February came and went! Dive into our latest research edit, highlighting some of the most telling future signal we have come across. Here is what we have carefully curated for you this month.

FOOD | What will we be eating in 2028? Over the past decade we have heard from science and healthcare professionals that the future of food is going to involve less meat and dairy. An article written by Dr Stuart Farrimond (science and medical writer), for Science Focus, has predicted how the food industry is set to evolve in the future, to be engineered accordingly to our bodies. The foods we indulge in are always developing into new tastes and experiences, and it is expected “in the next 10 years, the emerging field of ‘personalised nutrition’ will offer healthy eating guidance tailored to the individual”. Food will be tailored to your genomes using genetics tests to “fill in those gaps” and offer a personalised eating guide to the individuals’ needs. Expect home cooking to incorporate specialist lab equipment such as a foam-making espuma gun and a spiraliser to enhance kitchen creativity.

EVENT | ‘Plastic: Remaking our world’: VITRA design museum will be showcasing an exhibition on the utopian history and critical future of plastics. Plastics, omce seen as a revolutionary innovation, have come to embody a world of carefree consumerism and a planetary problem. The exhibition aims to address the major issues of plastic and its complex role in the world by analysing how we have become so dependent, and reimagining the future of this controversial material. Designers will display cutting-edge solutions such as Dutch designers Klarenbeek and Dros’s ocean clean up solution involving mycelium. The exhibition will begin with a video installation, spotlighting the conflicts associated with the production of plastic and the rise of the ‘throw-away’ that threatens our planet. The second part of the exhibition follows the evolution of plastic and synthetic materials from the 19th century to present day.

FASHION | German artist, Alexandra Bircken creates conceptual art exploring the strength and fragility of the body, by using leather and latex to create the feeling of ‘second skin’. She describes herself as a researcher of material science, whose work delves into injured and scarred bodies by reinterpreting her subjects. In her latest interview with SLEEK magazine, the artist talks about using the body as the main theme of her work and how our outside shell is prone to vulnerabilities such as injuries; questioning how we can repair and restore the body to its proper function. In her words, “Ambivalence is what life is made of”.

BIOLOGY | Synthetic biology technologies are birthing a new Bio Economy. A recent article published in BCG, dips into how synthetic biology is about to disrupt various industries, and business must adopt the use of synthetic biology to develop new products and processes to reduce consumption costs, from flavours and fabrics to foods and fuels. Utilising a syn-bio strategy in the future is in the report seen as the solution for sustainable businesses. “By the end of the decade, syn-bio could be used extensively in manufacturing industries that account for more than a third of global output- a shade under $30 trillion in terms of value”.

MINDFULNESS | Times Square in New York City is known for its hustle and bustle, with the constant flashing lights emitting from adverts and billboards around every corner. Visual artist, Krista Kim, created a mindfulness hub in the centre of Times Square, using awe inspiring and chromatic light installations drawn from a database of LED light photography, photoshop, binary code and dynamic software. The result is a display of gradients soft colours to sooth the viewers, transforming the space into a calming oasis. In collaboration with Efren Mur, Kim created Continuum as a large-scale sound and light installation alongside Jeff Schroeder, who composes healing music in correlation with the energy and visuals of Kim’s visuals.

MATERIALS | A new light-weight material with unusual properties is found to be stronger than steel. A group of MIT engineers have uncovered a new material that is found to be stronger than steel and as light as plastic. This new material is a “two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets” and can be easily manufactured into large quantities. This durable material can be used as a light-weight coating for car parts, phones and building material for bridges and structures. “We don’t usually think of plastics as being something that you could use to support a building, but with this material, you can enable new things,” says Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and the senior author of the new study. To be continued.

TECHNOLOGY | Our dependence on smartphones has grown exponentially in the past few years, where the average person checks their phone at least 58 times a day. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld describes this obsession with smartphones as,“Hypnophoneified”. An article in Design Thinkers Academy, recognises that we cannot extensively focus on a few industries such as oil, gas, mining and transport, to create a low carbon economy. We need a holistic approach to address the catastrophic disaster of climate change, which includes our love for electronic devices, particularly smartphones. Lofti Belkhir, chair of eco-entrepreneurship at Canada’s McMasters University found that smartphones account for 11% of emissions, which outweigh the use of PCs and laptops. Between 2010 and 2020 the emissions caused by smartphones have increased from 17 to 125 megatons of CO2 equivalent. While creating a low carbon smartphone may be difficult, data centres could be solely powered by renewable energy and smartphone industries can use recycled materials for developing new phones. This would help lower the cost of repair and rate of replacement. “We need to achieve a responsible revolution in the way the industry operates and recognise, as a matter of urgency, that virtual activities generate real emissions”, says David Kester (founder and managing director of Design Thinkers Academy London).

CON-CULTURE | Is scam culture the rage for future Generation Hustle? Experts claim we are now living in the age of the scammer, whether or not you are aware of it. In the age of technology, we are surrounded by tricksters, from marketing pyramid schemes, email scams and sketchy cryptocurrency schemes. ‘Inventing Anna’ on Netflix depicts the real life story of Anna Delvey’s who conned high-end business professionals in the banking and art world. The question remains whether this was for the money or the #grind and #hustle on social media. Could the idea of ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ be the new way to success and wealth for generation hustle? In Anna Delvey’s case, this involved a carefully curated selection of Instagram images portraying herself as a fine-art-loving German with an enormous trust fund. She created an image of herself, that made her appear high-profile, which as a result scored her meetings with big time investors. This idea of prioritising appearance over reality, is perhaps the latest take on scamming and our huge fascination with them. Social media makes it easier to manipulate the truth and post as any chracter you may wish to create, as convincingly as one wishes to, with people successfully posing as wealthy individuals. Maria Konnikova, a journalist, psychology expert and author of The Confidence Game states: “But that’s really it. It’s all decorations. Because at the end of the day, con artists are storytellers and storytelling hasn’t changed. We’re still telling the same stories now that we were telling thousands and thousands of years ago.”

LIFE | This novel asks how humans can weather this era of extreme change. The Extreme Self: Age of you, featured on Dazed Digital, is a reflection by novelist Douglas Coupland, editor Shumon Basart and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. Together they challenge the seismic pressures of the 21st century by exploring technology, politics, fame and intimacy by guiding us to reconsider the world around us. Their latest book consists of 14 chapters featuring imagery curated from artists, photographers technologists, and musicians; alongside meme-style graphics, paired with philosophical dissections of fame and insightful predictions for the now and near-future. In a recent interview for Dazed Digital, Douglas Coupland talks about the prediction of seismic culture and social changes from their 2015 prequel (The Age of Earthquakes: A guide to the Extreme) to now. In Hans Ulrich Obrist words “I cherish the unique social and political value of human bodies in space together. We must insist on protecting this value, without rejecting the advances made by technology as it redefines human connection and collective potential”.

FASHION | Fashion and NFT‘s gave momentumto London Fashion Week. Fashion house Roksanda partnered with the Institute of Digital Fashion and Clearplay to create a metaverse innovation for London Fashion Week. The shoppable NFT was created to showcase the label’s demi-couture final look, adding a new dimension to the Roksanda Autumn/Winter 2022 show. The NFT displayed a sculptural gown in a geometric print and is available as an AR try-on via anInstagram filter, sold on the Roksanda website. This marks the first time an NFT has been shoppable on a luxury brand’s website in British pounds, instead of Ethereum.

RETAIL | Mental health on-the-go. Selfridges has redefined the meaning of retail therapy by launching a virtual reality wellbeing pod to escape into another world. These immersive sensory pods were designed by Sensiks and created to help ins store visitors escape and boost their mental health. The pods are equipped with CBD products, bespoke fragrances, infrared light, heat and sound sensors. Embedded with tech-assisted meditations apps, the pod offers self-care routines which are aimed to improve a mood, lower stress levels and aid physical health. Fred Galstaun, founder of Sensiks states: “the power of the mind can bring you anywhere; by going into a deeper state you can reconnect with yourself and your intuition again”.