Insights June 21st, 2021

Each week Nikolas Badminton curates a weekly list of insights and learnings for progressive executives, world leaders and foresight practitioners – CEO Futures Briefing: Death by Pokémon GO.

This week we look at the The Economic and Human Cost of Using Apps While Driving, Electric Vehicle Outlook for 2021, Facebook to begin testing ads inside Oculus, Engineering Human Tissue and more.

Also featured is an insightful interview on the Exponential Minds Podcast with Rocky Ozaki who talks about COVID-19 killing the paradigm of work, and the awakening we need.

To receive this, and other important insights into the future, then please sign up to Nikolas’ newsletter here.

If you have questions about these things we’re sharing, or a challenge with seeing the futures for you and your organization? Reach out to speak with Nikolas today to arrange a time to talk.

Three articles to read to watch

BloombergNEF – Electric Vehicle Outlook 2021

The Electric Vehicle Outlook is BloombergNEF’s annual long-term publication looking at how electrification, shared mobility and autonomous driving will impact road transport from now out to 2050. It covers light-duty passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, buses, and two/three-wheeled vehicles. 

The report draws on our team of specialists around the world and looks at scenarios for how these trends will impact the automotive, energy, infrastructure and battery materials markets over the coming decades.

Read more at BNEF

Facebook to begin testing ads inside Oculus virtual reality headsets

Facebook on Wednesday announced that it will begin testing advertisements that will appear within the company’s Oculus virtual reality headsets.

In May, the company said that it would begin running ads within the Oculus mobile app, but the announcement on Wednesday is the first time the social media company says it will show ads within its VR headsets.

The Oculus headset ads will first appear in the shooter game Blaston from Resolution Games. Ads will also begin appearing in two other Oculus apps over the coming weeks, Facebook said.

Read more at CNBC

Death by Pokémon GO: The Economic and Human Cost of Using Apps While Driving

Using police accident reports for Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and exploiting the introduction of the augmented reality game Pokémon GO as a natural experiment, we document a disproportionate increase in crashes and associated vehicular damage, injuries, and fatalities in the vicinity of locations where users can play the game while driving. We estimate the incremental county-wide cost of users playing Pokémon GO while driving to be in the range of $5.2 to $25.5 million over the 148 days following the introduction of the game. Extrapolating these estimates to nation-wide levels yields a total ranging from $2.0 to $7.3 billion.

Read the paper at SSRN

Three videos to watch

HYPER-REALITY by Keiichi Matsuda

I wanted to include this in light of Facebook’s announcement above…

Hyper-Reality presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media. 

If you are interested in supporting the project, sponsoring the next work or would like to find out more, please send a hello to info@km.cx.

by Keiichi Matsuda |http://km.cx and more at http://hyper-reality.co

How VW Is Turning Engine Factories Into EV Battery Plants | WSJ

Volkswagen is investing in electric vehicles more than other legacy car makers in the U.S. WSJ goes inside an engine factory that is being transformed into a battery plant as the German giant looks to change its image and become a rival to Tesla.

NASA Science Live: Engineering Human Tissue

Teams across the country have been competing for years to be the first to engineer functional human tissue in a lab. Now, scientists have accomplished this medical feat by creating thick vascularized human organ tissue, which could have profound implications both on Earth and off.  

A conversation that counts

Each week we dig into the archives of all of the interviews Nikolas has undertaken with the insightful and entertaining Exponential Minds Podcast. This week we feature Rocky Ozaki who talks about COVID-19 killing the paradigm of work, and the awakening we need.

The last word…

“One ought to hold on to one’s heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

About Nikolas Badminton

Nikolas Badminton is the Chief Futurist at futurist.com and a world-renowned futurist speakerconsultant, researcher, and media producer. He helps trillion-dollar companies, progressive governments and the media shift their mindset from “what is” to “WHAT IF…” The result is empowered employees, new innovative products and incredible growth that leads to more revenues and a more resilient future.

Nikolas advised Robert Downey Jr.’s team for the ‘Age of A.I.’ documentary series, starred in ‘SMART DRUGS – a Futurist’s journey into biohacking’, and features on CTV, Global News, Sirius XM regularly. His mind-expanding research and opinion can be found on BBC, VICE, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Techcrunch, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Forbes, Sputnik and Venturebeat. 

Nikolas provides the opening chapter – ‘Start with Dystopia’ in a new book – ‘The Future Starts Now: Expert Insights into the Future of Business, Technology and Society’ for Bloomsbury. He is currently researching and writing a new book that equips executives and world leaders with insights and foresight tools to imagine disruption, strengthen strategic planning, and see unforeseen risks.

Nikolas is a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce – The RSA. The organization has been at the forefront of significant social impact for over 260 years with notable past fellows including Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, and Tim Berners-Lee. 

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Futurist Keynote Speaker and Consultant - Nikolas Badminton

CEO of EXPONENTIAL MINDS and an award-winning Futurist Speaker, researcher and author. His expertise and thought leadership will guide you from complacency to thinking exponentially, planning for longevity, and encouraging a culture of innovation. You will then establish resiliency and abundance in your organization. Please reach out to discuss how he can help you, and read on to see what is happening in the world this week.

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