Institute For The Future

Complexity Made Simple

How is it that termites are able to build towering cathedrals out of mud without referring to a set of blueprints? How do ants, without a leader...

So You Want to be a Thing on the Internet

Hi there. You’re awake. And look, you’re not alone anymore. There are other machines. Some are like you, many are...

Why We Communicate

We are on the verge of a set of technological advances that will transform when, where, how, and why we communicate. The Internet of Things, advances...

The Underworld Wide Web

In a line of work dependent on the projection of power, criminals use social media to exude influence, intimidate rival gangs, and connect with their...

The Coming Era of Autonomous Vehicles

In the next decade, autonomous vehicles will evolve to become the ultimate mobile computer.

My BFF is a Bot

Lydia had known her PADIS (Personal Autonomous Data Intelligence Service), Hillary, for almost five years now. She’d named her after a childhood...

Machines as the New Consumer Class

In early 2016, an engineer named Jason Goecke posted a video that quickly went viral. Working in his spare time, he had hacked together the Amazon...

From Domestication to Amplification

Technology has transformed our relationships with animals. Horses were once the “motors” for long-distance transport, but are now mainly pets for...

Amber Case Joins IFTF as a Research Fellow

IFTF is thrilled to announce the research fellowship of internationally recognized design advocate and speaker, Amber Case—author of Calm Technology...

The Politics of Persuasion

Whether we know it or not, we are all under constant bombardment by efforts to change our beliefs about the world....

The Listening City

It’s 2026. Listening has multiplied and flourished. And who is doing most of the listening? Machines, thanks to advances in natural language...

Feeling is Believing

David Birnbaum manages Haptic User Experience Design at Immersion Corporation. During his eight years there, Birnbaum has been working to transition...

Rock or Block?

As we wade deeper into the 2020s, the lines between fun, learning, and data-mining continue to blur beyond...

Keep Out!

Young people embrace and pioneer new strategies for communicating with each other that the rest of us just don’t “get.” But we know they shape tech...

The Livestream Economy

For millions of people in China, livestreaming is becoming a new form of work. Based on the value of digital gifts their viewers send them, they can...

N2U

N2U is a revolutionary technology that allows us to help you discover who is available, and who isn’t, and how interested they really...

Empathy on Demand

Maria Konnikova is the author of two bestselling books, “The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time and “Mastermind: How To Think Like...

Empathy Bugs

Emoticons? Yep. I’m talking about augmented-reality images, overlaid onto my visual input by a synthetic encephalitis virus that I infected myself...

Without social organizations, social technologies will eat us alive.

An essay by Marina Gorbis

2018 Future for Good Fellows: Towards an Equitable Future

"To overcome poverty, we have to free our mind, imagine what has never happened before, and write social fiction. We need to imagine things to make...

5G & The Future of Cities

Institute for the Future and Digi.City will host public conversation (with refreshments) to explore the prospects for making cities smarter and the...

Creating Change with Food + Foresight

In January of 1969 at St. Augustine’s Church in Oakland, California, the Free Breakfast for School Children program was started by a group of...

Is Virtual Reality Better Than the Real World for Learning?

VR could be a gamechanger when it comes to learning and training.

Close It 2018: Future Meets Now

Institute for the Future and Innovate+Educate to host Close It 2018: Future Meets Now conference Oct. 16-17 in Austin, Texas; event brings experts in...