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February 2021

SPRING

EXECUTIVE PUBLISHERS

Karen Kahn

Chief Brand & Communications Officer

Tolga Kurtolgu

Chief Technology Officer

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Angela Matusik

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Sunshine Flint

EDITOR AT LARGE

Sarah Murry

COPY EDITOR

Priscilla Eakeley

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

John Newton

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Patricia Sanchez

ART DIRECTOR

Supriya Kalidas

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Steve Walkowiak

PHOTO RESEARCHER

Bianca Tamura

SENIOR DESIGNER

Henry Cunningham

FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS

Andrew Bolwell

Global Head of HP Tech Strategy & Ventures

Joanna Burkey

Chief Information Security Officer

Vivian Chua

MD, Singapore & Malaysia

Dr. Trevor L. Hawkins

Global Head of HP 200A

Glen Hopkins

Advisor, HP Labs

Jason Juang

MD, Greater China

Tian Chong Ng (TC)

MD, Greater Asia

Ketan Patel

MD, India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka

Christoph Schell

Chief Commercial Officer

Lihua Zhao

Global Head of 3D Lab, HP Labs

CONTRIBUTORS

FRONT, BACK,

IF THE PAST YEAR made anything clear, it’s this: The 2020s will be a decade of consequence, and the pace of change is only going to accelerate. We are living through digital, geopolitical, and societal transformations unlike any in our lifetimes.

Technological progress will pave the way to smarter infrastructure, better healthcare, and more personalized solutions—while also magnifying the importance of active cyberdefense that protects data and privacy.

As geopolitical tensions persist, so will questions about the steadiness of the foundation on which global business is built. And as societies confront pressing challenges—from the erosion of trust in institutions to the threat of climate change to the inequities that persist along economic, gender, and racial lines—companies will need to shoulder more responsibility than ever before.

Against this backdrop, now is the time to go on offense—embracing change as a catalyst for innovation and growth. Because if you want to shape the future, you cannot be beholden to the way you did things in the past.

It’s time to summon the creativity, imagination, and determination that have always defined us at our best. This means fostering a culture of innovation, agility, and entrepreneurship—with the courage to reimagine what’s possible and reinvent the role we play in the lives of our customers.

It also means investing in talent, because we are only as good as our people. This is a source of strength for us today, but we will not be satisfied until HP is an academy company—known far and wide as a place where the best and brightest come to learn, lead, and thrive.

It means striving to become the most sustainable and just technology company in the world. We must be known not simply by the

products we make, but also by the progress we make possible. This requires us to stand for a new era of opportunity where climate change is reversed, human rights are universal, and the digital divide is eliminated for all.

And it means aggressively expanding our portfolio so that we continue to lead in Personal Systems and Print, while also creating entirely new businesses that unlock new sources of innovation and growth. HP’s technology and intellectual property can reshape many aspects of our everyday lives—from the way people work and learn, to the way companies design and manufacture, to the way health and wellness are achieved.

In this issue, you will read about how we’re innovating, from the story behind the invention of HP’s new VR Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition to an interview with Dr. Trevor L. Hawkins about how HP is looking to drive disruption in the health and wellness industry, an in-depth look at the new work-from-home reality and Zoom Towns, and a visit to the SmileDirectClub factory and its 3D printing technology.

Our company has always dared to dream up a better future for everyone, everywhere—and then put in the work needed to make that vision a reality.

That is the exciting, but challenging, opportunity before us once again, a chance to build a better company and contribute to a better world. And by playing offense, together we will make incredible progress over these next ten years.

Saludos,

“IF YOU WANT TO SHAPE THE FUTURE, YOU CANNOT BE BEHOLDEN TO THE WAY YOU DID THINGS IN THE PAST.”

Enrique Lores / President and CEO

20

The Making of VR’s Most Revolutionary Headset

How a team of researchers at HP Labs created the HP Omnicept, the most intelligent virtual reality solution on the market.

BY SARA HARRISON

30 Enter Zoom Towns and the Wherever Office

No longer tied to offices and long commutes, white-collar workers are taking advantage of new freedoms, and shifting preferences of where and how they want to work will have far-reaching effects.

BY JOHN SURICO

38 One-of-aKind Smiles

SmileDirectClub is using HP printing technology to make orthodontia more accessible and affordable for millions.

BY GARAGE STAFF

46 Rebuilding the Female Workforce

As women face unprecedented job losses across a range of industries, an emerging crop of software platforms, tools, and interventions could reshape workforce norms.

BY GARAGE STAFF

INSIDE

1 Letter from Our CEO The decade of consequence and HP’s role in shaping it.

BY ENRIQUE LORES

6 Prosumers: Tech's Emerging Stakeholder

The blending of customer segments is accelerating.

BY

CHRISTOPH

SCHELL

8 What Does a Cybersecurity Professional Look Like? Diversity is a driver when recruiting for the careers of the future.

BY JOANNA BURKEY

10 Diagnosis: Healthy Growth

Dr. Trevor L. Hawkins on the new HP 200A organization.

BY SUNSHINE FLINT

12 The Future in Asia Today

Four of HP’s managing directors for Asia sit down for a roundtable discussion.

14 By the Numbers A look at megacities and our urban future.

16 An Interview with Erno Rubik The Rubik’s Cube inventor on creativity.

BY ALISON BEARD

26 Waking Up to Our PostCOVID World

The next decade will shift global trends.

BY ANDREW BOLWELL

36 The Home Office of Tomorrow

It's 2030. What does your remote workspace look like?

BY JEFF WISE

52 A Class Act

Community colleges can offer the education needed in the post-pandemic recovery.

BY CHARLOTTE WEST

56 Being There

New technology is allowing seniors to age well.

BY SALLY ABRAHMS

60 The Sky Is the Limit

Drones are being deployed for jobs in agriculture, reforesting, and emergency care.

BY JP MANGALINDAN

70 The Way We Work Now

Lihua Zhao, Global Head of HP’s 3D Lab, on her remote routine.

BY JOHN NEWTON

72 Business Travel Goes Virtual Keeping companies moving while the world stays put.

BY JARED LINDZON

78 All the World’s a Stage

How technology is bringing virtual theater to mass audiences.

BY STEPHANIE WALDEN

82 Remember When

In 1989, researchers from HP Labs imagined the future.

BY ANDREA BELL-MATTHEWS

For every dream in the making

The new HP Spectre x360 has the power to match yours.

Learn more at hp.com/foreverydream

OUTLOOK The

THE RISE OF THE PROSUMER

by Christoph Schell

RECRUITING CYBERSECURITY TALENT

by Joanna Burkey

A CONVERSATION WITH Dr. Trevor L. Hawkins

A discussion with four HP managing directors

Prosumers: The Emerging Stakeholder In the Future of Tech

Christoph Schell, HP’s Chief Commercial Officer, looks at the accelerating development of blended customer segments.

ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO IN EUROPE, I began to notice a trend: businesspeople shifting from selecting flashier company cars toward ones that could double as personal, practical vehicles for their families. Manufacturers then caught on and began to combine luxury with practicality. Today, we’re seeing a similar shift in technology as people seek technology designed for personal-professional flexibility that can also deliver enterprise-level security, workflows, and experiences. These newly empowered customers are known as “prosumers.”

Originally coined by futurist Alvin Toffler in his 1980 book The Third Wave to describe the active role consumers would play in the commercialization of goods, the term prosumer stems from the words producer and consumer. Others define prosumers as a combination of “professional users” and “consumers.” Both definitions imply the same concept: the increasing ability of consumers to inject individuality into not just how technology is used but how it’s designed from the start. Now technology is being used more fluidly than ever before, presenting a significant opportunity for vendors to pull capabilities across consumer and commercial tools.

Driving enterprise-grade capabilities

The rise of prosumers is not simply an opportunity for vendors to capture and commodify an untapped customer segment; it’s an opportunity to put real, tangible, and human-driven insight at the core of how we design technology.

In the past, providing value meant shifting back and forth between the professional and consumer’s point of view. Because those customer segments have blended, it becomes easier to understand the nuanced needs of the entirety of the individual. Additionally, a shift from one-time transactional sales toward outcomes-based business models allows vendors to get closer to customers, more nimbly adjust

service offerings, and provide sharper value propositions across all segments.

During the first wave of workplace disruption last year, business leaders faced a dual challenge: drive employee engagement in work-from-home environments with technology that mirrored that of the office while reducing costs. In fact, a recent survey found that scaling up tech capabilities is the top priority for 53% of CTOs in the new hybrid workplace. What’s more, using personal devices for professional purposes, or bring-your-own-device (BYOD), continues to accelerate, with improved mobility and greater employee satisfaction driving the trend. For hybrid

“COMPANIES MUST USE INSIGHTS FROM DIGITAL INTERACTIONS TO UNDERSTAND END USERS’ NEEDS, MOMENT TO MOMENT."

LAPTOPS FOR SCHOOLKIDS

Parents in the US bought 2.2 million laptops last year

SOURCE: FUTURESOURCE

DIGITAL TWIN MARKET

Worth $3.8 billion in 2019, it’s projected to reach $35.8 billion in value by 2025

SOURCE: MARKETSANDMARKETS

work, a single device and solutions can serve the needs of two different environments. For example: print workflows that help differentiate between pages printed for personal use and pages printed for work, to determine what costs should be reimbursed by employers.

Meanwhile, the ability to use data to create hypercustomized value propositions for consumers will also be crucial. The concepts of prosumer and data-driven insights should work in tandem.

Prosumers in every industry

We must remember that prosumers are in all fields, including education, retail, the public sector, digital manufacturing, and more. For instance, as digital manufacturing accelerates, a lot of design and prototyping jobs can actually be done from home because 3D printers can read digital files. Even prior to the pandemic,

entire factory workflows had been set up using “digital twins.” Therefore, software designed for a workforce at home—such as HP’s ZCentral Remote Boost—is becoming more important because it allows flexibility for users to work from almost any endpoint.

In education, there is another massive opportunity to engage with prosumers. Take the rise of virtual learning last year. Buying a child’s first PC has become an essential task for a large emerging segment of customers. Never before have parents needed to consider battery life, processor speed, and webcam quality for a 10-yearold. But by recognizing these customers as co-designers of future PCs, we can create extremely tailored products that meet a range of preferences. I also predict that the parents and grandparents who’ve recently witnessed the power of virtual learning for their families will soon consider virtual classes and digital upskilling themselves. This next generation of older digital learners will have an immense impact on the future of EdTech design.

Prosumers are also demonstrating their influence not only in the technology they choose to buy but, importantly, in the devices they choose not to buy. Companies must use insights from digital interactions to understand end users’ needs, moment to moment.

BRING-YOUR-OWN-DEVICE

61% of employers say improved mobility is the top driver for BYOD. Greater employee satisfaction is second (56%), followed by increased productivity (55%)

SOURCE: CROWD RESEARCH PARTNERS

The legacy and ideas of great thinkers like Toffler live on because they tap into a fundamental aspect of human nature: the drive to constantly improve ourselves and our world. Prosumers have the power to set the tech agenda for the next decade. And we, as an industry, not only have an opportunity, but an obligation, to fully embrace this influential segment in how we design and commercialize our tech.

What Does a Cybersecurity Professional Look Like? Probably Just Like You.

IVEN MY ROLE ASSESSING cybersecurity risks at HP, it might not surprise you if I list the biggest security challenges of the past year: The massive and sudden transition to remote work made workflows more complex, and also made companies vulnerable in wholly new ways. That’s against the backdrop of a 600% increase in cyberattacks on cloud infrastructure and a 6,000% increase in phishing attempts.

What might surprise you, however, is a part of my job that will continue to be challenging long after the pandemic has passed— bringing in talent to stay ahead of these threats. Allow me to bust a popular myth: that cybersecurity professionals must be technical wunderkinds, hoodie-clad prodigies who can crack a password in six seconds with time to spare for an energy drink. Far from it.

While highly technical roles are key, on average they make up less than a third of a healthy cybersecurity organization. Just look at my own career trajectory: I come from a technical background, but as a software engineer, not a security researcher. I have expertise in divergent areas such as product strategy, security evangelism, business development, and engineering management. And I use these skills every day as a leader at HP.

With an estimated 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs globally that are likely to go unfilled in 2021, there’s much more room under the “big tent” of this industry than people think. To be successful in the future, we need to invite people who have expertise not just in technical roles, but also in risk management, business analysis, sales, deal support, and even marketing and communications.

That means opening up to mid- or late-career employees, people who’ve pivoted from other industries, historically underserved populations, workers with non-traditional degrees, and those who were forced out of their jobs by the seismic economic shifts from the pandemic.

As the world has become more digital— augmented by the explosion of data and capabilities offered by advances in technology such as 5G, the cloud, open source code, and infrastructure-as-a-service—there are now very few areas that do not touch cybersecurity in some way. That’s a little scary, but it’s also a terrific opportunity.

Chief information security officers (CISOs) and their organizations are increasingly called on to be business partners across the enterprise due to many parallel factors:

• Customers are more educated and discerning about security.

• Business partners want to feel confident that B2B connections are safe.

• The global regulatory landscape continues to get more complex.

• Each piece in the supply chain is aware of the interconnected nature of its operations—and inherent risks.

Together, these trends mean that a CISO and their organization have to be aware of what is going on “out in the business” by fostering lateral movements from other departments in and out of the cybersecurity organization.

Similarly, there is also a need for an array of experience levels. Just because

With millions of unfilled cybersecurity jobs, Joanna Burkey, HP’s Chief Information Security Officer, explains why organizations that go all in recruiting diverse employees will stay competitive.

an individual may not have in-depth cybersecurity-specific knowledge, other capabilities may prove more important—knowledge of a given enterprise environment, experience in a complementary field, or creativity in strategic vision and long-term planning.

Diversity in any field is a strength, and cybersecurity is no exception. Since the core goal of cybersecurity is to anticipate and combat a broad field of remote attackers, complementary diversity in the field itself is not only a benefit, but a requirement.

HP is sponsoring efforts with HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities), organizations such as Black Girls Code and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and minority-owned suppliers in order to create more opportunity for diverse talent and also to get the word out about current needs. HP’s Cybersecurity organization is proud to sponsor annual scholarships for cybersecurity students at Prairie View A&M University and the University of Queensland, Australia, in order to open more doors across the industry.

HP is, however, an outlier. Less than half of companies participating in the ISACA 2020 Cybersecurity Study said they have diversity and retention programs to recruit women and racial minorities into cybersecurity roles.

Diversity in experience, skill sets, and identity is not only a moral imperative, but will ensure that the reality of a cybersecurity career grows to be more expansive. The only non-negotiable requirement is a passion for making the world safer—no hoodie required.

Joanna Burkey / Chief Information Security Officer

“THERE ARE NOW VERY FEW AREAS THAT DO NOT TOUCH CYBERSECURITY IN SOME WAY. THAT’S A LITTLE SCARY, BUT IT’S ALSO A TERRIFIC OPPORTUNITY."

Diagnosis: Healthy Growth

OINING HP JUST AS a global pandemic caused a global lockdown was a challenge Dr. Trevor L. Hawkins did not see coming, but leading HP’s brand-new health technology group was also an unexpected turn in his long career. After running the Human Genome Project for the US Department of Energy in the 1990s, working at a series of multinational corporations like GE, Philips, and Siemens, and starting and selling his own healthcare diagnostics company, he was content sitting on a few boards and consulting. He thought he was done with corporate life, he says, when HP came calling.

1 / What brought you to HP at this point in your career?

It took Glen [Hopkins, then Interim Chief Technology Officer] about four months to convince me to even talk. When we finally had coffee, my eyes were opened to the fact that HP had some very neat technologies, specifically the microfluidics skill sets, that could be applied, potentially, to healthcare. It was the people, the technology, the skills, and the attitude and culture of HP that made me change my mind. I joined as a part-time consultant; that very quickly morphed into being a full-time consultant, and then a full-time employee. And it was really based on the power of the technology.

2 / The famous HP200A (a low distortion audio oscillator) was the first product made in Dave Packard’s garage in Palo Alto in 1939. Why is that your team’s name?

Calling it HP 200A was symbolic. It got people excited and inspired to create new breakthroughs. And in many cases, it brought us back to where our founders began. We have people across the company who have literally been doing research and development in their own garages because we were all working from home. Much of our early development was done by people building and testing systems, using 3D printing systems and so on. One of our engineers used a VR headset to turn his garage into a lab so that he could actually experience the environment he was building for. The teams really took on how Hewlett and Packard started this company, and the way in which they have worked and interacted is incredible.

3 / What are some of the big trends shaping the future of health technology?

You are going to see the entire health and wellness sector transformed in the coming years. Big shifts were already under way, and they have been accelerated by COVID-19. Diagnostic testing is one example. People want technologies that are simple, easy, and cheap and can be used in different locations. They don’t want to go into a hospital to get a test, and they want to be able to get as many tests as they need. Being able to manufacture at a scale that meets the demand is really important. Then there is the issue of trust. People want their data to be secure and only shared with the right groups that allow them to make the right decisions. All these things will drive entirely new solutions that make testing more distributed, accessible, and consumer-friendly.

4 / How will it change the way testing is done?

We see a future where healthcare diagnostics are as pervasive as Starbucks, and there are examples of that already. You can go to a pharmacy and buy over-the-counter diagnostic tests for a growing list of chronic diseases and infectious diseases. Once you have a platform capable of rapid, low-cost, easy-to-use testing, it can be applied to a number of different sectors, such as infectious disease, oncology, and wellness. We also are looking at the emerging area of personalized medicine. There is a growing list of drugs on the market that require

Dr. Trevor L. Hawkins on leading the new HP 200A organization and the potential for microfluidics technology to disrupt the health and wellness industry.

BY JEFF HARRIS

diagnostic tests to determine dosage, or which variant of the drug a patient should be prescribed. We believe that diagnostic testing will enable true precision medicine and improved outcomes.

Traditional health issues are separate from wellness, but people want more information. Twenty years after the human genome was sequenced, we can now look at wellness, metabolism, disease, and longevity using diagnostic testing. You’ll wake up, brush your teeth, and take a wellness test. Based upon the results, you’ll drink a shake that addresses your body’s needs or change your exercise regime.

5 / What are the benefits to patients?

We’ve seen the power of telemedicine, but it’s only as good as the information that you give it. If you could run tests that you would normally have to go to the doctor or the hospital for, it would transform that whole experience and change the cost profile. If we can keep people at home so they don’t have to expose themselves to the possibility of infection, or deal with transport or mobility issues, then you really can change people’s quality of life. One of the things that really drives us as a team is the idea that, one day, technology will be able to improve people’s outcomes without them having to leave the house, and at the same time put personal healthcare wellness data under their control.

6 / What do you see as future opportunities for HP in these emerging areas?

For starters, HP has three big strengths. First, its microfluidics IP—which allows us to manage doses of fluids with incredible precision and speed. This is amazing technology that, historically, has been applied to printing. We believe it has vast

potential applications across many areas of health and wellness, including diagnostics. Second, HP’s manufacturing scale. We ship about three devices per second across our PC and printing businesses, so this is a company that knows how to put products in the hands of people who need them. And third, the strength of our brand. It’s a brand built on trust, and in the world of healthcare with issues around security and privacy, that’s really important.

7 / It’s 2021. Tell us why you are feeling optimistic.

I fundamentally believe that we have the ability to really change people’s lives, whether it’s the elderly who can’t leave their home, or reassuring parents that their kids are okay, or making sure the rest of us can physically go to work and travel and get back to some kind of normalcy. The future of health technology—including this idea of a more democratized, distributed, and cost-effective means of diagnostic testing—has the potential to change healthcare in a bigger way than the Human Genome Project did. Sunshine Flint

“WE BELIEVE THAT DIAGNOSTIC TESTING WILL ENABLE TRUE PRECISION MEDICINE AND IMPROVED OUTCOMES.”

A well plate used in microfluidics, an area of enormous potential in healthcare diagnostics.

Seeing the Future From Asia Today

Greater Asia is already the continent with the largest GDP and population, concentrated in various megacities. The port of Shanghai, the financial might of Tokyo, and the service sector of Delhi are helping drive the world economy in the 21st century. These urban zones are promising beacons, but also face incredible challenges. The managing directors of Greater Asia; Greater China; Singapore and Malaysia; and India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka sit down for a roundtable discussion about the region’s future and HP’s role in it.

The five biggest cities in the world in 2030 are predicted to be Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Beijing. How are cities in your region meeting the post-pandemic challenges of the next decade?

KP / It’s not a coincidence that all five cities are in Asia and they face common issues. Ironically, it took a pandemic to show us the importance of sustainable and healthy living environments. Delhi and Mumbai both have large infrastructure and environmental issues that can be addressed through technology that enables hybrid work and learning environments, thus helping reduce commutes and pollution; public Wi-Fi hotspots; EV transport policy; and more.

TC / We expect health tech to expand, accelerated by the pandemic but also the changing demographics in some countries. The over-65 population is soon expected to be one billion, and healthcare spending will increase in areas like telemedicine and health diagnostics where rapid, accurate testing is required.

JJ / China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and its 2035 Vision both made sustainability a priority. The government promised to build sustainable and livable cities that will help achieve the goal of becoming carbon neutral. HP is involved with projects to improve the public transit of several cities.

VC / The pandemic showed there was a digital divide that threatens productivity and growth. Singapore has to address both the need for a skilled, digitally ready workforce and having a high external trade dependence. Partnerships, collaboration, and professional development will be key to addressing these challenges.

Tell us about a trend or development you’ve witnessed that you would like to see adopted around the globe. VC / The overnight shift to ecommerce in Singapore brought to light the need for digital transformation across many SMB industries, especially food and beverage, cleaning services, grocery deliveries, and vertical farming.

TC / Japan and Korea are accelerating the growth of AI and data science in edge computing. There are numerous established companies and startups that are pushing the boundaries of smart manufacturing, IoT, and deep learning in areas such as agriculture, healthcare, and fintech. The Korean government plans to expand smart factories from 100 in 2020 to more than 2,000 over the next 10 years, working with major corporations and universities.

TIAN CHONG NG (TC) MD, GREATER ASIA

VIVIAN CHUA MD, SINGAPORE & MALAYSIA

JASON JUANG MD, GREATER CHINA

ILLUSTRATION by Señor Salme / Synergy

KETAN PATEL MD, INDIA, BANGLADESH & SRI LANKA

JJ / While the pandemic and social distancing have accelerated cashless payments in America and Europe, China is a pioneer, propelled by Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay. In mid-2019, there were 633 million mobile payment users in China, and by 2023, it’s estimated that around 60% of China’s 1.3 billion population will have made a purchase via mobile payment.

KP / In the next five years, social commerce is expected to become a $16 billion industry in India. Add that to the fact that ecommerce and consumer goods companies are able to successfully deliver to the remotest regions here and this can create a platform that generates sales channels for local brands and jobs for micro-entrepreneurs.

Will the trend of remote worker migration, with workers moving to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities where the cost of living is lower, affect megacities in your region?

JJ / Worker migration has already happened in China. Due to the high cost of living in the original Tier 1 cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen), more workers, especially those with children, are relocating in search of better and less stressful living environments. This is driving the emergence of the “new” Tier 1 cities like Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan, and others with their attractive environments, fast-growing economies, and lower property prices. These cities are introducing financial and housing policies to attract new talent, and consequently, many internet giants and big companies have opened offices.

KP / We saw a massive reverse migration of workers in India during the lockdown. However, with the gradual easing of restrictions and vaccines on the horizon, we have seen a sizable return of the workforce. Still, the ability to work from home, plus the lower costs of setting up a business, real estate, and hiring, plus the good amount of IT/ITeS sector presence, means Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, which are already some of the fastest-growing cities in the region, and smaller towns will likely become hiring hot spots for white-collar jobs.

What are the top sustainable impact challenges facing your regions, and what is HP doing to help?

TC / We’ve run campaigns in Australia and New Zealand to highlight the dangers of ocean-bound plastics, and in Singapore, we conducted one of the largest ewaste recycling campaigns. In Indonesia, we launched Project STOP, which is aimed at reducing the volume of ocean-bound plastics while providing employment for low-income families. By December 2022, it is expected to expand to more than 450,000 people across

55 villages, with 90 tons of plastic bottles collected annually.

KP / While large organizations and well-funded educational institutes have been able to switch to digital, it has not been the same for many small businesses, workers, and students. Tech companies like HP can step in with tools and solutions that equip students, educators, and workers. The HP CLAP (Continued Learning Access Project) is a mobile van equipped with HP devices and learning content that visits underserved students in remote communities.

JJ / HP partnered with the WWF for the restoration, protection, and conservation of 200,000 acres of forest. Under this partnership, we will specifically work with the state-owned farms and forest plantations in China to enhance their capabilities of sustainable management. By collaborating with the WWF, HP is also working to increase the use of Forest Stewardship Council–certified paper.

How are you identifying opportunities over the next decade for HP customers in your region?

TC / We monitor the trends in our countries by talking to our customers and partners. Some countries, such as Japan and Korea, are at the forefront of 5G adoption, and we are able to apply what we learn from them to other countries. Australia and New Zealand have a significant focus on sustainability, and we are able to pick up future trends and best practices from them.

JJ / The digital boom has led to the fast growth of Chinese companies like Tencent, JD, and Alibaba. HP is a partner-first company, and we are partnering with these leading companies to build and evolve ecosystems. For example, HP and Alibaba Cloud have built an end-to-end classroom platform to promote the integration of online and offline teaching resources to meet China’s agenda on education information.

KP / In a country like India with low PC penetration, we are now seeing the shift from one PC per family to one per person. We have a strong ability to gain information from customers, channel partners, ecommerce players, and businesses, and are deploying digital tools to generate insights from this data to better our go-to-market and product strategies.

VC / We see tremendous opportunity in helping companies stay ahead of the curve. Across the government, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and education, digital transformation provides new growth possibilities, and we’re pursuing industry partnerships, driving our own initiatives like HP for Business, which offers device leasing for PCs and printers, and giving manufacturers faster access to 3D services and expertise.

Our Urban Future

A glimpse of what megacities and a growing global population will look like in the next few decades.

1.2 million sq. km

Additional land that will be citified by 2030, tripling the global urban land area circa 2000

3 Number of megacities with populations over 10 million in 1975: Mexico City, New York, and Tokyo

Year by which half the population of Africa— the least urbanized continent—will live in cities

48% Reduction in travel-related CO2 emissions when urban density doubles

5:1 Ratio of economic return to economic investment in US public transportation

3 4 % of urban passenger miles will be via public transport by 2030, up from 30% in 2015

60 % of American home buyers prefer properties with a shorter commute and amenities nearby

$ 3,6 85

25% of new construction in Dubai will be 3D printed by 2030

²/₃ Global energy consumption attributable to cities

4 3 Number of megacities by 2030 $ 400 billion

Average monthly cost of a two-bedroom apartment in Hong Kong, the world’s city with the highest housing costs

68% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050

7 of the world’s 10 most populated cities will be in Asia by 2035. Jakarta is projected to be the largest, with a population of

36% of cities will face water shortages by 2050

Cost of seawalls to protect US cities and coastal communities through 2040

38 million

The inventor of the Rubik’s Cube on innovation and creativity.

s a professor of architecture striving to help his students understand 3D geometry, Erno Rubik created a puzzle that would, upon its global manufacture and distribution in 1980, capture the imagination of generations to come. The Rubik’s Cube became one of the most popular toys in history, with more than 350 million sold to date. Today, Rubik is a staunch advocate for STEM and arts education and encourages his own company and others to lead the charge. His first book, Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All, is out now. By ALISON

BEARD

And then you became a professor. What makes for a good teacher?

It’s important to share what you know with students but more important to discover their capabilities and help them find out who they are and what they’re able to do. Learning is not the accumulation of knowledge. It is building a capability to find new possibilities in novel circumstances.

Where did you get the idea for the Rubik’s Cube?

AB / Your father was a flight engineer. How did that influence your career choices?

ER / Father and boy, parents and kids—we are based on them, both through our genes and by seeing how they live. He was not a person who wanted to push me in any direction. I actually spent more time with my mother and was closer to her. My father was working in the countryside, but I saw his work, and it was important to me. After finishing his education at a university in Budapest, he and some other young engineers decided they wanted to manufacture airplanes, gliders, and other products. So they applied for a loan and got one, and they built a factory, which I got to visit.

Did you grow up tinkering with things?

I was an ordinary boy, wanting to do everything possible— and not possible. I climbed

trees and had fun in other ways that weren’t allowed but were exciting to me. And I was curious and tried to make things. Nothing special.

Who else has inspired or influenced you in your career?

I’m impressed not by people but by what they’ve done or what they are doing. I admire literature, art, engineering— how things are accomplished. So I can’t name people, just what they’ve created. I hope that my fame, if I have any, is not because I’m different from others but because of the Cube and its content.

You studied art then moved on to architecture. Why?

I started in middle school with painting, sculpture, and so on, but I went to university to study architecture because, in my view, that is art as well. Next to the practical, it has the aesthetics.

I was interested in geometry, construction, and working in three dimensions and looking for a tool to explain 3D transformations. That led me to discover the Cube. I don’t like the term “invent” because it’s really just finding what is already there but not visible or tangible to others. You know, another person can take a walk on your road and see stones. But you might see that one has the potential to be a diamond even though its qualities are hidden. And hopefully you also have the patience to find what is inside.

How did you approach the development of the Cube?

First, I needed to understand the nature of the object and how to make it work. I used my hands, simple tools, the design school workshops. I sometimes used food because it’s easy to work with. That took a few months. And then there was the process of transforming it into a product and putting it on the market. That took three years. I started in 1974,

The architect and puzzle inventor Erno Rubik reflects on creativity, problem solving, and his iconic invention.

and the first Magic Cubes were produced in Hungary in 1977. Then it was another three years before we introduced the Cube to the world market. We’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of that now.

What hurdles did you face in trying to sell it internationally? When you make something, you need to prove to others that it has a value. Finding people who agree with you takes time and luck. You need a partner with expertise and a willingness to experiment. And you need teamwork so you are moving together. Our first manufacturer was a very small Hungarian company without enough resources. But the Cube I made with that company became very popular, and based on that and growing interest from abroad—especially from mathematicians—we wanted a partner beyond the closed economy of the Iron Curtain. We finally found an American toy company and made a deal and went to the big toy fair in New York City with the Cube. We had to change the name to Rubik’s Cube because there were copyright issues with Magic Cube. Then there was a craze. We sold more than 100 million Cubes over the next three years.

Were you happy with the decision to put your name on the product?

I was not happy or unhappy. It was a suggestion from the American company because of legalities, and I accepted. There are many products holding the names of their creators. But I’m sure if you’re using a Hoover to clean your home or shaving with a Gillette razor or driving a Porsche, you’re not thinking about the men behind them.

When did you realize the impact the Rubik’s Cube would have on the toy market?

I didn’t recognize it when it was happening. I recognized it after. When we started, puzzles were not in the mainstream for the toy business. I’m not speaking about jigsaw puzzles, because when those are done, your game is finished; you can frame it or put it back into the box. My kind of puzzles are more complex. They’re not finished when you finish. You can do them again differently or faster. Those are more popular now, and everyone is looking for novelty. In writing my book, I also investigated the impact the Cube had in different areas. For example, apps—more than 3,000 are connected to it in some way. And books—some were written about it, a few of which sold several million copies; others were about different topics but featured an image of it on the cover to represent problem solving or creativity or complexity; there are more than 500 of those.

Some people wrote books explaining how to solve it. Did that annoy you?

Not at all. We needed to demonstrate to the trade and other people that it was possible to do, because the difficulty level is so high that it’s seemingly unsolvable. But obviously I think it’s best to find the solution by yourself, as with any puzzle.

You later developed other Rubik products. How did you keep innovating and decide which ideas were worth pursuing?

Most people have lots of ideas. I think what makes me different is that I have a good sense

“The Cube has become a universal symbol of everything I believe education should be about: fostering curiosity, the rewards of problem solving, and the joys of finding your own solution.”

for evaluating mine, and if I find some value in one, I don’t give up until I’m able to perfect it. Probably the most important thing, though, is that I love what I do. That’s a key element to achieving your goals.

When you have a hit product, do you always feel pressure to match that success?

I never planned to achieve this peak, and after it, I had no thought that I’d like to do better. My only goal is to do well. I’m not thinking about whether people will like it or not. I need to love it and meet my targets, nothing else. What happens after that depends not on me but others. The Cube created the strongest connection with people—which is harder than being popular— maybe because it taught them that they could solve difficult problems and rely on no one

but themselves to succeed. It has meaning, and that’s enough for me.

Why did you create your own studio?

I did it because I had the financial ability to. I had an idea to try to create a team and work together because I didn’t do that before. And it was successful, but I found out it’s not right for me. So the studio still exists, but it’s a one-man show. Meanwhile, the Rubik brand carries on with an English company that has a great team of people; I’m on the board of directors and can make suggestions and have influence, but I’m not part of the company’s everyday operations.

As an advocate for STEM education, what improvements do you want to see? And what should companies do to help?

I prefer to call it STEAM since art is an important part of education. The key is starting early, from elementary school, and continuing on. This small blue planet and its entire interdependent population depend on future generations learning these subjects. I and my company have tried to help. The Cube has become a universal symbol of everything I believe education should be about: fostering curiosity, the rewards of problem solving, and the joys of finding your own solution. We’ve introduced the You CAN Do the Rubik’s Cube curriculum to hundreds of US schools and are expanding it elsewhere to help math teachers impart learning about algorithms, geometry, ratio and proportions, mathematical operations, algebra, combinatorics, and even physics in an engaging, interactive, tangible way.

Alison Beard is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

c.2020 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp.

VR’S TH E M AK IN G O F

VR’S

M O ST R EVO L UTI O N ARY H E A D S ET

Imagine a virtual reality experience unlike any you’ve had before—one where the sophisticated hardware you’re wearing could sense your stress levels, your confusion, or even when your attention is beginning to wane—well before you’ve realized it.

That was the vision of Tico Ballagas, a senior manager at HP Labs, who led the development of the HP Omnicept Solution: the HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition headset and SDK (software development kit) for VR developers. Together with an all-star team of researchers, Ballagas set out to change how humans and machines interact. But like all ambitious projects, it had many iterations before it was ready for prime time. After five years of development that spanned four countries and two reorganizations, HP Omnicept will hit the market this spring. Outfitted with a fleet of biosensors and sophisticated AI, the HP Omnicept VR headset can do what no VR hardware does—it measures how hard your brain is working and soon even will gauge your mood and emotions. It’s the next step in the future of computing that’s set to revolutionize every aspect of work, from how we train surgeons to preparing for public speaking to how we make and consume entertainment. Here’s how the Omnicept came to life.

HOW A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS AT HP LABS CREATED THE HP OMNICEPT, THE MOST INTELLIGENT VIRTUAL REALITY SOLUTION ON THE MARKET.

BY SARA HARRISON PHOTOGRAPH BY SPENCER HEYFRON

A TEAM SPORT

TO MAKE A monumental leap forward in computing, Ballagas looked backward. He was inspired by his longtime hero Doug Engelbart , a pioneering inventor and computer engineer who in 1959 posited that instead of replacing people, computers could work alongside them, augmenting intelligence rather than supplanting it. His ideas became the basis of tools we still use today like the mouse, hypertext, and videoconferencing.

“Now we realize it’s not either/ or,” says Ballagas. “We can use computers and we can use AI to augment human intelligence as well.”

But revolutionizing computing isn’t a one-person job. First, Ballagas had to assemble the right experts, starting with Jishang Wei, a top AI architect.

COGNITIVE LOAD IS REALLY JUST OUR FIRST INFERENC E. WE ASPIRE TO DO A LOT MOR

FOCUSING ON COGNITIVE LOAD

AFTER READING the work of Nobel Prize–winning behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman , Ballagas realized that the team didn’t need all that extra information from brain waves and skin conductivity. They could get great data from just four biometric sensors that tracked changes in pupil dilation, heart and respiratory rates, and head movement. And they could use those measurements to make important inferences about one specific, but very telling, mental state: a person’s cognitive load.

Just like the RAM in a computer, humans can only hold and process so much information at any given time. As we start to do more and increasingly difficult tasks, remember more details or recall more facts, our brains have to work harder and our cognitive load

GETTING INSIDE OUR HEADS

WEI WAS THEN leading a project called “Emotion AI” to train computers to understand and react to users’ emotions. He was trying to understand how to interpret people’s emotions from their biological responses in order to craft an experience that adapts to them.

Ballagas and Wei found common ground in their visions and teamed up to tackle a central problem: We could understand machines, but they couldn’t understand us terribly well. For all their incredible computing power, machines can’t anticipate our feelings, or recognize when our attention is wandering or when we’re upset or tired or anxious. “We saw an opportunity to change that with VR,” Ballagas says.

Wei and Ballagas demonstrated their pilot results to HP’s business unit, which expressed strong interest, and they assembled a crack team, including Mithra Vankipuram, a specialist in data science and user experience; Kevin Smathers, a software engineer; and nearly a dozen other talented scientists.

The team brainstormed for hours about how to create a machine that could work with humans. But how could they get inside someone’s head? They needed to measure emotions in real time, and they couldn’t stick people who were at work

grows. Our working memory can’t hold any more: We start to forget things, have a hard time focusing, and struggle to keep up with new information coming at us.

Everyone from air-traffic controllers to fighter pilots to surgeons has to manage a careful balance called the Goldilocks Zone: They’re engaged enough to stay focused, but not so challenged and overloaded with information that they get overwhelmed or burn out.

Ballagas reasoned that knowing someone’s cognitive load could help them train more efficiently. The Omnicept could measure cognitive load and see where people were struggling and needed more time and practice, tailoring that training to their unique needs.

But Ballagas also kept an eye on the future, including a camera that captures facial expressions which could eventually be used to create avatars that mimic users’ faces in real time. “Cognitive load is really just our first inference,” says Ballagas. “We aspire to do a lot more.”

inside an MRI machine. Instead, they had to rely on proxy measures—indications from the body about emotional and psychological states, such as pupil dilation, which can signal mental strain or arousal, or increased heart rate, which can indicate stress.

“We had a lot of failure stories,” like skin conductivity sensors that didn’t work and EEG sensors that didn’t get clean data, says Wei, the team’s machine-learning maestro.

Tico Ballagas, sen io r manager, h p labs

E.”

UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE

IN APRIL 2019, HP disbanded the Immersive Experiences Lab, but the core team, including Ballagas, Wei, Smathers, Vankipuram, Sarthak Ghosh, and Hiroshi Horii, was preserved, staying within HP Labs. With the sensors perfected, Wei and team started refining the AI features in the Omnicept, combining emerging physiological research with top machine-learning techniques. The result is an algorithm that uses sensory data to make inferences about how hard the brain is working.

The team was also careful to create a diverse data set so the algorithm was relevant for all types of users. They launched a global data collection effort, partnering with international labs like the CriaLab in Brazil.

Tico Ballagas

SENIOR MANAGER

Sarthak Ghosh

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Contributed from 2016 to 2019

Hiroshi Horii

LEAD DESIGNER

Contributed from 2016 to 2021

Srikanth Kuthuru

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Contributed from 2019 to 2021

Yutai Shen

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Contributed from 2018 to 2019

Erika Siegel

LEAD PSYCHOLOGIST

Kevin Smathers

SOFTWARE ARCHITECT

Contributed from 2016 to 2020

Mithra Vankipuram

DATA SCIENTIST

IMPAIRED PERFORMANCE BECAUSE OF STRONG ANXIETY

Contributed from 2016 to 2020

Jishang Wei

AI ARCHITECT

OPENING UP THE SCIENCE

IN EARLY 2020, Ballagas brought in even more scientific muscle by recruiting Dr. Erika Siegel , a psychophysiologist who studies how physical cues like heart rate reflect our internal state. She was impressed by how committed HP is to creating products supported by cutting-edge science. “This [testing] has been very rigorous from the beginning,” she says. “This is how I would have designed it.”

The team also started collaborating with Jeremy Bailenson , founding director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University, who helped design the studies. Bailenson says he’s usually leery of companies promising they can measure emotions, but this opportunity was different. “The team that Tico put together was what changed my mind,” he says, describing the mix of expertise as “mind-blowingly good.”

Even as COVID-19 caused a global shutdown, the team continued to collect data by sending out sterilized headsets to more than 600 subjects in the United States, Mozambique, Brazil, and Taiwan. This data makes the Omnicept’s algorithm one of the most inclusive and most representative AIs ever developed.

And though the pandemic kept the core team sequestered in their homes, work on the Omnicept continued. “There’s just a good energy to the team,” says Siegel, who credits Ballagas for keeping everyone on deadline while still fostering creativity.

202

AFTER YEARS OF development, the Omnicept will initially be used with workplace training applications, like flight simulators that train new pilots, and programs like Ovation, which helps people practice public-speaking skills.

THE FUTURE OF OMNICEPT

As they collect more user data, Ballagas and team will continue to refine and expand Omnicept’s inferences to include emotions beyond cognitive load. In the future it will be used to test how drivers feel about a new car interior before it’s built or improve the outcome of virtual meetings and collaboration by capturing the nonverbal cues of participants.

Already Ballagas is considering new ways to unlock the secrets of the brain.

“I think that’s the future of computing, the future of communication, and it will be really powerful.”

HP Omnicept's bioanalytics promise to transform VR flight stimulation.

Illustration by Hiroshi Horii, lead designer on the Omnicept team.

—Erika Siegel, lead psychologist

This [testing] has been very rigorous from the beginning. This is how I would have designed it.”

THE NEXT STEPS IN VR

THE HP REVERB G2 OMNICEPT EDITION

HEART RATE

By monitoring a user’s heart rate, the headset makes it possible to know how they are responding to a VR experience or workplace training.

MOTION TRACKING

With four cameras and internal sensors for position detection, users can track more of their arm movements

The headset has biometric sensors, cutting-edge optics, inside-out tracking, spatial 3D audio, and improved controllers with natural gestures.

Foveated Rendering Integrated eye tracking from Swedish tech company Tobii makes it possible to discern the user's gaze direction, inproving image quality and enhancing realism.

Improved Visuals and Sound Valve’s industry-leading lenses and speakers deliver a lifelike experience.

EYE MOTION & GAZE

Tracking the user’s focus area offers an understanding of how they are responding to content, and monitoring pupil size provides insights into engagement levels.

FACIAL EXPRESSION

Cameras that follow mouth movements will support more natural collaboration in VR environments.

Waking Up to Our Post-COVID World

A year ago, the world was just becoming aware of a virus that would disrupt society on an unprecedented level. Since that time, the pandemic has made us rethink how our children learn, how we work, where we shop, and, most significantly, how we take care of ourselves and one another. It’s turned our lives, businesses, and world upside down.

As we move forward, we anticipate the impact of COVID-19 will be far-reaching and lasting, requiring us to take a fresh look at trends impacting the global economy, public health, education, and the future of work.

The future of work

The rapid spread of the virus forced businesses to transform overnight. While some people have returned to the office at least part-time, infection spikes and new variants have companies assessing if remote working or a hybrid model—combining remote and co-located work—should be adopted permanently.

COVID-19 will continue accelerating the transition to remote work and transforming the workplace. A 2019 survey of remote workers from Buffer found that just 30% of their companies had fully remote workforces. Fast-forward to 2020 when most US companies had shifted nearly their entire “nonessential” workforce to remote as

Andrew Bolwell, Global Head of HP Tech Strategy and Ventures, explores how we are entering a decade of consequence that will shift how we live, work, and play.

ANDREW BOLWELL PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHINAFACE / GETTY (TOP); REIJA BOLWELL (LEFT)

COVID-19 spread. Many employees hope this will continue. A PwC survey found that 74% of office workers would like to work remotely two days a week or more, even after the pandemic ends.

This could be a substantial benefit to companies, as remote work can lead to productivity gains and savings. In a survey covering the United States, Germany, and India, around 75% of employees said that during the first months of the pandemic they were able to maintain or improve productivity on their individual tasks. Even on collaborative tasks with coworkers, or

40% of employees

are expected to utilize a remote-working model in the future

SOURCE: BCG

84% of workers would like to work remotely at least one day per week

SOURCE: PwC

interacting with clients, more than half of respondents said they were able to maintain or improve their productivity

There are also potential cost savings. A typical employer can save about $11,000 per year for every person who works remotely half-time. Employees who choose to work from home at least half-time could save between $2,500 and $4,000 a year, thanks to reduced transportation, parking, and food costs.

Even with those benefits, there will likely still be times when collaboration, development, training, and corporate culture require us to gather in person. Microsoft announced a flexible workplace option,

20% of remote workers

say their biggest struggle is around collaboration and communication

SOURCE: BUFFER

offering most of its employees a combined work-from-home and work-at-office model. Twitter, which adopted a permanent workfrom-home policy during the pandemic, has mentioned using its office space postpandemic for meetings and gatherings.

This will require new ways of thinking about space, interaction, and safety. Flexible spaces with movable walls, common areas and pathways designed with social distancing in mind, spaced-out offices, team pods, private working areas, and testing and temperature stations will need to be factored into retrofitted and new office designs. Employees will need to be healthy and feel safe when they return.

Reduced-occupancy meeting rooms and elevators, rapid diagnostic tests, upgraded air filter and filtration systems, cleaning protocols, hand-sanitizing stations, and social-distance directional signage will all be part of our “new norm.” To help organizations structure phased returns, tools such as ReRun will be used to calculate how many people an office space can safely fit and where they should sit. ServiceNow introduced apps focused on employee-readiness surveys, health screening, workplace safety, and personal protective equipment.

We believe the future of work will be a hybrid model, and the role of the office will become a place to facilitate teamwork and group activities. This will drive the need for solutions to enable employee productivity, cooperation, and engagement, wherever they might be.

“Employees who choose to work from home at least halftime could save between $2,500 and $4,000 a year, thanks to reduced transportation, parking, and food costs.”

1 in 5

emergency

The future of business

COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of many businesses. As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in April, “We have seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.”

One example is the acceleration of automation, through technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI), to drive process and workflow automation, customer service efficiencies, and enterprise-wide cost savings.

RPA and chatbots are ensuring business continuity across industries despite the huge spike in claims and queries related to COVID-19 —particularly in the travel, leisure, entertainment, and hospitality industries. A major airline built an RPA “bot” in just six days that was able to address 80% of cancellation requests, or about 4,000 per day. That amount of work would typically require around 200 fulltime employees, and the RPA solution costs 30% of what it would cost to hire them. Around 55% of major organizations plan to boost their investment in automation solutions this year.

RPA spend is forecasted to reach $25 billion by 2025 (compared with $3.6 billion today), and by the end of 2022, 85% of large organizations will have deployed some form of it.

An economy is being created where companies will compete not just based on the value of their products and services, but on how successfully they’ve become a digital-first company.

The future of industries

The manufacturing industry has already had to respond to COVID-19 with more automation. Social-distancing requirements are leading to the rapid adoption of remote diagnostic, management, and collaboration tools. A control-tower view of data across the whole manufacturing operation may become standard, with an accelerated deployment of Industrial IoT, including sensing, data visualization, and AI-based insights across their operations. The shift to smart factories will be accelerated, and manufacturing will also require a digital-first approach.

Retail has also depended heavily on technology and automation to weather the pandemic. US ecommerce sales shot up 25%, with egrocery sales doubling during lockdowns. Buy Online, Pick Up in Store services (BOPIS) have surged, with 40% of retailers now offering the option, compared with just 25% last year. Big retailers have opened automated mini-warehouses and are setting up “dark stores”—buildings that look like supermarkets but are closed to customers—to meet the demand for deliveries and pickup orders. Going forward, consumers will be able to switch seamlessly between online and offline shopping experiences, all connected, with relevant buyer data at every touchpoint.

The new normal is digital

These shifts are ushering in a world of digital-first businesses and industries, transforming how products are made and sold. We will soon be living in a world that, but for the pandemic, might have taken years, maybe decades, to manifest, and it is critical that everyone can thrive in this new digital reality.

At HP our mission is to create technology that makes life better. This means not only continuing to digitally transform ourselves, but to also support our customers, partners, employees, and communities in their efforts to do the same, while helping bridge the digital divide to ensure everyone can benefit.

+652%

-77% +652%

-77%

BUTTE IS JUST ONE HOUR AWAY FROM THE STATE CAPITAL, HELENA, AND LESS THAN THREE HOURS FROM YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.

ZOOM TOWNS THE WHEREVER OFFICE

BUTTE, MONTANA, IS SURROUNDED BY 3.2 MILLION ACRES OF NATIONAL FORESTS. THERE ARE SEVEN SKI AREAS WITHIN THREE HOURS OF THE CITY.

THE MEDIAN LIST PRICE OF HOMES IN BUTTE IS $179,900.

NO LONGER TIED TO OFFICES AND LONG COMMUTES, WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF NEW FREEDOMS, AND SHIFTING PREFERENCES OF WHERE AND HOW THEY WANT TO WORK WILL HAVE FAR-REACHING EFFECTS.

by john surico illustrations by violet reed

Up to

million

SOURCE: UPWORK

in or near cities, as were the services needed to fill them, such as transportation, housing, and food. The suburbs were defined by their proximity to cities, and homes were places to return to at day’s end. So what if, for wide swaths of the working populace, that no longer applies?

A Gallup poll released in October revealed that 33% of job holders in the United States were always remote and an additional 25% were occasionally remote. Major tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Slack have told their employees that working from home is now at least semipermanent, and other institutions such as universities and hospitals expect virtual instruction and care to be standard offerings. A PwC survey found that more than half of all office workers—55%—would like to work remotely three days a week or more, and fewer than one in five employers want to return to the office as it was before.

This disruption has resulted in a remote-worker migration where up to 23 million people could move in the US alone and a labor shift that is setting off ripple effects across industry, real estate, and government. In industry surveys, workers in fields like tech and finance say

they’ll ditch expensive cities such as San Francisco and Seattle. Meanwhile, 15% of 3,300 tech workers sampled who were living in the Bay Area have left. And those who move are more than twice as likely to settle in less dense regions with lower housing costs.

Cities like Burlington, Vermont ; Bend, Oregon; and Butte, Montana, have become Zoom Towns , with swarms of new arrivals in recent months. Farther afield, remote workers are also moving to places like Somerset, England , and Western Australia . Even India’s Silicon Valley in Bengaluru (also called Bangalore) is emptying out . If an area has reliable Wi-Fi , a connection to nature, and good transportation links to larger hubs, remote workers are flocking there.

REMOTE WORK has been on the rise for good reason. Before COVID-19, the cost of living in the most expensive US cities was around 40% to 80% percent higher than the national average, a trend mirrored in global capitals like London, Paris, and Tokyo. Smaller municipalities such as Tulsa, Oklahoma , were already luring big-city residents with more space, cheaper

prices, and offers of grants and coworking space . The trend isn’t new, but “this past year it has been on steroids,” says Prithwiraj “Raj” Choudhury, a professor at Harvard Business School who focuses on the future of work and wrote about the shift recently for the Harvard Business Review

In 2020, large numbers of workers, restricted from going to the office, began to take a harder look at their home, work, and outdoor spaces. Just 36% of homes in US cities like New York City and San Francisco have a spare bedroom for an office. Choudhury, who advised Tulsa and is helping the local governments of Venice and Cape Town attract remote workers, says, “This has really become a national and international phenomenon.” The acceleration of trends by the pandemic has shifted remote-worker migration into hyperdrive.

So what does this mean for the towns people are moving to?

Danya Lee Rumore, a professor at the University of Utah, says “gateway communities” in the Mountain West—smaller towns that are located close to a national park or ski resort and have populations of fewer than 25,000, like Moab, Utah,

Americans could move due to remotework opportunities

or Jackson, Wyoming—were already seeing increased visitation and growth . Now this movement of people to places for recreational reasons—called “amenity migration”—has taken off.

In recent meetings with corporate leaders, Rumore learned that they expect between 50% and 80% of employees to stay remote, many of whom hold six-figure salaries. “What does it do to a community when the average income of a local employee is $40,000,” she asks, “and all of a sudden, you have a mass in-migration of people who have average incomes of $150,000?”

What happens? A sort of small-town gentrification— and, inevitably, an increase in prices. In Flathead County, Montana, for example, monthly real estate closings nearly doubled in 2020, and the median home-sale price jumped almost $50,000 in five months.

Rumore, who launched the Gateway and Natural Amenity Region Initiative, says some communities have tools to ensure equitable growth, like zoning and ordinances, but she is worried about towns that aren’t prepared for such an influx of new residents and the

33% Currently of job holders in the United States are fully remote and an additional

25% are occasionally remote

SOURCE: GALLUP

1 in 5

Fewer than employers want to return to the office as it was before

SOURCE: PwC

strain it will create. “Rural development experts said this year we’ll be where they expected us to be in 15 years,” according to Rumore. “Once [the towns] get discovered, they start to have big-city problems”—like congestion, unaffordability, and infrastructure constraints.

If Zoom Towns want to retain these new residents and keep local ones, they need adequate infrastructure (increased tax revenue can help with that) such as reliable broadband and

power, and farsighted city planning. Bhagyashree Pancholy’s remote work consultancy All Remotely helps companies migrate their workforce online. When COVID-19 hit, she was researching how rural communities across her home state of Rajasthan, India— already a favorite destination for expats—could gain remote workers. “The access to stable, fast Internet connection was a real problem [for all workers],” Pancholy says. “But I also had this problem in the middle of Iowa.”

Stefan Palios, a journalist and consultant who specializes in remote work, is moving himself—from Toronto to Windsor, Nova Scotia. He advises town planners to take stock of the amenities they offer, such as affordable housing or great natural vistas, then be proactive, and not to take a perceived urban exodus for granted. “What can you offer that nobody else can?” he asks.

BURLINGTON, VERMONT, IS 100 MILES FROM MONTREAL’S INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND 200 MILES FROM BOSTON’S. NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF THE POPULATION IS IN THEIR 20s

NO MATTER WHERE remote workers end up, the workfrom-home structure has been normalized. “In two years’ time, after this big experiment of working from home, are they going to start pulling people back into the office?” asks Andy Rhodes, HP’s Global Head of Commercial PCs. “I think there’s been enough change that we’ll remain in a hybrid mode.”

This return of sorts to an uncentralized workplace has merits and challenges. “The biggest positive is that you can choose where you live,” says Choudhury. And if employees are remote half the time, they can pocket up to $4,000 a year, thanks to less money spent

on commuting, parking, and that $13 downtown lunch. They also have more time to spend with loved ones, exercising, or socializing.

Employers win, too: Businesses can minimize their physical (and carbon) footprint, but maximize their recruiting reach and hire talent from anywhere. Companies can also save up to $11,000 a year for each employee who works remotely at least half the time. And they can also reduce budgets on business travel and airfare, hotels, and events, and—if location is no longer consequential—opt for smaller, less expensive office space.

Remote work also has the potential to prevent brain drain. “Scholars like me have studied the phenomenon of smaller towns losing talent to cities, or emerging markets losing talent to the West,” says Choudhury. “Now that talent

36% US of homes in

Just cities like New York and San Francisco have a spare bedroom

SOURCE: HARRIS AND ZILLOW

But the wherever office isn’t without pitfalls—ask any worker juggling children, homeschooling, pets, and shaky Wi-Fi. Traveling from room to room to avoid noisy kids, leaf-blowing neighbors, competing video calls, or sunlight has become the new business travel. This new micro-mobility means workers must have the right tools for success. “How does technology enable everyone to give their best self when they are working remotely?” asks Rhodes.

According to Rhodes, it takes up to 23 minutes for workers to regain focus after a disruption while remote, and caregiving or other responsibilities could create “second-class” employees who are at a disadvantage

ALSO HAS ONE OF THE LONGEST SKI SEASONS IN THE UNITED STATES, RUNNING THROUGH THE END OF MAY.

due to their living situation. Companies will have to rethink their relationship with employees, one less centered around a physical place and more aligned with the new work-life pattern. Experts say that some of the daily disruptions synonymous with this past year will subside as in-person activities resume. Yet the struggle of isolation will persist.

“How do we drive a more engaged workforce?” asks Loretta Li-Sevilla, who heads Future of Work and Collaboration at HP. “In the office, it’s taken for granted that you’re always connected, but when you’re working from home, that becomes a challenge.”

Experts like Choudhury and Li-Sevilla suggest more informal video huddles, virtual water coolers, and flex days, which would allow remote workers to socialize or meet management in a more comfortable setting. Companies should consider opening up localized “hubs” in new growth areas, which would serve a more social, rather than utilitarian, function.

For companies, the key is creating new rules of engagement that ensure work—whether it’s individual or collaborative, in-person or virtual—is inclusive of everyone, no matter where they are.

“Now, as we see this whole distributed work environment, it’s really tied to what’s most important for people and an individual’s needs, versus the employer and their needs,” says Li-Sevilla.

“There’s a shift going on,” she continued. “More power is in the hands of the people.”

I think there’s been enough change that we’ll remain in a hybrid mode.”

—Andy Rhodes, HP’s Global Head of Commercial PCs

The Home Office of Tomorrow

The arrival of the pandemic turned the home office from a sideshow to the main event. Thanks to highspeed internet and wireless technology, a lot of professionals have realized that they can get almost as much done— or more!—without physically being at their workplace. Our newfound need for a highly functional domestic office is likely to last long after the coronavirus is no more, and the home office will only become more advanced— imagine the years ahead when 5G, VR, and other on-the-cusp technologies are multiplied and projected forward. Just as the meaning of “my phone” has changed from “my landline” to “my cell phone” to “my smartphone,” five to ten years down the road “the office” will be interchangeable with “home office.” But what kind of specific innovations might that future bring? What tools will we be using to do our work at home? We looked into our crystal ball to find out.

—JEFF WISE

illustration by violet reed

The resolution on the next-gen 37.5-inch HP Z38c curved display monitor is so sharp you can read the titles on your boss’s bookshelf during video meetings.

2

Smart shades automatically tilt to capture the most rays for your home’s green energy use—or sense when you need dimmer light and close automatically.

Embedded touchscreen technology lets you change the pattern or color to suit your mood. Feeling creative? Use the whole wall as a floor-to-ceiling whiteboard.

Keep forgetting to plug in your portable devices? This charger automatically beams energy into hungry batteries no matter where they are in the room.

This AI-powered work throne protects you from back strain and tight hip flexors by sensing your posture and vibrating to let you know when you need to sit up straight or walk around.

The HP VR headset eliminates the need for business travel: Just insert yourself into meetings with anyone, anywhere, in crystal-clear 3D.

16

Once the UPS guy is replaced by an autonomous air vehicle, you’ll need a safe, secure landing spot for inbound packages and essentials.

15

Remember how realistic Princess Leia looked as an R2-D2 projection? You’ll need to dress for meetings again when you attend remotely as a hologram. Bonus: People will be able to compliment your new haircut or shoes.

Drone Helipad

Holographic Scanner and Projector

18 Smart Chair

1 Wraparound Monitor

17 VR Headset

4 Wireless Charger

3 Digital Wallpaper

Solar Blinds

5 Empathic Lighting

Emotion detectors sense your mood and adjust the hue and intensity of your light fixtures to perk you up or help you read printed materials.

6 Smart Mirror Physical fitness improves mental performance. Break up the workday with a remote stretch class or interval training on your wallmounted mirror.

7 Pajama Suits

Engage in self-care while still dressed as a consummate professional. From the waist up, they look like Savile Row, but they’re really sleepy-time soft cotton.

8 Power Fridge

This smartfridge-and-juicer combo keeps your fruits and veggies fresh, anticipates what you want and when you want it, then automatically places orders for resupply.

9 Ingestible Health Monitor

Personalized wellness is here. This encapsulated pill-sized electronic microprocessor measures your body’s chemical balance to make sure you’re operating at maximum health and productivity.

14

Just call out its name and this super-advanced AI secretary will conduct research, search travel and hotel bookings, juggle your schedule, and conduct simple phone conversations.

13 Nanny Robot

A big deadline is looming, and the kids need homework help and a PB&J. No problem: This cybernetic Mary Poppins is here to run interference.

12 Domestic Drone

A flying AI-powered robot patrols your home and adjacent airspace to clean up messes, dust the fans, and chase away your teenager’s suitors.

11 Cat Distractor

This kitty-sized screen mounted at ankle height shows dangling string and lifelike mice in 4K resolution to keep your feline distracted and off your keyboard.

10 Connected Coffeemaker

A machine-learning coffee machine predicts how much caffeine you will need to power through your next VR meeting and brews the perfect cup.

AI Executive Assistant

ALL SMILES

SmileDirectClub’s aligners are made at the company’s facility in Antioch, Tennessee.

SMILEDIRECTCLU B’ S STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY

OUTSIDE NASHVILLE USES H P ’S 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE ORTHODONTIA MORE ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE FOR MILLION S, ONE PERSONALIZED ALIGNER AT A TIM E.

ONE-OF-A-KIND

by garage staff / photographs by jon morgan lettering by tal leming

AT THE BRIGHTLY LIT SMILE H O US E ”

manufacturing facility in Antioch, Tennessee, SmileDirectClub employees in purple masks, gloves, and other safety gear work amid the industrial hum of an unconventional production process. The facility is the heart of an innovative approach to manufacturing that has delivered affordable orthodontic treatment and straighter bites to more than a million customers in a major disruption to the 120-year-old, $12 billion orthodontics industry.

In three pristine rooms, much of the action happens within 60 state-of-theart HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers, which follow detailed plans to produce customized molds as unique as the smile on your face. The molds will be used to shape SmileDirectClub’s signature clear plastic aligners, which are then shipped directly to consumers.

3D printing systems have the potential to evolve manufacturing from mass production of identical products to “mass personalization” of unique, customized products at scale, when and where they are needed, says Ramon Pastor, Head of 3D Printing Platforms at HP. “It is a great example for many other industries—such as health and wellness and consumer goods—that mass personalization is possible and scalable, and that we can produce it,” he says.

EXPANDING ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY

According to SmileDirectClub, although 80% of Americans could benefit from orthodontic care, just 1% get it , primarily because of cost, among other barriers. Sixty percent of counties in the United States don’t have an orthodontist

Removing those barriers is a major goal for SmileDirectClub. Braces, the classic strategy, typically cost $5,000 to $8,000, says Dan Baker, SmileDirectClub’s global head of supply chain. SmileDirectClub’s Clear Aligner therapy offers straighter teeth at less than half that cost: $1,950.

HP’s 3D-printing solutions create a significant part of those savings, allowing SmileDirectClub to make products more efficiently with lower-cost materials. At its current facility in Antioch, SmileDirectClub’s 60 HP Multi Jet Fusion printers work around the clock to produce the molds used to create its aligners each year, Baker says. The partnership is set to grow this summer with a new facility in Columbia, Tennessee, that will significantly expand SmileDirectClub’s fleet of HP’s Multi Jet Fusion printers and create 600 new jobs. The Columbia facility is

TIME TO SMILE

A finished mold, or arch, 3D printed at the Antioch facility. It typically takes about 12 hours to produce one mold, with thousands made simultaneously.

Left, top: A cart transfers molds from a 3D printer to an excavating station.

Left, bottom: Eskatsnaf Aragaw, a SmileDirectClub production technician.

expected to match the current production level—which totals 40,000 aligners a day.

“The heartbeat of our manufacturing capability is 3D printing,” he says.

THE STEPS ALONG THE SMILE JOURNEY

There are several ways for customers to begin their “smile journey,” Baker says. Those include a visit to one of the company’s SmileShops or to the customer’s Partner Network dental provider to get images taken.

If they prefer, or if their local SmileShop is closed, customers can order a doctor-prescribed impression kit to complete at home, using a putty-like material to take an imprint of their teeth that they then mail back to the company along with other information.

Regardless of how they get started, technology allows customers to see exactly what their progress will look like via specialized 3D-imaging software, Baker says. “We’re able to show you how your smile is likely to progress from where you are today to the smile that you’ve always dreamed of.”

Next, a treatment plan is developed for review and approval by the customer’s treating dentist. Once the customer has signed up, individualized plans are sent to the facility in Antioch, where HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing systems produce custom molds that are tailored to each customer and used to shape clear plastic aligners.

The 3D printers follow a set of personalized instructions that specify the precise shape of a mold in a pattern of voxels, which are the 3D equivalent of pixels. They make each mold by laying down Nylon 12, an industrial-strength material, in layers only 0.003 inches thick, to create precise shapes and contours. The mold is then used to produce the aligners, which are sent to the customer.

Each customer receives an average of 12 to 18 sets of aligners that they progress through over the course of their treatment, moving on to a new set every one to two weeks. Treatment plans, which specify 22-hour or nighttime-only wear, average four to 10 months, respectively, far shorter than the two years that are typically required for braces. Customers have regular virtual check-ins with their doctor throughout treatment via the company’s teledentistry platform—saving time and making care more accessible to people who don’t live near an orthodontist. At completion, customers have the option to order a retainer to maintain their new smile.

MANUFACTURING FOR A MARKET OF ONE, WITH SUSTAINABILITY BUILT IN

One major advantage of 3D printing for orthodontia is its ability to create patient-specific solutions in unique geometries, eliminating the cost of extra tools for shaping each product, says Brandon Ribic, technology director of America Makes, a manufacturing innovation institute established by the US Department of Defense as a public-private partnership.

“It’s tailored to the shape of your teeth, the location of your teeth in your mouth, and how it conforms to all those curves and crevices and angles,” Ribic says.

4. FORMING THE ARCHES A precision cutting system is used to assure comfortable fits.

5. FINAL PRODUCT One of the 40,000 aligners produced each day prior to being transferred for inspection.

1. PRINTING BEGINS Molds early in the printing process.

2. EXCAVATING After printing, excess powder that forms around the molds is removed.

3. SORTING QR codes with radio frequency identification (RFID) are used to track the aligners for each SmileDirectClub customer.

3D PRINTING REDUCES THE ENVIRONMENTAL F OO TPRINT OF THE MANUFACTURING PR O CES S.”

—Ramon Pastor, Head of 3D Printing Platforms at HP

SmileDirectClub says it is on track to make 6.7 million individual 3D-printed molds by the end of the year.

“3D printing also reduces the environmental footprint of the manufacturing process in multiple ways,” says HP’s Pastor. In traditional manufacturing supply chains, products are made in one place and then shipped all over the world. With 3D printing, digital files are sent to facilities to be printed locally, saving energy and lowering shipping costs. Instead of mass-producing parts and products, 3D printing also happens on demand, producing only as much as customers ask for, which reduces waste.

And, the process creates more opportunities for recycling, keeping the material in use instead of in landfills. SmileDirectClub sends the molds to HP, where they get chopped into pellets for reuse, primarily for the automotive industry. Consumers can recycle the clear plastic aligners themselves just like plastic bottles.

Last year SmileDirectClub recycled 108 metric tons, or 238,000 pounds, of 3D-printed parts—the equivalent of about 60 automobiles. In collaboration with HP, the company is advancing a new era of digital manufacturing that’s fast, highly personalized, and more sustainable than ever before—shortening supply chains, producing less waste than traditional manufacturing, and maximizing recyclability.

THE POWER OF MASS PERSONALIZATION

Ultimately, the partnership between HP and SmileDirectClub, which began formally in 2019, is collaborative, Baker says. SmileDirectClub relies on HP technology while also helping inform and influence how the technology evolves. For example, his team helped find a way to get printer fuse bulbs to last eight times longer. That lengthened the time that machines could operate before a bulb failed—a periodic event that forces a print failure and wastes materials.

The collaborative spirit kicked into gear in unexpected ways last

GROUP EFFORT

SmileDirectClub team members monitor HP 3D printers producing molds for personalized aligners. Aligner therapy is less than half the cost of braces.

6. BEHIND THE SMILE Alexis Southall, a production associate at the SmileDirectClub facility.

7. INSPECTION Every aligner undergoes quality control before being sent to its purchaser.

year when SmileDirectClub began using its fleet of HP 3D printers to help fill a shortfall of face shields for first responders. HP provided print files and design options to jumpstart their production. “They were a really important partner as we repurposed and pivoted due to the pandemic,” Baker says.

The ability to pivot in creative ways suggests a productive future, he adds. “It’s a big-scale operation, and it’s really important to us that we’ve been able to partner with HP and be at the cutting edge of that technology and collaboration with them.”

THE HEARTBEAT OF OUR MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY IS 3D PRINTIN G.”

“

—Dan Baker, SmileDirectClub’s global head of supply chain

REBUILDING THE FEMALE WORKFORCE

As women face unprecedented job losses across a range of industries, an emerging crop of software platforms, tools, and interventions could reshape workplace norms.

by garage staff

illustrations by nathalie lees

VISUAL ARTIST ASHLEY CECIL’S PROFESSIONAL LIFE WAS UPENDED WHEN SCHOOLS CLOSED. THE 39-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF TWO, WHO EARNS LESS THAN HER HUSBAND, SAYS IT WAS CLEAR SHE’D BE THE ONE TO SCALE BACK.

Cecil dropped teaching engagements and began renting out her Pittsburgh studio. “When push came to shove,” she says, “there was just no question that I was going to be...the default parent until we could figure out some solution.”

She’s not the only one. The pandemic’s economic fallout has thrust working women like Cecil into a tenuous juggling act. Nearly 2.2 million women left the US workforce between February and October, according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center. In December alone, the US economy lost 140,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women’s jobs comprised all of these losses . The pandemic has disproportionately impacted women’s employment, with the number of working women dipping to levels not seen since the early 1990s.

Decades of hard-fought gains are eroding: “We’re at such a risk of 20 or 25 years of progress rolling backward,” says Anneliese Olson, HP’s GM and Global Head, Print Category. Olson previously was the executive sponsor for the HP Women’s Network in Singapore and a leader of the Boise Women’s Network, and she currently mentors women formally and informally inside and outside HP.

Globally, women comprise 39% of employment but more than 50% of overall pandemic job losses last year, according to the McKinsey Global Institute . This recession slammed industries where women are heavily employed, such as retail, hospitality, food services, and government—as opposed to industries where men hold the most jobs, including construction and transportation. Loss of child care and home care for aging relatives sidelined many women, who manage a greater share of household responsibilities in twoparent heterosexual households.

Interventions like added flexibility, remote work, and condensed workweeks have helped some women keep working. An emerging crop of technologies could further stem this wave of departures. Experts say the pandemic is expediting innovation because the need for solutions has been felt universally. “What’s different this time is that it affects women across occupations, across sectors, across class. We’re all struggling with the same thing, and it’s not us. It’s the system,” says C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). This moment “requires a reimagining of how we understand women in the workforce,” she says.

Mainstreaming remote work solutions and software

Flexible work arrangements let women regain control over their time, making it easier to manage both their work and home-care responsibilities. As the pandemic forced many office workers to stay home, workplaces mainstreamed existing “asynchronous” communication tools to support their remote staff. Slack helps workers across time zones communicate efficiently, for example, while Asana allows remote teams to organize projects. Calendly helps colleagues across locations schedule virtual meetings, and systems like Gusto streamline payroll processes for small businesses.

Making virtual meetings accessible —an accommodation originally introduced for employees with disabilities—helps reduce

required meetings while keeping parents up to speed on flexible schedules, says Deb Dagit, a disability and inclusion expert. Recording meetings that don’t require participation and creating transcripts with services such as Otter, Rev, and Caption First lets workers consume information on their own time, whether after their kids’ bedtimes or before school.

Virtual child care and other tools

Cecil has continued working part-time from a studio in her basement, typically at night. When she’s needed to work during the day, she has turned to Flexable, a virtual backup child-care service. Her seven-year-old son engaged with a caregiver over video chat while she priced a commission—and those 30 uninterrupted minutes provided the focus needed to complete the sale.

WHAT GOVERNMENTS ARE DOING TO HELP

Governments worldwide have taken measures that enable mothers to pursue available jobs. According to the COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker from the United Nations Development Program and UN Women, Argentina has boosted child allowance payments, while Canada, Spain, and South Korea have provided cash benefits to parents impacted by school or day care closures. Ensuring economic stability for working parents is a priority for President Biden’s administration, whose proposed relief package includes expanding paid sick, family, and medical leave to help parents manage caregiving responsibilities. The plan also calls for financial aid to child-care providers, expanding child-care assistance for parents, and augmenting child-care tax credits.

Creative child-care solutions have been a key piece of the puzzle to keep mothers working because “everybody felt this, whether they were an hourly worker or the CEO of a major organization,” says Priya Amin, CEO and cofounder of Flexable. “There were eyes on child care in a way that there haven’t been since World War II.”

Many businesses are also seeking to deploy interventions and retooled benefits, such as increased child care subsidies or special leave for parents. Caregiver resource groups allow employees to swap tips for homeschooling and provide a forum to share experiences, while remote benefits can be redesigned to incorporate services tailored to specific pandemic stressors. Employee assistance programs could include resources for virtual tutors with experience supporting neurodiverse students, says Dagit, as managing remote schooling for the estimated one in five children with learning disabilities would aid working parents.

In another initiative, some employers have ushered in Friday afternoons without meetings, says Matt Krentz, the diversity, equity, and inclusion and leadership chair at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Others have also provided staff with mental health apps like Headspace and Calm as part of their tool kit to manage working from home. Importantly, employers are focusing on results rather than face time, a culture shift that benefits women.

US women lost 4,637,000 jobs from March 2020 to January 2021. Men lost

3,829,000

SOURCE: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

32.1% of women ages 25 to 44 stated child care as the reason for their unemployment, compared with 12.1% of unemployed men the same age

SOURCE: CENSUS BUREAU

The US unemployment rate for Black and Latinx women is nearly 2x that of White men; women with disabilities are even more likely to be unemployed

SOURCE: NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER

Women comprise 39% of global employment but more than 50% of overall pandemic job losses

SOURCE: MCKINSEY GLOBAL INSTITUTE

Fighting bias with data and AI

As employers make permanent changes to the workplace, measuring longitudinal outcomes will be paramount. Surveys should go beyond typical metrics like retention to track employee sentiment and caregiver status. “Any talent decision—reviews, promotions, layoffs if those happen—should factor in longer-term performance and future potential,” says Krentz. Employers also should monitor for biases against caregivers and track outcomes by gender.

Companies hiring workers can leverage AI that incorporates unconscious bias testing so that older women or those with résumé breaks aren’t screened out. Krentz points to the platform PredictiveHire as an example of how data can promote equity. Candidates interview via text with PredictiveHire’s automation, and this blind assessment (which uses natural language processing and machine learning) is designed to filter out bias.

Other tools like Textio help recruiters write inclusive job descriptions by monitoring tone and gender bias, while the platform Eightfold masks specific personal information so hiring managers see only skills and qualifications.

“Returnship programs” from career reentry firms like iRelaunch help mothers reenter the workforce. Its STEM Re-Entry Task Force targeting women with engineering experience was designed to boost female representation in engineering while addressing the projected shortage of technical talent. Early partners of the task force included Booz Allen Hamilton, General Motors, and Intel.

Retraining and upskilling

Given the estimated worldwide gap of 85 million skilled workers by 2030, retraining could prepare women for jobs of the future, and businesses taking the long view will reap benefits. Women can gain from efforts targeted toward fast-growing sectors like cybersecurity—projected to have 3.5 million open jobs globally this year— and educational programs could transition women into more durable roles.

In the past, networking events, certifications, and credentialing classes might have limited the number of attendees, but online programs and platforms like LinkedIn Learning , the Lambda School ,

and General Assembly have unprecedented reach. Of course, having time to pursue education over short-term income also remains a luxury, especially for women of color, who disproportionately perform lowwage work for fewer basic benefits, let alone development opportunities. These education platforms will only broaden access by remaining affordable. The pandemic has also exacerbated how the digital divide perpetuates inequality for those without internet access.

Meanwhile, reskilling initiatives in the United States have altered the trajectories of people like Christine Snow, who was a flight attendant for nearly a decade. Snow, 29, realized the pandemic would have long-lasting effects on travel. After leaving her job in September 2020, she began attending a coding immersion boot camp called Zip Code Wilmington

The Delaware-based program provides technical training for software development and data analytics and supports job placement. After completing 12 weeks of coursework, Snow is interviewing for software development jobs at financial and consulting companies. “Zip Code Wilmington…empowered me to make a jump into the tech industry and made me confident that I will find fulfilling work even after this pandemic shook the world we live in.”

IWPR’s Mason hopes that employers see the business case for continuing new employee programs they established. The pandemic has both blurred physical boundaries and demanded more holistic approaches, without requiring employees to drop their personal lives at the office door. “Now there is a realization that we come as our full selves,” she says.

To Olson, the economic imperative to create more cohesive “work-life integration” has never been clearer. The ultimate goal is to find solutions that bring women back into the workforce, and incentivize them to remain.

After all, the pandemic forced companies to dramatically adapt the ways they plan and conduct business amid the changing landscape. Olson’s view is, this type of creativity should also apply to hiring, training, and caregiving responsibilities. She says, “We are creative when we plan for business—why wouldn’t we be for people?”

WHAT’S DIFFERENT THIS TIME IS THAT IT AFFECTS WOMEN ACROSS OCCUPATIONS, ACROSS SECTORS, ACROSS CLASS. WE’RE ALL STRUGGLING WITH THE SAME THING, AND IT’S NOT US. IT’S THE SYSTEM.

—C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research

CLASS A

Community colleges and the students they serve have been hard hit by the pandemic. But they are uniquely positioned to respond to workforce demands in the post-pandemic recovery.

ACT

WWHEN CHELSEA ANORMA graduated from high school in 2009, she enrolled at Saddleback College, a community college in Southern California. It was there that she took her first class in chemistry. “I remember being enthralled by learning how the world worked and seeing fascinating chemistry demonstrations and experiments,” she said. “I immediately decided to major in chemistry.”

That set the tone for the rest of her educational

career. She completed her associate’s degree and transferred to the University of California, Irvine. In spring 2020, she defended her doctoral dissertation in the chemistry program at the University of Illinois. “Saddleback is where I fell in love with science, thanks to some awesome professors who helped me not only in class but to get internships and scholarships so that I could transfer,” she said.

Anorma is just one of millions of students who start their education at one of the nearly 1,200

by charlotte west

community colleges in the United States. In fact, 41% of all undergraduate students in the United States attend community college, which costs, on average, roughly half of what public four-year universities charge. Many of these undergraduates are underrepresented students, including the majority of all first-year minority students; students who are older than 25; low-income students; and part-time students. These schools are an affordable stepping-stone to further education and, importantly, an on-ramp to jobs that provide a living wage.

According to Davis Jenkins, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Community College Research Center, community colleges provide important lowerdivision education and advice for younger students on transferring and earning bachelor’s degrees. And they are poised to play an important role in offering the education and training necessary for the postpandemic recovery. “Community colleges will…provide short-term training to help unemployed workers get back in the workplace,” says Jenkins.

FILLING A NEED

FSince last March, more than 14 million people have filed for unemployment. The majority of those who dropped out of the labor market made less than $40,000 a year. Most job losses were in the service sector, followed by education and health services, with an overall unemployment rate of 6.7% at the end of 2020. The recession has negatively affected enrollment at community colleges, which normally goes up during an economic downturn as people seek new credentials and skills. That has not held true during the pandemic.

For fall 2020, while overall undergraduate enrollment was down around 3.6%, community colleges saw a drop of 10%, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The decline was particularly steep among first-time community college students, at 21% overall, with enrollment of first-time Black, Hispanic, and Native American students falling by nearly 30%.

Community colleges have responded by rapidly pivoting to online education, and while many colleges have provided stipends or technology loan programs, the pandemic has brought into sharp relief the digital divide and how it is impeding access to education. The schools are also providing comprehensive student support services, and working with businesses to develop curricula and training programs that will prepare students to work in the post-pandemic economy.

Community colleges are often in a unique position to respond to local employment demands due to their close relationship with industry. At Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado, faculty in the STEM disciplines have been paying close attention to the demands of local employers.

Educators at Red Rocks are focusing on making sure STEM students are prepared for the jobs of the future as they move into the workforce. “We’re looking at data science, aerospace, aerospace tech, and computer science as real growth areas in terms of where jobs are in Colorado,” says Barbara Sobhani, interim dean of instruction over STEM. “We need to be ready to provide the skills that the students need to fill those jobs.”

The STEM faculty have also found ways to keep students engaged in both hands-on and virtual learning. The college has introduced an appointment system for students to access its “maker space,” where they can work on hands-on engineering projects in small groups or use equipment such as 3D printers, says Sobhani.

Many jobs most in demand by employers and which pay a living wage require at least an associate’s degree. “Community colleges’ greatest impact on recovery will be in applied associate degree programs and applied baccalaureate programs in healthcare, engineering tech, protective services, ag tech, and other fields,” says Jenkins.

Companies like HP have moved to invest in community colleges. Jeff Chen, Head of Research Partnerships at HP Worldwide Education, says that HP began focusing on community colleges in late 2020. “What drew us to community colleges is that...in past crises colleges have played a very important role in economic recovery,” Chen says. “So we are very interested in business opportunities in this area, as well as the opportunity for us to help a

PREVIOUS SPREAD: ROW 1: Bucks County Community College; Dennis Griggs; Cuyahoga Community College; Dennis Griggs; courtesy of San Jacinto College; SUNY Clinton Community College; Bucks County Community College; Highline College. ROW 2: Metropolitan Community College; courtesy of Palm Beach State College; Jefferson State Community College; Bucks County Community College; courtesy of Miami Dade College; Metropolitan Community College; Mitchell Community College. ROW 3: Mt. Hood Community College; Gino de Grandis; courtesy of Palm Beach State College; Valencia College. ROW 4: Highline College; Mitchell Community College; Metropolitan Community College; courtesy of San Jacinto College; courtesy of Miami Dade College; Santa Barbara City College; courtesy of San Jacinto College; Gino de Grandis. ROW 5: Cuyahoga Community College; Mt. Hood Community College; Red Rocks Community College; Red Rocks Community College; courtesy of Miami Dade College; Valencia College; Dennis Griggs; Santa Barbara City College. ROW 6: courtesy of Palm Beach State College; courtesy of Miami Dade College; courtesy of San Jacinto College; Santa Barbara City College; Mitchell Community College; courtesy of South Mountain; Highline College; Jefferson State Community College.

large percentage of college-age students, including adult learners, through our engagements with colleges.”

HP is helping community colleges plan curricula and certificates that are meaningful to employers who want to fill open positions in the next nine to 18 months. The company has also begun discussions with Red Rocks to help the college develop internship programs to provide students with industry experience in cybersecurity and data science, as well as network with HP customers.

JOBS OF THE FUTURE

Analysts predict decreasing demand for jobs that can be automated in fields such as data entry, accounting, factory work, mechanics, and business services in the next five years, but those job losses will be counterbalanced by growth in data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, process automation, business development, and information security, according to the World Economic Forum. Analysts expect rapid job growth if the vaccines are effective in curbing the pandemic, with an expected unemployment rate of 5.3% by the end of 2021, according to Goldman Sachs, down from 14.8% when losses peaked in April 2020.

More than half of jobs require training beyond high school but not a four-year college degree, according to the nonprofit National Skills Coalition. That’s an area where community colleges will likely play an important role. Red Rocks is expecting to see an enrollment boost as the economy begins to reopen and people start to pursue educational opportunities. The college is finding

enter an economy reshaped by the pandemic, state governments have recognized the value in supporting community colleges and their students. In July, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) teamed up with the National Governors Association to launch a new initiative, the Reskilling and

Recovery Network , to provide workers with training they need to gain the skills necessary to succeed in the post-pandemic workforce. Twenty states have joined the network.

HP has also launched a partnership with a grants consultancy that helps community colleges find funding opportunities, and has become a corporate sponsor of AACC. “In our conversations with community colleges, they are very excited about planning

of all undergraduate students in the United States attend community college

SOURCES: AACC;

ways to accommodate adult learners seeking new skills and credentials.

“We’re predicting a larger number of students coming to us who are trying to upskill, so we’re planning to offer more of our coursework in the evening than we have in the past to see if we can stay ahead of that need,” Sobhani says. In addition, they are developing short-term certificate programs in areas such as data and computer science, and a new course in machine learning.

To help people experiencing unemployment re-

51% of community college students are racial minorities, as opposed to

42% of four-year college students

51% 44%

41% of community college students are age 25 or older

Cost of a community college education as compared to public four-year universities

career pathways and building programs to help students, as they foresee a future when students are able to come back to reskill and upskill to participate in economic recovery,” Chen says.

As for Anorma, she is now back in California doing a postdoctoral fellowship at UCI and teaching a class at her alma mater. “I always bring up my story at the beginning of class,” she said. “It's really great to be able to tell students that I was in their shoes before, and they can make it and succeed.”

COLLEGE BOARD; NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS; COLLEGE BOARD

by sally abrahms

illustrations by virginia gabrielli

From virtual reality simulations to furry robot pets, families are finding new ways to connect with and care for their aging loved ones.

KATIE ENGLER of Woodbury, Minnesota, was on her way to the doctor with her mother, who has macular degeneration, when she realized that sometimes her mom could read the license plate of the car in front of them, but not always.

It made more sense when Family Means, a nonprofit that helps family caregivers, introduced Engler to a virtual reality (VR) simulation at their office. Through a VR headset, she experienced the world from her mother’s point of view. For example, when Engler “attended” a virtual birthday party, the middle of her field of vision was completely blurry.

“Now I better understand what my mother faces every day,” she says.

According to a recent AARP report , about 17% of American adults care for a family member over the age of 50, and nearly one-third of adults age 60 and older live alone. Whether family caregivers like Engler live with their aging loved ones or help manage their care from afar, many have little support or experience—not to mention responsibilities to their own spouses and children.

Today, one in four family caregivers is a millennial, and this “second job” will only become more common. Between 2010 and 2020, the baby boomer generation passed the age of 65, increasing the size of the 65- to 75-year-old age group by half, and by the end of this decade, the population of US adults over 65 will increase by more than 20% , to 73.1 million.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has exacerbated challenges for caregivers and older adults who live alone—from social isolation to monitoring their health and safety. At the

same time, COVID has also accelerated the adoption of home technology to address these issues. In one survey, 61% of seniors said they’ve embraced technology more during the pandemic

Caregivers are using apps, tablets, and computers to stay connected, coordinate care, order deliveries, and consult with doctors. And new advances in VR, robotics, wearable tech, and smart-home solutions are improving the day-to-day experience of both aging adults and the people who love and care for them.

“The pandemic has created an urgency for the adoption of technology across all senior-related sectors,” says Laurie Orlov, founder of the marketing research firm Aging and Health Technology Watch . “Worried family caregivers see technology as a lifesaver.”

Using VR to understand and explore

The emotional toll of watching an aging family member decline can be devastating. How can you give someone the support and care they need if you don’t understand what their life is like?

Embodied Labs, the company that created Engler’s immersive, 3D learning “lab” on macular degeneration, brings family and professional caregivers into the virtual world of aging adults with immersive experiences that simulate dementia, Parkinson’s, hearing loss, and more, through VR headsets like the HP Reverb. There’s a module on LGBTQ+ senior experiences, and the latest, unveiled during the pandemic, addresses social isolation “Decades of research on virtual reality training have shown that humans create memories as though they are living these experiences in real life,” says Carrie Shaw, founder and CEO of Embodied Labs. “This leads to deeper emotional connection, faster learning, and longer retention.”

To help family members create new experiences together, MyndVR ’s VR solution uses Bluetooth, a VR headset for the older adult, and a companion tablet for the caregiver to let family members travel or attend events together without leaving home.

Bonnie Gleason, 91, lives alone in Leawood, Kansas, and uses a walker. But that hasn’t stopped her and her daughter, Ruth Waggoner, from parasailing, skydiving, and traveling to San Francisco together in VR. “When someone is isolated, there may be limited things to talk about,” says Waggoner. “VR is really cool because Mom and I never run out of conversation.”

Easing loneliness with robotic companions

When people get older, their social circles often shrink. They may have mobility issues, friends who’ve moved or passed away, or family that isn’t nearby. A June 2020 poll

conducted for the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation found that in the first few months of the pandemic, 56% of people age 50 and over in the United States said they sometimes or often felt isolated, up from 27% in 2018.

Companion and social robots are helping older adults fill this void, decreasing anxiety and loneliness, while providing peace of mind to family caregivers who can’t be with them. For example, Joy for All Companion Pets has a line of furry, lifelike robotic dogs and cats, with a calming heartbeat and the ability to move, roll over, bark or purr, and respond to touch, motion, or voice.

Intuition Robotics is currently testing ElliQ , a chatty social robot billed as “the sidekick to happier aging.” ElliQ is like a virtual assistant combined with a small tablet, both of which perch on a charging base that can sit on a table or desk.

“Digital companions help aging family members feel acknowledged and form a routine on their own,” says Dor Skuler, cofounder of Intuition Robotics. “They can supplement the work of the caregiver during a time when they aren’t able to be around as frequently.”

Care seniors can wear

Every year, one out of four US seniors falls, while every 19 minutes an older adult dies from a fall. For people with dementia, the potential to wander off and become disoriented creates an additional concern.

For family caregivers who can’t be with their loved ones 24/7, wearable devices such as smartwatches with fall detection , sensors in shirts that record biometric data, and activity trackers can provide assurance that their family members are healthy and safe. For example, the new Apple Watch Series 6 can measure blood oxygen levels, take an electrocardiogram, and alert family members if it suspects its wearer has fallen.

The voice-controlled Kanega Watch was specifically

created for older adults. If it thinks they’ve fallen, it buzzes and flashes an emergency message. If they don’t respond, it connects to a call center. It can also be programmed for medication reminders.

Garnet Persinger, 80, of Pittsboro, North Carolina, wears her Kanega Watch all the time. “If you live alone, you need to have an easy way to get help,” she says.

For family members with Alzheimer’s, the GPS SmartSole can notify caregivers if someone has wandered or gotten lost. The insert is placed in a senior’s shoe and tracks their location, notifying family members via text or email if the person goes beyond set perimeters.

Smart devices that help caregivers from afar

A 2018 AARP survey found that three out of four people age 50 and older want to stay in their homes and communities as they age. Smart-home technology, with devices powered by voice control, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart sensors, are making it safer to age at home, while keeping caregivers informed. “Technology is getting better, easier to use, cheaper, and much better tailored to the needs of older adults and their caregivers,” says Majd Alwan, senior vice president of technology and business strategy for LeadingAge , an association of nonprofit providers of aging services.

The new care app BrioCare , with voice control via Amazon’s Alexa, is geared to seniors aging alone. Along with curated content, video chats, and photo sharing, they get disease-specific tips, spoken medication reminders, and refill alerts, and can tell their smart speaker if there’s an emergency. Through a mobile app, a family member can program reminders for appointments, medication, and daily routines, or personal messages in their own voices.

Smart, connected home devices including thermostats , light bulbs , and faucets can be controlled via voice command or mobile app. A smart smoke and carbon monoxide detector will not only notify an older adult by voice or alarm, but also send smartphone alerts to caregivers and can even connect with other smart devices to unlock doors or turn on lights. And, home sensors placed around the house can alert family caregivers to a health issue. For example, if a sensor in the refrigerator hasn’t been triggered all day, it could be a sign that a parent hasn’t eaten or isn’t feeling well. New devices in development even use predict a potential fall , helping seniors prevent a dangerous situation before it happens and giving family critical information to determine what kind of care is needed most.

“[Tech like this] will revolutionize how we age, deliver, and receive aging services in the future,” says Alwan.

A NEW CLASS OF CUSTOMIZABLE, PILOTLESS DEVICES IS PLAYING A VITAL ROLE IN REFORESTATION, HEALTHCARE, INDUSTRY, AND AGRICULTURE.

by jp mangalindan

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT

DRONES AREN’T ONLY FOR EXPLORATION AND FILM SHOOTS ANYMORE .

Largely used for aerial photography and filming, weather tracking, and recreational activities, these remote-controlled, pilotless vehicles are now being deployed as helpers, delivering critical supplies, enforcing COVID-19 stay-at-home orders , stringing power lines, and even walking dogs. With so many possible uses, the nimble machines will become in-flight fixtures in our daily lives in the not-so-distant future, zipping across our skies headed for their next task.

As new regulations are introduced to

address security concerns, the global drone market is expected to surge from $22 billion in 2020 to $43 billion by 2025 , spurred partly by COVID-19 restrictions on human activity and leaps in technical advances.

“Drones are a strategic and superfast-growing space, so companies are trying to carve out their own competitive advantage,” says David Woodlock, application development and design man a ger at HP where industrial 3D printing technologies are being used to produce strong, lightweight components that can fast-track production, keep costs down, and customize drone companies’ products.

Here’s a look at four drone companies that are helping redefine what’s possible.

AVULAR

3D-printing building blocks for custom applications

The Netherlands-based company Avular, founded in 2014, originally built drones for industrial and agricultural uses, such as inspecting hazardous areas or agricultural

HP 3D printers can create custom parts for Avular Vertex drones, above.

fields. But after years of fielding requests to customize their products, Avular saw an opportunity.

“We went back to the drawing board and decided to make the platform more flexible for more business and use cases,” says Albert Maas, Avular’s co-founder.

The result? “The Essentials,” a set of customizable hardware and software components released in 2020 that allows customers to make any kind of drone or robot they need. The company’s threeinch-square circuitry modules can be clicked together on a drone or robot of any size, and engineers can easily access, program, and control the parts through a USB or wireless connection.

Avular’s speedy pivot to launch The Essentials would not have been possible without HP’s 3D printing technologies , which enabled the company to create parts for as little as $50 in just a few weeks, a process that normally would cost thousands of dollars and take months to complete. Now clients are using The Essentials to build and customize drones to help plan lighting

installations in stadiums, make chemical plant inspections safer, and gauge the health of flowers in greenhouses.

“3D printing creates a performance advantage, increasing range and payload capacity and decreasing costs,” says HP’s Woodlock. “But maybe the most important advantage 3D printing creates is allowing companies to be faster to market than competitors.”

DRONECORIA Reforesting land, one drone sweep at a time

Forests cover about 31% of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate, with roughly 420 million hectares of forest destroyed since 1990. Nearly seven years ago, MIT graduate Lot Amorós founded the startup Dronecoria to tackle the problem using aerial drones that can plant seeds over large swaths of land.

Amorós and the Dronecoria team built low-cost drones made from laser-cut, five-millimeter-thick plywood capable of distributing up to 500,000 seeds across one

hectare (about the size of a baseball field) in 10 minutes. Using customized technology to analyze and prepare seeds for sowing, the startup coats the seeds with a mix of nutrients that protect them from extreme weather, wildlife, and dryness based on region. Then, the drones drop and disperse the seeds over assigned areas.

In February 2020, Dronecoria deployed its technology for a pilot program to sow 100,000 seeds in Sierra de María-Los Vélez Natural Park in Almería, a province in southeast Spain that has seen its forested areas dwindle due to heavy logging and agriculture. The company estimates a survival rate of 5% to 10%, which means 5,000 to 10,000 new trees. Another 100,000 seeds will be sown by hand and the results compared.

As part of its open-source philosophy, which allows anyone with the tools and know-how to download the plans for recreating its technology, Dronecoria is set to publish a worldwide map to help seed providers, drone makers, and landowners replant areas that have been affected by climate change, agriculture, and industrial logging.

“Our forests are being destroyed at a rate that we cannot afford,” Amorós says. “We need scalable solutions that bring technology software and hardware to communities of people to fight this.”

MANNA DRONE DELIVERY

Reaching rural patients with the medications they need

With COVID-19 concerns and social distancing now a regular part of our lives, tasks such as shopping for food or picking up medications present new challenges for many people, particularly the elderly, who are especially susceptible to the coronavirus. That’s where Manna Drone Delivery CEO and founder Bobby Healy believes his three-year-old drone delivery startup can make the most impact.

“Hearts and minds have changed through COVID to being more open-minded toward bleeding-edge technology,” says Healy.

Manna Drone Delivery originally focused its laser-cut, commercial-grade drones,

A Dronecoria drone is used in a reforestation test after wildfires in Flix, Spain.

built in Ireland and Wales, on food delivery. But when the pandemic hit, the team changed course and collaborated with Ireland’s Health Service Executive to deliver medications and other essential supplies to people in the small rural town of Moneygall People could simply have a video chat with their doctors and receive their prescriptions by one of Manna’s drones.

The company is currently conducting 3,000 drone flights a week, but Healy is expanding into other areas of Europe and he aims for Manna Drone Delivery

drones to touch down in the United States sometime in 2021 or early 2022.

ARCHER FIRST RESPONSE SYSTEMS

Delivering lifesaving supplies when every minute counts

When self-proclaimed drone hobbyist Gordon Folkes, founder of Archer First Response Systems , a 911-integrated drone startup, was a sophomore at Florida State University, he and several friends connected a drone wirelessly to his computer

so they could control it remotely.

“It made me realize we could do anything with these [drones], anywhere,” explains Folkes. Specifically, he believed that drones’ agility and customizability could make them ideal delivery vehicles in medical emergencies like cardiac arrest.

Folkes had learned that one of the greatest obstacles in treating cardiac arrest was getting an automated external defibrillator (AED) to a patient quickly to prevent brain damage or death. So he focused on developing a drone system to reach victims in

less than five minutes. He is now working to deploy Freefly Systems’ Alta X drones to deliver AEDs, Narcan nasal sprays for opioid overdoses, and tourniquets for severe injuries in suburban, rural, and some urban areas.

When a 911 call comes in, operators can direct a drone to the caller’s address or geographic coordinates. Once the drone arrives, it lowers the equipment or supplies to the site and returns to the dispatcher. Folkes says Archer’s system is about three minutes faster than traditional firstresponder efforts, including ambulances.

A Dronecoria drone is prepared for a sowing mission, left. Gordon Folkes and CTO Spencer Hehl with an Archer First Response Systems vehicle, below. Manna Drone Delivery’s Bobby Healy and Hildegarde Naughton, Ireland’s minister of state for international and road transport and logistics, observe a drone delivery, bottom.

GROWING SPACE,

—David

In September, Florida’s Manatee County became the first local government in the United States to lease a drone from Archer. The company also announced a partnership in December with RapidDeploy, a software platform used by more than 500 public-safety agencies and 911 call centers.

These examples represent just a sliver of the grander vision for drones to tap into their abilities to help in all sectors, from aiding first responders with search-and-rescue efforts, to repairing—and even constructing—temporary emergency shelters by printing 3D materials on the fly, to delivering all types of goods and services from Walmart and Amazon’s airborne warehouses

“As we move forward in the next two to five years, unmanned aerial systems are going to do a lot of good,” predicts Folkes. “I think things are looking up.”

A customized Avular drone being tested in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

“DRONES ARE A STRATEGIC AND SO COMPANIES ARE TRYING TO CARVE OUT THEIR OWN COMPETITIVE

SUPERFASTADVANTAGE.”

Woodlock, application development and design manager, HP

A film in two parts, from The Garage by HP

hp.com/dearfutureme

“These short films are amazing—a project set in the time of COVID with the impact of [ Michael] Apted’s ‘Seven Up!’ series.”

—Ken Burns, filmmaker

WORK/LIFE

THE WAY WE WORK NOW

BUSINESS TRAVEL GOES VIRTUAL

How technology is helping companies to keep moving

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

With theaters shuttered, XR plays a leading role

Lihua Zhao of HP’s 3D Lab in her home office

April, one of Lihua Zhao’s two cats, inspects a 3D-printed flexible mat.

The Way We Work Now

What is your workspace like?

I live in a small townhome and share a workspace with my husband and two daughters, ages 10 and 12. My husband still goes to a physical space each day for work, though not for as many hours each day as before.

Do you go into the lab at all?

I’m not there as often as I used to be. I used to just walk into the lab and talk to my research scientists and engineers, see what was happening, and brainstorm right on the spot. That is still happening, but only occasionally.

What does your day look like now?

My job now requires a lot more meetings and discussions. It can start as early as 5:30 a.m., and if I am working with Asia, it can go as late as 9 p.m. We need to prioritize and make sure we don’t burn out.

Are there aspects of remote working you don’t like?

Yes. Your home is your office, your kitchen is your office, your office is everywhere. For managers, you have a lot more discussions that need to be scheduled, which before would have been hallway conversations.

Are there upsides to the current work situation?

Definitely. You have fewer boundaries to working with people across the nation and the globe. When the pandemic started, I was working on developing a 3D-printed nasopharyngeal swab with researchers, engineers, and businesses in different locations and states. There was a sense that there were fewer limitations for us.

Do you have a favorite part of the workday?

When I finish work and my kids are just two steps away. I turn

around and I can ask them, “Okay, what problem do you have? We can solve it together.”

Both of your daughters are interested in science. Do you actively encourage that?

At our dinner table, we always discuss technology and the problems we encounter. My older one is starting to code and she produced her very first game last year. It’s interesting to see how much curiosity they have. If you give a little direction to someone, they can accomplish something impressive.

—Interviewed by John Newton

GARAGE.HP.COM

WATCH “ THE WAY WE W O RK N O W,” A NEW HP VIDEO SERIES »

“I turn around and ask them, ‘Okay, what problem do you have? We can solve it together.’”

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CAYCE CLIFFORD

Clockwise from left: Lihua Zhao with a 3D-printed sample, a surgical guide tool, a nasopharyngeal swab container, and a 3D-printed mat. Opposite: Zhao’s daughters, Jocelyn and Katheryn, have inherited her passion for science.

Business Travel Goes Virtual

BY JARED LINDZON ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANUJ SHRESTHA

Companies are using technology in creative ways to keep moving while everyone stays put.

Business travel ground to a halt last year, with major airlines reporting sharp declines of up to 90% less traffic compared with prepandemic levels, and hotels and conference center bookings and reservations dropping by more than 80%.

Traveling for work looks very different now.

According to the Institute of Travel Management , more than a third of corporate travel managers expect to reduce corporate travel by 50% to 70% in 2021.

“The landscape has permanently been altered,” says Darrell M. West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, and author of The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation

But the needs of businesses haven’t changed: Salespeople still need to showcase products to customers, global organizations still need to facilitate face time between colleagues in different parts of the world, and professionals still need to hear from industry thought leaders.

To adapt to a world without frequent travel, international conferences and events such as the World Economic Forum and CES have moved to online formats, meetings happen over videoconferencing platforms, and businesses are tapping into new tools and technologies to stay connected. A Wall Street Journal report predicts tech alternatives adopted during the pandemic—and their associated cost savings—could end up cutting business travel by 36% over the long term.

“People have discovered [that tech is] cheaper and more convenient,” says West. “A lot of people are not going to go back to the previous way of doing things.”

Staying connected to headquarters remotely

As the New York–based director of brand and digital marketing for Fiverr, the online freelance marketplace headquartered in Tel Aviv, Matt Clunan and his team typically traveled to Israel at least once per quarter to collaborate with their larger team. When the pandemic hit, Clunan says he initially feared his office of about 30 would feel cut off from their roughly 500 colleagues seven time zones away.

“Not seeing someone face-to-face changes how you communicate,” he says.

At first Clunan’s team resorted to video-based communication, but before long he noticed that staff members in both cities were overwhelmed by constant video meetings. An avid podcast listener, Clunan decided to try a prerecorded, audio-only format to improve internal communications.

With the help of the independent podcast publishing company Wonder Media Network , he and his team began producing internal podcasts in early April. The format offered a respite from video

calls, allowed team members to consume the roughly halfhour-long updates at their own convenience, arrive at meetings already briefed, and make better use of those limited hours when staff members on both sides of the planet are available.

“It allows us to stay connected on a more personal level, and I think that’s what was missing,” says Clunan. “Whether there are travel restrictions or not, [internal podcasts] will continue to be part of our [team’s] culture.”

In-person demos from a distance

Manhattan-based primary care provider Eden Health’s virtual care practice has exploded in popularity since the start of the pandemic, but the company still needed to find ways to show its clinics to potential landlords or employers considering building out an Eden Health clinic for employees.

The company offers its digital services in 48 states, and in-person healthcare solutions throughout the New York tristate area, Chicago, Washington, DC, and Boston. “Normally we’d invite folks out, give them a tour of the office, then sit down and talk through what it might look like in their space,” says Jonathan Stevens, head of growth for Eden Health.

But this year the company turned to a new, travel-free approach: 360-degree virtual tours.

“In some ways it’s better because we can not only show them one location, we can actually show them many of our clinics, and the different configurations, layouts, and aesthetics,” says Stevens.

Stevens adds that it’s a lot easier for his sales team to send a link via email than it is to get a prospect to schedule an in-person tour.

“The virtual tours are hosted on URLs that you can share with the prospects,” he says. “You give them the tour together and say, ‘As you’re thinking through this, you can take yourselves through the tour again.’ ”

A sales floor without a floor

Prior to the pandemic, HP hosted guests at its Customer Welcome Centers (CWCs) all over the world to demonstrate its latest innovations for clients, media, analysts, and technology partners.

But when the CWCs were closed in February 2020 because of the pandemic, Ester Chiachio, HP’s Head of Corporate Experiences, and her team began exploring digital and virtual alternatives.

At first they used video presentation tools to host meetings online. Next, they brought in telepresence

robots that would allow visitors to explore the physical space remotely from their laptops or PCs. Then they created a 3D rendering of the flagship CWC location in Palo Alto for customers to explore in virtual reality.

“We realized that our imagination is the limit,” says Chiachio, explaining that CWCs in VR aren’t limited to just re-creating existing spaces. “We’ve created a lot of spaces that are brand-new.”

HP has also incorporated augmented reality that lets customers place digital products in real-world environments like home offices, hospitals, and other workplace settings, and they can integrate 3D applications from customer blueprints for a true hybrid experience.

Chiachio says the shift to providing digital experiences presented unexpected benefits. For example, presentations can be translated into the audience’s native language, and they can be delivered to larger groups— not just people able to travel to a CWC.

“The reach we’re having with our events in terms of participants has increased 800%,” Chiachio says. “From every angle there’s added value.”

Virtual reality: The next best thing to being there

Helsinki-based VR and animation studio FAKE Production helps global companies, including Air France–KLM, the Boston Consulting Group, and Toyota, stay connected via secure, remote meetings in virtual environments with

their flagship VR product, Glue Available on the HP Reverb VR Headset and other VR headsets, or on PCs (with more limited functionality), Glue’s interface is designed to mimic real-world conversations, giving attendees the personal touch that comes with faceto-face interactions and which

videoconferences lack.

FAKE moved from developing graphics and animations for TV shows, movies, and ads into the VR space five years ago as headsets became more widely available. Since the pandemic, the company has seen a huge spike in demand for Glue and its virtual meeting capabilities.

“The feeling of presence is one of our cornerstones,” says Matti Pouhakka, sales

director for FAKE. “You have all the tools that you have in a physical meeting room: You can share your PowerPoints, share your videos on a big presentation wall. There’s even a whiteboard that you can use like a physical whiteboard.”

Glue features an avatar system that builds 3D characters who actually look like its users. It then employs artificial intelligence to give the avatars facial expressions that change based on the speaker’s volume, tone of voice, and word choices. Glue also incorporates audio feedback that mimics real-world environments, so a speaker on the other end of the virtual room sounds farther away than someone seated next to the listener.

There will always be occasions when people need to be physically together, but the huge uptick in adoption of such tools in recent months leads West of the Brookings Institution to believe there won’t be a total return to business travel as usual once the pandemic is finally over.

“Now that people have been forced to deploy digital products, they know how to do it, they have the right pieces in place, their staff is trained on using these techniques— there’s really no reason to go back,” he says.

All the World’s A Stage

and XR are providing new ways for playwrights and actors to connect with audiences.

BY STEPHANIE WALDEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY CATHAL DUANE

COVID-19 HAS BEEN A REAL SHOWSTOPPER for the theater industry, and not in the standing-ovation sense of the word. Since last March, there have been no long lines wrapped around Broadway or West End street corners, no ushers corralling audiences to their seats. The stages of theaters, opera houses, and concert halls have gone dark around the world.

According to a study by the Brookings Institution , the fine and performing arts industry in the United States saw a 50% loss in jobs and a drop of more than $42 billion in sales from April to July 2020 alone. Globally, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development lists the cultural and creative sector among one of the most affected by the crisis—right up there with tourism.

But as much as the pandemic has turned the theater world upside down, it has also opened up opportunities to experiment with virtual venues, creating new forms of live, immersive shows via Zoom, virtual reality, and even mobile apps.

Not only do these avenues allow creators to connect with homebound audiences and find an outlet during a stressful time, but they also empower artists to learn technical skills that will be relevant to a digitally enabled world long after the pandemic ends. There’s appetite for virtual performances, too; one show that was livestreamed by National Theatre at Home last April racked up 2.6 million views in just one week.

“People are really blown away by the agility of the storytelling, the interactivity, and their own sense of being part of a community,” says Joanna Popper, HP’s Global Head of Virtual Reality for Location-Based Entertainment. “Virtual shows are something hopeful and groundbreaking that people can participate in.”

In our new world, directors, producers, writers, and performers are using technology to prove that all the internet’s a stage, too.

Reimagining immersive theater in VR

Finding Pandora X, by director Kiira Benzing, illustrates how VR can be an ideal venue for immersive theater. The show, inspired by the Greek myth of Pandora’s box, won Best VR Immersive User Experience at the 2020 Venice International Film Festival—which itself was 100% virtual.

At the start of the performance, the audience, which plays the role of the Greek chorus, arrives in avatar form on a cloud. Virtual usher avatars help audience members—or “players”—become acclimated to the experience, answering questions and directing them if they get lost.

As the show goes on, players and actors collaborate to solve challenges in the search for Pandora and to move the plot forward. At the end of the show, the audience learns to “fly” in the virtual world as a reward for their participation.

Behind the scenes, actors don HP Reverb headsets and stage managers issue commands via HP workstations instead of the standard mic-and-clipboard setup.

Popper says it is “thrilling” to see HP technology bring such a creative vision to life. “VR really enables an experience where audiences have the joy, hopefulness, and community of theater—even in a pandemic—from wherever we are around the world,” she says.

For Benzing, experimenting with technology is an exciting way to make theater more inclusive, accessible, and, ultimately, more meaningful in a rapidly changing world.

“As creators, we will continue to make stories and evolve,” she says. “We will build more worlds and more stages—they just might not look like they did before.”

Encouraging audiences to choose their own adventure

It’s not just artists who benefit from navigating this new

landscape. Audiences also get a great deal out of the interactive nature of the virtual stage, says David Carpenter, CEO of Gamiotics and a Broadway and Off-Broadway producer for more than 20 years.

“I remember playing video games as a kid and making decisions that affect the story and its outcome,” he says. “This idea that you as an audience member can have agency that changes the narrative—I love that.”

When the pandemic hit, Carpenter launched Seize the Show, a live performance series powered by Gamiotics, a proprietary and interactive mobile technology, and viewable on Zoom.

“It becomes a game,” Carpenter says. “The audience is participating in what’s happening every step of the way.”

Each Seize the Show performance is unique and open to multiple possible endings. In one iteration that ran during Halloween week— Camp Stabbawei, an ’80s-style slasher horror show—the audience members’ goal was to stay “alive” as players got picked off one by one. Viewers could gather “weapons” from a digital menu as they might in a video game, and make decisions about where to go as the story progressed; all choices affected the narrative and game play. Actors tuned in and performed live on-screen via Zoom.

Seize the Show’s hour-long shows, which to date have averaged about 400 audience members, typically hit engagement rates north of 95%. Shows often adhere to seasonal themes—for example, A Christmas Karen ran during the holidays.

Carpenter sees potential for this kind of interactive, collaborative experience beyond plays. A band might let audiences vote in real time about the songs they want to hear next, for example. “It adds another level of connection that I think we all want to have,” he says.

Amplifying and centering Black voices in XR

In addition to making theater more accessible to widely dispersed audiences, Lauren Ruffin, co-CEO of the arts advocacy organization Fractured Atlas, believes VR can be a tool that helps underrepresented creators tell stories—and make a living doing so.

In-person shows only allow for a finite number of seats, which makes it difficult for small and midsize theaters to keep the lights on. The virtual world, on the other hand, represents an opportunity to scale up exponentially. But Ruffin says there wasn’t a clear, financially viable avenue for Black creators and other people of color to break into XR— an umbrella term that encompasses VR, augmented reality (AR), and other new and emerging forms of mixed-reality technology.

“Black creators who were submitting immersive content to [mainstream festivals] were raising significantly less money than White creators, even though they were doing really high-quality content,” she says.

In 2017, Ruffin and Dafina McMillan, an arts management, technology, and communications professional, started Crux, an organization that centers around Black voices via XR storytelling. After McMillan left the organization to focus on her consulting business, Ruffin brought Nick Leavens, a director, writer, and producer, into the fold. Earlier this year, the duo launched the Black Imagination Series, short VR plays directed and produced by Black creatives.

The stories cover a range of topics, including current events, pop culture, and meta themes like the awkwardness of being in VR for the first time. For example, in It’s Homecoming, Y’all!, by Breane C. Venablé, a group of alumni from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) try to navigate a VR gathering that has replaced the traditional parade.

Blair Russell, an XR producer with Crux, notes that among the barriers to entry for creators and performers is the sheer expansiveness of the virtual world. “One of the biggest challenges is that it is limitless,” he says. “How can you exist in this space? And what are the possibilities?”

The first iterations of the series have been experimental, so Crux has offered tickets at no cost—although the actors and creatives involved were paid a fair wage, comparable to or more than Off-Broadway rates. Crux is

currently accepting donations, and as the series progresses, he says he plans to begin charging for tickets.

“As the model develops, we see it as not dissimilar to [traditional] theater—we’ll have similar revenue streams, such as ticket sales, foundations, donors, and sponsors, but exponentially scalable and more accessible.”

The Black Imagination Series shows, which sold out quickly, debuted in October in a custom-built, immersive environment hosted on AltspaceVR , a VR platform that enabled up to 30 people to congregate in user-generated spaces. The platform has since expanded that cap. Going forward, the series will offer two types of programming: Crux-produced events, and partnered events with organizations like the Actors Theatre of Louisville and New York Live Arts, which worked with Crux on a virtual version of its annual Live Artery, a platform for new and recent works. Crux is also toying with ideas like interactive livestreaming; exploring improv in XR; and creating 360-capture, stereoscopic shows.

“[The Black Imagination Series] showed us that not only is there an audience eager for this type of content, but it’s national, it’s global,” says Leavens.

Thirty-two years ago futurist John Armour captured the predictions of HP engineers in a series of sketches for the company’s Measure magazine. Imagination is a critical component of innovation, and in 1989, the inventors in HP’s labs were envisioning individual workstations with attached arms; powerful servers that shared graphics in real time; wearable computer necklaces; and employees attending meetings as a hologram. Many of their 1989 prognostications about the future of work and technology are the reality of work and life in 2021, even if not exactly in the way they predicted. We do have portable, voice-activated computers, but they are our phones or smart watches. We Zoom into meetings instead of sending our holographic images (for now), while VR headsets have become the norm to transport people-as-avatars to new and alternate realities. Powerful PCs and laptops with built-in capabilities have long made global collaboration possible. All proving that the creativity cultivated at HP becomes the innovations of the future. What will HP’s labs dream up for the next 30 years?

—Andrea Bell-Matthews

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