The time machine

What do we mean timewise by “living the future” events. Our corporate clients tend to want it 50% near future, 50% further future, say 10 – 15 years out or longer. Obviously the further out it is the less accurate it may seem, but the directional pathway is still relevant. Credibility is a critical aspect of these events as is the ability to truly experience the content. To curate the content, once the theme and sub-themes are determined requires us to build a “rolling back the future” starting from the end of the future landscape trending back towards today. Once this is done, discussions can evolve with potential content providers and more extensive design treatments can follow.

Despite recent developments in gravitational wave theory and scientists’ work on warping spacetime, our “time machine” is more related to qualitative and quantitative projections both into the future and back, based upon deep horizon scanning of the domain, understanding and interpreting weak signals, insights and drivers, scenario-building and complex futures modeling. Machine and deep learning will soon replace or supplement the increasingly outdated mapping formats currently used for this purpose. As we enter the age of abstract machines, discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science, maybe we can expect more accurate visions of the future. However, our own approaches to invention, curation and development still evolve around the essence of foresight methodologies and our intrinsic knowledge of the field and related areas, considerable intuition, hunches plus a massive dose of creativity.