Keywords

FormalPara Interviewees

  • Muna AbuSulayman

  • Thomas Arnoldner

  • Gina Badenoch

  • Jesmane Boggenpoel

  • Svetlana Flottrong

  • Bob MacMahon

  • Olivier Oullier

  • David Rodin

  • Caroline Schober

  • Tobby Simon

  • Ian Solomon

  • Mark Turrell

  • Stefan Verra

  • Lisa Witter

“‘Where are the people?’ resumed the little prince at last. ‘It’s a little lonely in the desert…’ ‘It is lonely when you’re among people, too,’ said the snake.”—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

One thing is for sure, 30 years from now, using a smartphone to chat with friends will be as outdated as using a landline phone today.

By then, mixed reality technology will allow people to see virtual copies of their friends in the real world and see the world through friends’ eyes and help them accomplish real-world tasks. Yet, I think the future of distance communication is not in VR systems but in mixed reality. Our vision of the communication systems of the future is diverse.

Some years ago, I went shopping in the local IKEA market and got lucky to participate in a fantastic fundraising initiative by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). To convince the people that it is important to donate to a specific African project, the young interns offered to put on a VR headset offering costumers to see the situation on the ground with their own eyes. In a second, I moved from Graz to a small village in Ghana. I could see people in the small village’s center go to their habitat room, turn my virtual face to them, and wave my virtual hand at them. This was my first experience of a shared virtual world. I went home and looked for the unusual headset I got acquainted with on the net. There were several, at that time, costly ones on the market for personal usage, but what excited me was that the same equipment cost more than a million dollars only some years before. Today, even more, forced by the coronavirus pandemic, VR conferences are becoming more common. Several companies are developing collaborative virtual spaces. VR is regularly used by more than 30,000 people a month, and joint VR applications are gaining popularity (Rec Room Wiki) (Rec Romm Wiki 2022).

One of the most significant benefits of VR conferencing is that it allows people to use some communication signals they use in person (more familiar and trustworthy). Not only can they talk to each other—they have virtual bodies that allow them to turn toward each other, shake hands, and use various nonverbal gestures. Eventually, they can interact with the virtual environment around them by pointing to objects or playing games together. Users can play or create collaborative 3D sketches together. All this allows a human being to achieve a greater degree of social presence than in traditional audio or video conferencing. It is more comfortable and “nearer”, so I think shared mixed reality is the next communication hype.

VR conferences have many potential companies invest tens of millions of dollars to create appropriate platforms (50 + Metaverse Statistics). But mixed reality (MR) conferences can have an even more significant impact because of their connection to the real world. Mixed reality is defined as a technology that mixes the real and virtual worlds (what is mixed reality?). VR separates people from the real world, while MR tries to expand real-world interactions or add elements of the surrounding world to the VR environment. The benefits of using not the VR but MR platforms are pressing (adopted and supplemented by Juan A. Sánchez-Margallo et al.):

  • People can get help with real-world tasks from remote users (e.g., MR surgery possibilities are already existing and are used).

  • Virtual people will be placed in real space.

  • Support for the transition from collaborative artificial reality (AR) to VR.

  • The use of MR images to enhance remote communication signals.

  • Providing users with the possibility to share their points of view and see everything through the eyes of another person.

  • Establishing a connection between the task space and the communication space.

  • Support for natural spatial signals for remote communication.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of MR conferences is their focus on a collaborative view of the workspace. For many real-world tasks, such as remote maintenance, it is much more important to see what a person is working on rather than his face. This capability can be applied in various areas, from remote assistance to operating room medical support or collaborative play (Collaboration and Preparation: What Mixed Reality Surgery Affords the Operating Room) (Guillot 2021; Margallo et al. 2021).

Almost 20 years ago, the first MR system was developed as an AR conferencing application that put virtual avatars of people into the real world of users. They could turn over name cards, and these people appeared in front of them. All this happened with the help of a virtual reality helmet. The system’s main advantage was that it moved conferences from the computer screen to the “real world.” People found that the video avatar of the speaker in a real environment provided a greater degree of social presence than his image on a computer screen.

Around the same time, we got the possibility of using spatial signals in developing a wearable AR system that allowed virtual people to appear around a person using a small computer and wearing a screen on their head. In this case, a spatial orientation of the audio to get people’s voices coming from their virtual avatars was applied (WearCom: A Wearable Communication Space) (Billinghurst et al. 1998). It was made as in a face-to-face conversation in a large crowd; people could easily separate the speech of different people, even when they spoke almost simultaneously.

While this was promising, the problem was that human video avatars were flat rectangles. If you looked at them from the other side, they just disappeared, which is definitely not the case with real, 3D people. This problem was solved a couple of years later with the 3D Live System, where the producers solved the problem by using multiple cameras to record people. This created the illusion that a real person is standing in a real space. A virtual copy of a person could be shown in VR and an AR environment. This allowed users to use movements and gestures like in a face-to-face conversation.

The term “mixed reality” describes the space between real-world interface technologies and entirely virtual environments (the space of overlapping) (Microsoft 2022). Many communication systems already exist at specific points in this space, for example, face-to-face communication in the real world or conferences in the virtual space. MR conferences provide people with the ability to navigate the mixed space. For example, the MagicBook project (the MagicBook) worked on an interface that maintained direct face-to-face dialogues, has the functionality to support AR or VR interactions and a mixture of all mentioned (The MagicBook project 2022). Using this system, people could read the book and look at the pages through the display while AR content appeared on the screen. Users could switch to a VR experience when seeing an interesting AR scene. In this VR scene, one of the people could see the real-world interlocutor as a giant head hovering in the sky. This is how MagicBook was/is supporting seamless transitions between the real world, AR, and VR.

These prototypes have shown that MR technology can embed virtual interlocutors into the user’s real world. Unlike VR conferences, the MR interface enhances real-world communication and allows users to get help with any assignment. If we speak about the current state of MR technology and conferences, the first thing is Microsoft’s unveiled MR version of Skype with its HoloLens headset. The user can place the Skype window anywhere in the space and see the video from the discusser. At the same time, the HoloLens camera can transmit video to the remote user, and they can see the partner’s environment and add AR annotations to it to help them complete tasks. At the same time, the remote user sees the surrounding reality through the eyes of the HoloLens user.

There are also a large number of start-ups in this area. For example, I can mention Mimesys as a holographic communication platform that can capture images of individuals and place them together in a virtual space. Another example is the holo-portal: DoubleMe provides a lightweight version of holo-portation for communication. Both companies focus on collecting data about people, and Envisage AR captures the user’s environment and shares it with remote interlocutors. We will see a lot more activity in the next few years in this area. These systems show that the MR conference experience can be built on existing AR and VR commercial platforms and make it more “real.”

Several developments will continue to improve MR conferences and allow people to communicate more effectively than ever before. In particular, there are now three crucial trends that will be more dominant in the future:

  • Natural communication: With the increase in communication speed, it becomes possible to expand the communication experience (not only audio signals but also gestures), leading to more natural communication.

  • Experience recording: A technology is being developed that will allow people to capture their surroundings and experiences. That is, there is a transition from photography to recording three-dimensional scenes.

  • Latent understanding: Computers will begin to understand more about users and their environment. This will allow them to understand hidden behaviors, such as the direction of a person’s look.

All of these trends are coming together in a direction that seeks to create systems that allow us to share what we see, hear, and feel. Unlike traditional communication tools, empathic systems will enable you to understand the interlocutor’s point of view more deeply, see with his eyes, and hear what he hears.

As an example, our Empathy Glasses may be mentioned. It is an AR display that can recognize facial expressions and track the direction of your gaze. The remote interlocutor sees not only the surrounding environment but also the facial expression and information about the direction of the person’s gaze with glasses. It is one of the first systems to share gaze direction information and is just the beginning of learning about empathic telecommuting technology.

Goodbye phone …

Twenty years from now, using a cell phone to chat with friends will be as outdated as using a landline phone today. By then, mixed reality technology will allow people to see virtual copies of their friends in the real world and see the world through friends’ eyes and help them accomplish real-world tasks.

Today’s VR and AR systems show only a fraction of what is possible with mixed reality. MR systems can share a large number of communication signals and allow people to communicate in ways that have never been possible before. On your next call, imagine you can see, hear, and feel what your friends see, hear, and feel (The Future of Human-Computer Interaction) (Canny 2006).

“I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings.”

—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Perceptual interfaces: The other important piece of future interfaces will be “perception.” The naivest example can be speech recognition, or more precisely, the so-called computer vision. Modern smartphones are outstanding platforms for speech tools, as they are equipped with cameras and a decent amount of microchips in digital signal processors. They act as portable personal computers (PCs) and are adept in computer vision (saved photos or videos and camera signals). A straightforward illustration is the barcode reading with a smartphone camera. This development is going to be not the last one. We are using virtual glasses, but those will be once replaced with more advanced holo-systems.

Augmented reality is the very first thing that awaits us in the very near future. In the augmented reality system, it will be possible to look at the world through the technological layer. In the smartphone, some augmented reality applications already exist today. Another viable option is augmented reality glasses. The first call to our near future in this direction is Google Glass. Using Google Glass, you can look at the world around you and see digital information about what you are looking at in real time.

The effects of digitization can now be seen in almost all areas of life—from avatars and mixed reality. Communication of the future is going to be the communication services and digitization. For instance, modern booking and ordering processes, smart homes, and generally more flexible processes influence everyday life as well as the world of work. Digital change does not stop at communication either. Telephones, smartphones, and the Internet are changing human interaction. With chatbots and artificial intelligence, modern ways of establishing contact are possible. While the methods used to look different in the past with cave painting, parchment scrolls, and Morse code, nothing has changed about one statement:

“You cannot not communicate.”—Paul Watzlawick

From telephoning to texting: Communication is constantly changing, and in the age of smartphones, the World Wide Web, and ever-better data transmission rates, it is more diverse than ever. Back then, via drums, courier services, carrier pigeons, or telegrams, communication today is under the digital star. Using the first cell phone in 1983 was a big step, especially regarding flexibility. Because in order to be reachable, the population was no longer tied to one address for receiving messages or calls. Nine years later, sending the first short message service (SMS) was an alternative to making a phone call. The short messages put accessibility to a new level and made it possible to contact the conversation partner outside of fixed times.

Image-text combination: Text messages are still prevalent today. Above all, digital natives and Generation Y are among those who talk less over the phone than over short message services. What was initially sent via SMS now finds its way worldwide via Internet-based services such as WhatsApp or Threema. Social networks such as Facebook or Twitter are also modernizing communication. While conversations often took place face to face between at least two people or within a conference, an entire community now takes part in the news. With apps like Snapchat and Instagram, an image-text combination is also coming into focus. That means: Communication between two or more people is no longer just over the phone or in writing but also via pictures anytime and anywhere. Sending emoticons and photographs is now available in various messenger services—as is the integration of voice messages. So there is still the chance to speak to the other person via short message services instead of making a phone call.

Communication will continue to change in the future, primarily in discussion: 3D video telephony. Accordingly, communication should no longer only take place via the screens; instead, the other person should be virtually projected into the discussion room without being present. The communication itself then takes place via special glasses. Virtual and real content merge—“mixed reality” is the keyword. The communications industry expects considerable further developments and opportunities from this. But for authentic representations, those responsible first need the appropriate technical prerequisites. Although good image quality is already possible in two dimensions, it still takes patience to play back high-quality images in 3D.

The virtual self: The possibility of communicating via avatars and holograms goes one step further. In this scenario, images of people are created on the computer using scans and algorithms. The avatar’s movements can then be controlled independently of the recordings on the PC. This also makes it possible to send the virtual self to places without actually being present. This topic was already dealt with in detail in the well-known Hollywood film “Surrogates”—and should find its way into reality. This type of communication can play a role, especially concerning consumption. In this example, the avatars are sent out for shopping. This can be in grocery stores or clothing stores. The communication between machine or avatar and human is therefore becoming more critical—and may even develop into a predominantly machine-to-machine communication if not only the population but also companies in their business atrocity.

Information overload is also highly traded in connection with future communication: Big Data. After all, digitalization is changing the tools people use to communicate and exchange information. The focus is shifting to people who no longer only pass on messages and data via mobile and stationary end devices but act as transmitters themselves. This means a constant exchange between the person and their environment. This means that people around you immediately know, for example, the name, age, or hobbies of the other person. However, it remains to be seen what these representations might look like. A type of data and information exchange in its infancy is already being used in so-called wearables. For example, fitness trackers collect data such as the number of steps taken, calories burned, or heart rate. This information can then be viewed on the tracker itself or in an app, from which it can be shared with other interested parties on social media simultaneously.

Think emails: When looking at the possible future of communication, one thing stands out—there will probably not be any new means of communication. Rather, the existing ones are constantly evolving with the possibilities of the digital revolution. This is also the case with the already established email. The address of the recipient should therefore be more emotional and thus also more personal. Through targeted addressing in different senses (so-called sensual-musical codes in emails, supporting images, and movie clips in the background), fellow human beings are included even more explicitly in the communication process. Other aspects discussed here are artificial intelligence and thought transmission because: email programs should be set up so that they learn something new from email to email. This means that with the help of an algorithm, the programs develop further, recognize recurring communication tasks, and make it easier for the sender to transmit so-called smart mails. In addition, control via facial expressions and gestures should be possible in the future.

Communicate virtually: In addition to everyday life, digital change also affects communication at work. Managers are now adapting the framework conditions to modern, digital realities. From the error culture to the management culture to the work processes—the changes associated with digitization influence numerous strands in companies. Since managers rely more on virtual teams due to decentralized locations and internationalization, the change also affects communication. With the help of computers, smartphones, and the Internet, this is now technically easier to implement than it was a few years ago. But the challenges lie in the agreement of changed requirements of the employees, increased demands of the customers, and the existence in a steadily growing market.

Controlled communication? With all the innovations, opportunities, and possibilities, however, two aspects must not be ignored: data protection and security. Because the increasing amount of information and data also increase transparency, people develop into transparent individuals (Cyba 1998). Is it true that digitalization and changing communication result in opportunities and possibilities—for example, long-distance relationships, families in different countries, or overlapping deadlines. Fractionally with data protection, is the data always available for everyone, or will there be guidelines and settings? And what about security in this context? Those responsible still have to address aspects to control the developing communication from the start.

Human-computer interaction or so-called man-machine communication: Humans, interfaces, and technological systems are rapidly becoming a single entity that is encouraged in the wake of Industry 4.0. The question remains if as many human-machine arrangements as possible bear our progress. Does it not rather defy us than encourage us? Do the constantly evolving technical opportunities unite us? Or are they detaching us from the essence of who we are as human beings? Communicating with one another, resolving problems with one another, and merging together are all part of humanity. We are surrounded by an ever-increasing number of machines—both in our private and professional lives. Starting with a smart home that promotes security and comfort, it extends to digital factories and fully automated workplaces, and they are all controlled by a mobile dialogue solution. Are hardware, software, and especially AI nowadays and in the future intruding into the last barbican of human communication? Are chatbots and voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, or Google Now about to replace the conversation of two real human beings?

If the content is excellent: Both yes and no, since AI is intelligent—as the term already indicates. Voice assistants constantly learn; they are able to listen, to speak, and to comprehend the information. They can certainly have a high intelligence coefficient (IQ). This presents a number of supremacy features. The navi control of a vehicle allows us to keep our eyes and awareness of the traffic because we are talking to the voice assistant and not have to use our mobile phone with our hands. For hotel searches via smartphone and customer service requests to the telecommunications provider via phone call, it works great. So, in terms of content, definitely.

What is lacking is emotion, because the machine lacks emotional intelligence (EQ). I am able to communicate to a customer information system what exact function has malfunctioned, but the system still cannot understand how annoyed I am. It is not that intelligent, after all. And that is in all conscience clear: at the moment, it is a pristine setting of the written language, in which voice and body language are missing.

When there is a lack of empathy: If we take for granted that verbal communication was fabricated to manifest a need, desire, or feeling, so being honest, the verbal expression alone is unable do that. It takes also, e.g., the right attitude and tone. A term like “great” can sound sarcastic, nonsensical, flattering, or enthusiastic, depending on the pronunciation and facial expression. Anyway, the statement could be very different if one can recognize the subtlety of the sound. To perceive those messages, one does not require to possess intelligence but rather empathy. The thing is, smart people often do not see the nitty-gritty—like highly intelligent chatbots (just trust me on this one). If a customer says “super,” that means customer satisfaction: this is the system standard setting, as registered in the beginning and recognized, no matter how mockery and offending it was said.

When communication is relational: Relationships between human beings are created to over 75% by personal communication. Contrariwise, it is also true that the same 3/4 of communication is relational: better or worse. And as this ¾ of the communication is not insignificant, the certitude persists that human communication will be impossible to substitute by anything that is not just about a purely pertinent hint except if we are earnestly considering the relationship with an electronic of holographic gadget. If we try to replace it, it can end in a disaster.

As a kid, I was sure I could collect smiles (positive energy), and as soon as I was in a crowded place, I was smiling at every person coming across me. Most strangers, I mean the majority, were smiling back, and I used to trust in the magic power of one smile. The funny thing about it is that it was really working. In virtual communication, it is different. I hope and see the future of human communication in the magic power of a smile. It is positive energy, independent of the means of communication, if it is a real-world or virtual contact or maybe a communication method, that we do not really even have in our widest phantasies yet.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”—Eleonore Roosevelt

1 Input from Interviewees

Muna Abusulayman

Social impact and development leader; co-founder of Healthkey Technologies, Partner Transform VC

The severity of misinformation and its negative impact will be accelerated as the sophisticated and realistic distortions of reality through deep fakes and AI will allow it to flourish, creating severe polarization and discord. This will affect our everyday lives, as well as scientists and government high officials will be under continuous coordinated attacks.

Thomas Arnoldner

CEO, A1 Telekom Austria Group

The future of communication means that everything which can be connected will be connected. People and machines will be seamlessly interacting at rapid speed without any hassle, even in today’s underserved areas. Consumers around the globe will not sense this network layer and the Internet of Things will be as natural as taking a phone call today. The basis for connectivity lies in digital infrastructure, which will impact our growth, prosperity, and competitiveness throughout the next decades. The two main trends of our times, digitalization and sustainability, are empowering people to make use of new digital services in an environmentally friendly way. Autonomous cars; drone taxis; holograms; outstanding innovations in health care, education, and entertainment; and many more we cannot yet imagine will move from science fiction into reality.

Gina Badenoch

Social entrepreneur and photographer; founder of Ojos que Sienten AC and Capaxia, UK

I really don’t believe that technology will take over basic human values, like tolerance, love, compassion. The world will never be a robot. There is a growing need for balance, people going into yoga, mindfulness, meditation. Technology will reach a point when enough is enough.

Jesmane Boggenpoel

Author of My Blood Divides and Unites

In 2050, human interaction will infuse mixed reality and screens more than ever that will advance how we educate, collaborate, and innovate. We need to shape this world so that we leverage technology while retaining the essence and sacredness of human connection. Thus, people must intentionally carve out time for “pure” human interactions that are not veiled by screens. More formal interventions will be needed to address digital addiction. Tools for youth to encourage deeper in-person interaction should be created.

Svetlana Flottrong

Entrepreneur, marketing, and business consulting

EUNYSS Business Solutions company

Since 2010 the world has been living with the cult of beautiful pictures. Already now we see the phenomenon which is called advertisement blindness. In order to avoid it, the business has moved to the direction of video creation and performing. This tendency will go on in a more sophisticated way. The business will compete in the ability to catch your attention. You will be surrounded with VR and AR video content everywhere and each minute. And all this content will come to you through smart glasses, bio modification tool, and other devices. Pupil eye tracking and thoughts tracking will definitely be a part of it.

The next 30 years will be under the motto: permanent influence, mind control. People will try to find some space for privacy.

The WWW will be converted into something unique where all information, data, mindset, training, business, etc. will be consolidated. Let’s call it “The Source.”

There would be two main forms of everyday information flow: offline-human communication (OHC) and human-computer interaction (HCI).

OHC means the process of live face-to-face message transmission between two or more persons with the intent of creating a shared understanding.

HCI is a process of information transfer between people and all forms of computer and data centers.

There will be more HCI in our life than OHC.

OHC will be a social privilege not a social norm!

Direct everyday human ties will be severed. They will be replaced by augmented reality and virtual reality.

Our main accessory will be a headset like smart glasses. It will be the main source of entertainment, information transmission, and also main control tool. We will use it either for info, news searching, for video calls, and for video conferences, for all kinds of communications. All our Internet search history, digital trace will be captured and analyzed by AI. All this info will be gathered by “The Source.”

“The Source” will own all information and herewith the world, … and the people.

Digital trace will define your “personality” for the employer and consequently your social status and standard of living. That is why people will try to take under more control their presence and future: they will resist the fact that AI can define their life and the life of their children. They will become more selective and careful with HCI in order to modify their “digital personality” for AI.

“The Source” will offer bio modification tool for improving people’s communication style (standard of living), namely, brain stimulation to improve its performance—telepathy, accelerated learning ability. You won’t have to implant anything; it will be a head set with the function of transcranial electrostimulation. People will be able to transmit thoughts at a distance and you won’t need even to phone in order to talk. Great, very convenient. But it will have also additional veiled functions: “The Source” will get the possibility to control, gather, and analyze your thoughts. Nothing personal just business.

At first people will be in euphoria from the possibility to become the better version of themselves, to obtain the best expertise in their business field with the help of bio modification tool.

But afterwards the humankind will realize the price for it: total control, loss of emotions, less individuality, no direct people connections (no need—you can do everything remotely), loneliness, social vacuum. OHC will be equal to zero.

People will look for private space and alternatives and will come back to books, real one, not digital. There can’t be pupil eye or thoughts tracking when you read a printed version of book. Printed books will be a new treasure, as the prior tendency was to go digital; by this moment printed media will almost disappear.

People will try to live out of the big cities to get more freedom. New digital free social communes will appear where OHC will be the rule not a wish.

Real live teacher (not a digital one) who can adapt the education process of your kid to his abilities, who can improve them and his knowledge without bio stimulation tools will be also a privilege.

Though you will get the opportunity with the help of bio stimulation to learn as many languages as you wish, people will tend to improve their abilities and knowledge naturally and to talk and understand other languages by themselves without any artificial or bio modification tool. As it will be an issue of cybersecurity, business will tend to hire such “natural” interpreters for their negotiations in order to keep their business secrets inside the “small circle.” The people able to talk different foreign languages without any bio stimulation tool will be in high demand.

The society and human interaction will be more complicated than they are now. The development of technology and manipulation of our thoughts and behavior will be very much affected by “The Source” and the digital world. However, the humankind, remembering the past, will learn its lessons and get back to traditional ways of communication, learning, teaching. The world won’t launch a new revolution against the digital progress, but will undergo some kind of turnaround and will reduce the role of “The Source” and establish a new format of being digital at one side and caring about traditions, privacy, and the right to be an individual at the other side. The new combination of both streams will allow to develop faster and in a much more perspective way.

Bob Macmahon

International affairs journalist; managing editor, Foreign Affairs Magazine, Council on Foreign Relations

I see further consolidation of legacy media, like Times, CNN, BBC, etc. But also the individual from his bedroom will be able to influence world media event. Distribution of information is really widespread today. Diplomats need to be able to use Twitter, use new media; more complex, more multipurpose diplomats are emerging. Cyberthreats will be increasing in the future.

We will see demand-driven as opposed to supply-driven news consumption in 50 years. We will have the ability to access issues you care about. Real-time updates, access to the best possible sources, in different languages. Streaming will be available in a more coherent way than now. Future will be more about organizing all the available info (data mining). A bit like the movie minority report. Link up anywhere you are and be presented with choices, i.e., personalization of news.

Olivier Oullier

Professor of behavioural and brain sciences; co-founder and chairman of the Board of Inclusive Brains

The end of death is something big tech companies have been working on for a while. By end of death, I mean end of physical death.

When you physically die as a body, your mind could survive in a non-biological way, being uploaded in the cloud together with your memories, who knows?

Let’s say one wants to bring Marie Curie or Albert Einstein back to life virtually. This would imply not only recreating their brains (which will be possible eventually). Yet it’ll be hard to train those brains with all the events, emotions, and experiences that shaped their lives. This seems difficult. YET.

Maybe in 20 years there’ll be biomimetic tech that will store everything you do. It could help “uploading one’s brain to the cloud.” But bringing back Lincoln or Bach will be so hard, I think, as we won’t be able to recreate the interactions they had.

David Rodin

Moral and political philosopher; founder and CEO of Principia Advisory

Next generations should think carefully and rationally and with fired passion. Honestly and rigorously ask questions about the world around us. We shall embrace the process of deliberation and exchange of ideas.

Caroline Schober

Vice rector of Research and International Affairs at Med Uni Graz

Today, we are talking to (or texting) each other over our mobiles. Soon our mobiles (or a chip in whatever is around) will sort out all the organizational issues for us by themselves. So we are left to chat our time away—or really connect, i.e., not to the Internet, but to each other. We should put a real effort into practicing the ability to say something (not just talk) and listen attentively over a prolonged period of time to our fellow human beings. Feeling connected to others is key in feeling understood and secure—a connection that cannot be substituted.

Tobby Simon

Founder and president of Synergia Foundation

Ability to communicate with people very well is for me the most important. People tend to use the left side of the brain more prevalently. Technology is becoming so empowering that you see almost nobody anymore. In the future maybe kids don’t need their parents anymore.

Ian Solomon

Professor of practice of public policy; dean, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

Pace of innovation and advancement in technology, but not in human cooperation and problem-solving. I would like to see technological advancement applied to how humans interact.

Our social technology should also be developed. New generation should be helped to solve problems more peacefully. We have the tools and ability to address main challenges, but how should we cooperate. How to deal with zero-sum mentality, working together.

I am not so concerned about a pill to be developed that would allow people to live forever.

Mark Turrell

Strategist, educator, and entrepreneur; founder and CEO of Orasci

Power of the masses (humanity 3.0). Complex systems surround us, analogies (human society moving away from being a chimpanzee brain to a human brain); humanity is the collection of human connections; we are rewiring the planet, as we are becoming a sharing society.

What are your drivers in the next 50 years? I mapped out my plan to change the world and I am implementing it, e.g., scaling and spreading. Most people fail because they don’t spread stuff. This secret sauce of spread makes me be involved in many things. I want to do new things every day!

Stefan Verra

Body language expert

Don’t get me wrong. I am a tech aficionado and highly interested in new things to come. But with every new technology we run the risk of neglecting our human needs. Being appreciated, being listened to, being loved. I predict that with every step toward an artificial reality humans will find ways to connect on a real-world personal level.

Lisa Witter

Executive, serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker; co-founder and executive chairman of Apolitical

Now I am seeing new voices emerging, lot more voices, influencers. Role of a curator and trusted advisor is imperative to filter voices. Nods of influence will change which will have a fantastic effect on how to solve problems in the world.