This summer I kicked off a new domain of research with 3 colleagues in Toronto: The Future of Intimacy.
As the virtual becomes a natural augmentation of our physical relationships, how will virtual interactions become less of a substitute for physical proximity and rather a mechanism to extend and augment intimacy (play/engagement/closeness) in 2050?
To show a vision of this future, we created a company: UME; which was founded in 2025.
UME is the leading company in emotion extension technology. At UME, we connect how you feel with your loved ones.
While we envisioned positive ways to use this technology, including an increase in emotional literacy; we explored the dark side of complete mind-melding.
And other scenarios share more possibilities, like a general overview of this world, an empathic high school and a feminist perspective.
These scenarios show a vision of what the future could be. How could this world become a reality? We created a Backcast to show plausible events happening in the next 37 years that could lead to this reality.
While we can't say for certain that this vision will happen, the technology and trends of today lead us to this vision. The value of this work is in how it makes you think about this topic. Is this a future you want to live in? What things about this future are exciting and pull you toward it? Which items about this future concern you?
Without a vision of the future to step into and experience, we can't explore these questions. The answers to these questions changes the way we interact in the present, and this, in turn, changes the future.
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