Running through some of the numbers is always an eye-opening exercise, and there are plenty to mull over in the text of his book. There were some rather humbling views for the more environmentally aware on just what it would take to power a country such as the UK with biofuels or solar panels using current technology (answer: an amount of physical space the size of small countries, not to mention the cost and infrastructure requirements), as well as a call for politicians and the media to operate off a numbers basis rather than a rhetorical one.  The real purpose of the lecture, however, was to present a rather fantastic tool which has been developed by DECC to help people visualise and contemplate different possibilities to meet carbon reduction quotas by 2050.

The 2050 Pathways calculator is an impressive piece of open-source kit, allowing you to prioritise different avenues for both energy consumption and supply in an attempt to meet current emission reduction targets – “showing the benefits, costs and trade-offs of different versions of the future“.  There’s an impressive amount of data underlying the tool, and thankfully plenty of explanatory links for every item included.  As an educational tool on climate change and energy policy it is truly excellent – the number of conversations you could build off of the backs of choices made is practically countless.  Unfortunately it does lead to a rather morose realisation that so much needs to be achieved, developed and implemented to even get close to the emissions quotas that you find yourself wondering just how possible it is at all…

Climate change will almost certainly be a devastating component of the 21st century, and the various possible energy crises will lead to additional conflict and destruction on top of that.  The situation looks very grim, and that leads to the kind of collective buck-passing and thumb-twaddling that only exacerbates the problem.  However, the calculator at least provides us with some data-driven responses that should focus our individual thinking and also educate us in the broader policy decisions in order to encourage us to participate and enter this important societal conversation.

Numbers-driven approaches allow us to circumvent some of the passionate, albeit often useless, rhetoric in order to replace it with more effective means of combating the problem.  Prof MacKay gave the somewhat humorous example of a recent government poster campaign that encouraged everybody to make sure their phone chargers, and other such appliances, were switched off at the wall when not in use.  This makes for a great poster design, and very easy feel-good wins for us all as we switch off those power points.  In the end, the difference per day was about the equivalent of 1 second of driving a car…underwhelming to say the least.

We’re better off encouraging people to walk or ride to the shops rather than drive or, as Prof MacKay gave as an example, decrease the temperatures of our homes by a relatively small amount.  When you use the calculator and see the impact that an overall decrease in average home temperatures has over and above almost any other option – it makes it incredibly easy to put on that jumper and turn down the thermostat.

The calculator also makes you think more carefully about blanket statements such as ‘we should just put solar panels on every roof’ or ‘nuclear energy will solve all our problems!’.  By providing you with the resources to see the true impact of each approach, both in terms of carbon reduction but also cost, space and innovation requirements, the discussion immediately becomes more nuanced and the weight of decisions immediately more visceral.

There’s a great example here of the importance of data-visualisation, and I’ve discussed before how important such an approach will be over the coming decades.  Our capacity to collect, share and analyse data is growing exponentially; but it is very difficult for people to engage with findings unless they are accessible and help clarify things like scale (millions, billions, trillions…there’s really quite a big difference!) and display things in relation to one another.

The kinds of interactive, dynamic data-visualisation represented by the 2050 Pathways calculator should be applauded for bringing us into contact with the very difficult policy decisions that must be made over the coming decade and beyond in such an accessible and impacting manner.

Conversations change society, and by enabling people to enter into conversations on climate change with insight and a solid foundation of the options available is certainly a vital aspect of the overall path to overcoming and/or dealing with climate change that we are going to have to walk together.  Have a play around with the 2050 Pathways calculator and share it with your friends, see what plans they come up with and the discussions that emerge as you try and balance one set of sacrifices over another; with the entire process occurring upon the backdrop of a possibly cataclysmic shift in how we relate to the ecosystem that we rely so very much upon.

If you discover some magic balance of solutions let us know by commenting below!  What areas did the calculator make you consider more deeply then before?

Of course, the phone is covered for accidental damage and could be replaced very easily – and yet, here we are six weeks later and I still haven’t gone through the process of getting a new one.  That’s partly down to my own capacity for laziness, but it’s also because a new sense of freedom quickly replaced the remorse of losing a synthetic friend.

Interestingly for a futurist, a category who self-identify as technological visionaries (I use the term very loosely), I feel no pressing desire to replace my smartphone.  Instead I carry with me an old reliable object of utility that has been neglected for the past decade, a strangely comforting collection of syllables that point towards easier times: No-ki-a.  The first thing I noticed was how well it actually works as a phone.  Turns out older models used to be really good at being phones, an art form we’ve lost somewhere along the way.

The next thing I noticed was that within days I found myself less stressed, less distracted, and for a short period of time entered a kind of blissful state where I floated through a sea of other people constantly using smartphones.  Free from the hypnotic hold they have over us I felt almost ethereal, suddenly noticing just how prevalent these little black rectangles are in the hands of others.  I swear my posture even improved almost immediately as I no longer had a reason to hunch over at every possible opportunity to check my work email or social media streams.

Okay, maybe that last one is an exaggeration – but the truth is that the line between my professional obligations and personal life was blurring to the point of non-existence, and rediscovering the ability to detach myself from the constant demands of accessible information certainly has contributed to a far happier and content state of mind.  It’s noticeable, and I like it.

But does this make me a hypocrite?  As someone who gets giddy over announcements of smartwatches or augmented reality glasses, could I really turn my back that easily on one of the most positively influential human/technology interfaces that humanity has ever seen?  I’ve often taken up the cause of the Digital Native, those who have grown up in the rapidly advancing world of modern technology where the question ‘do you think you spend too much time on that thing?’ seems like a quaint throwback to VHS and rotary telephones.

We hear the criticisms that social media is no match to the true value of face-to-face relationships and undermines our privacy; the arguments that our attention spans are getting shorter because of our reliance on instantly accessible information and bite-sized content; the decrying of how our ability to relate properly to one another sexually is being undermined by the prevalence of pornography, with its bluntly articulated (often degrading) visual language of gender roles.  Every optimistic discussion on our digital lives is met with a terse, critical statement of how we are losing sight of what it means to be an empathic, caring society.

I’m always ready to argue that we can’t place such a narrow definition on human expression and activity but must instead try to embrace this newfound capacity to adapt as individuals in a rapidly changing social context.  That to dismiss this transitional period as detrimental to the core of our being is to over-sentimentalise our way out of recognising flaws that have always been prevalent in the human condition.  Socrates was famously critical of the written word, arguing in the fifth century BCE that it led to the kinds of detrimental impacts to memory, communication and wisdom that we are used to hearing about our modern technologies today.

At the very least, we must admit that a fundamental change has occurred and there’s not very much we can do about it but try to craft an identity out of the exponential variety of ingredients that seeks to place creative goodness at its centre.  Utilising the hyper-connectivity of our world to hopefully influence others to do the same.  I’m a utopian at heart, a shameless optimist that recognises the dangers we face but believes wholeheartedly that we can overcome them with little more than the right frame of mind.  This blog is all about a future conscience, after-all.

So why does it feel so good to be taking a smartphone holiday?  Maybe I should extend it to the many other forms of digital technology in my life and get rid of them all…simplify things to the point where a rush of calming serenity floods my being with the tranquil stillness of an ashram in Spring.  This kind of asceticism has little appeal, however, because I am a firm believer that true spirituality engages with the world.  Works with the tools and modes of being that we are gifted with, and does not seek to dismiss the new as out of place; as an unnatural abomination that can only serve to corrupt us.  Everything is an expression of natural processes, and we must learn to relate to the modern world as such and therefore bring the appropriate degree of mindfulness to the ongoing conversation on what it means to be human.

It was quite clear that I had become habitual in my smartphone use over and beyond its capacity to enhance my lifestyle, mindless in my use that allowed impulsive behaviour patterns to lead the way.  I was a digital addict, and my paraphernalia of choice was manufactured by Samsung working in tandem with those Android peddlers over at Google.  In the days and weeks after (accidentally) placing myself in rehab, I would reach for my breast pocket impulsively – surprising myself with just how frequently this would happen.  You start to notice these things far more often when there’s nothing there for your hand to grasp hold of…and therefore no valid, conscious reason for me to be doing the action in the first place.

I had lost all sense of digital discipline, a slave to my emails and their call for professional perfectionism; an addict seeking the next hit of validation with those bright red indicators of Facebook popularity; a vain narcissist who felt that if there weren’t photos then the event never happened, because life is real only when others can be shown how much fun you are having.

So my accident became a digital holiday – or, more accurately, a smartphone holiday.  I’ve got no desire at this point to take up my habit again.  It takes more than six weeks to truly break an addiction, and I need to admit to the fact that an addiction it truly was.  Which brings me back to our digital natives – a term which seemingly has a limited shelf-life as it quickly becomes the norm.  Are those who grew up with smartphones in their hands (they sell toy versions for 6 months and up) addicts?  Are you addicted to your car?  Or your dishwasher?  Those are probably trite examples, to be sure, but it’s obvious to say that we can use a tool all the time without it being detrimental to our wellbeing.  One key indicator is anxiety, and the capacity to honestly assess how our digital interfaces contribute to (or alleviate – videogames, anyone?) our levels of stress and concern over often trivial aspects of our lives is a skill that we need to collectively learn.

It’s worth taking a digital holiday, maybe even a series of holidays that isolate different items (scientific method, yay!) one at a time to better judge the impact each one is having on your daily routine and how you formulate your sense of identity.  We might not have been raised as such, but most of us are digital natives now and we need to learn to proactively explore what that means.  Developing our ability to identify and correct those areas in which these fantastic new tools of human expression and development overcome our autonomy and creative potential.

The impetus for taking a digital holiday might come accidentally or through circumstance, or it might be a decision you actively make.  In the best of worlds, it will be a bit of both – because we are infinitely capable of overlooking those aspects of our lives which are causing us the most grief.  Just as we are equally prone to forget to appreciate the miraculous and beautiful expressions of the human condition that inspire and sustain us, and that our digital world can help manifest in new ways.

Both sides of this coin are as valid for the digital landscape we have found ourselves in as they are for anything else.  Which is why it’s so important that we learn to read the language of this landscape, to take a step back and listen to the messages it is sending us about ourselves and the way we are evolving as a species in an infinitely expressive universe.

Taking a digital holiday of your own is a worthy excursion if only to see what happens, because when you return it is likely to be the brighter path that catches your eye.  The harbingers of happiness and contentment become more clear, making it easier to follow through with the obvious realisation that the most important steps any of us can take are those that follow such brightness and allow it to feed into who we are.

Digital or not, anything that can encourage a greater degree of clarity is worth pursuing.  So if the opportunity arises – for whatever reason – make sure to enjoy that holiday and see what insight awaits for you upon your return.

The role of the futurist is akin, in some small way at least, to a modern shaman – playing with the boundaries of society and bringing insight through observation, public conversation and an obsession with the experimental frontier.  It’s also a sector that is rife with over-priced consultants that prey on people’s general lack of knowledge and confidence – in many ways reminding me of the world of social media in how it operates.

Which is why it’s fascinating to note that futurist thinking is starting to become mainstream in a way that combines wishful thinking with a level of tangible results; bringing our imagined future closer to hand than ever before.  We are seeing ourselves emerge from a transitional period – directed predominately by the rise of the internet – that has fundamentally changed the flow of ideological habits and had a massive impact on our cultural boundaries.  Because of this new-found awareness of the future, along with both the challenges and opportunities it will bring with it, I’m calling 2013 ‘The Year of the Futurist’.

The level of imaginative thinking on the direction our society will take over the coming decades has become firmly embedded in our public discourse.  The media is becoming increasingly nuanced when reporting about technological and medical advancements, and this in turn is signalling to the general public that a sea change is occurring with how we incorporate such advancements into our daily lives both personal and social.

There’s a lot of optimism to be found amongst the doom-laden pages of global conflict and financial turmoil: leaps in neuroscience and medicine opening up treatments and increasing our hopes of longevity; commercially widespread glimpses of augmented reality and other lifestyle enhancements; rapid progress in accountability and transparency across almost all sectors; transportation and communication projects beckoning a future world that is more connected than ever before; and scientific achievements in physics and space exploration wrapping all of this with a new public fascination with the unknown.

Of course, there’s also an increasing amount of negative futurist sentiment – such as the cyberpunk-styled tales of hackers both rogue and state-funded running amok amongst the foundations of our new digital world – which are raising social anxieties on the uncertainties that a rapidly advancing global society will face when the traditional certainties of form and structure are stripped away to be replaced by who-knows-what. Was it Orwell or Huxley that predicted our dystopian future more accurately?  A topic of conversation that I’ve taken part in more times in the last six months than in all previous memory…

Coming with this renewed interest in technological and social advancement is an outlook that is beginning to prize ethics and values-driven approaches more prominently.  Once everybody got involved with Facebook, Google and Apple we didn’t really have much of a choice but to become concerned about privacy policies and terms of agreement.  Likewise, recent innovations in the world of performance enhancement in sport (and how to get away with it) and the inspiring mobility of paralympians in the 2012 Olympic Games brought to the fore conversations about human enhancement and augmentation.  For the first time I’ve even started to hear legitimate conversations taking place within the world of business consultants about the impact of augmented cognition on the workforce.

Beyond these direct concerns there’s a vast increase in the amount of discussion around the impact these advancements will have on our identities.  The varied world of social media is leading the way on this one, with a large number of vocal naysayers lambasting our tendency towards being screen-obsessed and arguing that we are losing our grip on emotional reality.  This sense that recent technology will lead to deeply impacting negative results is also starting to see a number of counter arguments emerge – that often explore the notion that to hold onto nostalgic, static formulations of identity is to strive for an illusory state of being.  A state of being and form of identity that not only is impossible to hold onto forever; but likely never even existed in the first place.

We are surrounded by a multitude of fantastical phantasies, but all around us is the sense that the curtains are being drawn aside and we are finding ourselves grappling with the very foundations of society and our shared human condition. The loss of trust in almost every sector – financial, political, media, education, religion, sport, the food industry (etc. etc.) – is eliciting a response calling for alternatives, calling for new ways of relating to one another and the world around us, demanding that we reassess the priorities of modern civilisation in order to ensure that our loyalties lie with future generations.

Those of us in the futurist community – and particularly those working as such in professional capacities – need to see this trend as a very important watershed moment.  Not one in which we merely find a self-gratifying sense of validation or an opportunity to raise consultancy fees, but rather embrace the understanding that this is a period in which the duty of the futurist has become more relevant and subsequently carries with it a far greater amount of social responsibility and potential for culpability if things go wrong.

Beyond this realisation of duty is the wonderful fact that, increasingly, we are all becoming futurists. An understanding that modern humanity needs to develop a hyper-adaptive state in order to cope with our new global society is becoming part of its very foundation.  There is an increased view that we must find ourselves more loyal to the future then to the past, that we need to take seriously the path that we are placing humanity on with the decisions we make or the technology we innovate with on a daily basis.

A society of futurists is one that takes account of the powerful transition from biological evolution to a course directed by collective ideology and social vision.  It is one that seeks to firmly place the inalienable rights and laws towards freedom and global prosperity that such a transition requires in order for us to emerge victorious over the many pitfalls, and countless oppressive evils, that a blind march into an unconsidered future might take us.

Amongst a world in turmoil, where the majority of us still suffer and strive to eke out a daily existence, is a spark of optimism – a glimmer of Hope in the Pandora’s Box of our cumulative being.  We should see 2013 as the Year of the Futurist, because we need to ensure that we walk forwards together with foresight towards prosperity, with love and charity that has a basis outside of ourselves, with a sense of duty towards the future and the strength of conscience required to get us there safely.

We need a world filled with futurists – so are you ready to call yourself one?

1) Digital Distribution marches ahead

Let’s begin with an obvious trend that is all but inevitable, and one that has clearly been gaining steam over the last few years. We now have the infrastructure (high speed broadband, mobile reading devices, content and distribution capacity) meeting public demand for convenience and instant access to confidently say that 2013 will be a tipping point for digital distribution.

High-street institutions such as HMV and Blockbuster slide into administration, whilst services such as Netflix, Lovefilm, Steam and Spotify offer enough content – particularly in the US market – to keep you entertained for a very long time.  Negotiation of licensing is a hurdle, and many markets need further expansion of their catalogues to be viable, but digital distribution will prove to be king this year.  This will also mean we hear a lot more about possible flaws of these business models (Spotify is often targeted, although perhaps not justifiably), and in the case of digital gaming there will be more debate about ownership and loss of service (if a service goes down do all of our purchases become worthless?).  In the end we’re not going to have much of a choice but bow down to our new digital overlords.

2) Internet Freedom backlash

If the last few years have been about government and corporate intrusion on our lives and activities, this year will see a backlash that will draw a new line in the battle for internet freedom. Lines are being drawn between corporations and government (such as news of Google, Yahoo and others requiring search warrants), whilst there is also backlash occurring at a national level surrounding jurisdictional issues (i.e. MegaUpload case in New Zealand).  We even have the French government preparing legislation that will allow a new form of taxation on the digital economy.  Battle lines are being drawn.

Outside of this legal battle is the growth in services that market themselves on a privacy platform – whether it be Kim Dotcom’s new and improved encrypted Mega, or the continued rise of VPN services, a consumer-driven approach to internet privacy and freedom will see large gains in 2013.

3) The bigger they are, the harder they fall…

There are a number of tech-focused companies that seem untouchable at this point (Apple, Google, Facebook etc.), which is almost always an indicator that they are going to over-extend or make a drastic misstep and face the consequences. Apple is rapidly losing its dominance, and only a few days ago lost its coveted crown at the top of the corporate heap, and expect that to continue and gain steam this year as a business built on consumer loyalty begins to see that zealous fan base erode.  Facebook hits its market saturation point, and fatigue will set in leading to lower levels of usage and dropping user numbers in a few geographic areas.  Whilst Google plays both sides of the privacy debate and faces greater scrutiny into its total dominance of our online lives, with an increasing cynicism towards the famous motto ‘Don’t be Evil’ brought about by high-profile privacy breaches and consumer tracking practices.

Which one will see a big hit this year?  Likely all of them…but if I had to put money on it, I’d say that Apple is set up for a big drop in influence by diluting its product line with an increasing number of iterative releases at high-end prices, whilst losing a great deal of consumer loyalty in the process as people shift over to the likes of Samsung as Android continues to destroy the competition.

4) Augmented reality begins now

I can’t seem to stop mentioning Google here, but Google Glass will lead the way for augmented reality as a topic that the average person will understand and begin to see the utility of.  No longer a novelty item on our smartphones or handheld consoles, attempts will be made to position this as a lifestyle enhancer as the function is included in an increasing number of applications and products.

Unlike the 3D-television fad, the fashion aspect of this new market will be properly taken into account and designs will reflect the desire for non-intrusive products that will prove successful from the outset.  Your augmented reality begins this year, and it only gets deeper from here on out!

5) Social media landscape consolidates

The last five years has seen a boom in social media companies and attempts to create the ‘next big thing’ following the sustained success of Facebook and Twitter.  Almost all of which have only seen moderate success (relatively speaking) before retreating somewhat (FourSquare seems like a big name that might fall away this year) or being bought out by a larger company (Facebook snapping up Instagram).  Expect more high-profile purchases this year of every new innovation that even begins to take hold as the larger companies with deep pockets try to maintain market share.

What we are seeing are the beginnings of the next wave of social media, which is the integrated platform.  Google is leading the way in trying to implement an all-in-one package (although Microsoft might not be too far behind them…), and Facebook is now making moves into search functionality with Graph Search. Whether or not this integrated approach will prove successful in the long run is hard to predict because we’re notoriously fickle with such platforms.  But we’ve got a number of brands with embedded user-bases that are certainly going to try their best.

Ultimately the opposite needs to occur, movement towards decentralised systems which allow far greater controls over data ownership, but the current trend will continue to be towards the mega-corporate model of conglomeration and continued focus on data mining revenue capacity.  Definitely cause for concern, but can we fight the impulsive nature and vote with our (virtual) feet?

6) Crowd-funding will be tested by failure

2011-2012 was the launch of the crowd-funding era, with the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo leading the charge.  Anybody with a good idea and some marketing nous could get large amounts of funding to complete projects that only a few years ago would never have been green-lighted.  All indications are that this will continue to gain steam and become even more important, bringing with it a greater degree of product innovation and experimentation.  What we haven’t seen yet, however, is a serious test of the model through failure of a massive project because of lofty visioning, misconduct, or even outright fraudulent behaviour.

We’re starting to see very large scale projects, breaking the $10 million dollar mark, which bring with them a higher chance of damaging consumer confidence should they fail.  Once these stories eventuate (and they have been already) and hit the mainstream news the general public will latch onto this negative sentiment – it’s likely only going to be a blip in consumer confidence, but I think it’s going to hit this year with something big.  Let’s see what happens…and hope that I’m wrong.

7) Ethics of technology becomes more prominent

We’ve seen the breakdown of trust and confidence in many sectors recently, from finance to politics to media institutions. The focus on defining ethical boundaries will extend into the technology and medical sphere this year, with more discussion on augmented cognition and human enhancement; synthetic food production (such as 3D meat printing); implications of data security and cases of social profiling; and more focus on the impact of technological innovation on global work standards (Foxconn being a prominent example) and resource usage.

This sense of ethical questioning will coincide with a large degree of positive optimism surrounding medical advancements. A large number of advancements will see successful implementation over the coming year, consider the wave of successful limb transplants we have seen recently, and these will be more highly reported then the ethical issues in other areas leading to an overall positive approach to technological advancement but with an ethical edge. The way it should be!

8) Videogames recognised as literature and art

I’m amazed that even in 2012 we still see attempts by the gliteratti to defend their hallowed halls of culture from the rise of the videogame medium. This notion that videogames are mere trivial pieces of entertainment without literary or artistic merit will be decimated in the public perception.

Games such as The Walking Dead and Journey from 2012 have proven that these interactive experiences are allowing deep levels of emotional engagement, and the industry wide praise of these games will not only mean that more mechanics-light, experience-deep games will go into production; but also that they will see larger audiences and the subsequent awareness that the medium contains infinite creative potential to explore some deeply impacting issues will become more commonplace.

9) 21st Century Space Race

Whilst government funding for NASA decreases, we’re seeing this replaced by private sector interest in space tourism and industry.  This will culminate in 2013 with a number of high profile projects.  From Virgin Galactic’s first flight, to SpaceX continuing the fill the gap that NASA leaves behind, to the Lynx/Axe Space Academy vying for our marketing attention and promoting visions of personal space flight made available to all.

These commercial ventures will be joined by accelerated moves from a number of countries that seek to enter the exclusive club of nations with developed and effective space programmes.  India is set to launch a Mars mission at the end of the year; Iran just succeeded in putting a monkey in space; Russian space budget continues to increase; whilst China’s five year plan continues, with a robotic lunar lander scheduled for later this year.  Amongst all of this, what happens if the little Wall-E like Curiosity Rover finds evidence of ‘Life on Mars’…?

There you have it, what do you think about these predictions? Which ones do you think will come true this year, which ones will take longer, and which ones are just plain wrong? Make sure to add some of your own by commenting below!

So, in no particular order, here are ten of my favourite futurist products for 2012:

Wonderbook: Book of Spells (PS3)

I’m constantly amazed by how many people continue to dismiss the videogame sector as irrelevant.  Given that it has overtaken both music and film in market share, this is not just a trend but a new cultural medium that demands attention.  Combine this with the rapidly approaching augmented reality era (for better or worse) and Wonderbook: Book of Spells showcases how far augmented reality in your living room has come in the last year.

Despite having a rather embarrassing and comical showing at E3 this year – in which its flaws were more apparent than any ‘wonder’ – the reviews of the finished product show that enough progress has been made since the demo to recommend it and this really is the best way to introduce kids of all ages to the coming world of augmented reality.  With the involvement of JK Rowling this becomes an obvious choice for all those Harry Potter lovers out there (judging by the book and movie takings, there’s a few of you).  Now we just need to get some comfortable glasses to enhance the experience…but that’s for next year.

Project Diva F (PS Vita)
Another videogame on the list, but this one more because of its subject matter than anything else.  If you haven’t come across ‘her’ before Hatsune Miku come onto the scene in 2007 with the use of a vocal synthesis technology from Yamaha.  Just a few years later and we saw a holographic representation of the ‘pop star’ singing to a live crowd in a surrealist mix of futurist aesthetic and j-pop kitsch.

With word stirring that we’re soon to see an English version of the vocaloid emerge, the time is right to get acquainted with our new virtual pop overlords and embrace the wonder that is Hatsune Miku, and Project Diva F is a fun way to do so (with the PS Vita you can even have her perform on your living room table via the augmented reality capability).

Pebble E-Paper Watch

There’s countless technological wonders to be found on Kickstarter, but here’s a great one that is seeing the light of day after raising a staggering US$10million in just over a month and becoming the most successful crowdsourced funding campaign on the platform to date.  Combining cutting edge technology, utility and design this product showcases the future of the trusty wristwatch – an item that many had presumed would fade out in the shadow of the smartphone but has proven once again that game-changing innovation is usually just around the corner for every category of product.

Modular Robotics Cubelets

There are many who say that the future of robotics is modular, and the Modular Robotics Cubelets is an accessible look at how this might come about…and suitable for your kids to have a play with at that!  With each cube having a different function, the scope of possibility for your creations is considerable and I’m looking forward to seeing what people come up with.

What I really like about a number of the entries in this list is how they allow us all to experience our technological future regardless of age or capability, and these modular cubes are a fantastic and affordable way to bring some of the wonder of futurist thinking into your home.  Plus with a promotional video like this how can you go wrong!

Kuratas Mechwarrior

There’s no denying that this high-end product rules the roost when it comes to cool factor.  I don’t think there’s a sci-fi lover out there who’s not intrigued by the idea of driving around their very own Mechwarrior – and all for the very cheap price of 1.5million!! (plus a bit extra if you want an internal cup holder…)

The whole promotion of the product come across with a very cheesy, art project feel to it and in the end whether it’s a real consumer product or not is irrelevant as none of us will be able to afford one any time soon.  But with all the worry and paranoia around an artificial intelligence doomsday scenario or singularity among certain aspects of the futurist community it’s great to see a light-hearted approach to the concept that reminds us all that, given the opportunity, we’d drive one of these around in a heartbeat.

Sonos Play:5

The next wave of response from the music industry to effortless piracy must surely be to promote affordable streaming services right into your home.  Sonos has been around for a few years now, but there’s no better time to jump on board the wireless, streaming music bandwagon and pick up a Play:5.  The longevity of all physical entertainment media is coming to an end (unfortunately for those of us who like our retro formats…) and systems like this allow you to update your home in preparation.  If you’re looking for a higher-end wireless audio experience, minus some of the immediate streaming capacity, then direct your attention to the B&W A5 system.

Liquipel

Possibly falling more into the practical over aesthetically astounding category of futurist products for 2012, Liquipel ™ highlights how far our manufacturing processes have become that waterproofing can now be done on a molecular level at minimal cost.  Showcasing the everyday utility of nanotechnology, this is the kind of product that should become so common place in the near future as to not even require a service.  Before too long, everything sensitive to water will be treated this way as standard.

Smart TVs

Now we come to something that I’m hesitant to procure myself for obvious reasons, but it’s hard to deny that the near future of our television sets is connected and pseudo-sentient.  The combination of internet connection with audio, gesture and facial recognition brings up plenty of literal comparisons to Orwell’s 1984, and the possibility for abuse of the technology is substantial.  Having said this, I’m sure at some point I’m going to succumb to the allure of whatever new utility this technology brings…but it’s going to take a lot to cross that barrier for somebody who still puts a band-aid over their laptop’s webcam.  You know, just in case.

Sony HMZ-T1 Virtual Headset

The heyday of virtual and augmented reality has not quite arrived, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t get a very good glimpse of the future of these products right now.  Coming from Sony, the HMZ-T1 headset represents probably the best option for the everyday user that is currently available.  Finally getting over issues of image latency and weight (just…), and including necessary functionality such as head-tracking, wireless and Bluetooth we’ve finally found a worthy champion to put forwards in the new era of virtual reality.  Thankfully this time around we’re not relying on the likes of the Virtual Boy!

Parrot AR Drone 2.0

One of the many interesting aspects of the Occupy protests in 2011 was a battle for the skies above the New York city streets.  Protesters responded to the use of surveillance drones by law enforcement by procuring their very own drone surveillance technology to monitor the monitors in a beautifully recursive display of citizen engagement.  The Parrot AR Drone was the commercial product of choice, and now we’ve got a more advanced version which adds an HD camera and vastly improved functionality to allow us all to bring about the dystopian surveillance future together.

So there have it, some great futurist products for 2012 – what have I missed?  Let us all know by adding a comment below!