Microsoft shows us their latest version of the future...

Thanks to GeekWire for altering me to the latest video from Microsoft's Director of Envisioning.

Syd Mead on the Future

OK, I am just being an aggregator with this post, but here is an interesting short film, 2019: A Future Imagined, with Syd Mead (legendary designer from Blade Runner, Aliens, Tron) talking about his views of the future of technology and design.

2019: A Future Imagined from Flat-12 on Vimeo.

Creating an Idea Factory

Creative thinking is an essential part of foresight and understanding how the future may emerge. The creative process, corporate innovation, ideation and brainstorming techniques have always interested me - especially ways to connect those disciplines to the exploration of the future. I am in the process of helping to develop and re-conceive an online course on creating problem solving, so I'll be posting some interesting articles and some of my thoughts here over the coming months.

There was a good article recently posted on Fast Company's website by designer Jon Kolko entitled "Cultural Values That Will Make Your Office an Idea Factory". The article advocates "playfulness" at work by encouraging divergent thinking, altering and removing constraints, generating outlandish ideas, creating an environment where "creative flow" can be achieved and empowering individuals to act independently if so motivated. Good goals to strive for if you are in the design field or any other industry where ideas drive the organization.

The Frontier Is Everywhere...

Sitting in a blizzard, working from home, I stumbled upon this video today. "NASA – The Frontier is Everywhere” is a video created by Reid Gower for NASA, but not by NASA, or at the request of NASA (but they should have made it). It was modeled after Michael Marantz’ short film, Earth: The Pale Blue Dot, and it features Carl Sagan’s voice. You can find more information on the background of the video at mental_floss. Like previous space exploration videos I have posted, this is an extremely optimistic view of a long-term future for humanity. I feel we, as a civilization, need more of this type of positive, visionary thinking.

Futurist Colleagues on Coast to Coast AM

Some colleagues and friends of mine from the University of Houston were recently on Coast to Coast AM to help kick off the new year. I'll admit I haven't listened to the entire show yet, but it was great to hear that Peter Bishop, Andy Hines, Terry Grim and Garry Golden got a chance to be on the show. They discussed techniques for long term forecasting and some emerging trends.

Strategic Planning + Futures Studies

Link to a good journal article on the "Intersection of Strategic Planning and Futures Studies: Methodological Complementarities" [LINK].

IBM's Next 5 in 5 (2010 Edition)

It's that time of year again, when think tanks, corporations, analyst firms and scientific publications post their lists of technology predictions for the coming years. IBM has just posted its most recent "Next 5 in 5" - five innovations that will transform our lives in the next five years. These are always fun to take a look at to better understand what companies are working towards and where they think the future is headed.

This year's list includes:

• Sensors Networks - citizens with wireless devices acting like distributed sensor networks, generating massive amounts of data that can be shared and analyzed to help with environmental issues and natural disasters


• 3D Interfaces - realtime holographic interfaces, holographic communication and interacting with the Internet in 3D


• Advanced Battery Technology - batteries with 10x the current storage capacity, small personal electronic devices powered by kinetic or static electricity, batteries that breath oxygen to generate power


• Data Centers Providing Heat for Buildings - waste heat from data centers recycled to heat air and water in buildings


• Adaptive Traffic Systems - real-time information on accidents, local events, weather, and construction brought together to provide personalized congestion prediction for commuters
  
  

Prior "Next 5 in 5" publications included the following

2009

1. Cities will have healthier immune systems
2. City buildings will sense and respond like living organisms
3. Cars and city buses will run on empty
4. Smarter systems will quench cities’ thirst for water and save energy
5. Cities will respond to a crisis -- even before receiving an emergency phone call

Fast Company Article: IBM's 5 in 5: Smart Grids, Living Buildings, and Smart Water

2008

1. Energy saving solar technology will be built into asphalt, paint and windows
2. You will have a crystal ball for your health
3. You will talk to the Web . . . and the Web will talk back
4. You will have your own digital shopping assistants
5. Forgetting will become a distant memory

2007

1. 3-D representation of the human body (medical avatars)
2. Smart tagging of food using RFID and other sensors
3. Smart grids/energy/managing your personal carbon footprint
4. Cars that drive themselves
5. Cell phones used as banker, ticket broker, concierge, shopping buddy