The Future Looks Smart

In every sector, 2020 brought about the loss of predictability. Businesses of all kinds were driven online at an unprecedented rate. Caroline Oswald (nee Legg, Central High, Class of 2000), Director of Business Development at Revlifter, an award-winning e-commerce personalisation platform, recently presented at our NHSG Inspiring Alumnae Business Networking Group. Caroline has carved a highly successful career in creatively-led technology and is uniquely placed to give us an insight into what the future of technology looks like and the impact it will have in the workplace and home.

If you asked me 20 years ago whether I expected a seismic shift in the technology that we use every single day, I would have been a little disbelieving. Modem dial-ups; dong, dong, bing, bing, beeeeeeeeeeep... were still very fresh in my mind. Having three television channels hadn’t faded from my memory. Searching through a 32-volume set of Encyclopedia Britannica to find an answer for my homework to this day holds fond and vivid memories (I can still smell the beautiful books). I got my first email address in GCSE IT at CNHS and what a faff it was to access it, not to mention the queue for the shared computers (a little ironic seeing as some of the aforementioned are, in themselves, seismic shifts in technology). So how did we get to where we are, via Teletext Bamboozle, 7K games of Snake on the Nokia 3210, at least 7K tangled videotapes, the very first (rather chunky) iPod, and the moment you realised it would take at least two hours to decide what to watch on Netflix (even after using the power of social media and asking your ‘friends’ to guide you)? Well, in my case, it hasn’t felt like major step-change overnight and truth be told, I am a little disappointed that we are nowhere near the Jean Paul Gaultier wardrobe and flying taxis depicted in The Fifth Element (we have a few years yet, it was portraying 2263). I am sure some of you reading this disagree and there is a huge amount of discomfort with the abundance of technology in our lives now, my only defence is that I am a child of one of the very few 1970s Computer Science graduates, so I was immersed from birth.

If you ask me now, do I expect to see a seismic shift in the technology we use every single day in 20 years? My answer would be quick and bold in response, without a shadow of a doubt!

At first, I thought it would be best to refrain from going too far in my examples, remain conscious that not everybody was playing on an Apricot computer (I promise they were real and not a rip-off or relative of Apple computers) when they were six years old, but then I remembered running an open innovation workshop in c.2010 and we were talking about paying with smartphones, at the time it was so far beyond the realm of normal... Now, my cards just gather dust. Last year saw a supersonic adoption of online technology by all walks of life, it was no longer a line on a to-do list or something you could avoid. To stay connected everyone had to adopt and adapt. I have summarised five things to expect next as tech continues to meld into our homes.

Mixed Reality

A blend of virtual and physical environments e.g. a virtual tennis ball bouncing on a real table, typically delivered through a smartglasses-type headset. Truth be told, this isn’t something that is widely reported as a trend for 2021, but from smart factories (where machines react to their environment and fix themselves) to architecture, H&S training to collaborative working, Mixed Reality as beautifully executed by Microsoft with the Hololens 2 has so many business applications. The reality of the Hololens shifting quickly into the home is unlikely at £3.5K per unit plus license costs but the Facebook and Ray-Ban smartglasses collaboration is sure to bring Mixed Reality into the mainstream! What will these smartglasses do, well apparently they’ll help you find your keys (as a Mum of two small children this sounds exciting… although I do worry about what will help me find my smart glasses), they will be able to overlay a more exciting view in front of you when you go for a run, they will be your own personal sat-nav and they will even help you to find things more quickly in shops.

Smart Appliances

Your washing machine, fridge, heating system and oven having more smarts than your smartphone. The Internet of Things might not be a phrase you are all familiar with but you are all likely to have interacted with it. As our phones, tablets and watches continue to evolve, so will our homes and it will all be linked. Instead of sending your order to Starbucks in advance, you’ll be ordering a cold glass of water with ice from your very own fridge, it will be there waiting for you at the optimum moment. AI and Machine Learning also means that your appliances will get to know you, your movements and habits making things convenient and your life easier (you just have to turn off the internal alarm bell that makes you wonder what the big data companies will do with all of this insight).

Location Independence

Much more freedom on where we work, rest, shop and play as technology allows us to have our day-to-day wherever we are. COVID-19 has shifted where employees, customers, suppliers and organisational ecosystems physically exist.

Members of my team travel whenever they want now, they can work from anywhere with an internet connection. Amazon has opened their first contactless check-out stores where beacons, sensors and cameras allow you to put your items in a bag and just walk out, your Amazon account charged at that moment (I thought 1-click checkout was dangerous for my bank account)!

Crypto Rewards

Currency disruption will continue. Retailers and payments companies are looking to roll out rewards and loyalty programmes using blockchain technology and crypto-currencies as an alternative to traditional points or cash-based systems. What would you do if your M&S Sparks Card started rewarding you in Bitcoin? It may sound futuristic but Lolli.com are already doing it and Nike and Groupon are among many early adopters. Then there is BlockFi, a credit card that offers unlimited 1.5% back in bitcoin on every purchase.

Smart Fabrics and Paints

The development of teeny tiny technology is enabling usually fluid materials to become technological. Nanotechnology in paint development is at an experimental stage right now but scientists have already developed paint that can turn a wall into an interactive surface, antibacterial paint and my favourite, paint that can change colour with less effort than using a dimmer switch (the interior designer in all of us unleashed in a micro- moment).

Smart fabrics have been around since the 1960s when DuPont launched Lycra. Things have moved on a bit since then and, now, textiles can provide multi-sensory experiences using lighting and sound. Google and Levi’s have already delivered a smart denim jacket (a beautiful juxtapose there, denim rarely gets the accolade of smart).

Fabrics to increase performance (keeping you cool on a run) are commonplace but with conductive yarns becoming available, soon performance wear will be analysing you, your body and your actions and evolving right there and then to control and support you.

I could go on and on, tell you about my recent ride in a Tesla Model X (a modern-day DeLorean with wing doors for my fellow Back to the Future- watching comrades) where the driver put the car into selfdrive mode… It was driving! Or about Japanese toilets that analyse your bodily fluids but I’ll leave you with the hope that some of this technology will blend seamlessly into your life and doesn’t feel like stepping on Lego for you!