The Future Human Podcast

Future Human Visionaries #12 — Jan Boelen on the multidimensional museum

Welcome to Visionaries, a podcast dedicated to futurological thinkers brought to you by Future Human and the V&A. We seek out people who are reimagining innovation in their field and ask them to apply their intelligence to emerging trends. Jan Boelen is a Belgian art curator and academic who is the director of the Z33 gallery in Hassalt, Belgium. Z33 run art exhibitions that imagine future societies and the issues they will face. He describes the tension between physical and digital experience in our everyday lives, and how this is shaping contemporary artwork. How are museums making themselves a multidimensional experience for visitors? Is the idea of the ‘post-institutional’ museum just a fanciful dream? And is there a danger that the complex ambitions of modern cultural institutions will alienate visitors? Presented by Ben Beaumont-Thomas.

Future Human Visionaries #11 — Superflux on biologically inspired design

Welcome to Visionaries, a podcast dedicated to futurological thinkers brought to you by Future Human and the V&A. We seek out people who are reimagining innovation in their field and ask them to apply their intelligence to emerging trends. Anab Jain and Jon Arden are the directors of Superflux, a design consultancy and research lab based in India and the UK. The work of Superflux focuses on how emerging technologies are changing our everyday life and environment, with the ambition of helping companies make these tools more accessible. They describe how breakthroughs in synthetic biology are informing their work, from gene sequencing projects that seek to identify the alleles that determine human intelligence to DARPA’s efforts to create ‘natural drones’ by hacking the brains of bees. How can designers shape the way advanced technologies are experienced and understood by the general public? And will their role grow increasingly redundant at a time when products can be designed anywhere in the world, and then manufactured locally and cheaply at great speed? Presented by Ben Beaumont Thomas.

Future Human Visionaries #10 — Claire Jamieson on the architect of 2020

Welcome to Visionaries, a podcast dedicated to futurological thinkers brought to you by Future Human and the V&A. We seek out people who are reimagining innovation in their field and ask them to apply their intelligence to emerging trends. Claire Jamieson is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) thinktank ‘Building Futures’. Building Futures are a group of experts who research long term scenarios for the architectural industry, projecting how buildings and urban spaces will change as a result of social, technological, demographic and environmental changes. Is the core remit of architecture moving away from building design towards anticipating the demands of a future society? And if so, how will architects reorganise their practises to serve these needs, and balance them with commercial imperatives? Presented by Ben Beaumont-Thomas.

Future Human Visionaries #9 — Ken Arnold on the ‘post-institutional’ museum

Welcome to Visionaries, a podcast dedicated to futurological thinkers brought to you by Future Human and the V&A. We seek out people who are reimagining innovation in their field and ask them to apply their intelligence to emerging trends. Ken Arnold is the head of Public Programmes at the Wellcome Collection, a world renowned museum that explores ideas connecting medicine, art and everyday life. As the principal manager of their public exhibitions, he describes the changing role of the museum amid a culture that is increasingly shaped by new digital technologies and services. Will the ‘post-institutional’ museum curate expertise instead of artefacts? And might cultural institutions that help us understand our past evolve into public theatres for the futurological visions of artists and scientists? Presented by Jack Gwilym Roberts.

Future Human Visionaries #8 — Rebecca Earley on the use of synthetic biology in textiles

Welcome to Visionaries, a podcast dedicated to futurological thinkers brought to you by Future Human and the V&A. We seek out people who are reimagining innovation in their field and ask them to apply their intelligence to emerging trends. Rebecca Earley is the head of the Textile Futures Research Centre (TFRC) at the University of the Arts London. The TFRC analyses how clothing can enhance personal wellbeing and lifestyle, conducting collaborative research projects with textiles designers, fashion entrepreneurs and scientists. Earley’s own work focuses on the environmental footprint of textile production, and how emerging technologies and production techniques can affect this. She describes how synthetic biology will transform the textiles and materials used to manufacture clothes and apparel. Potential applications include wearable devices that release fragrances or pharmaceuticals to enhance our mood, leather that naturally moulds itself to the contours of our feet, and ‘distributed manufacturing’ that sees complex sequins and embroidery produced cheaply by 3D printers. But will scientific breakthroughs really reduce the environmental impact of mass fashion consumerism? And are visions of clothes technology improving our health overstated? Presented by Ben Beaumont-Thomas.