Uploading The Future…

The doors of the elevator open and instead of facing inwards towards the security of a welcoming carpeted corridor, they reveal a 30 storey drop on the outside of a gleaming glass structure at the heart of a bustling city. The wind hits you, every hair stands on end and you struggle with a moment of panic, staring into the unknown. Then adrenaline kicks in, your mind races and you take a step forward…

I’ve faced exactly this scenario in virtual reality, although I like to bungee jump and abseil so I didn’t cling to the back of the elevator. However, I’m not describing a utopian or dystopian digital future. Individuals and businesses face this kind of dilemma every day but most choose to stay where they are, or even step backwards rather than commit to change and champion progress.

There’s nothing wrong with appreciating what you have or taking inspiration from what you had, but to truly innovate you need to push boundaries and look to the future.

And that’s what I’ve been doing for 34 years.

Boundary-pushing isn’t always welcomed, but my brand of change has never failed to deliver results. From my earliest business interests (at the age of 13), starting a magazine and software label, through a career as a graphic designer, to the combination of design, technology and innovation over the last decade.

I’ve told heads of global automotive brands to integrate reclining seats for sex in autonomous vehicles. I’ve given VR advice on Capitol Hill at the heart of US Government. I have demonstrated emerging technology to NATO, told Apple where to focus on Wearable Tech, Publishing and AR and continue to test products, services and theories to destruction – or survival.

In 2009, I successfully predicted the existence of Apple’s iPad and helped deliver the first app on day one to expand opportunities for the Publishing industry. I designed, produced and wrote one of Apple’s first interactive iBooks (Design top 20 for 6+ years). I followed this with deeper focus on Wearable Technology, resulting in an automative app title alongside the launch of the Apple Watch.

But what happens when the technology we’re faced with doesn’t go far enough, or the messages from or about an industry just aren’t going anywhere? You push and you deliver your own results. Nowhere is that better illustrated than in my 48 hours in Virtual Reality where I tested full body interaction driving a go-kart and strapped to the top wing of a bi-plane, fell asleep and woke up in VR to test mental awareness and had a tattoo whilst wearing a headset to prove the benefits of virtual distraction to mitigate pain.

I didn’t set out to write an ‘Isn’t Dean Innovative’ list, but I’ve found myself personally pushing these boundaries for decades rather than simply quoting other people’s experiences – or accepting “no” for an answer. As I said in my TEDx Athens talk...

“I’d rather apologise for something awesome, than ask permission for something lame”

…which is why I’m excited to announce that I am now taking those 34 years of valuable experience to the rest of the world as a Design, Technology and Innovation Consultant. I’ll be continuing to develop my XR Immersion Suit to push boundaries in ALL the realities, bring these to life on global corporate and public stages and help others to push their own boundaries.

I also plan to write a book about the future of Automotive and Mobility – but I can’t offer you everything in one article.

So let’s step back into that elevator again. Don’t worry, I won’t make you jump off the building this time, but forget about Dave in accounts, or that Board meeting on floor 27, or the canteen at your designated lunch hour. Press a number you’ve never pressed before and begin a voyage of discovery. It might only be the mail room, but you could find yourself on the Holodeck or in a chamber full of cryogenically frozen world leaders.

But you won’t know if you don’t try. It’s why I'm not afraid to tell it like it is, how it’s going to be, and how to design the future.

I am, and always will be, a rebel with a cause.

Firestarter

Let me be quite clear, I don’t have and am never likely to have many heroes in my life. My Dad is one, Steve Jobs was another and a new one has entered my life recently, but Elon Musk is someone I’ve always placed firmly in this category. He still is.

However…

I know from personal experience how it feels to possess superhuman powers. That’s not as ridiculous a statement as it may sound. I do this for a living. I explore the potential for new technology, to enhance and compliment our lives on this planet and beyond, then demonstrate that to a global audience.

This requires a level of theatrical entertainment to bring technology to life and my constantly evolving XR Immersion Suit is the ideal platform to show man and machine in perfect (or occasionally imperfect) harmony. From the full-body haptic Tesla Suit, my AR and VR helmets, exoskeleton and bionic shoes, to the fireballs shooting from my fingertips – this all demonstrates future potential, the art of collaboration and believing in your dreams.

And when it comes to dreams, Elon Musk is the master. Offering an extraordinary vision for the future and delivering on that time and time again. From electric vehicles to space travel to the Boring Company pushing our concept of time itself.

Today, I’m torn. I’m always going to encourage everyone to live a life of passion and adventure, make dreams a reality and go beyond expectations but Elon just launched his $500 FlameThrower and I feel like the world’s biggest hypocrite.

My immediate reaction, along with thousands of others was “I want this”. Why would I not? It fits perfectly into my world. I took a look at the site, took out my credit card, then took a breath.

This fits into my world because this is exactly what I do and how I live, for others, it fits into the world they’ve always dreamt of, for the rest it has no place at all, but, well… IT’S A FLAMETHROWER, how cool is that?

Great for roasting nuts 🔥 🥜

A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Jan 27, 2018 at 4:53pm PST

But this isn’t something that simulates the action of a flamethrower, like an AR lightsaber – it’s real. Real heat. Real fire. Real responsibility. In a country where handguns are available from Walmart, we’re now offered a device “Guaranteed to liven up any party”. This may be accompanied by the line “World’s safest flamethrower” but that means jack shit when in the wrong hands – like the world’s safest guns.

For all this, I’m not saying don’t buy one – because I still love the idea of it, but I’m not prepared to jump on stage and promote it when it can so easily end up in the wrong hands. I’ve never felt more like an adult in my life!

There’s an enormous burden of responsibility if you’re a hero. Some take on the weight of the world – more than most will ever know or care, others simply inspire with their actions. To be a true hero, words aren’t enough because actions speak far louder, but when you combine the two they are extraordinarily powerful.

To simply offer unrestricted access to the future is to invite issues into a world with more than its fair share of problems. Chaos runs through my veins, I’m just not sure ‘fire for everyone’ is going to end well.

Let’s Talk About Sex

Actually, we’ll get back to the headline in a minute. For now, let’s talk about techs. Rolling into 2018 and everyone is asking the usual question – what’s the next big thing in tech? An easy answer is Artificial Intelligence, but ironically it’s not an intelligent answer, because it’s the wrong question.

AI will deliver unprecedented pace of engagement, hyper-accelerated data management, offer decision-making services, freeing human brain power to do what it does best – add personality, creativity, strive for success and push boundaries.

But it isn’t answering a question that needs to be asked right now. Those of us that ‘make stuff’ – either physically or virtually – and provide more than a service find ourselves delivering an experience, heightening sensations and making us all feel better as humans – even if only for a second, we’re asking the most important question – what’s the next big platform?

It’s mobility. Not just cars, it’s bigger than that. This is a platform that has history, heritage and a solid technological background, so it doesn’t fall at the first hurdle.

The automotive industry has spent forever telling an audience (drivers) that they can’t be distracted from their main objective – driving. This hasn’t been an opportunity to sell, as with most ‘platforms’ or deliver information overload. We have specific data to process when a vehicle is on the move – speed, obstacle avoidance, range and comfort and little beyond.

Although systems are already being integrated into the latest generation of cars, most visual information is still processed by us and acted upon in the most appropriate manner.

Entertainment has come in the form of audio-only broadcast or playback and nothing can encroach on our main focus. The industry is about to experience seismic activity.

With the introduction of the autonomous vehicle this ALL changes. From zero distraction to channelling the outside world. All of it.

I’m in the fortunate position where I get to test a lot of emerging technology at a very early stage. It makes a fundamental difference when you experience the future, rather than simply read about it. Take it from me, if I’ve been hands-on, I will tell it like it is – not just a sanitised relaying of the facts, but how we’ll feel physically and emotionally about what’s around the corner.

I’ll write a lot more about mobility as a platform as we deliver it in 2018 and beyond, but back to that headline…

If the car moves from a focused driving environment to an empty vessel bursting with promise, how do we fill our time and fulfil our potential? Well, you tap into the obvious first – social comms, localised information, entertainment (movies, music and gaming) and deliver the mobile office. But it’s in moving beyond this where we really tap into the benefits of a controlled environment.

I spent time with Renault recently, testing their autonomous SYMBIOZ EV. This performed on the expected levels – driving itself and in silence, but with the additional element of VR. Wearing a headset seamlessly built into your vehicle, displaying content that moves and turns in sync with the movement of the car doesn’t just immerse the occupants, but enhances the experience beyond that of a simple VR HMD. Control and comfort (both physical and psychological) are key ingredients to acceptance of VR as a viable medium. This is incredibly effective in a car.

So what content do we make?  I’ve long held the belief that we’ve neglected the psychological aspect of being human when designing a vehicle. Many people around the world use their cars as a personal and private space. A symbol of independence in an increasingly impersonal and overcrowded world. This naturally brings us to the elephant in the car – sex.

Drivers and passengers have sex in cars, but manufacturers refuse to publicly acknowledge this. As we head towards a world where we’ll be offered alternatives to ownership and ‘self-driving’, how will mobility brands entice their passengers in? They’ll need to offer comfort, personalisation and access to the things we all take for granted outside a vehicle.

So, admit it or not – sex happens. And it’s something that will increasingly occur in new virtual environments. Not to replace the real thing, but to enhance it, or extend the long distance (and potentially socially-driven) relationships.

In a data-hungry world, the connected car is only relevant if it’s actually connected. We demand this in our everyday lives and 2018 is a big year for building the foundations of the new mobility platform so we’re ready for the next technological revolution.

I’ve spent enough time with Huawei over the last 12 months to realise they’re poised to make this future platform a reality. They have a new partnership in place with PSA Group to connect vehicles to the outside world and each other but Huawei is once again playing its trump (small T) card with their future dominance of the 5G market.

I’m more than along for the ride with Huawei, I’ll be pushing for everything we hope for to become reality so we’re still driving the future, even if the cars are driving themselves.

If you'd like to hear more on the subject matter in this post, this Alexa Stop Podcast Innovation Social CES Special delivers.

Me, Myself and i: The Eternal Avatar

We talk about personality, be that for brands or individuals, as if it’s something that comes naturally. Actually, in an ever-growing digital environment where we face a multitude of platforms and networks, it’s all too easy to lose your voice in a maelstrom of white noise. 

If you believe Mark Zuckerberg, the future of VR is Social. Of course he’s going to say that with the backing of the world’s largest social network, but what does this mean?

Last week, Facebook revealed a set of much better looking avatars for their foray into social VR as part of their expanding Oculus lineup. It’s an important second step – the first being ‘Spaces’ earlier this year and other established networks such as vTime and Altspace offering a few customisable features to allow visitors to feel comfortable in their virtual skin.

Whether you want to accurately represent yourself or an ‘alternative you’, the audience needs to overcome the fact you can’t currently broadcast your own face thanks to the lump of plastic and a screen in the way, so let’s not get hung up on that. Think about the avatar itself and how it needs to become platform agnostic – not just across VR environments, but also into AR, regular digital screen content and even an audio signature.

We have yet to witness VR’s Pokemon moment as the platform still doesn’t fit into many people’s lives. It is taking hold for enterprise but consumers still couldn’t give a crap as it requires too much effort and is too easy to put down. This is why personalisation and realistic avatars are a vital step on the road to success.

The concept of lurking in alternate worlds and sharing quality time with others will be experienced by a mainstream audience when Stephen Spielberg brings Ready Player One to life in cinemas next year. Although HTC has plans for actual VR content, you won’t need to watch the film with a headset on so there will at least be more eyeballs on the VR lifestyle. Let’s see how many like the idea of the real thing.

I’ve been tackling the significance of avatars in general but they’re more of a branding exercise. What happens when you add real substance, with AI sitting behind the facade?

With a recent death in the family, mortality is something close to my heart right now. This was brought into focus a few weeks ago when I received a LinkedIn status message “Wish Matt a happy birthday” – from a colleague and friend who died in 2015. You could say he lives on through social channels but this isn't really true is it? 

I've pondered the social and emotional benefits of preserving VR snapshots in time with family members for future generations – those no longer with us or simply to remember magical moments with your children and loved ones. The true measure of technology is when it exists for a reason, rather than simply existing. 

We talk about Artificial Intelligence and automation stealing jobs from the rest of us but they'll be freeing up precious time for us to be more productive in other key areas. What if we use AI to deliver immortality? Sounds far-fetched, but it isn't. 

When we have perfected digital personalities, mimicking real individuals and 'thinking' as they do, why wouldn't the LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook status of the future be delivered from beyond the grave?

Of course there are ethical and religious issues and a few technical hurdles to overcome, but I’m not suggesting we take control of someone else’s personality, rather it becomes a box-checking exercise to ‘live on’ or ‘delete persona’ beyond death. This throws up the question of whether erase means erase or we’re merely placing our personalities in a ‘recently deleted’ folder.

It’s easy to see how a grieving relative could be tempted to have one more conversation, or ask the questions you never seemed to find time for. Does this become a path to acceptance or a way to normalise post-life interaction? For some it will be a simple choice, others may decide on both.

Filming VR moments offers us a virtual time machine, with the ability to relive events as if we were there again, albeit passively. Add layers of interaction across multiple devices and platforms and you begin to see how this becomes about the persona, rather than the delivery mechanism – like real life.

In a deluge of indiscernible Fake News, a hacked personality in VR will offer the ultimate brain-washing medium so there are some enormous hurdles plus new levels of digital encryption and authentication required.

We could potentially face a transitionary period where we’re testing AI avatars as a direct replacement for genuine social accounts to see if audiences notice the difference. It’s these standards that bots and personal assistants need to strive for, proving this research is essential.

Avatars are the ringtones of the future and will be a huge growth market over the next decade. Control the supply of these and you own the gateway to digital personality, the most comprehensive database on earth. You’ll make yourself useful in a world of useless and provide a service as a brand or build a business driven by data, insight and creativity.

I plan to add more substance to this subject over the next few months through the written word and on the global conference circuit. It deserves the widest possible audience.