Posted by Joseph Kay December 28th, 2011
LBi delivers a message from the future, telling of the strange and wonderful world that awaits us in 2012.
Thanks to x-ray delta (James Vaughan)
In 2012… The internet is the 5th dimension
Everything is connected to everything, and people can interact with the internet easily and seamlessly.
The 5th dimension is the result of several trends combined: the rise of internet-enabled everyday objects, verbal and gestural interfaces, and contactless information transfer (i.e. NFC). These three trends came together to create a world in which smart functions live in the objects that surround you, rather than simply in apps on a mobile device, and interacting with them requires the wave of a hand and not the tapping of a finger (on a keyboard, a button or a touchscreen). NFC has helped to connect people to their smart objects, enabling smartphones to act as portable screens for everything else.
In 2012… We all work on the toilet
Cloud computing, the remote storage of information that can be accessed from any device with a working internet connection, has heralded a new era of productivity.
Our software and our documents, freed from their association with a single device, are seamlessly accessible as we move from place to place. This has allowed us to rid our lives of moments of uselessness, such as those spent in lifts, on public transport, or in lavatories. This trend, known sometimes as smart boredom, is not just about increased efficiencies in the workforce; it can potentially benefit anyone. The success of smartphone gaming has allowed people to fill their moments of forced inactivity with fun. The cloud expands these possibilities to include other useful tasks, be they for your home life or your work life.
In 2012… We live in a cloud-based commune
A side effect of the utility provided by cloud computing has been a shift in company business models from selling digital products, to leasing digital products.
With more and more physical possessions being replaced by digital counterparts, the impact of this change from owning to borrowing has been significant. The cloud has enabled companies to remove the burden of ownership from the masses. What was previously owned, the common man now receives as a service in exchange for micropayments.
In 2012… Everyone loves adverts
The use of personal activity data has made it possible to provide people with only the advertising and information that is relevant to their interests and contextual needs.
By collecting information from your activity in search, ecommerce and social media, and combining it with other contextual information, such as location, time of day and time of year, companies can now ensure that only the most interesting and useful information is presented to you. This has changed the dynamic of spam and advertising. Once seen as an irritant, adverts are now thought of as a service.
In 2012… We grow our own fridges
Companies collaborate with their customers to develop new ideas.
Instead of simply going out or online and buying a fridge, consumers now have the option to participate in the designing of their next fridge. This benefits both the company and the consumers, in that the products more closely reflect the desires of the consumers. Furthermore, the process of co-creation encourages people to become invested in the success of the product, which in turn can have a positive effect on brand advocacy. The very fact of being open to consumer participation and demonstrating that the company is interested in its customers’ opinions can help to increase public opinion.
In 2012… We play games without realising
Gamification has developed beyond the most obvious and colourful implementations to a more subtle use of the underlying psychology.
In 2011 most implementations of gamification (the process of using game design techniques to make other processes more engaging) have focussed on applying surface elements of games, such as badges and leaderboards. In 2012 gamification has moved on to applying psychological lessons from game design without the end product necessarily resembling a game. This has made it possible to gamify a broader range of processes, including ones that might not suit obvious game elements.
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