Trend Check: Culture, Tech and Travel

Our annual Future 100 report dives into the trends, innovation and cultural changes that will drive the next year. How did last year’s predictions fare? Below, we look back at our most accurate predictions in culture, technology and travel.

Culture

Metasocieties (#10)

Metasocieties are advancing thanks to digital governments and communities.

Madeira, a city in Portugal, announced its “digital twin” project called Madalia World, endorsed by the government, in which its first digital lots were sold in September.
Seongman, South Korea announced its plan to digitally recreate the city in the metaverse, where its virtual constituents will have access to civil services, events and information starting in 2023.
Co-founders Christopher Gulczynski, CEO, and Zaven Nahapetyan, CTO, launched an app called Niche to carve out a co-owned digital space where creatives and members can collaborate and co-create in a decentralized environment. The two hope that a community-driven, creative incentive structure will “change the quality and the content, or the quality of the content that drives discussions and furthers the community, rather than only being used for quick scrolling and entertainment.”

Several people interacting in a small room with a table in the center and two desktop screens. A blue and red backdrop of the Freedom Tower rests behind them. — Spatial

Tech & innovation

3D audio (#11)

Sonic brands and events are giving rise to the next generation of audio experiences.

At the SXSW conference in August, Spatial unveiled an immersive audio experience that realigned attendee’s sense of comfort, belonging and safety – a feature the brand believes could transform employee in-office experiences.
BBC Radio 4 is reimagining the popularity of a gaming world into an audio drama called Splinter Cell: Firewall. Actor Andonis Anthony from the Radio 4 drama told the BBC that he believes this is a prime time to offer a "cinematic experience" via audio, because “more and more people are getting used to listening to audio as a story experience. Everyone's going out and about with their air pods on these days and listening in a different way to before."
Brazillian media company Globo is adapting Ateme’s KYRION encoder platform to deliver an immersive audio experience for viewers during the 2022 World Cup matches in Qatar.
Introduced in September, fans who attend Aerosmith’s Las Vegas residency experienced a 30 minute pre-show and performance with an audio visual story and immersive audio technology created by Dolby Live and Yessian Music Team.

5 mycological supplements of various earthy colors are placed vertically on the left side of the image. To the right, several are placed throughout a pillbox. — LAYER x Keia

Travel & hospitality

Mycological retreats (#23)

Psychedelic wellness continues to gain traction with consumers looking to optimize rest and mental health.

The Beckley Foundation’s $7,000 luxury psilocybin mushroom retreat is seeing a sharp increase in demand. From 75 participants in 2022, they’re expecting 300 in the next year.
In August, the clinical biotechnology platform Freedom Biosciences received $10.5 million in seed financing to fund research into next-generation ketamine and psychedelic-based mental health treatments.
Design studio LAYER released an edibles subscription service concept in November called Keia that would supply micro doses of hallucinogenic and psychedelic drugs to aid consumers’ emotional and mental wellbeing.

Main image courtesy of Spatial.