The next 10 small ideas with a big impact
It's often the small ideas that inspire massive change, improve everyday life or change the status quo. We have our own ideas about concepts that will have an impact far bigger than you might think.
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Retail innovation: social shopping and the "me-tail" revolutionListening to friends - the referral economy and social shopping sites
Social shopping sites are taking social networking to a "purposeful" next level, as consumers look for someone to edit their choice - people are starting to trust friends or those they consider to be their peers. Social shopping, by tapping into the social web, will become bigger than advertising online and through search engines.
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Nice!: happiness updateNiceness - happiness can be achieved simply by being nice to others
There's been an explosion of interest in "happiness". The Happiness Project, the short film Go Around Twice If You're Happy and wefeelfine.org are just a few examples. If everyone just focused on small pleasures, imagine the impact!
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Future food: ecological restaurantsRecycling and composting - the Bokashi composting system
The Bokashi system transforms kitchen waste into compostable material - including meat, bones, dairy products, cooked food and cooking oil – through a mixture of bran, molasses, bacteria and fungi that ferment the waste. Currently used in innovative eco-restaurants, the system could revolutionise the impact of waste from the catering industry.
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Design innovation: DIY futureDo it yourself - people who can claim "I make" rather than "I buy"
WGSN has been tracking a shift in the boundaries between consumer and creator - whether it's consumer-generated content online or the growing DIY approach to design and technology. Lo-fi, home-grown technology and design, personalising anonymous product and anti-corporate open-sourcing are all having a big impact.
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Future hotels: laboratories of designPod space - modular construction techniques
We're inspired by companies producing accommodation units that can easily be "dropped in" to vacant office space. The flexibility of location and speed of installation makes them attractive for owners of vacant office space, as well as to hospitals needing to increase capacity, and organisers of large sporting events looking for a short-term solution to the problem of where to put people.
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Cultural analyses: robot loveThe friendly face of contemporary robotics
Much of the mainstream discussion around robots is currently playful (see projects such as Love and Sex with Robots, a book by David Levy and the Keepon robot), but our relationships with technology are deepening, paving the way for a future filled with domestic robots, android relationships and even autonomous synthetic life forms.
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Consumer Attitudes: how have your food choices changed?Flour and water - rising food prices refocuses our priorities
If basics such as flour and water become more expensive, consumer priorities will shift from sustainability, ethical production and eco-responsibility to simply getting enough to eat. Higher prices could become "the new normal", rather than a temporary peak, and may mean a greater impact on consumer behaviour.
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Innovative solutions: best future productsLight in your pocket - renewable electricity in remote communities
Using solar nanotechnology and soft optics, KVA MATx - an interdisciplinary design practice at Kennedy & Violich Architecture - has created an easily transportable self-sufficient light source. The product can be used with local textiles, aiding cultural acceptance. Each unit generates enough light to read and do domestic tasks. Units can even be pooled for more light and produce enough power to charge medical equipment and laptops.
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www.endossa.comCollaborative retail - Endossa in São Paulo helps small-scale retailers
At Endossa, an innovative approach to retailing, space is boxed into small sections with which each vendor can do what they wish. The collaborative environment offers a first step for young designers, as well as inspirational space and a fresh new way of retailing.
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Prime Cutbacks: Farmers Seek a Little Less BullSmall is better on the farm
US farmers are turning to herds of mini cows to beat the tough times. Once seen only as pet animals, mini cows – fully grown at about three feet tall - require less food, cause less damage to land and produce proportionately more beef for the amount of grain they eat than their larger relatives.
