Media agency PHD has launched Merge, its seventh publication, that focuses on the inevitability of the merger between human beings and technology.
Hosted at Sydney’s Simmer on the Bay last Friday, the agency invited guests to experience the future with an array of emerging technologies on show. Exploring a selection of live, interactive areas, guests had the chance to try out some of the ground-breaking gadgets and see just how close we are to the Merge.
Tech areas included wearables, hearables, bio-tech, brainwear, gesture control, invisibles, IOT, robotics, virtual reality, augmented reality.
Delivering the keynote was Mark Holden, PHD’s worldwide strategy and planning director. Holden outlined the five stages of the evolutionary road, between 1950 and 2050, culminating in technology and humanity fusing together both symbolically and literally.
Holden touched on some of the advances we can expect to see in the next 30 years, including “renting” additional brain nodes to increase memory, microchip “invisibles” and nano-bots used to monitor health, predict diseases and improve what nature has given us, the constant, high-speed, wireless connection between our biological brains and the cloud, and smart homes and cities, autonomous vehicles, as well as next generation VPAS.
The publication itself draws on insights and foresights of experts including world-leading inventor, author and futurist Ray Kurzweil, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, futurologist Dr Ian Pearson and Microsoft chief envisioning officer UK Dave Coplin.
For a visual smorgasbord and chronological snapshot of the evolution of the Merge, keep your eyes peeled for the ‘IF’ section of B&T‘s upcoming print edition.
