Subject: ’Future Starts Here’
Location: V&A Museum, London
Content: A showcase of one hundred real world projects that are shaping the future of humanity
Focus: Entroxy questions; if this is the world today, where will we be tomorrow?
The V&A certainly encapsulated .ROXY people, and left us with a whole host of questions regarding the future of humanity... will our homes be run by AI? Can design stop climate change? Does democracy work? Questions that are, in fact, alarmingly familiar... has our downfall already begun?
Before we share our top picks from the exhibitions, a pause for thought:
The Victorian‘s - leaders of their time within technological innovation & architecture - we wonder...what would Victoria say to Albert if she were stood in this very place and could see just how much we have embraced (and take for granted) technology as part of our everyday life...“We are not amused“
Our top picks:
James: Not much will tear us away from the daily nitty gritty of the digital marketing jungle. However, when Chris uttered the mere words; exhibition and sandpit. We were out the door before you could say sand castle.
The exhibit in question, is in fact, an Augmented Reality sandpit from Tellart! ...and yes, it really was as fun as it sounds.
While the exhibit provided some much needed downtime to our busy working lives, the technology behind it was fascinating to interact with.
A relief map projection, with a machine-learning algorithm that reads the relative height of the sand and composes a matching projection accordingly, drawing on a database of satellite imagery of Earth, allows users to play god and terraform their own miniature earth made up of the California valleys, the Suez Canal or even the coasts of Morocco with the sweep of a hand!
The exhibit, whilst undoubtedly entertaining and a fascinating insight in to the use of technology, does beg a much broader question. Should we use the technology we have at our disposal to continually re-shape the earth (and, inevitably, other planets) for the convenience of humanity?
Laura:
Meet Hatsune Miku, she’s your J-pop queen, the perfect pop princess. With more than 100,000 songs to her name, she’s played concerts all across the globe that almost always sell out...just one more thing, she’s not real. Hatsune Miku is a virtual singer developed by Crypton Future Media, using ‘vocaloid’ voice software. She basically doesn’t exist outside of projection form.
5 facts about Hatsune Miku that might as well be made up:
She’s stared in a hair commercial promoting actual shampoo. Sorry, but she isn’t even real and she has turquoise hair!?! WHAT!
Louis Vuitton collaborated with Crypton Future Media to design outfits for her. I repeat, LOUIS VUITTON.
She is one of Japan’s biggest pop stars.
You can see her at Olympia London on the 8th December from £50. You can still get tickets here if you’re interested - https://www.seetickets.com/event/hatsune-miku-expo-2018-europe-in-london/olympia/1240647
Did I mention she’s a hologram?!
I’m not sure whether Hatsune Miku says more about those who are capitalising off of her or about those who are actually forking out up to £90 for a ticket to see her.
What a wonderfully weird world we live in. I’d be lying if I didn’t say Hatsune Miku didn’t make me feel slightly uneasy about what the technological future holds for us. All that I can say is that I hope this doesn’t become the next big thing, because I’d much rather see Harry Styles up close and in the flesh.
Meg:
Cryogenics was not something I had heard of until I came across the display at the V&A. However, it turns out to be a process where people sign up to have their bodies frozen immediately after death with the hope of waking up in a future world.
As well as the chamber the body is kept in, the display showed off the home kit your family members receive on purchase; disinfecting wipes, scissors, rubber gloves, a brain thermometer and a useful manual on what to do when your family member passes away.
For the pleasure, you will pay up to $200,000 or more for whole body cryopreservation and $80,000 for a "neuro" (head-only) option - how does that even work?
Over 2,000 people have signed up so far. As much as I would be interested in seeing the world in 100 years, I’m not personally going to be freezing my body in the hope someone invents technology to wake me up. Would you? Let us know, leave a comment below.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below!
For a taste of what the future has in store, the 'Future Starts Here' exhibition runs until Sunday 4th November (Tickets are £16).
