What will the next ten years look like? Trend forecasting agency The Future Laboratory recently revealed a number of buzzwords to reflect the state of tomorrow. Here are a choice few:
• Sharents Those annoying adults who tweet their offspring's every utterance and can't go a day without uploading another "adorable" photo. As a result of such parental pride, it will become unusual for children to reach secondary school without an online history that can be traced back to the day they were born. Thanks, Mum.
• Child Technology Officers Does your child know more than you do about your mobile phone? Have you sheepishly sought their advice on how to use Vine or Pinterest? The next 10 years will see the rise of Child Technology Officers – the pint-sized family authorities on everything digital.
• Screenagers Worried about your children watching too much TV? How quaint. Future Laboratory's research showed that today's under-10s see no difference between their on- and offline lives. "Child technology officers" will grow into "screenagers" whose realities are as much on screen as in classrooms and homes.
• Pretail Where brands follow our online footprints to tell us what we want before we even know we want it. On one hand, this is simply a development of a truth that successful businesses have always known; on the other, it's an unnerving glimpse into an increasingly Orwellian future. See MindMeld, an app that "listens in" to your online conversations, then offers relevant products and services.
• Space-vertising As passenger space travel becomes a reality (Virgin is set to launch its first flights soon), expect to see other big brands vying for a piece of the intergalactic action. Already, vodka brand Stolichnaya has sent a mixologist to shake a zero-gravity cocktail and Nestle has floated a KitKat in the stratosphere. Why? Why not?
• Bio-facture Researchers at Scotland's Heriot-Watt University have discovered a 3D printing technique that uses embryonic stem cells to create human tissue while students at London's Central St Martins are looking into the possibility of a GM strawberry plant that can grow lace from its roots, thus combining food and textile production. The convergence of technology and biology should lead to a more sustainable future. Phew!
