Wednesday, 11 April 2018
The Future Hunters
Weiner•Edrich•Brown
Most people refer to the recent economic turmoil as a “recession.” But what we’re going through is a fundamental global economic transformation. This transformation is similar to those that catapulted us from the Agricultural era into the Industrial,
from the Industrial into the Post-Industrial, and then, in the early nineties, into yet another type of economy (which we named “The Emotile Economy” [a combination of emotion and motility] and we projected that it, too, would be transformed beginning
around 2005).
Why are we undergoing this transformation?
COLLAPSING TIME FRAMES
The major story here is the collapsing of the time frames that separate the major
transitions from one economy to another, from tens of thousands of years to decades.
CONVERGENCE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
These transformations are brought about by the convergences of new technologies
that create efficiencies in existing businesses, create whole new ones, replace
work and workers, open up entirely new vistas, and shift all the underpinnings
of societies.
LAYERED ECONOMIES
Also critical is that economies are not replaced; they layer on top of each other.
The goods and services of past economies are still important, but their manner of
production, pricing and delivery change considerably. When technologies become
commoditized, businesses must find the next higher value proposition in order to
woo the consumer. For instance, the first mobile phones were very expensive; now
mobile phones are cheap or free – apps, content and warrantees drive revenues
and profit margins.
So, in order to understand and frame this new economy, we answered three (3) questions:
1. Where is disposable income going;
2. Where are jobs being created, and
3. What is the M.O. (Modus Operandi)?
We found 10 major growth areas ahead. They are all about altered dimensionality, and that dimension is “space.” The Metaspace Economy™ services we offer address each of these 10 growth areas. They are:
TIME SPACE
This is the leveraging of time in space, which not only implies multi-tasking of
products and services, but also the overlaying of careers, and the ability to have
many competing demographics and life cycles in the course of one life. It is also
about the economic value of time; time as the new luxury. We see countless
examples of how time is going from something once linear and sequential to
something now multi-layered and simultaneous. Time is speeding up. This is a
world of templosion, the implosion of everything into compressed time. And time
space underpins the major global shifts toward both collaborative consumption
and image-based communication.
INNER SPACE
The exploration of mind, brain and spirit regarding all living things. In particular, it
is the mapping of the brain, especially the human brain, in order to gain insight into
what makes us tick. This is quickly leading to the neurofication of everything, including
neuroeconomics, neuromarketing, neuroadvertising and neurofinance. And we are
pushing the limits of what we once knew about sensory systems – including learning
more about how our traditional senses interact with each other, and discovering
entirely new senses that change the way we perceive and interact with everything.
MICRO SPACE
Our acronym for this is BAANGFUEL – Bits, Atoms, Antimatter, Neurons,
Genes, Frequencies & vibrations and Ultra – & infra-spectral Energy and Light. The
combinations and re-combinations of these entities will affect all artificial and living
systems as we know them today. This will also guide much of the work being done in
nanotechnology, new materials technology, and 3D/4D printing.
CYBERSPACE
Far bigger than the one original Internet, this will be where people live, work, socialize,
learn, experience, play, affiliate, solve problems, commit crimes and compete. This
encompasses highly- immersive virtual reality (VR) environments, fast-evolving
augmented reality (AR) applications, wearable technologies and the rapid rise of
alternative, virtual and digital currencies and cryptocurrenices.
DESIGN SPACE
Design, and design thinking, will become one of the most critical differentiators in
the marketplace, in the home, in schools, in customer service, in the workplace, in
processes and systems, and in all institutions that serve the public. More than just
about the design of physical products, this is a holistic paradigm shift that includes
factoring in fundamental design principles of the “intangible” (e.g., services) and the
“built” (e.g., architecture), and addresses pure innovation as well as problem-solving.
GREEN-TO-BLUE SPACE
This describes a spectrum of activity that begins with “doing green.” Right now,
doing green is a major imperative, but is expected. The next higher value proposition
is “being green.” Being green will become far more urgent, and will cause whole
production and consumption chains to revamp in order to leave only a faint carbon
or water footprint. Still, the most revolutionary changes will occur as we discover
the possibilities in “blue” – which is putting back more than we took. Innovations
in “blue” thinking and development are already underway.
PLAY SPACE
Gamification, the application of game mechanics in a non-gaming environment, will
increasingly permeate everything around us. With this will come a focus on better
integration of the concepts of fun and play. Play goes beyond sports or games, to
encompass any form of unfettered exploration, amusement or whimsy. Not only
are we reexamining the role of play in childhood development, but an important
contemporary movement around the importance of adult play is taking shape.
INTER SPACE
This is about the development of new and diverse “nets” that draw inspiration
for their engineering and design from the architecture of the Internet itself. The
most prominent, emerging “net” is the Internet of Things, a ubiquitous network
connecting countless objects, devices and machines, across many Platformia.
STORAGE SPACE
There is a greatly increased need for storage of big data, information in our brains,
our personal “stuff,” e-waste, growing urban populations, food and water, energy,
nuclear waste, etc.
OUTER SPACE
Almost every aspect of life will intersect with satellites, which will be smaller
and cheaper. Space exploration, tourism and development will be increasingly
privatized, democratized, and grow rapidly
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