Look up!

Forget the box, it’s time to think outside the sphere.

A few years ago, I was asked “what’s the next big thing for technology?”

It became apparent the person asking the question really only wanted to know the next big headline… and my advice was expected to be “voice assistants”. It wasn’t.

Without hesitation, I recommended Mobility.

Mobility isn’t just trains, planes and automobiles. It’s HOW we move and WHERE we move and WHY we move. It’s everything from A to Z, not simply A to B.

It’s Jetpacks, electric scooters, flying cars, autonomous vehicles, exoskeletons, haptic suits and space rockets.

And so I begin my next mission with Kei Shimada, the incredibly forward-thinking CEO of US Space Carrier, Sirius Technologies, Inc. I couldn’t be more excited to bring Jetpack Moments to space travel as Vice President Communication Design.

We’ll be taking people, products and brands to space. When you introduce technology that moves you from any one point on Earth to another in under 60 minutes, you challenge humanity’s very concept of time. That’s extraordinarily exciting as we’ll be Making Space Universal.

It’s time for the next chapter. Here’s to the new Space Race!

The Digital Design Imperative

When President John F Kennedy so famously uttered the words “ask not what the design industry can do for you, ask what you can do for the design industry”, how could he have known they would be even more relevant today. Or was that Neville Brody?

I’ve always been of the opinion that if bad Photoshopping and typography doesn’t make your blood boil then you shouldn’t be a designer. If you can sit on the tube opposite an ad featuring poorly-kerned letters or view a Frankenstein comp of a ‘lead character when young’ movie prop photo and still not twitch, you are creatively dead inside.

Slink away now if you’re unmoved by either example, or hang around and get motivated.

The role of designer has changed beyond all recognition since leaving college (it’s moved fast, I’m not THAT old). What’s graphic design then? Well it used to be relatively easy to define when ‘digital’ wasn’t in play. Brand design, brochures, editorial layouts, posters, flyers and packaging for starters.

That list still exists but most brochures are now interactive, from PDF’s to iBooks with websites either replicating or delivering the same. Great editorial layouts are still essential within tablet magazines and ebooks as the eye is arrested by the skilful juxtaposition of stunning images and intelligent typography. Posters work on various levels, from the 48-sheet variety now on many digital Jumbotrons and underground screens, to our ever-increasing screen sizes offering the scale previously reserved for printed posters. Flyers (unless from the local pizza deliver business) are emails, Facebook posts or Tweets. We’re a long way from losing packaging from our high streets and out of town stores, but the online marketplace offers many more virtually packaged download opportunities.

So, who cares? Things change, technology advances and forces us to move with it. That’s one take, leading to the sloppy Photoshop, branding and layouts that make me want to punch inanimate objects (or designers). This attitude can be brought on by creatives who don’t live and breathe design and clients who believe our computers do all the work for us.

Snap out of it and appreciate the incredible opportunities to not only design great visual experiences, but now bring them to life as incredible user experiences. The graphic design label got scrapped, welcome to the wonderful new world of design where the brief to create postage stamps became the task to build iconic icons or miniaturised album covers and book jackets, where the fight to be seen and remembered provides the ultimate pixel-pushing challenge.

Wearable technology and Smart TV will provide your new playgrounds so start thinking about future opportunities to make a design difference.

Knock down the mental barriers and apply great design thinking to everything you do. Don’t assign different standards to different work or clients – we live in a world where a local butcher can have as much global visibility as Wallmart. The world’s eyes are on your kerning, your cut-outs and your colour palette.

Originally published in Computer Arts magazine in 2013. Hasn't aged a bit!

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.

IoC: Internet of Cars

What’s the biggest auto show in the world? Geneva, Paris, Frankfurt, Detroit? Nope, with 180,000 attendees spread over 2.5 million sq ft, it’s CES in Las Vegas. Isn’t it full of robots, drones, augmented reality, touch screens and IoT? Yep, and so are the cars.

I’m not about to write a preachy outsider’s view of the automotive future or an insider’s defence of the industry – rather uniquely, I have feet placed firmly in both camps and a tattoo across my skull that reads ‘petrol head’.

OK, the tattoo’s on the inside and I actually like electric propulsion as well as exhaust sniffing. It’s a good job too as the main headlines at CES were all made by cars fuelled from the wall, not the pump.

Faraday Future made a triumphant return to the Nevada stage with their FF 91 at a glitzy live-streamed event. Last year they revealed a concept resembling the Batmobile, twelve months later, it was a far more practical SUV.

For all the glamour, slick branding and live theatre, the focus was on a record attempt – could the new FF 91 beat the Bentley Bentayga, Ferrari 488 GTB and Tesla Model X from 0-60mph? It did, by 0.01sec, hitting the mark in 2.39 sec. I’m not convinced many in the audience bought into the line that someone torn between the Ferrari and the FF 91 would choose the SUV over the supercar based on a straight line dash. Show them both a series of twisting corners and see who emerges at the other end with a smile on their face and who has their half-digested lunch in their lap.

Speaking of smiling faces, that’s exactly what I’d had earlier the same day as I spent quality time with the team from Lucid Motors – another EV startup focused on disrupting the automotive industry. Their forthcoming ‘Air’ also makes a fast dash from 0-60 but the story behind it is one of driving dynamics, rather than straight line bragging rights. Lucid’s CTO Peter Rawlinson, formerly Chief Engineer at Tesla and Lotus, put forward a strong case for his passionate team of 300+ employees and why they’re convinced driving and design appreciation will be just as important as battery range and autonomous tech to the Lucid audience.

Rawlinson believes their battery, developed in partnership with Samsung SDI, is a genuine differentiator in a new world of range anxiety. “It’s not just about distance, but sustained range. The breakthrough cell density is resistant to battery charge depletion usually experienced with repeated fast-charging.” The automotive industry faces many of the issues we already encounter with our personal technology, such as connectivity and mobile phone batteries caught in a recharging memory cycle of decreasing shelf life – not something we’ll tolerate when spending $100,000+ on a luxury car.

VP of Design, Derek Jenkins, former Director of Design at Mazda and VW told me he’d relished the creative challenges when starting with an automotive clean sheet. Sensors for autonomous driving need to be integrated, rather than added to a familiar silhouette and the interior design maximises the space around the electric drivetrain, rather than one inherited from the mechanical components of a traditional combustion engine.

It’s Rawlinson’s engineering appreciation and Jenkins’ design skills that brought the aforementioned smile to my face as we headed out onto the dusty Vegas roads in a development prototype. Peter eagerly hanging the back end out at every opportunity, putting that passion for driving into action!

Lucid now needs to start work on their $700M Arizona factory. This has been previously misreported as a similar model to Faraday Future’s, with funds coming from their own Chinese billionaire – not so, as Rawlinson stressed “this is an American company.” Despite their intentionally understated message, they seem to be heading in the right direction at the right speed as the Air is slated for production in 2019, with first year projections of 8-10k units, rising to 50-60k.

Although Lucid seems to be on track, Faraday’s FF 91 still lacks one important ingredient – money. Vital funds need to be released by Chinese backer, Founder and CEO of LeEco Jia Yueting so work can resume on their Nevada factory. Many keep referring to Faraday Future as the ‘Tesla killer’ as if this is a good thing. It’s not, and Elon Musk has frequently said the industry needs many EV-first players to shake up the competition, not kill it!

So where does this leave everyone else? Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes and others had CES concepts to show off their latest vision for the future of vehicle connectivity – inside and out – and how they’ll all drive themselves, but BMW took out the most real estate.

Here I put my cards on the table as I drive a BMW, but it’s a petrol model and I haven’t made the jump to hybrid or electric yet as I’m still addicted to their turbocharged straight six. However, this doesn’t stop the Bavarians from trying to tempt me into an ‘i model’ every year at CES. In 2015, I piloted BMW’s petrol-electric supercar around the streets of Vegas. This year, they drove me to the ‘Speed Vegas’ desert racing circuit in an i3, then let me loose in an i8 around the track!

Compared to Faraday Future and Tesla’s unnatural obsession with straight line speed, this track session was a superb way to demonstrate the benefits of a car that is just as comfortable in the corners as the straights – and that’s a fun vision for the future!

And that future isn’t all about speed and performance. All manufacturers need to connect – with devices, the consumers that use them and the world around us. We already have a reasonable expectation that our phones will talk to our cars and in doing so, will add functionality. When our cars become fully autonomous, the safety restrictions fall away and we’ll demand entertainment, office functionality and more.

More? Well, I spoke at FutureFest in London last year and Cindy Gallop was on stage before me, talking about the statistics for sex in cars. It’s higher in countries where larger families share smaller houses as the car naturally presents an intimate space – but auto manufacturers continually fail to recognise this. Imagine the potential to relieve the boredom of a long autonomous journey with some connected sexy times. Auto brands take note, if the car is rockin’ time to come knockin’.

The very public message from the car companies at CES was “we’re in control”. This is true to a point, but it’s mostly tinged with an air of panic as they all know the future can’t be delivered overnight. Many believe their music and movie-streaming audience will no longer wish to drive or own cars and this is increasingly the message from industry analysts. But this is mostly educated guesswork and the future isn’t predetermined so the automotive business needs to give its customers a reason to love their products, want to drive them (when not having sex) and make them their own.

The only way to do this is to connect to the future audience – the ones who currently have no concept of car ownership and have never even gripped a steering wheel. Don’t neglect existing customers, but enlist their help as they’re the drivers, owners and brand advocates that can help to share the reasons we choose a Union Jack roof for a MINI, spec 20” alloys on an Audi, tick the box for red stitching with black leather on an Alfa, and take a deep breath of ‘new car smell’ when we drive away from a dealership.

I’m a petrol head for life, even if we replace the petrol with a plug socket, the dashboard with an iPhone and the dealership with a VR headset.