lifestyle

Global Greening Lifestyles: Japan

Jody Turner — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:43:08 -0500

Today marks the launch of a new kid on the design-blog scene: SightUnseen, dedicated to the lifestyles and obsessions of designers.

Will Smartphones Help Crack the Economy's Secrets?

Kit Eaton — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:46:12 -0400

Smartphones: They really are the personal electronic assistants envisioned in the sci-fi novels of yesteryear. Their latest trick: They just might be able to predict the direction of the economy.

Eco Design Series: ICONOGRAPHIC

Jody Turner — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:00:20 -0400

Jens Skisbted and Instant Icons

The Eco Design Blog Series

Jody Turner — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:00:05 -0400

Upcoming we will be focusing on three main points of modern design within the sustainability conversation:

Archives of the Planet

Jed Share — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:11:19 -0400

'The Dawn of the Color Photograph' is a wonderful book I recently
had the pleasure of discovering. It's a treasure trove of color images from
the early 1900's, collected by Albert Kahn, a banker, yet really an
internationalist who dedicated his life to collecting and preserving
the earliest collection of color photographs depicting life at that
time, all around the world.

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see”

Jed Share — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:49:10 -0400

Henry David Thoreau wrote: “The question is not about what you look at, but what you see”

When I first read Walden Pond, it influenced me deeply to seek peace
in nature and as a professional photographer to become mindful of the most minute detail. Is this a
Dandelion or a network? Inter-connected, inter-dependent, balanced,
and stronger as a whole.

Are we stronger when we connect to others, I think we are, how do you see it?

See more evocative photography at http://jedshare.com

Economics and Truth: CultureofFuture.com and IDEO

Jody Turner — Sat, 02 May 2009 19:15:51 -0400

Quite a gap of time since we last posted! It is definitely a whirlwind time of shift and change. Are we busy? We are busy here at CultureofFuture.com – framing change in a way that inspires learned pathways and wise reengagements. This is a reframing that allows us to feel the loss, indulge (if briefly) in the paper media fright fest and yet move deliberately forward toward new business models of media divergence, slow money, product and services, including a reinvention of value, energy and life metric systems.

To Barter, Or Not To Barter...

Anthony Donnelly — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:28:15 -0500

Elsewhere in the world, bartering is as commonplace as accepting credit cards, and an integral element to almost every business model. Here in the US, predominantly due to the fact we have been the strongest and most affluent global economy for so long, barter was never a necessity. Until now, that is. With the current collapse of the monetary infrastructure here in America and around the world, increasing numbers of people are flocking to the age-old system of bartering.

Welcome to the CultureofFuture.com Trend Blog

Jody Turner — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:14:26 -0500

January 19, 2009:
Today is Martin Luther King’s birthday and we have one day to Obama’s inauguration!

New World Economy
So much is changing and becoming more interesting and meaningful. This is an evolving era of mass insight, global to local co-creation, collective skillset communities and urges of mass contribution and engagement. Case in point, welcome to the Fast Company global conversation, thank you Fast Company and the many, many conversations going on out there.

Scientists Say Urban Living Makes You Stupid

Kit Eaton — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:55:14 -0500

It's official: Living in a city is bad for your brain--or so says some new research by University of Michigan scientists. Specifically, the team of psychologists found that being in an urban environment depresses memory performance and attention spans.

2009: The Year Gadgets Stop Being Life Add-Ons?

Kit Eaton — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:06:42 -0500

I was reading about Vuzix's new VR projection glasses--actually looking pretty snazzy, versus a prop from Star Trek--when a thought struck me. It seems that the gadget as a nice-to-have bolt-on to modern life is dead. Instead, the gadget as a ubiquitous, fully-integrated, seamless augmentation to modern life has been born, and 2009 is when the transition may become complete.

Let me start with the technology.

The Fabled Robotic Future Is Nearly Here [video]

Kit Eaton — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:52:25 -0500

Sitting in my spare bathroom is a large device dubbed a Cat Robot, and though it's not as sophisticated-looking as, say, an automobile production line spot-welding robot, let alone a Transformer, this robotic gizmo is a blessing. Calmly, patiently, every day, it saves me the bother of raking out my cat's litter tray by robotically doing it for me. This simple device shows just how close the fabled science-fictional robotic future really is.

We've been promised homes and workplaces peopled (if you can say that) with robots that relieve the drudgery for decades, but it never seems to arrive. But news from Panasonic is helping to convince me that it's a future that's actually just around the corner. Because Panasonic, in concert with Japan's IRT Research Institute has revealed it's working on a dishwashing robot dubbed KAR (Kitchen Assistant Robot.) It's got 18 different sensors in its hand, can automatically determine the size and shape of dishes, pick up individual bits of crockery from a stack, can do plenty of other things besides dishes, and it may be a consumer product within five years. Sounds silly to you? Who doesn't hate dishwashing, or, for that matter, loading/unloading a dishwasher (itself a very simple robot)? And imagine a simpler version helping out in busy restaurants, or catering facilities in large factories.

On a different robotic front, M.I.T has recently shown the latest version of it's Huggable series of telepresence caring devices. If you can overlook the slight creepiness of an intelligent teddy bear, inside the device's soft fur is a highly advanced robot. It's peppered with touch sensors, has webcams for eyes, a speaker behind its snout, and a sophisticated motor assembly. It's designed to react to the user's touch, and can even deliver remote telepresence hugs: one distant bear can be moved, making another copy its movements. Huggable is aimed at situations like healthcare, where children could benefit from the companionship it offers.

Similarly there's plenty of research being carried out in Japan on robotic assistance for the elderly--a pressing issue in Japan where populational dynamics have left the average age creeping ever upwards. The Mamoru robot from Tokyo University is just one of a hoard of similar devices. It's designed to deliver limited robotic companionship to older people, reminding them where they've left articles--which it keeps track of with wide-angle cameras and smart image-recognition software--and, most importantly, it can prompt users when it's time for a particular medication.

These are fairly simple robots: It's in devices like Honda's ASIMO, and others like it, that real sophistication lies. Seeing the very humanoid ASIMO running, pushing carts around, collaborating in groups, conducting an orchestra, delivering coffee and meeting and greeting people is absolutely thrilling, albeit in slow-motion--check out the video below. It's a million-dollar research prototype, sure, but it's so many generations into development that if there were a concerted push commercialized robots like it could very well be out in the wild in a few years. Artificial walking-assistance robot legs, based on Asimo, may in fact be seen quite soon.

MBE-Barter: Serious CPR For An Economic Meltdown

Tram Holloway — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:43:12 -0500

As the American economy teeters on the brink of the biggest financial meltdown in history, and the proposed $700bn bail-out plan looks set to go down as well as David Blaine's stunt, there is still a small glimmer of hope.

MBE-Barter: Serious CPR For An Economic Meltdown

Anthony Donnelly — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:13:26 -0400

Reduce Stress: Punctuate Your Day

Anthony Donnelly — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:00:37 -0400

Life can be very stressful, especially if we become part of that stress. Here's an exercise that I have found useful.

Punctuate your day. Imagine reading a book without any punctuation. It would most likely be rather stressful and probably would not make much sense. How many of us go from awakening to sleeping without fully punctuating our day?

Introduction

Anthony Donnelly — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:03:40 -0400

I'm new to Fast Company and fairly new to blogging, so I thought I'd begin with a short blog-burst to give a flavour of what I intend to write.

My current business and most recent background is barter, the oldest and most effective form of commerce ever invented (especially the way Merchants Barter Exchange has streamlined it), however there is only so much one can write and still make interesting and entertaining about barter. For this reason much of my blog content will NOT be about barter and my company.

How to start an Adventure Travel business online

Enrico forte — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:18:52 -0400

The first thing to consider when starting new adventure travel activities business is to plan and analyze what the market says and test all you do.