed can vary among cultures and religions. Altruism or selflessness is the opposite of selfishness.Altruism can be distinguished from feelings of loyalty. Pure altruism consists of sacrificing something for someone other than the self (e.g. sacrificing time, energy or possessions) with no expectation of any compensation or benefits, either direct, or indirect (e.g. receiving recognition for the act of giving). The term altruism may also refer to an ethical doctrine that claims that individuals are morally obliged to benefit others. Used in this sense, it's usually contrasted to egoism, which is defined as acting to the benefit of oneself. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism
Brain science studies on Altruism
New insights in brain science suggest that we are hard-wired for altruism and trust—even among 202
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Is a combination of cybernetic and systemic ideas and complexity. Its pioneer is Frederic Vester. Central ideas of network thinking include viewing a system as a network of interrelated effects, leading to emergent behaviour of the system as a whole. These networks can be described by using protocols, mathematical networks, computer software, so that even someone with the most basic understanding of networks will see relations, including positive and negative feedback loops. Simulations of systemic networks can help to decide the long-term effects of singular measures. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Vester
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Networked thinking
strangers. The work of bioethicist Dr. Stephen Post’s Institute for Unlimited Love (Case Western University School of Medicine) alone has generated 50 studies on altruism, compassion and kindness. Scientists call this the “helper’s high.” When we give and engage in acts of kindness, the “pleasure” and social attachment centres of the brain are activated. Source: http://intentionalworkplace.com/2010/01/21/what-can-you-do-to-help-you-are-hard-wiredfor-altruism/
Altruistic technology:
According to Brian David Johnson this is a technology that can be used to enhance and better our humanity. He suggests that we can optimize technology for things such as quality, fairness and even the American Dream. Johnson firmly believes technology is an extension of ourselves; we imbue it with our values, hopes and sense of humanity by virtue of creating it. Video: http://www.trendhunter.com/keynote/altruistic-technology-speech
Empathy
Conjures up active engagement -the willingness of an observer to become part of another's experience, to share the feeling of that experience." Source: Rifkin, Jeremy: The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, 2009
Empathic city
According to Mara Ballestrini, one of the most interesting ways to achieve “smart citizenship” has to do with the participation and collaboration processes that are based on (and simultaneously encourage) empathy and trust among citizens: neighbours who help each other and grow their communities, citizens who share or exchange their time and their belongings, people who use their physical and intellectual energy to solve problems that affect the city. Building confidence among citizens and promoting the empathic ability to stand in somebody else´s shoes (and understand why some act in one way or another), could be very sustainable ways to contribute to a smarter city. As a tool, technology can provide traction to certain social initiatives, increase connectivity among citizens, and give us valuably situated information to help us make informed decisions at every moment. Source: http://empathiccities.org/about/
Helper’s high
Is when we give and engage in acts of kindness, the “pleasure” and social attachment centres of the 203
brain are activated. Source: Allan Luks & Peggy Payne: The Healing Power of Doing Good - The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others. New York: iUniverse.com, 2001
Oxytocin
Is a mammalian neurohypophysial hormone that acts primarily as a neuromodulator in the brain. It has been proven to increase compassion, empathy and other affiliative emotional responses. There is some evidence that oxytocin promotes ethnocentric behaviour, incorporating the trust and empathy of in-groups with their suspicion and rejection of outsiders. Thus, it is sometimes referred to as the "bonding hormone". Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxytocin
A gift economy (gift culture or gift exchange) Is a mode of exchange where valuables are not sold, but rather given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards. In contrast to a barter economy or a market economy, social norms and custom govern gift exchange, rather than an explicit exchange of goods or services for money or some other commodity. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy Internet of Everything
The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. The problem is that most enterprises and technology vendors have yet to explore the possibilities of an expanded Internet and are not operationally or organizationally ready. Gartner identifies four basic usage models that are emerging: - Manage, Monetize, Operate, Extend These can be applied to people, things, information, and places, and therefore the so-called “Internet 204
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According to Michael Norton, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, spending money on yourself does not make you happier, but spending money on others -- no matter how it is spent, or how much -- could improve your mood. "If you think money can't buy happiness, you're not spending it right," Norton said. "You should stop thinking about which product to buy for yourself, and try giving some of it to other people instead. People who spent money on other people got happier; people who spent money on themselves, nothing happened. It didn’t make them less happy; it just didn't do much for them."
Additional Insights
People who spend money on other people become happier
of Things” will be succeeded by the “Internet of Everything.” Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2013/10/14/gartner-top-10-strategic-technologytrends-for-2014/
Endemic technology
The tools, infrastructures, and solutions we use are born and grown locally; technology emerges out of local conditions, resources, and peculiarities. Source: SPREAD. Sustainable Lifestyles 2050
Emotional cityness
Is the rejection of impersonal and cold relationships in large urban areas in favour of face-to-face, convivial, and empathic interaction. In a climate of rapid urbanization and uncertainty, with dynamics leading toward social fragmentation, there is an increasing need for new connectivity in urban environments that can be achieved through the strengthening of personal relationships. Social interaction within cities is a vehicle toward community cohesiveness. The need for an increased emotional cityness was identified by Lab curators Maria Nicanor and David van der Leer as one of the overarching topics of the New York Lab. Source: http://www.bmwguggenheimlab.org/100urbantrends/?v=2#!/new-york-city/33 Elizabeth Dunn, a professor of psychology, and her colleagues at the University of British Columbia showed that spending more of one’s income on others generated greater happiness. Studies also show that participants who were randomly assigned to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those assigned to spend money on themselves. Her work and other studies suggest that beyond the point where people have economic security, happiness doesn’t scale with money, even very large amounts of money. We are more happy spending money on social experiences than on buying things. In parallel, behavioural economics is now showing that money isn’t as powerful a motivator for performance as once thought. Source: http://www.amareway.org/holisticliving/07/happiness-formulas-swb-science-of-happiness/
The New Economic Foundation (NEF)
An influential think tank, following the path of a growing number of academics and politicians, has called for a new measure of progress it calls National Accounts of Well-being. It uses comprehensive data from a survey of twenty-two European nations examining both personal and social well-being. Personal well-being looks at people’s experiences, such as positive and negative emotions, satisfaction, vitality, resilience, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose and meaning. Measures of social wellbeing include two main components: supportive relationships and a feeling of trust and belonging. 205
According to NEF, these indicators together give us a “picture of what we all really want: a fulfilling and happy life. Source: http://www.nationalaccountsofwellbeing.org/
Happy people ride bicycles
Denmark and the Netherlands (the happiest and the fourth-happiest countries on Earth) are renowned for being the world's most bicycle-friendly nations; the other most-happy countries are also famously bicycle friendly. To be sure, much of the developing world gets about by bicycle, as does economic powerhouse China, but not, it seems, because they want to. The Chinese as a nation may not be wildly happy with their lot in life—they finished a lowly 93rd on the World Happiness Report— but sales of BMWs there are booming, with the company's profits up 52 percent for the first half of 2013. Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/09/130909-2013-world-happiness-reportunited-nations/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20130910newshappyrepot&utm_campaign=Content
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Released by Columbia University's Earth Institute, Denmark is the happiest country in the world, followed by Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Sponsored by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the global survey took place between 2010 and 2012 and ranked the happiness levels of people in 156 countries, using such criteria as wealth, health, freedom to make life choices, having someone to count on in times of trouble, freedom from corruption, and the generosity of fellow citizens. Source: http://unsdsn.org/files/2013/09/WorldHappinessReport2013_online.pdf
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Growth in Civil tech 1 Source: http://flowingdata.com/2013/12/06/growth-in-civic-tech/ 2 Source: http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/06/wi-fi-hotspot-sharing-startup-karma-jumps-to-sprints-lte-4g-network/ Open Data 34 The Open Data Barometer, 2013 5 Source: https://github.com/blog/1470-five-years 6 Deloitte, Open data. Driving growth, ingenuity and innovation, 2012 7 Sparks & Honey: Century of the City States, 2013 89 Sparks & Honey: Century of the City States, 2013 10 11 12 13 14 Source: http://www.who.int/gho/urban_health/situation_trends/urban_population_growth_text/en/ On Altruism 15 Research by Gallup. Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2010/0910/Gallup-poll-Degreeof-one-s-charity-depends-on-happiness-more-than-wealth 16 Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trevor-neilson/philanthrop-and-millennia_b_3269238.html 17 Source: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2012/10/24/Generation-Y-Report-Slacktivist-102412.aspx 18 Source: http://stateofthemedia.org/2012/mobile-devices-and-news-consumption-some-good-signs-for-journalism/whatfacebook-and-twitter-mean-for-news/ 19 Bentley University's Center For Women And Business 20 21 Walden University and Harris Interactive: http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/direct/gen-y-engages-in-socialchange-19352/
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Case Studies JUST.ME is a free mobile messaging platform that elements related to urban air pollution that are sensesuccessfully brings the functionality of the camera app, video capture, voice messages, texting, email and other messaging apps all into one powerful application. The user can save memories for themselves; share with family, friends or colleagues; or publish for the world to see; all with a single app. Memories, Messages or Posts can have unlimited photos, videos, voice and text.
able by inexpensive, DIY sensors. The Air Quality Egg has been developed by a community effort, born out of groups from the Internet of Things Meetups in NYC and Amsterdam (designers, technologists, developers, architects, students, and artists). This Project was successfully funded on Kickstarter on April 26, 2012 with $150K.
SMART CITIZEN is an Open-Source Environmental
Monitoring Platform consisting of Arduino-compatible hardware, data visualization web API, and a mobile app. It enables people to engage in participatory processes within cities. Connecting data, people and knowledge, the objective of the platform is to serve as a node for building productive and open indicators, and distributed tools, and thereafter the collective construction of the city for its own inhabitants.
http://www.smartcitizen.me/
AIR QUALITY EGG is a sensor system designed
to allow anyone to collect very high resolution readings of NO2 and CO concentrations right outside their home. These two gases are the most indicative
http://airqualityegg.com/
VISUALLY simplifies the production and distri-
bution of visual content through a marketplace that brings together creators (designers, analysts, journalists, and developers) with customers to create content for use in publications, presentations, and advertising campaigns. Customers get built-in project management, custom tools, analytics, curated creators, and access to an audience on Visual.ly of 2 million per month, along with long-tail distribution for additional 1 million+ audience. http://visual.ly/
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FLOWINGDATA explores how statisticians, de- GPS devices, aerial photography, and other free
INFORMATION IS BEAUTIFUL is the website of David McCandless, renowned data journalist, interested in how designed information can help us understand the world. By creating beautifully constructed infographics out of complex data, he seeks to reveal the hidden connections, patterns and stories that lie within the numbers.
sources. These crowdsourced data are then made available under the Open Database License. The site is supported by the OpenStreetMap Foundation, a non-profit organization registered in England. http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=5/51.500/-0.100
OPEN CITIES is a project co-founded by the Euro-
pean Union that aims to validate how to approach Open & User Driven Innovation methodologies to the Public Sector in a scenario of Future Internet Services for Smart Cities. It will do so by leveraging existing tools, trials and platforms in Crowdsourcing, Open Data, Fiber to the Home and Open Sensor Networks in seven major European cities: Helsinki, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Bologna. http://opencities.net/
Case Stuides
signers, and computer scientists are using data to help us understand more about ourselves and our surroundings, mainly through visualization. www.flowingdata.com
www.informationisbeautiful.net
OPENSTREETMAP (OSM) is a collaborative
project to create a free editable map of the world. Two major driving forces behind the establishment and growth of OSM have been restrictions on use or availability of map information across much of the world and the advent of inexpensive portable satellite navigation devices. Created by Steve Coast in the UK in 2004, it was inspired by the success of Wikipedia and preponderance of proprietary map data in the world. Since, it has grown to over 1 million registered users, who can collect data using
allows unprecedented access to public infrastructure to develop applications in the public interest. Under the umbrella of the iCity project, the cities of Barcelona, Bologna, Genoa and London are working together for a few months for the co-creation of public services and the initiative is being extended to more cities. This platform represents a new boost to the economy of applications and becomes a business opportunity through the use of infrastructure in cities and developers to SMEs. All of them will create, implement, operate and exploit services based on publicly available information and its digital assets. http://www.icityproject.com/
LIVE SINGAPORE! is an open platform for the
collection, elaboration and distribution of real-time
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iCITY is a project that has developed a platform that
data that provides people with access to a range of information that reflects their city and its activity. Live Singapore! gives data back to the people who themselves generate it through their actions, allowing them to be more in sync with their environment as well as taking decisions on the basis of information that reflects the actual state of their city. The platform that was launched in 2009 and that has now close to 1.5M users resembles an ecosystem and a toolbox for real-time data describing urban dynamics.
STREET BUMP is a crowdsourcing project that
helps residents improve their neighbourhood streets by collecting data around real-time road conditions while they drive. Using the mobile application’s motion- detecting accelerometer, Street Bump is able to sense when a bump is hit, while the phone’s GPS records the location. The system filters out disturbances like manhole covers and speed bumps using a series of algorithms—including one that can tell if the initial motion is up over a speed bump, as opposed to down into a pothole. If at least three people hit a bump in the same spot, the system recognizes it as a pothole. City planners believe that this aggregated information cannot only be utilized to fix immediate problems, but also plan long- term infrastructure investments. www.streetbump.org
REPORTING API IN HELSINKI http://senseable.mit.edu/livesingapore/
WAZE app is the world's largest community-based
traffic and navigation app. Drivers can share realtime traffic and road info, saving everyone time and gas money on their daily commute.
City of Helsinki has published its issue reporting API and thus joined cities utilizing the Open311 standard. The City of Helsinki is the second city in Europe to enable issue reporting API for external services, such as mobile and internet apps and webservices. The first service to connect to the feedback system of the City of Helsinki is a local Metro.fi website. This new service is a part of EU-funded CitySDK-project that will be piloting the feedback channel until the beginning of 2014. http://www.citysdk.eu/2013/05/24/helsinki-cityapi-now-open-for-developers/
URBANGEMS is an online platform identifying https://www.waze.com/es/
the visual cues that lead people to perceive an urban space as happy, quiet or beautiful. Developed by researchers from Cambridge’s Computing Laboratory, 215
24-hour collaborative forecasting game produced by the Institute for the Future’s Governance Futures Lab in 2013. Using IFTF’s Foresight Engine, players exchanged ideas with hundreds of social inventors and creative thinkers from around the world about the technologies, dynamics, and dilemmas generated in this new world of connected citizenship. There were plenty of ideas for improving democracy and access to information. For example, players recommended to open up the lobbying process-perhaps by drawing up better Wiki-style maps of relationships, or crowdfunding advocates who could work in our interests.
BUDGET GAMES is an innovative community
engagement tool created by Conteneo in partnership with the City of San José. It enables local residents to engage, participate and help shape their city´s future through an in-person and online version of the Budget Games. The goal of the games is to obtain insights from citizens on which city officials can make decisions about the city’s budget. These Budget Games have been used to engage neighbourhood leaders during an annual half-day event at City Hall regarding priorities for spending, trade-offs, and budget cuts for the City’s annual $2.9 billion budget. During the second year of Budget Games, 80% of the recommendations generated by participants were adopted and integrated into the City’s budget. http://conteneo.co/budgetgames/
UP SINGAPORE, managed by Newton Circus, http://game.connected-citizens.org/
BLOCK BY BLOCK is an urban planning game allowing people to participate in the reconstruc-
is a ground-up innovation platform which makes creative use of technology and data to improve our urban environments. The first UP Singapore event was held in June 2012, with about 1,000 people from all walks of life. UP Singapore seeks to achieve high
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CONNECTED CITIZEN game was a one-of-a-kind,
tion process of their own neighbourhoods through playing Minecraft. Working in partnership with UN Habitat, the gaming company behind Mojang invites citizens to enter Minecraft servers and modify their own neighbourhood and visualize it on screen. The game allows citizens to submit their own urban planning ideas without necessarily having architectural training, and can provide the groundwork for political decisions. The first Block by Block site, in Nairobi, Kenya, is already in the planning phase. www.mojang.com
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UrbanGems provides an interactive digital survey to try and quantify the “fuzzy” qualities around happiness so important to people when engaging with their surroundings, particularly in the metropolis where peaceful, happy spaces can feel frustratingly elusive. Buildings and neighbourhoods speak and UrbanGems aims to use crowdsurfing to distil people’s opinion of London neighbourhoods. http://urbangems.org/
levels of diverse and active community participation and foster strong collaboration between different community, government, corporate and NGO groups. Organisations from the public and private sector contribute to a unique and unprecedented data sandbox, providing opportunities to learn, create value and discover possibilities for new open-data ecosystems and economies. Founded in 2012, UP Singapore with a community of +2500 Open Innovators is currently in the process of applying to become a non-profit organisation. http://www.upsingapore.com/
KAGGLE is the world's largest community of data
scientists. They compete with each other to solve complex data science problems, and the top competitors get invited to consult on interesting projects from some of the world’s biggest companies through Kaggle Connect. Kaggle provides cutting-edge data science results to companies of all sizes. They have a proven track-record of solving real-world problems across a diverse array of industries including life sciences, financial services, energy, information technology, and retail. http://www.kaggle.com/
decision when it comes to improving their home and selecting the right home professionals. Today, Porch accomplishes this by organizing and connecting exclusive insights from over 1.4 million professionals and 60 million projects. Every day, Porch continues to aggregate more data about homes to build the connections and insights that fuel its data transparency and social approach. By understanding work history and which professionals friends and neighbours endorse, Porch is able to provide homeowners with free, personalized, and trusted word-of-mouth recommendations to make home improvement easy.
http://porch.com/
SENTIMENT MAP OF NYC (NESCI) PORCH marketplace spans all 250 home improve- Scientists at The New England Complex Systems ment, maintenance, and repair categories across the nation. Porch’s mission is to change the world one home at a time by making home improvement easy for homeowners. It allows homeowners to get inspired by viewing neighbours’ home projects, get educated by seeing their actual project costs, and decide on the right professional by reviewing friend endorsements. This helps homeowners make an easy and informed
Institute have figured out an ingenious (and seemingly simple) way of checking the emotional and/or sentimental pulse of a city, all by utilizing collected Twitter data. Tested out on the bustling city of New York, The NECSI analysed collected data of millions of tweets with algorithms that checked key words, phrases and emoticons to determine the mood of the tweets. By combining that info with geo-tagging
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bringing residents and visitors together to experience and participate in the collective mood of the city. It is a large, air pressurized sculpture suspended from a slender structure located at the Minneapolis Convention Centre Plaza. To understand the city’s mood, MIMMI sources information from local Twitter feeds and uses textual analysis to detect the emotion of those tweets, a process developed by INVIVIA's technologists using open source technology. By aggregating the positivity and negativity of tweets in real-time, MIMMI transmits the abstracted emotion of the city to a series of wifi-enabled LED bulbs and integrated water misting system. The colour of the lights shifts from cool colours (negative) to warm and hot colours (positive) depending on the mood, with rate of the lights’ change depending on the rate of tweets. Water activity will occur during the day through tubing and nozzles embedded in the fabric of the sculpture, with higher levels of misting occurring when the city mood is happier. http://www.minneapolis.org/mimmi/about-mimmi
PEOPLE MAKE PARKS (PMP) is a joint Project
of Hester Street Collaborative (HSC) and Parterships for Parks (PFP) to help communities participate in the design of their parks. When citizens engage with government and weigh in on park design, government builds better parks, and the public continues to enjoy and care for places they helped make.
THE SOCIAL COIN is a non-profit organization
fully dedicated to producing and distributing coins that initiate chains of random acts of kindness, which can be followed and measured. The Social Coins symbolizes commitment, surrender, trust and empathy. Each coin starts a kindness chain, which is reported on our website. They include a unique code, which will help people to follow the path along each life it has touched. The coins are biodegradable, and contain a seed that can be planted at the end of the chain. Any organization can collaborate with The Social Coin by minting social coins, which can be tracked in real time, allowing them to measure the positive impact in the world. The Social Coin was founded in 2012 and since then the organization has distributed 15.965 coins and registered 124.778 favours.
Case Stuides
MIMMI is an emotional gateway to Minneapolis,
http://www.peoplemakeparks.org/
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provided by users, the data is compiled into an overview "mood map" of the city, giving a very clear real-time snapshot of how a city’s population is feeling and where they're feeling it. http://www.necsi.edu/research/social/newyork/
http://www.thesocialcoin.org/
OPENSPENDING aims to help users map pub-
lic spending from around the world. Through the OpenSpending project the authors have worked extensively with journalists to track every government financial transaction, represent, interpret and present it in useful and engaging forms for everyone from a
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school-child to a data geek. Founded in January 2011, OpenSpending is first and foremost an enormous, searchable database of public spending — both for high level budget information and transaction-level actual expenditure. Built on top of this are a series of out-of-the box visualizations such as treemaps and bubbletrees. Anyone can load in their local council data and produce visualizations from it.
to enable more complete, equitable and effective democratic participation. Their overarching goal is to achieve changes in the law to require real-time, online transparency for all government information, with a special focus on the political money flow and who tries to influence government and how government responds. And, while their scope began with only a focus on the U.S. Congress, they are now defining open government on the local, state, federal and international level. http://sunlightfoundation.com/
WIKIHOUSE is an open source construction set.
https://openspending.org/
THE OPEN DATA INITIATIVE is a Web 2.0
site for disseminating public data. Users discover and explore data in a rich, interactive, and intuitive application, rather than browse or read large documents of published tables and charts. The end user can select and visualize any combination of data. It can be exported, printed, linked to, and shared in collaboration environments. http://www.opendatainitiative.org/
The aim is to allow anyone to design, download, and ¨print¨ CNC-milled houses and components, which can be assembled with minimal formal skill or training. Inspired by a desire to “create something that would allow the 99% to make cities for the 99%,” designers Alastair Parvin and Nick Ierodiaconou aimed to explore practical applications of their philosophical commitment to a more democratized design movement. Since the project’s inception, five prototypes have been assembled. http://www.wikihouse.cc/
KEYWIFI allows anybody who pays for Internet access to rent out their connection to those who
THE SUNLIGHT FOUNDATION is a nonpartisan need it for a nominal fee. The peer-to-peer platform non-profit founded in 2006 that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency. They do so by creating tools, open data, policy recommendations, journalism and grant opportunities to dramatically expand access to vital government information to create accountability of the public officials. Their vision is to use technology
is a web-based solution meaning that users don’t need any additional software or hardware to get online. By simply logging into the KeyWifi website, users with a connection can specify when exactly they aren’t using their Wi-Fi, how many people can log onto it and for how long. Users without connections can join the temporarily vacated network for
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about $10 a month using web payment platform PayPal. KeyWifi takes about a third of that money for operating costs, but the other two-thirds will be divided proportionally among the owners of the various Internet connections. www.keywifi.com
rating system helps purchasers identify greener computers and other electronics. By using EPEAT, users can show progress toward their sustainability goals and build their own environmental reputation. www.epeat.net
device creates a WiFi hotspot. Ostensibly a payas-you-go mobile hotspot provider, Karma’s true genius is in the way it lets you rack up free mobile data. After purchasing the Karma hotspot ($99 with 1gigabyte of data, $149 with 7GB, or $279 with 20GB), the company gives you an additional 100MB of data when other people hop onto your hotspot’s network. It’s a smooth way for Karma to bring on more users, and the data consumed by others doesn’t count against your Karma data usage (though it may eat up some bandwidth). It’s simply good Karma.
head, getting rid of the need for tools, and making sure that the device doesn’t restrict any water flow. Sprav is able to save you more than $50 annually for every minute you reduce your average shower length. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sprav/spravturn-your-shower-into-a-smart-shower smart home. It learns homeowners’ habits so it can adjust heat settings appropriately, and connects to a smartphone. The company also recently released a smart-smoke and carbon monoxide detector, Nest Protect. In 2014 Nest was acquired by Google for $3.2B as the company extends its remit further beyond its search engine origins and into the Internet of Things.
https://yourkarma.com/
THE ELECTRONIC PRODUCT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT TOOL, EPEAT is a method
for consumers to evaluate the effect of a product on the environment. It assesses lifecycle environmental standards and ranks products as gold, silver or bronze based on a set of environmental performance criteria. The comprehensive global environmental
https://nest.com/thermostat/life-with-nest-thermostat/
TODAY'S FAVOURITE HUMAN is a project
started in April, 2013 that has now a big Facebook
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NEST THERMOSTAT is a staple of the modern
Case Stuides
SPRAV is a super-simple water meter that clips KARMA is the WiFi made for sharing. The Karma right on to the supply pipe behind your shower
community of more than 20,000 people. Its goal is to encourage people all over the world to look for the good, because there is so much of it to be found. At Today's Favourite Human they share stories of inspiring people who are changing lives through their awesomeness; people who work to make this big spinning crazy ball a better place to be. http://favouritehuman.tumblr.com/
CITY 2.0 WEBSITE, launched by TED, is a storytell-
ing platform for city dwellers to share stories, videos and innovations related to urban transformation, Citizen-powered and story-driven, the City 2.0 site highlights what motivates people to take action and work together to shape the cities of our future. The City 2.0 site also features remarkable stories from the 10 City 2.0 award winners, who are improving their cities by turning world-changing ideas into sustainable solutions and collaborative action. From Kampala to Melbourne, City 2.0 grantees are investing their energy, passion and resources towards making a difference in areas like education, safety, health, food and public space.
to understand, develop, and deploy exponentially advancing technologies to address humanity’s Grand Challenges. It is currently located on the NASA Research Park in Mountain View, CA. They host a Graduate Summer Program, and a variety of Executive Programs, conferences, and online events. They are looking for individuals who want to contribute directly to the growth and success of their programs. Their fast-paced environment requires intensive coordination and constant interaction with the brightest minds and newest technologies in a range of technology fields. http://singularityu.org/
http://www.thecity2.org/
SINGULARITY UNIVERSITYÂ is a visionary educa-
tional institute whose mission is to educate, inspire, and enable a new generation of leaders who strive 221
We can provide solutions to help people think in a more ‘networked way’
Data on its own is not interesting. It is when it is put into context that people can make sense of it. We have the opportunity to leverage data and make it accessible and understandable to people and organisations. By sharing the data we collect with others, we might be able to partner with entrepreneurs and start-ups who can identify new businesses opportunities we would not be able to identify or leverage ourselves.unique information and profile.
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We can leverage our technology to positively improve the wellbeing of cities
The data we are able to gather in cities, through sensors and mobile networks, enable us to extract insights about the wellbeing of the city. We can leverage this information to find opportunities for improvement, either by collaborating with city governments and organisations, or by connected directly with people. For examples, we could send notifications to people when they enter dangerous areas or provide them with relaxing information when we can see they are stuck in traffic.
Implications
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Better for Us
Implications
Thanks for technology people are able to think in terms of ecosystems as they realise that most things are interconnected. Better for Us reveals the following implications for TelefĂłnica Digital:
3 We can develop products and services that encourage crowdsourcing and the Gift economy
Enabling people to connect is at the core of our business. In the gift economy, people rely on each other’s good deeds and participations. We have the opportunity to become a key enabler of the Gift economy by making it easy for people to crowdsource and crowdfund their ideas. We can help people trust each other better and provide ways to track everyone’s contribution to the Gift economy. We could be responsible for creating the trusted frameworks and systems of the Gift economy.
4 We can engage with entrepreneurs and cities to tackle complex issues
Cities and entrepreneurs are looking for digital partners to solve complex issues. With our resources such as data and sensors and our knowhow in terms of data analytics we can help them find solutions to big issues and also identify opportunities for new businesses. We can help make cities and businesses more sustainable, collaborative and productive.
Better for Us shows that we have the opportunity to impact society and the planet in a fundamental way. We can provide the tools so that people become active participants of society. We can encourage businesses to offer services that solve complex issues such as the protection of the environment and the efficient management of resources. 223
City 2.0: The Habitat of the Future and How to Get There, 2013 Ariely, Daniel: Predictably Irrational, 2010 Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_ feel_good_about_our_work.html Goleman, Daniel: Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything, 2009
Rifkin, Jeremy: The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, 2010 Rifkin, Jeremy: The Third Industrial Revolution: How lateral power is transforming energy, the Economy, and the World, 2011 Eggers, William & Macmillan, Paul: The Solution Revolution, 2013
DOCUMENTARIES The Human Scale (2012) The Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl has studied human behaviour in cities through 40 years. He has documented how modern cities repel human interaction, and argues that we can build cities in a way, which takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account. More information: http://thehumanscale.dk/the-film/ Urbanized (2011) Is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking.
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Additional Sources
Goldstein, Brett: Beyond transparency: an open data an the Future of Civic Innovation, 2013
Better for Us
Additional sources
BOOKS
The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain. Source: http://urbanizedfilm.com/ Empathic Civilization by Rifkin Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/jeremy_rifkin_on_the_empathic_civilization.html
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