Trend Report

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Connecting great ideas and humans It’s 2020 and innovation and technology are growing exponentially. Today, we cure ailments with lasers, soar over oceans with ease, and have endless possibilities at our fingertips.

Design breakthroughs have propelled us into an exciting and unpredictable future, with the last two decades alone marking some of our biggest advancements in human history.

We saw the emergence of smartphones and the rise of the Googles and Facebooks - bringing connectivity to a place we never could’ve envisioned. Energy production entered a renewable direction, and we finally recognised how to use nature without comprising our ecosystems.

Health technologies upgraded, downsized and even took to the skies to reach even the most remote corners of the Earth. AI broke through, robotics entered our workforce, and digital currencies coded their way into our pockets.

And, most notably, this millenium marked the birth of ‘design to improve life’ a humble concept that grew into a global

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movement. A movement recognising the power of design and how to use it, in all forms, as a force for good.

We’ve come aeons forward in intelligence and growth, but we’re now at a critical junction. Wicked problems plague the world, from cybersecurity to climate change, species extinction to social inequality. While we’ve progressed, consequence has followed.

The Index Project is a global project driven by a broadened perspective on progress and a new set of priorities. And now, more than ever, we’re calling for optimism and ingenuity.

The future isn’t just about seeing in AR, feasting on lab-grown steaks and touring the galaxy on our civilian spaceships. Sustainability and equality are at the core of many of the problems we face collectively and must be our driving motivation.

As we dive into the design trends of today, how will they shape the world of tomorrow? Welcome to a new age of design to improve life and the beginning of designing world 2.0.

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The Index Award The Index Award biennale celebrates people, from far and wide, who use design to solve the problems that matter. Plastic pollution, gender inequality, food supply you name it. Since 2005, we’ve recognised some of the world’s most impactful and iconic solutions. From tiny tools that diagnose disease to environmental moonshots saving our most vulnerable ecosystems.

The Index Award isn’t just about upholding great designs but about celebrating diversity, inspiring hope and acting as a catalyst for groundbreaking innovation.

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Categories

Body comprises all designs that aim to keep us physically and mentally healthy. This can include wearables, devices, apps and all care-related products and services.

Think of the products that make life at Home better. Solutions might include appliances, gadgets and furniture, as well as new kinds of housing or cohabitation.

Work is all about making our jobs safer, fairer, more accessible and sustainable. Solutions in this category include tools, machines, systems, services and more.

Learning isn’t nearly as effective, and fun, without play. Think of solutions like games, toys, cultural activities and educational materials or services.

Community represents large-scale solutions that we all share. This can include architecture, infrastructure, public spaces, transport, energy solutions and more.

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Design for death Redesigning end-of-life care with architecture, apps and nature How do we design for something we don’t want to talk about?

Solutions for death is an emerging design trend faced with many obstacles. Taking on a subject that many fear, dread or try to avoid at all costs can make even well-intended designs a hard sell. But by designing meaningful departures from this earth, these projects are breaking that taboo in new and affirming ways.

The places we go to say goodbye to our loved ones are often cold, windowless spaces unrepresentative of the people they house. Funeral Ceremony Centres by Dutch architecture firm HofmanDujardin is the antidote: a conceptual building complex organised around three main areas. When attending a funeral, the mourners first enter the ‘Wall of Memories’, which tells visual stories floorto-ceiling of the deceased. Next, is the actual ceremony of goodbye where an expansive empty space with a glass back wall implies a flow back to nature, closing the circle of life. Finally, people gather in a space encouraging a celebration of life.

Removing the stigma around conversa-

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tions on death is the main goal of the OMDB service. Standing for Over My Dead Body, this service helps clients design the way they want to be remembered.

Whether it’s through a statue, a garden or a booklet (like this one), the options are almost limitless. In collaboration with the client, OMDB designs the piece and keeps it safe until the day comes, where it will be shared with family and friends.

We’re made from the earth and we return to the earth. In designer Shaina Garfield’s Leaves, the deceased will even contribute to it. She designed a coffin out of biodegradable materials and a rope embedded with spores, which makes the deceased become a part of the nature around it. The fungus will speed decomposition and absorb the body’s toxins so nutrients will add to the soil. Those left behind can take part in making the coffin and after the burial, a tree is planted to symbolise the greater purpose our bodies can fulfil.

Funeral Ceremony Centres The curved walls and inwards bending ceiling defines a passage for the coffin

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OMDB The service both design themselves and collaborate with independent artists

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Leaves The mourners become part of the funeral process allowing them to heal and accept

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Woman is the word!

Female-first initiatives to create more equality in a man’s world

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For too long, much of the design world has been shaped by the patriarchy. We even saw NASA infamously cancel an all-female space trip due to ill-fitting space suits, originally designed for men.

While female issues, like periods and pregnancy, may seem trivial to some, we’ll never achieve true equality if we don’t design inclusive products that accommodate society. Here are some examples that make sure women’s reproductive health, which can influence all aspects of life, isn’t left in the middle ages.

Fertility testing for women can be invasive and highly costly. Not to mention, difficult to access if you live in remote areas or can’t afford to visit clinics. Modern Fertility aims to reinvent and simplify this process for all women planning on children. The service allows patients to order a personally customised fertility test without the costly doctor’s visit.

Women can then take the test in the privacy of their own homes and send the samples via post. After results are received, Modern Fertility provides options for the next steps for family planning.

Let’s face it, periods aren’t fun. They’re inconvenient, costly and most of the products are a burden to our environment. That’s why THINX is re-thinking how we manage them. THINX is the world’s first period-proof underwear that can be worn as a replacement or backup to traditional period products. The special four-layered design makes sure they’re leak-resistant as well as perfectly hygienic. These could not only make life easier for millions of women and girls but, are a great sustainable and cost-effective alternative to disposable products.

While motherhood is a gift, it doesn’t come without its sacrifices. Juggling a baby and a job isn’t impossible but, to date, there’s a distinct lack of innovation to make it easier. One major challenge is breastfeeding. Today, many working mothers are forced to stop despite its benefits to both baby and mother. This is often due to unfavourable conditions in the workplace. DEVOTED, by Sin Bing Celian Wong, is a discreet breast-pumping device that can be used at work. It’s designed to fit comfortably under the shirt and fosters a private, comfortable and convenient experience that allows its users to pump milk without having to retreat to the bathrooms.

THINX THINX Super can hold up to 4 regular tampons of fluid, which is 40 ml 15

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DEVOTED Milk pumping on-the-go to that benefits both mum and baby

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Modern Fertility Results will be reviewed by a doctor and then appear on your dashboard

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Body

Tamagotchi turned therapist Robots and AI combatting teen-loneliness When we’re feeling all alone, we’re not the only ones. An increasingly high percentage of world citizens are feeling more isolated from others and especially the younger generation struggles with loneliness.

A study made by a group of British universities found that 40% of British people aged 16-24 say they often or very often feel alone. In the US, close to 50% between the ages of 18-22 consider themselves lonely, and some are even speaking of a “loneliness epidemic”. An epidemic that can be a stepping stone to depression, heart disease, substance abuse and early deaths. This problem hasn’t gone unnoticed and many are trying to provide treatment through something kids and teens use every day: tech.

No Isolation wants to battle loneliness within two of the most vulnerable groups: the elderly and children with chronic diseases. Their AV1 robot functions as the eyes, ears and voice of children, who are bound to their bed or can’t attend school. The little, white robot attends class and the child participates through their phone or tablet.

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The AI-powered app, FINE tries to help lonely children by reacting empathetically to their emotions. Short for Feeling Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional, FINE is a digital friend that can monitor a whole family’s mood over time and be an initiator for dialogue on mental health.

Potentially a detector on early stages of depression, it’s developed by Method in collaboration with Fitzrovia Youth in Action, NHS Tavistock Trust and MIND. And lastly, you get to meet Fribo. This guy’s mission is to cheer up lonely millennials by letting them know what their friends are up to. The Korean-made robot encourages its owner to text or call up their friends. Instead of initiating a relationship with the robot itself, it’s Fribo’s goal to be in a friend groups’ homes and get lonely teens to reach out to each other.

No Isolation The Norwegian startup also offer tech services for the analogue elderly

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Body

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Fribo The robot’s microphone and sensors recognise domestic activities

FINE According to studies, one in ten children is affected by serious psychological problems 21

Body

Predictive health Gaze into the crystal ball of DNA and data to learn your fate If we could anticipate all health issues before they happen, would it create a healthier society? Of course, we’d save countless lives but, if treatment wasn’t possible, would it create a culture of idle panic? Every day, advanced medical tech combined with big data are bringing us closer to this (un)certain future.

In recent years, genome sequencing has become more affordable for the ’average’ consumer. By enabling us to dig into our DNA, it’s emerging as a new luxury form of preventative self-care. Are you worried about going bald? Concerned about diabetes? Or maybe you’re just curious about the natural talents you’re yet to explore?

Nebula Genomics is a platform offering a new way to look deep into your genetic makeup. Not only can you learn about your traits and ancestry but, you can also play a small role in curing disease. How? Scientists need large genomic datasets to identify causes of disease and develop cures. By sharing your data, you offer insights that would otherwise be inaccessible without more cash flow and time to seek out donors.

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They say you are what you eat or, in this case, what you excrete. That’s why MIT SENSEable City Lab are sending robots into our city sewers for answers. What are they looking for exactly? Smart sewage could hold the key to predicting illnesses, like new flu strains, before they hit, as well as provide new insights on non-communicable diseases. The goal of data project The Underworlds is to monitor urban health patterns to shape more inclusive health strategies. They imagine a future where sewage is mined for real-time information to inform policymakers, health practitioners, designers, and researchers alike.

Similar to The Underworlds, Big Heart Data believes that ”healthcare is as much about prevention as it is about repair”.

The speculative project uses data gathered from consenting patients to explore cardiac simulation technologies and 3D printing in personal healthcare. Through algorithms and computer models, Big Heart Data can predict the heart’s journey of growth from birth to adulthood. By seeing 5, 10 or 15 years ahead, for example, this would allow them to anticipate the impact of life conditions and premature birth.

Nebula Genomics Securing the genomic data happens through cryptographic techniques

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“The one thing that is bad for society is low diversity. If you become a monoculture, you are at great risk of perishing.�

- George M. Church, Founder of Nebula Genomics

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The Underworlds Sampling the sewage network can enable readings of particular neighbourhoods

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Big heart data These hearts can work as “virtual twins� informing and guiding life choices

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Body

Beauty goes green No throw-aways, just bold beauty Currently valued at 487 billion euros, the beauty industry is booming like never before. Consumers are buying makeup, skincare and self-care products in volumes, but not at any cost. The days of too-good-to-be-true claims are over, and there’s now a big demand for green options.

These days, tech and beauty are intertwining to create custom foundation colours and skin-analysing mirrors. But there are also simple solutions out there to beautify without polluting.

One of the big issues in beauty is the disposal of empty containers. Actually, single-use plastic packaging accounted for 54% of the world’s plastic waste in 2015.

by Humankind’s personal care products are trying to lower that number by selling good-for-you refillable deodorants, shampoos and mouthwash. This means the first container consumers receive will also be their last. by Humankind claims it can lower each person’s single-use plastic waste by up to 90%.

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Another big trend is creating vegan beauty products. Collume by biodesign company Geltor is the world’s first plant-based collagen. It’s made by using a sustainable fermentation process that converts renewable plant-based input into a pure protein product. It has been proven in clinical studies to perform better than traditional marine collagen and even won the 2018 CEW Beauty Award for Innovation of the Year.

Of course, beauty isn’t only about what it’s put in or made of but, also how it makes us feel. The goal of New Yorkbased company Fanm Djanm is to make headwraps and headbands that celebrate cultural heritage and encourage women to be bold. The wraps are handmade in Harlem and based on a zero-waste policy, as they reuse and recycle fabric. Whenever they can, they also purchase fabrics from African countries to support local entrepreneurs.

by Humankind The products contain natural elements derived from soy, beans and bamboo

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Body

Collume Geltor as a company provides biodesigned animal-free solutions for consumer products

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Famn Djamn The word Fanm Djanm means strong woman in Haitian Kreol

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Body

Privacy pioneers As the world goes digital, how can we physically protect our privacy?

Human beings all need privacy. But even in what we consider our safest space, phone cameras memorise our faces, home assistants listen in constantly and our online deep dives turn cookies into company data. Is it too late to put big brother to sleep?

Truth be told, it’ll be hard turning our back on the accessories of modern life.

Thankfully, these three add-ons are standing up to surveillance society, protecting its inhabitants in very tangible ways.

The first rebel in the ring is Winston. This plug-and-play VPN alternative blocks curious onlookers from stealing your information to third party sellers. Winston can reclaim your privacy on all connected devices by stripping down on hidden tracking and data collecting. It prevents hackers from taking over your camera, routers from sending your data and smart TVs from forwarding your viewing activities. In short, data-snatchers can’t mess with this fella.

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The next design prevails by mirroring its opponent. The Surveillance Exclusion mask is shaped like a lens and disguises its wearer from cameras in the public arena. While it covers the whole face, it’s transparent, allowing the wearer to maintain their identity and show facial expressions. It’s designed by Jip van Leeuwenstein as a way to secure our data from unknown bidders.

Sometimes the best defence is always staying alert, and that’s what Project Alias is all about. The Danish design by Bjørn Karmann and Tore Knudsen is a companion piece to your home assistant whether its name is Alexa, Google etc.

Through an app, the user is able to train Alias to take control of your home assistant – making sure it doesn’t listen in on your everyday life. The design challenges our idea of a smart future by confronting us with its side effects.

Winston Winston is also compatible with most streaming-services

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Surveillance Exclusion The clear mask still allows humans to read facial expressions and identity

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Project Alias The Alias “parasite� attaches to the smart device as a parasite would on a host

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Home

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Home

Accessible living On the home stretch for a dignified life A bed, a couch, a roof over your head.

Home is something billions take for granted meanwhile millions are in desperate need of one. Today, transitional housing is often subpar, most homes aren’t designed inclusively, and many people still don’t even have a place to call home.

Creating access to or the feeling of home is in high demand. With about 70 million people displaced, 15% of the world’s population living with disabilities, and an unfathomable number of people without adequate housing – it’s an overwhelming challenge to conquer.

Although far away from the world’s refugee camps, a group of Finnish students have found a thrifty solution to temporary housing. Rehome is furniture made from bio-based, cardboard materials that are easy to assemble. They can be produced in high volume rapidly and at a very low cost. In fact, 3500 cardboard beds can be manufactured in just one hour. The furniture provides solutions for some of the most important issues within temporary housing: sleeping, storage and privacy.

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The company Billionbricks envisions a world where no one is homeless. That’s why they created the solar-heated shelter weatherHYDE which protects its residents from extreme surroundings.

It provides a safe space for those stuck in refugee camps, struck by natural disasters and the homeless population worldwide. Through their website, people can gift a weatherHYDE to someone in need of it and the product is continuously being perfected.

An established home sounds like a luxury compared to the above but, it’s not worth much if it limits you. That’s how it feels for people with physical disabilities who can’t easily turn off their lamp, reach the highest shelf or even sit on their couch with ease. That’s why IKEA teamed up with Access Israel and Milbat to create ThisAbles. The project develops 3D-printed hacks for IKEA furniture like the MEGA SWITCH for turning on lamps, EASY HANDLE for opening closets or the FINGER BRUSH for creative endeavours.

Best of all? They’re free to access.

Rehome The designers come from Lahti, Finland, a city pioneering in circular economy

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Home

Billionbricks There are volunteers all over, taking on the task of sharing the shelters people donate

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ThisAbles People can ask for solutions by sharing requests via the ThisAbles website

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Home

Breathe & drink easy Tackling air and water pollution one design at a time While most environmental issues may be glaringly obvious, the ones invisible to the naked eye can easily cause the biggest health problems. For people and our ecosystems. Air and water pollution are infamously at the top of the list when it comes to hidden killers. While governments and companies procrastinate real action, designers are coming up with solutions that enable us to tackle the issues from our very own homes.

Most of us don’t really think about the looming threat of air pollution. And why would we? It’s easy to brush off a problem that doesn’t appear to affect your life, let alone one that you can’t even see.

Royal College of Art graduate Pratik Ghosh has designed a home filtration system that aims to be a ‘mini Amazon’ in your home. Drop by Drop is powered by plants and, in addition to providing clean air, purifies grey water for drinking. The system is specially designed to recycle wastewater that comes from washing machines, sinks and baths. Instead of creating a filtering system that’s normally hidden away, the designer decided to create a ‘biosphere’ to display - like an art piece. ”The idea is to change the way we procure and consume water at a larger level,” Ghosh told Dezeen. ”In order to do that, there needs to be a change in the

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value system and what better place to start than the home?”

Over the years, we’ve seen numerous air purifiers but GUNRID takes the technology to a whole new level by embedding it invisibly into the decor. The air purifying curtain, developed by IKEA in cooperation with universities in Europe and Asia, is now available to consumers. GUNRID’s technology is based on the idea of photosynthesis which, when activated by either indoor or outdoor light, is able to break down common indoor air pollutants.

Microplastics may be tiny but they’re causing catastrophic damage. They’re choking up our waterways and, in turn, we’re consuming them when we eat seafood. A single fleece jacket sheds up to 250,000 microfibers during a single wash.

PlanetCare filters are specifically designed to catch fibres like this shed from textiles during washing and drying. The small cartridge can be installed onto your regular washing machine and collect 8090% of microplastic before they enter the drainage system. You then simply send the filled cartridges back to be recycled.

The intermediary solution aims to help solve the microplastic problem now while washing machine producers procrastinate a built-in option.

Drop by Drop The filters can eliminate chlorine, pesticides, heavy metals and bacteria

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Home Home

Gunrid In some countries, pollution is five times higher inside than outside

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PlanetCare Washing clothes at low temperatures and less frequently is part of the solution

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Home

Sleep doesn’t come cheap Tech lullabies for a sleep-deprived world Do you get enough sleep? Enough to counter a global epidemic? Around 35% of people worldwide don’t get the sleep they desire and up to 10% of our population struggle with insomnia. Poor quality of sleep has proved to affect our well-being, functioning and overall satisfaction with life. It may even lead to depression, anxiety and weakened immune systems.

But a good night’s sleep isn’t unattainable. In fact, most sleep disorders are treatable. Still, it’s less than one-third of sufferers who seek professional help. But these three Index Award designs aim to give everyone a good night’s sleep.

To find a cure, we first of all need to know how we sleep. The Eight Sleep tracker does that by tracking and then gaining knowledge on 15 factors of your sleep patterns. Through this, it creates an optimal sleeping experience. The non-wearable tracker communicates with other smart electronics to regulate bed temperature, lighting, door locks and more.

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Tiring yourself out is a great way to get a good night’s sleep. That’s why Dodow teaches you simple exercises to help you doze off. Tapping the touch-sensitive pad turns on a blue light, lasting either 8 or 20 minutes. Through synchronizing one’s breathing with the expanding and retracting light, it creates a sensation of tiredness leading to sleep. It’s inspired by cognitive therapy, yoga and meditation practices to initiate a natural sleep pattern.

Many people can’t sleep because they’re in severe physical pain. So was Richard Hanbury who, after experimenting with neuromodulation and biometric sensors, got rid of the pain his chronic nerve-damage had caused for years. Today, his product Sana induces relaxation and promotes hemispheric balance to relieve pain – in just 16 minutes. It’s s the first non-invasive bio-therapeutic device that can give lasting relief, and the team focuses on helping people with chronic pain and PTSD-induced insomnia.

Eight Sleep A thermic alarm adjusts the bed’s temperature to gradually wake the sleeper

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Home

Dodow On average, users fall asleep 2,5 times faster using Dodow

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Sana Sana’s gone through 1300 tests to create an optimal algorithm for pain treatment

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Home

Consumption reinvented Eat, relax and upgrade your home the green way Designers like Index Award nominee Tobias Trübenbacher know that nothing lasts forever – especially when it comes to water, fossil fuels and livestock. Like him, a lot of this year’s nominees are addressing the excessive consumption happening in our society.

Apps like The Darwin Challenge App is a hub for a community of change. It encourages users to stop eating meat with small virtual rewards. Every day you go meat-free, you see an increase in areas such as lifespan, flowing water and living animals. Meanwhile, a barren landscape on the design interface grows more fruitful to show the impact of your plantbased days. The app also showcases the online community where users can share and discuss their achievements.

Tobias Trübenbacher’s project Inner Values challenges us to find appreciation in the animals we slaughter and throw away.

By creating benches out of tanned and further processed cow-intestines and pig-bladders, he invites guests to value these often discarded objects.

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Looking ahead, Tobias sees issues yet to be addressed or solved within the area of responsible consumption. A largescale alternative to plastic, long-distance travelling but, also the claim of reducing consumption in itself: “It’s a contradiction in terms since innovation always means to produce more. I’m convinced that in some issues we have to distance ourselves from the illusion that design and innovation could always solve all problems and simply focus on renouncing instead”.

The design Smartians from FROLIC Studio is equally aware of our non-stop consumption and acquisition of, in this case, home appliances. Instead of practising ‘out with the old, in with the new’, Smartians’ breathe new life into your ‘old’ objects. The small cloud-connected motors, controlled through an app, can push, press, pull and turn on appliances to control lights, feed your fish, water plants or brew your morning coffee.

The Darwin Challenge App The app is named after Charles Darwin, referencing that the population needs an ‘evolution’

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“Our present throw-away society mustn’t continue if we want to have a future worth living in.”

- Tobias Trübenbacher, Designer of Inner Values

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Home

Inner values The intestines were cleaned, pickled, refattened and tanned for several weeks

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Smartians Add-ons can customise the Smartians so they fit very specific needs

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Home

Home is where the health is Doctors on-demand

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Medical assistance depends on access to hospitals and healthcare providers.

Sounds a bit old-fashioned in 2020, right? Worldwide, there’s a need for remote health care. Whether it’s because you live thousands of miles away from a hospital, are too fragile to venture outside or can’t afford the bill after a trip to the doctor. That’s why design-thinkers from all over are creating health solutions for the house, not the hospital.

What if you could perform urine, saliva and blood tests in the Blink of an eye? This graduation project by Turkish designer Belfug Sener is a self-empowering health kit that not only encourages interest in one’s health but could potentially make testing more accessible.

Blink guides the user on how to perform the test. It then collects data and reports it to a physician who in return delivers feedback.

The Index Award 2019 finalist Fujifilm CALNEO Xair is one of those solutions.

This mobile device weighing only 3.5 kg allows medical personnel to perform high-quality x-rays at home. Its intelligent downsizing of a complicated system doesn’t compromise the x-ray’s readability and lowers the risks associated with radiation exposure. Some doctors believe this could be a real game-changer for remote care and a much-needed response to the growing population of elderly in countries like Japan.

Building homes tailored to treat specific illnesses isn’t a sci-fi fantasy. In Southwest France, in the city of Dax, you’ll find the Alzheimer’s Village, a home for people living with Alzheimer or dementia. Designed by Champagnat & Grégoire and Nord Architects, it’s without medical symbols and repetitive architecture to get lost in. The place is reminiscent of everyday life, and even though it’s filled with caretakers and volunteers, it’s residents will feel just at home.

Fujifilm CALNEO Xair The machine’s developed through extensive research, interviews with doctors and fieldwork

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Home

Blink The device also measures body temperature and blood pressure

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Alzheimer’s Village The landscape is filled with sensory inputs and experiences

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Home

Tech for homelessness & safety Is social equity only a tap away?

Back in 2005, the United Nations took on the impossible task of trying to quantify the world’s homeless population. It was estimated that more than 100 million people were homeless and as many as 1.6 billion people lacked adequate housing.

While a range of far-reaching solutions will be needed to alleviate this issue, tech is providing some much needed help.

AI and chatbots have been used to address all sorts of societal issues, from parking tickets to immigration applications. The Ally platform is now using this tech to tackle poverty and homelessness. Their AI-powered chatbot enables citizens to easily access information and advice through their phones. Users are then able to increase their income, move into work and connect with local charities. On the other end, Ally also makes it easier for housing associations, councils and charities to support these vulnerable residents.

Advertising agencies aren’t usually known for being charitable. But Stockholm-based company Clear Channel wanted to use their iconic digital kiosks for good. By partnering with nonprofits they’re now using their prime advertising real estate to help homeless people find shelter on particularly cold nights. When

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temperatures drop below -7°C, ‘pop-up’ shelters in churches and community centres open their doors to support at-risk populations. Clear Channel’s 53 billboards display directions to the nearest open shelter as well as information for volunteers, including items most needed for donation. These ads not only serve homeless people directly but also mobilise the city to be more responsive to their needs.

Home should be a safe place for all but, sadly, that’s not the case for many. In fact, 71% of violence occurs in people’s own homes. Domestic violence is a pervasive issue and one of the biggest public health issues in Norway. Student designers of Utvei found that the most effective way to help victims is by giving them the knowledge and tools to recognise domestic violence. Based on these insights, they then developed an app with questionnaires, examples, a logbook and a chat feature when they’re ready to reach out for help.

“Our goal was to help the victims to better gain control of their own situation and to make it easier to contact the appropriate authorities and thereby making it easier to make choices with greater self-confidence and break the cycle of violence,” explain the Utvei designers.

Ally Ally can be reached through texts, Facebook and someday a simple ‘hello’

Utvei Users can add text, pictures or sound documenting the abuse

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Home

Clear Channel The technology behind the billboards can be implemented all over Europe

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Utvei Users can add text, pictures or sound documenting the abuse

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Work

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Work

Water, sunshine & data Farming just got a serious tech upgrade Back in the day, farming was just about ample sunshine, water and a good fertiliser. But, as our climate changes and our population soars, farmers are in desperate need for a new toolbox to get ahead.

Thankfully, the agricultural industry is a bustling hub of innovation. And today, data and robotics are proving to be the hottest commodities poised to solve our looming global food crisis.

In Nigeria, where 37% of the employed population work in agriculture, there’s the basis for a strong community. Farmcrowdy is the first digital agriculture platform in the country providing farmworkers with training on modern farming and a market for selling their crops. They enable and provide capacity for farmers to farm more acres, which leads to increased food production and stronger livelihoods. They’re currently working with more than 25,000 farmers and have more than 16,000 acres available for sustainable farming.

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It may look like a sci-fi frisbee but the Arable Mark is an intelligent tool to provide insights on crop health and weather risk. By analysing the ground beneath and providing real-time data through a software platform, it informs farmers on their most important decisions. On the retailer and consumer end, it also provides traceability and more transparency on production conditions, catering to the higher demands of ecologically-aware customers.

Like Arable Mark, the TERRA-MEPP robot analyses crops. While trekking between rows, it’s able to evaluate plants on each side, collecting an unprecedented amount of field data. The TERRA-MEPP constructs a 3D-image based on these microclimate data to predict the yield of each plant. Come rain or sunshine this mini-rover can travel through soggy soils and harsh weather to keep farmers completely updated.

Farmcrowdy Over 11,000 farmers have increased profits by 80% since joining the platform

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Work

Arable Mark Collects data on plant health, solar radiation and how much crops grow a day

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TERRA-MEPP The newest version of the robot is called TerraSentia

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Work

#youtoo?

The tech movement to make #metoo (her)story In October 2017, the phrase ‘me too’ would come to resonate all over. Months before, Jessica Collier, the future CEO Spot, and her team started working on a tool to solve underreporting of harassment in the workplace.

can share experiences or observations of workplace misconduct in a thorough manner. The noting can all be done in less than three minutes and from there, the worker decides whether to file a report, wait or leave it be.

“By and large, companies and HR people still think that if employees aren’t speaking up, it must mean that their organization doesn’t have a problem with harassment or discrimination,” explains Collier. “Statistically speaking, we know that’s not true—most incidents are never reported.”

Creating a fair workplace is also the goal of Singaporean company MyHelper. They protect maids in Singapore, Myanmar, The Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia while also aiding employers in hiring maids. Serving as a reliable middleman, they match maids with employers, provide qualifying training and facilitate a just relation. Ensuring a safe working environment and fair treatment of maids far away from home is a core part of their mission.

Based on their research, Collier and her team found that people might feel safer reporting anonymously. Spot lets workers document harassment and discrimination over time using AI. As humans often lack the skills to gather unbiased and thorough accounts, the AI asks qualifying questions about the situation, meanwhile generating timestamped PDFs. Should the incident be reported, Spot has evidence to document the worker’s experience.

Like Spot, the #NotMe app is a safe space. Employees fill out a report by answering four simple questions: What, when, where and who. That way, they

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Collier has seen a fundamental shift in what’s acceptable in the workplace, since, “those who harass and discriminate against others are on notice”.

Still, she sees women, people of colour, LGTBQ+ and other minorities continuing their fight to overcome barriers: “There are still overt instances of discrimination as well as the effects of systemic, implicit bias”.

Spot The company also offers training on how to avoid harassment in the workplace

Spot The company also offers training on how to avoid harassment in the workplace

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#NotMe CEO Ariel Weindling started #NotMe after 14 years as an employment lawyer

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“People have started holding employers more accountable for fostering inclusive cultures�

- Jessica Collier, CEO of Spot MyHelper The company arrange outings so maids are given time off to enjoy themselves

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Exoskeletons & skins Wearable designs made to give us a little robotic edge Ingenuity in our nature never ceases to inspire our tech. And so, lobsters, cockroaches and grasshoppers have encouraged humans to look into the power of exoskeletons. The idea of an external skeleton that supports and protect our bodies is the key to a strengthened physique in everyday life. Mostly, they prolong our lives in the workforce in more and more demanding work environments.

Back pain is one of the most common work-related injuries and about 80% of adults experience it at some point in their lifetime. It’s even responsible for one-fourth of sick days. That’s why Noonee created the Chairless Chair, a robust exoskeleton that allows its wearer to sit down anytime, anywhere. It lessens stress on back and legs and easily attaches to the body, allowing the wearer to easily switch between sitting, standing and walking.

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Outside of the working area, Seismic Powered Clothing aims to strengthen the human body in our daily activities.

Although it won’t transform us into superhumans, it’s meant to give a physical advantage when worn as a base layer. It reacts to the body’s natural movements, complements our muscles’ actions and fits snugly underneath your clothing.

Not only can exoskeletons be tailored to our bodies but we can also wear robotics skins for illness prevention. Index Award 2019 Finalist Skin Display is a nanomesh sensor that sticks to the body like a band-aid to monitor our health. It can be worn for weeks at a time, providing health notifications and reminders to its’ wearer while keeping practitioners updated on their patients. Skin Display not only enables remote care but can be a lifesaver for the elderly population, which continues to grow and needs considerable care.

Chairless Chair It takes 30 seconds to put on the device and 10 seconds to remove it

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Seismic Powered Clothing The clothing was first developed to reduce injuries and enhance soldier endurance 76

Finalist Skin Display Japan is the world’s most aged society with 28% of its population currently over 65

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Next-level circular Making sure what goes around, comes around Each person on the planet generates an average of 0,74 kilograms of waste per day. A lot of this waste ends up in landfills and it’s estimated that around 80% of what ends up there could’ve been recycled. Thrown-away plastic, paper, metal and glass burden our nature – so, why not bring them back to life?

This kind of thinking fascinates Dutch Industrial Designer Dave Hakkens, known for his Precious Plastic movement, where machines were built to recycle plastic in local communities. Hakkens is excited about recent developments: “It’s a really good start that citizens, governments and everyone else are now aware that we should work on recycling.”

It takes 500 years for an average-sized plastic bottle to fully decompose.

We have a lot of plastic we need to repurpose and Index Award 2019 Finalist Plastix is doing exactly that. They turn used fishing nets, ropes and similar plastic into green plastic solutions for companies. When using Plastix’ Green Plastic, companies can reduce their own CO2 emissions by up to 95%. Plastix shows that we not only need to clean up our mess but make for a systemic change in plastic matters.

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Batch.works creates custom 3D-printed artworks and products for independent designers or companies. They use recycled and responsibly resourced materials and design, produce, sell and ship products all from one location. They want to create sustainable products close to their clients and lower their carbon footprint through local production. Their vision is to revolutionise current slow, rigid an d costly manufacturing methods with this more efficient 3D printing process.

Hakkens believes that local recycling is of huge importance: “Ideally we would make it so that what you use locally, you should also recycle locally. I think more decentralised solutions are coming into place, and that the Internet plays an important role in establishing them.”

The sacred flowers of Asian temples get thrown away in masses. In India, the flowers are contributing to polluting the already murky River Ganges. Phool is the world’s first profitable solution to this problem. Collecting tonnes of wasted flowers daily, they turn it into incense, vermicompost and biodegradable packaging. Phool’s female flower-cycles are designing a new circular economy supported by the religious authorities.

Plastix The Danish cleantech has incorporated 6 of the UN’s SDG’s in their Business Strategy 79

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Batch.works The company is based in East London from where they design, produce, sell and ship

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Phool 73 women are employed full-time as flowercyclers at Phool

“What you use locally, you should also recycle locally.�

- Dave Hakkens, Industrial Designer

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Bee positive Weird and wonderful solutions to save our yellow fuzzy friends While we’re not entirely sure why bee populations are on the decline, experts agree that climate change, urbanisation and diseases all play a role. One thing we know for sure is that we can’t survive without them. These small but mighty creatures are imperative to all our natural ecosystems. In fact, one in three bites of what we eat is made possible by pollinating insects, like bees. If we have any hope of keeping them off the extinction list, we have to act now.

Due to temperature increases in certain regions, flowers are blooming earlier in Spring. This means they’re producing pollen too early for the bees to feed. Populations are dying out simply because there isn’t a food source at the right time. The Bee Hospital, by Shau Heng Li, aims to help remedy this problem with a trio of objects designed for instalment in urban areas. The project includes a bee-detecting device, a supplement centre and a mite guard dispenser. These provide a safe haven for the bees and dispense beneficial probiotics and vital nutrients to help supplement the lack of available pollen.

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BeeFlow aims to create a stronger generation of bees by providing them with feed to enhance their immune systems.

This would make them more resistant to changing climates. To help address the food security problem, the Argentinian startup also aims to teach the bees to pollinate specific crops, including almonds, blueberries, kiwis and apples.

To lure bees to their intended target, BeeFlow feeds them organic molecule compounds that replicates the chemical composition of the less-tempting flower in the hive. Once outside, the bees remember that specific odour and seek it out. This would mean less of the bees’ energy spent on non-fruiting plants, increased fruit and vegetable yields and farmers avoiding to use pesticides.

Should our bee populations continue to drastically decline, we might need to look at alternative pollinators. The Synthetic Pollenizer, created by Michael Candy, is a conceptual project designed to help increase the dwindling bee population.

The robotic canola flower (or rapeseed) provides a safer method of artificial pollination using 3D-printed robotic flowers.

Candy’s flowers, while not infected with pesticides, are all equipped with pollen and nectar and are designed to be installed alongside real plants.

Bee hospital The design investigates solutions to issues like Colony Collapse Disorder

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BeeFlow Field trials in California with Beeflow showed a seven-fold increase in bee activity

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Synthetic Pollenizer The colour and form of the unit are important to the bees’ attraction to the flowers

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From refugee to employee Employing and securing world citizens There’s currently 64 million migrants worldwide fleeing war, persecution, hunger or climate change. It’s an immense challenge as of now, but in 2050 the number of environmental migrants could hit one billion. Migrants will enter new communities and cultures tasked with making a successful integration. Accommodating them, their needs and giving them purpose is one of humanity’s most important assignments.

Fleeing a country means leaving valuables behind, even safe access to money.

Many refugees travel with cash, which means they’re exposed to theft and financially devastated if it happens.

Leaf knows this, which is why they’re doing blockchain-based, virtual banking for refugees. The platform allows migrants on-the-go to access digital savings through a mobile phone and securely transport assets while crossing borders.

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There’s nothing like free education, except for one that’s mobile too. Welcome to the online campus of Kiron. Their mission is to provide higher education for refugees simply through internet access. Their tailor-made curricula lead to ‘micro-credentials’ which are recognised at local, international and online universities and increase job opportunities.

Refugees in the Middle East can join this educational community to learn more about political science, web design or improve their English skills. After applying for submission, students are free to start their classes.

But while expanding one’s own skill set, why not give back? Chatterbox offers language learning from talented refugees. As experts in their native language, they can help companies or individuals expand their global reach whether they need to know Arabic, Bengali, French, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish or Urdu. The coaches receive fair pay, can work online and share their invaluable knowledge of language and culture.

Leaf According to Leaf, two billion people around the world do not have access to formal financial services

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Kiron There are more than 8000 students enrolled in Kiron’s programs

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Chatterbox 40% of language coaches get access to better learning and work opportunities

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Rainbow respect & rights Protecting the LGBTQ+ community fiercely Feeling different from the heteronormative narrative is something most of us consider normal by now. Still, 70 countries in the world consider sex with the same gender a crime. But designers are trying to make things better for the community: “Young people understand that they have the agency to shape the future and that they will have to do it if they want to enter a world in which they can safely exist,” says drag performer and activist Chantal al Arab. And so there are designs spreading awareness and creating tangible tools for a safer environment. #UntilWereSafe is an ongoing digital campaign that shares important stories on violence against LGBTQ+. 24 visual stories are shared across social media, billboards and digital platforms to let community members know they’re not alone. These were encouraged to share their own stories and be a part of Pride Month 2018 in Toronto, the initiators behind this campaign. With its analogue look, it pays tribute to the beginnings of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights. “It warms my heart to see campaigns that I can mirror myself in” says al Arab, who hopes to see industries adapt a holistic diversity policy in everything from people to products.

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STICKS & STONES may break my bones but also give you a job. This digital platform offers career and job opportunities to the rainbow community. Their job offerings stem from LGBTQ+-friendly employers and the site itself offers counselling, coaching and networking. STICK & STONES have also been hosting Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ job and career fair in Berlin for over 10 years.

There are places all over, where homosexuals and transgender people aren’t safe. Now, the historic pride flag itself can educate LGBTQ+ travellers on their destination. Destinationpride.org is a digital platform developed by PFLAG Canada in partnership with FCB/SIX, where each bar of the flag tells the status quo on a country. The visualisation is based on six metrics: marriage equality, sexual activity laws, gender identity protections, anti-discrimination laws, civil rights and social-media sentiment.

When it comes to the future, al Arab is excited and feels empowered by the growing amount of allies. “If businesses manage to develop practices that represent and include us and if they work to support us, I feel confident that life will be better for many of us.”

#UntilWereSafe Bruce Mau Design developed the visual identity of the campaign

#UntilWereSafe Something smart

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STICKS & STONES The company also aids networks for LGTBQ+ lawyers, tech nerds, leaders etc.

Destinationpride.org More than a thousand cities around the world are included in the database

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“It’s not enough to have a fancy logo or a catchy tagline to be truly inclusive.”

- Chantal al Arab, Drag Performer and Activist

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Fonts that move you Fonts fashioned for inclusivity, pride and memory retention Designing meaningful fonts can serve a bigger purpose than branding a company or fulfilling graphic expression. Playful fonts can make us happy, redesigned letters can make things clearer and there’s even a science to unforgettable fonts.

So, let’s take a brief departure from Arial, Helvetica and Times New Roman as we dive into fonts that not only please the eye but challenge our perception of the written word.

In this first typeface, 40% of each letter is missing to slow down the reading pace – why? Because that’s how it feels reading when you’re dyslexic. Aptly named The Dyslexia typeface, it’s made by designer Daniel Britton to recreate the feeling at least one in ten people feel every time they encounter text. The typeface aims to foster empathy by allowing people to experience the sometimes overwhelming frustration dyslexic people feel every day.

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While Dyslexia amputates the alphabet, Index Award 2019 Finalist Braille Neue adds to it. By combining Braille with other alphabets it’s making a new written language that’s understandable for both the sighted and visually impaired. In a world populated by 217 million visually impaired people, this could be the basis of more inclusive communication. The designer behind it Kosuke Takahashi envisions it being a natural part of future public spaces.

Now, take a break and see how much you remember about these fonts. Some?

All? Very little? Had you read it in the Sans Forgetica font, you might have remembered it better. This font created

by Melbourne’s RMIT University Behavioural Business Lab slants eight degrees to the left and has gaps in the structure of each letter. Making this obstacle in comprehension forces the brain to work harder to decipher the letters. Studies showed that students reading in Sans Forgetica remembered 57% of a written text, compared to those reading in Arial remembering 50%.

The Dyslexia typeface Around 10 to 20 per cent of the population are Dyslexic

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Braille Neue The typeface also makes it easier to keep Braille signage in public spaces intact

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Sans Forgetica The ’desired difficulty’ while reading prompts the brain to engage in deeper processing

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Fashion futurism How will we dress in the future?

Remember when Marty McFly wore a self-adjusting jacket in ‘Back to the Future II’? In the movie he travelled to the year 2015, but 2020 might prove to be lightyears ahead of that.

Smart wearables not only bring fun into our everyday lives but can better it all together. Whether it’s reality-altering glasses, juicy textiles or glowing jackets, there are some real rewards to be gained for our health — and good looks.

The Solar Charged Jacket was named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2018. Why? This running jacket has a phosphorescent compound that stores light rapidly. You can draw on it with a flashlight, charge it under a lightbulb or run in the sun for a fully charged jacket. When night-time comes, it glows like kryptonite! It can glow for up to 12 hours making for a fun, comfortable and optimised run, while also being a guiding light in the wild.

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We spend so much of our lives in front of a screen. In fact, worldwide, we spend an average of around three and a half hours a day in front of a computer or tablet and an extra three hours on the phone. So, maybe it’s not too much to ask that we take a break from our screens once in a while? The temptation might be hard to resist but, luckily, The IRL Glasses make it easy for you. While wearing these glasses, any screen you see will appear black to allow you to control when and where you want to engage with screens.

They say ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ or, in this case, you could make clothing. That’s what Orange Fiber does when they extract cellulose from citrus juice by-products and transform it into refined, high-quality fabrics. Their 100% citrus-based textile is light-weight, soft and silky to the touch and has already found its way into the prestigious fashion world. Salvatore Ferragamo launched a Fashion Capsule Collection based on these materials.

Solar Charged Jacket The jacket is highly breathable and so lightweight it can be rolled up in a hand

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The IRL Glasses The design’s inspired by the 1988 film, ’They Live,’ where magical glasses blocks ads

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Orange Fiber The fabrics were in the 2019 H&M Conscious Exclusive Collection which sold out in less than 48 hours

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Life-long learning Just when you thought school was out Can’t teach an old dog new tricks? 45% of adults aged 25-64 in the EU participated in some sort of education training in 2016. Whether it’s in efforts to broaden one’s mind, engage with new learning tools or simply get an education at all, adults all over are seeking places to learn more.

Learning a new language in adulthood is hard. But maybe doing it over a cup of coffee with a sweet, senior citizen would ease the struggle? The company Elderlearn brings together immigrants wanting to learn Danish with elderly citizens looking for some company. It’s free to join for both parties, who will have weekly meetings. Most immigrants in the program haven’t interacted with Danish people other than in the grocery store, which is why Elderlean is a great opportunity to learn Danish and build connections.

How do we make experienced surgeons, while they’re still in med school? Fundamental Surgery is a VR surgical simulator that makes students engage with surgery in more realistic ways than ever. Through

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haptic feedback, reminiscent of a smartphone’s vibration, it lets the surgent feel the outcome of their actions. More than 50 hospitals are already using this flight simulator for surgeons since it also costs way less than traditional training tools.

Lastly, we dive into something we’ve all heard of but few have an actual grasp of; blockchain. What the Block are demystifying blockchain through games and design methods, enabling the uninformed to create meaningful, thought-out concepts to build on blockchain. Their workshop format provides hands-on learning on concepts like blocks, mining, tokens and smart contracts. Believing in blockchain’s power to heighten trust, value and transparency, they teach its potential through an accessible and fun format.

Elderlearn In 2060, there will be 49% more refugees in Denmark than today

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Play & Learning Fundamental Surgery So far the software simulates surgery on knees, hips and spine

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What the Block The startup also aids in conceptualising and prototyping blockchain projects

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Board games revived Rolling dice against injustice, mental health and taboo topics Although board games are high on entertainment value, there are probably very few people who learn real-life lessons from them. Has anyone based their knowledge on finances from Monopoly, diplomacy from Risk or detective expertise from Cluedo?

But throwing dices and collecting tokens may be the way to teach humans something valuable. It is to Danish designer Silje Auflem Flølo, who designed a board game named BRAINTOPIA that initiates conversations on mental health. “I see board games as a place where you can learn freely from judgment and provide target audiences with a tool that inspires reflection.”

This first game mimics the experience many South-Asian women face. Pakistani-born Nashra Balagamwala’s Arranged! is inspired by her own efforts to avoid an arranged marriage. The gavme’s premise involves a matchmaker trying to marry teenage girls off to any boy she can find, while the girls try to run away.

They can do this by talking about careers, gaining weight or hanging out with boys at the mall. Combining satirical scenarios with very real struggles makes the game both educational and entertaining.

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The game Annexe is a two-player strategy game about colonisation. One player tries to retain the ownership and identity of one’s culture, while the other tries to capture it. Creator Veethika Mishra was inspired by the Spanish colonization of Aztec culture to create the game. While playing, the game highlights the nuances and discrete processes of cultural displacement.

To Silje, board games can be an important learning tool in schools, because “it can be visual, tactile, auditory and kinesthetic. It provides space for customized teaching where everyone can participate.” The Period Game is teaching young girls and boys on menstruation while turning an uncomfortable subject into an open conversation. Showing what happens with the body and making people say words such as “tampons” makes it easier for them to talk about it in real life and just “go with the flow”.

The evolution of board games has just begun and Silje hopes for “more educational board games that make us get closer together, make learning even more fun and inspire us to break boundaries”.

Arranged!

Talking about having a career will move you five spaces away from your Aunty

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Annexe The attacked player must use local resources to fight the intruders

“Board games can illuminate and at the same time destigmatise.”

- Silje Auflem Flølo, Designer

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The Period Game The game can shape how the next generation talks about menstruation

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Conservation for kids Paying climate lessons forward

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2020 not only meant goodbye to the 10’s but also the start to the most important decade of our lives. Now is the time to take grand, bold measures in slowing down climate change and alter our lifestyles for the sake of Mother Earth. But what is it all worth if these lessons are lost on future generations? These heavy subjects are turned into fun, engaging games to make sure the kids will be alright.

goal is to design playful games for children with an impact. Her project Cerita Dalang is a bunch of animated shorts centred on children and their creation process. Meant to be shown on television in-between movies, they aim to inspire children to create stories by using what’s around them. The movies take a stance on the overwhelming production of toys by encouraging children to imagine worlds with already available materials.

Tipping Point is all about building cities and protecting them. The Kickstarter-funded board game can be a family-game, a teaching tool or a play-ground for the strategic. Players build cities with guidance from construction workers, educators on advanced technologies and can receive help from soldiers guarding the gates against outside attacks. Meanwhile, they’ll also face challenges when carbon dioxide accumulates in the air.

Indonesian designer Nesia Anindita’s life

It doesn’t sound like much fun to play with a coat stand, but have you tried Tranger by Anjupei Design? While assembling and interacting with this coat hanger, children are educated on endangered animals. The small hooks represent different species with their individual height representing the altitude of their living spaces. The hooks can be replaced, switched around and children can play with them to further awareness.

Tipping Point Lowering your carbon footprint benefits all players in the game

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“The future of our communities is contingent on how well we continue to protect our wildlife, environment and how well we put the local people at the centre of conservation.”

- Jessie Young, Founder and President of the Community Baboon Sanctuary Women’s Conservation Group (CBSWG)

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Cerita Dalang The movies encourage children to share their stories on the companion website

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Tranger Colour, shape, and text tells the stories of these materials

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Post-climate change Is our fate to be six feet under(water)?

Climate change is bringing gradual yet pervasive environmental change across the globe. The ice caps are melting, cities are flooding and wildfires are consuming all in their path. Many sounded the alarm decades ago yet the world didn’t listen and now, we’re faced with the prospect of irreparable damage. We’ve been given until 2050 to stop the rise in temperature. Can it be done or is our grim future on this planet sealed?

Right now, 64 million forced migrants in the world are fleeing wars, hunger, persecution and a growing force of climate change. The UN forecasts that there could be anywhere between 25 million and 1 billion environmental migrants by 2050. In late 2017, there were numerous reports of a Climate Refugee Visa proposed by New Zealand’s Government. The visa would enable Pacific Islanders who are forced to migrate because of rising sea levels. Although the visa never came to fruition, it’s not unlikely that a similar initiative will need to be implemented on a global scale.

While moving away from rising sea levels and flooding may be an option for some, our cities will have to adapt. It’s projected that many cities will eventually need

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to be redesigned for flood resistance, meaning it won’t be too long before we’re seeing architecture like the Floodproof Towers. The conceptual proposal prioritises issues like rising sea levels and affordable housing in New York City hoping to make the building accessible to a more diverse range of occupants.

The proposed location would be on Manhattan’s Pier 40, which extends about 250 meters over the Hudson River. DFA’s design includes 19 cylindrical towers and several pods floating around the Pier to provide a buffer against potential storm damage.

Fast-forward a millennium from now, if global warming increases exponentially, will the majority of the planet be underwater? As it’s unlikely humans will evolve quickly enough to survive, we might need Amphibio. This speculative design project consists of a 3D-printed garment that would function as human ‘gills’. The material supports underwater breathing through replenishing oxygen from the surrounding water and dissipating the carbon dioxide accumulating in the system. It’s made by biomimicry designer Jun Kamei to tackle this, hopefully unlikely, future scenario.

Climate Refugee Visa The 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention doesn’t include climate change as a reason to seek asylum

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Flood-proof Towers DFA utilised an algorithm to determine the optimal location for each tower type

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Amphibio Daily comfort for people spending as much time in the water as on land

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Biodesign - it’s alive!

Combining the creativity of designers with the knowhow of biologists Ever since humans have been designing, we’ve mimicked those who do best. And who’s the master of design? Nature, of course. We’ve designed buildings like termite mounds, bullet trains vehicles like kingfishers and protected ourselves with sharkskin-inspired suits. But, today, the genre has slowly emerged into a partnership - now we’re not only replicating nature but using it as a co-creator.

The fashion industry, specifically, textile dyeing is one of the most polluting commercial processes. Not to mention, a huge consumer of water. That’s why French company PILI is creating clean colours using bacteria. Their dyes are created by fermenting sugar and other nutrients to create colour-producing enzymes. This process is similar to those used in large-scale productions of other products, like insulin and even beer.

These sustainable pigments can be easily replicated, with low costs and high accuracy, and used in a wide range of industrial applications.

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Wildlife poaching is a global problem that needs to stop. But, sadly, many rare animal parts are still seen as ‘essential’ for traditional medicines. While education can help, many argue that we need alternative solutions if we want to save our wildlife. The Tiger Penis Project, by social designer Kuang-yi Ku, explores the idea of growing these sought-after animals parts in the lab, merging elements of Asian traditions and Western technologies.

Our digital footprints generate an insurmountable amount of data. And by 2025, the world will generate 160 zettabytes of it. That’s more bytes than there are stars in the observable universe. A data doomsday is on the horizon but Catalog has a solution. DNA is the digital storage medium selected by nature that has been perfected over three billion years of evolution. Now, Catalog is building the world’s first DNA-based platform for massive digital data storage. You could store the whole Wikipedia in the size of a pinhead!

PILI Pili are appendices that some bacteria use to communicate with other bacteria

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”If we divest from fossil fuels for energy, we’re going to have to divest from fossil fuels for our materials.”

- Natsai Audrey Cheiza, Founder of Faber Futures

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Tiger Penis Project Eating the tiger’s penis is considered eating its strength and to enhance virility

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Catalog The company describes its storage method as a printing press with movable typefaces

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Join the crypto-craze Building our identity, economy and community on blockchain In 2018, Statista took the temperature on blockchain’s presence in businesses worldwide: 29% of respondents in the consumption and manufacturing field had implemented blockchain in their business, and almost 50% of the businesses in financial services were experimenting with blockchain.

But blockchain doesn’t only mean business but people as well. Posing alternatives to how banking, data handling and contracting functions, this kind of tech can create communities, educate and make us money while we heat the house! It can even be a shield in a digital battlefield.

Google earned more than €104 billion in advertising revenue in 2018, which means they earned money while collecting data from users. Where’s the user’s cut in this deal? AID:Tech wants to change this by giving back users the rights to their metadata and especially give an identity to the undocumented online. Their Decentralised Digital Identity (DID) is a tool

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enabling users to accumulate their own data, building a personalised transaction profile. This Digital ID offers scope for building an extensive financial and social history.

With blockchain on the rise, steps are taken for preparing the new generation – in a fun way! Pigzbe is a digital piggy-wallet for children, made to educate them on cryptocurrency. They turn chores and gaming into pocket money while being encouraged to save money for what they want. Understanding the value of money and how to manage them becomes increasingly important in an ever-changing economy.

Making heating a source of revenue is the idea behind the French company Qarnot’s QC-1 heater. While heating the house through two graphic cards, it simultaneously mines cryptocurrency or blockchain transactions. Connecting it to the phone, you’ll be able to monitor mining levels. Upon its release in 2018, the money-maker was estimated to mine the equivalent of a €100 per month.

AID:Tech The average US consumer’s data is estimated to be worth $2500 per year

AID:Tech Something smart

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Pigzbe Children’s pocket money in Pigzbe are called Wollo, a unique cryptocurrency

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QC-1 Heating as a source of revenue instead of an expense

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Trump, truth & transparency “Idiocracy is no longer a bad comedy film, it’s reality” In 2019, The Index Project and our partners at JA studio! released the report ‘Optimism is Blooming in a World Gone Mad’ identifying some of the world’s most imminent challenges. One of them was the idea of our world going mad, a clear feeling of “what we know to be sane and trustworthy no longer exists,” JA explained it. And when people stop believing the news or are fed incorrect information, they start to rely on uninformed and exaggerated sentiments.

Sound familiar?

According to Partner at JA! studio Kigge Hvid, things have become complicated, thanks to a new style of communication by democratic leaders put forward by President Donald Trump: “His immense urge to communicate clearly to his core voters has brought with it a hereto unseen indifference towards the difference between truth and lies”.

Logically is trying to improve and legitimize our engagement with information online. Described as a ‘fake news search engine’, they use Natural Language Processing, machine learning and human oversight to rule out biased and misinforming content. Their filtered content is a promise of credible and balanced news

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with factual counterpoints. And if you’re suspicious of a claim within a given article, Logically can verify it quickly or make their fact-checkers research it.

In 2018, nearly two-thirds of people in the US felt stressed out by the amount of news in their daily lives. The app Sift believes that taking the time to deepdive into an issue makes for better understanding and less news anxiety.

They call it news therapy and their goal is to unpack complex issues, so the reader develops a deeper understanding. The app goes into backstories, makes sources easily available and even has interactive features promoting critical thinking. And of course, it’s all in a calming, soothing language.

Narrowing the gap between citizens and representatives is a way to nuance the growing anti-government sentiments.

Moot is an online platform connecting people and public institutions. Their AI-powered client accepts messages from citizens and helps them further along in the system. They help the user articulate their argument, contextualise it and provide relevant information. The AI then aggregates the message to similar ones, presenting a strong and cohesive argument to constituents.

“I believe that it’s necessary to provide a deeper and broader understanding of the harm which a lack of trust and lack of accuracy in communication, does to our societies.”

- Kigge Hvid, partner at JA studio

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Logically The app has a Fact Checking Archive allowing users to scroll through false claims

Logically Something smart

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Sift Common topics for deep dives are healthcare, immigration, and climate change

Moot To moot means to raise a question/ topic for discussion or to suggest ideas or possibilities

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Debunking deep-fakes Fake news isn’t just a problem for Trump Facial recognition technology combined with AI has birthed some deviant children. None more so than deep fakes.

Now with the right programmes, even novices can create the most convincing fake content, making it near impossible to spot the difference between real and fake media. Is there a way out of this conundrum without a full digital detox?

Polish designer Ewa Nowak from NOMA design found a way. Back in 2017, she was contemplating the idea of facial recognition and how deeply knowledgeable these mechanisms can be about even the smallest details of our face — allowing it to recognise us anywhere, anytime. That’s why she created the Incognito jewellery, made out of brass to disable face recognition. Its final look and function were preceded by a long-term study, where Nowak used the DeepFace algorithm used by Facebook to find solutions.

Only a few years ago ”deep fakes” were an entertaining novelty. But these scarily realistic fake videos —often superimposed faces onto original content— have be-

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come a sinister problem. Amber Detect uses AI and machine learning algorithms, the same tech used to create them, to identify falsified content. Partner tool Amber Authenticate also enables users to ’fingerprint’ new recordings to help avoid future manipulation. The tools have already attracted a loyal client base of journalists and have mass appeal for law enforcement, watchdogs and activists.

TruePic, named in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2019, is leading the fight against fraudulent images and video. The company’s free camera app allows users to imprint photos and videos with permanent metadata, including a timestamp and geolocation information. TruePic currently has several beta customers such as citizen journalists, Fortune 500 insurance companies, and the US State Department. But, to really push back against widespread disinformation, TruePic is looking to onboard social media companies.

Incognito Three simple elements hide the human face from cameras

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Amber The mission is to create an untouchable ‘truth layer’ for videos

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Truepic Their Controlled Capture technology has been used in over 100 countries

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Fly me to Mars!

Can we turn the red planet from harsh to hospitable?

Colonising Mars is a hotly contested topic. Many see the interstellar focus as a dangerous distraction from the problems on Earth. Others say it can’t be done. And then some believe this exploration could improve how we design a more hospital Earth. With the right action, we won’t need a planet 2.0. But it never hurts to have a backup plan, right? Let’s entertain the idea.

First of all, how would we get to our new home that’s 54.6 million kilometres away? Elon Musk has always pushed the boundaries of transportation and the Falcon Heavy by SpaceX is no exception.

The powerful operational rocket, designed to carry humans into space, can lift nearly 64 metric tonnes into orbit — a mass more significant than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel. Best of all, after liftoff, some of the rocket’s components parachute back to Earth and can be reused for the next mission.

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When you arrive, your new 3D-printed home will be waiting for you. MARSHA, which won an Index Award in the home category, looks like something plucked off the set of Dune. The eco egg-shaped structure is made from bio-polymer — a plastic usually made from vegetable starch — and salt fibre from the Martian surface. The outside is designed to handle the planet’s atmospheric pressures, while the four-levelled inside is a ”little bubble of Earth,” as architect and AI SpaceFactory Founder David Mallott puts it.

How do we eat? Don’t worry; you won’t need to survive on potatoes fertilised by human waste. Luckily, a group of researchers from the University of Arizona, in collaboration with NASA, have done the work for you. They’ve created an innovative inflatable greenhouse to help feed astronauts on other planets. The Prototype Lunar Greenhouse is made of an inflatable material and functions as a closed-loop. The carbon dioxide released by the astronauts is used to support the plants, which convert it into oxygen while also providing a source of food.

Falcon Heavy The rocket is 70 meters high, 12.2 meters wide and has a mass of 1,4 million kg

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MARSHA Each level has at least 1 window, together covering a full 360-degree panorama

MARSHA Each level has at least 1 window, together covering a full 360-degree panorama 144

Lunar Greenhouse The units would likely be buried under the surface to protect crops from radiation in space

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“If we go to Mars it can’t be to run away from a failed earth but rather to gain a more compelling perspective of our challenges here.”

- Arnold Wasserman, Index Award Jury Vice-chairman

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Credits

#NotMe Access Israel AI SpaceFactory AID:Tech Ally Amber Arable Batch.works Beeflow Belfug Sener Big Heart Data Billionbricks Bruce Mau Design

by Humankind Catalog Cerita Dalang Champagnat & Grégoire Chatterbox Clear Channel Daniel Britton Darwin Challenge app Destination Pride DFA Dodow Driade Emma Wind Eight Sleep Elderlearn Ewa Nowak Fanm Djanm Farmcrowdy FINE FROLIC Studio Fujifilm

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FundamentalVR GameSmith Geltor Government of New Zeland Hanna Tørstad HofmanDujardin IKEA IRL Labs Ivan Cash JA! Studio Jun Kamei Kiron Kosuke Takahashi Kuang-yi Ku Leaf Logically Melbourne’s RMIT University Behavioural Business Lab Method Michael Candy Milbat MIT SENSEable City Lab Modern Fertility Moot MyHelper NASA Nashra Balagamwala Nebula Genomics No Isolation Noonee Nord Architects OMDB Orange Fiber

Phool Pigzbe PILI PlanetCare Plastix Pratik Ghosh Pride Toronto Project Alias Quarnot Rehome Sana Seismic Shania Garfield Shau Heng Li Sift Sin Bing Celian Wong SpaceX Spot STICKS&STONES Studio Nucleo Surveillance Exclusion Takao Someya The Period Game THINX Tobias Trübenbacher Tranger TruePic University of Arizona University of Illinois Veethika Mishra Vollebak What the Block Winston Working Session

Special thanks to Arnold Wasserman, Index Award Jury Vice Chairman Chantal al Arab, Drag performer and activist Dave Hakkens, Designer Silje Auflem Flølo, Designer Jessica Collier, CEO of Spot Tobias Trßbenbacher, Designer Kigge Hvid, partner at JA studio

The Index Projevt BLOX, Bryghuspladsen 8 Level 2 1473 Copenhagen K Denmark hello@theindexproject.org theindexproject.org

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