Tech trends: Forum shows a human side to sector

Guests were presented with a rounded view of how consumers are responding to technology, and learned how the future of devices and environments will be emotional as well as functional, and human as well as artificial.

The day began with a Global Market Overview presentation from The Future Laboratory co-founders Chris Sanderson and Martin Raymond, which examined the key directions emerging in the sector. This was followed by a conversation about curation and creation in the store of the future between LS:N Global journalist Rowland Manthorpe and Dave Patten, head of new media at the London Science Museum.

LS:N Global editor Lucie Greene then joined Chris Sanderson on stage to talk about the differences between consumer demographics in technology, and how social mores are shifting in our increasingly networked society.

The group then broke for tea, where deconstructed wagon wheels and a selection of cakes supplied by Tuck-Box were on offer. Guests were free to explore the digital kiosk by hacktivist group Technology Will Save Us where DIY technology kits were available for delegates to experiment with. The undercroft featured a lenticular screen prototype that magnifies iPod Nano screens to create a fluorescent installation.

Raymond and LS:N Global senior journalist Peter Firth then took to the stage to take guests through the major trends that are reshaping consumers’ expectations in retail and beyond. This was followed by Sanderson and LS:N Global visual editor Joanna Tulej presenting type examples from our Innovate section, showing guests how to beat the best in campaigns, products and interior design.

With so much buzz around wearable technology, but with equal disappointment, we thought it pertinent to introduce someone who is getting it right. Greene sat down with Kate Unsworth, founder and CEO of wearable technology company Kovert Designs, to discuss how the future of wearables can be… wearable.

LS:N Global insight editor Hannah Stodell and creative digital strategist Daljit Singh then took the audience through a distinctly human approach to devices and environments, revealing that the main lesson was that technology should be at least intuitive, but at best, invisible.

As the technology landscape has moved beyond kit, devices and circuit boards, LS:N Global’s Tulej took delegates showed delegates our Tech Futures Showcase film, which looked at the most immersive and poetic experiences in the sector. Firth then interviewed Daniel Hirschmann and Mike Johnston from Hirsch & Mann and Technology Will Save Us, respectively, and examined how the future of technology will be more democratic.

Greene and Sanderson then wrapped things up with a Toolkits section, leaving guests with a springboard to the right strategy for the coming years. For more on LS:N Global’s technology trends, order a copy of our Futures Report.