As Featured In:
Webby
AdAge
HBR
WSJ
In the first Night at the Museum film, the hero invents a “snapper” device to control your lights, but it loses to the “clapper” because clapping is easier. Simplicity doesn’t seem to be winning at Apple. Plugging in headphones is easier than finding and pairing wireless ear buds. Using TouchID is easier than FaceID. The new fast … Read more
As apartments get smaller and urban areas get more crowded, real estate companies and residents themselves will look for more creative ways to use limited space. A new robotic “microapartment” hitting the market now may offer an interesting solution focused on creating a living space smart enough to adapt at the touch of a button … Read more
Rather than wearing your emotions on your sleeve, a new product called the Hyperface lets you wear them on your face. The idea from London-based designer Eun Kyung Shin is to use a visor-like headset to create a new visual method for communications where we could understand each other more deeply without depending on emotional … Read more
We already have Artificial Intelligence using features like facial recognition to personalize experiences for us, but this story about “AI Gastronomy” looks forward to a future where we might be able to reverse engineer many things about food simply from relying on AI to recognize and measure ingredients. This could allow us to “scan” the … Read more
Sometimes art is the best way to shine a lens on how our culture may be changing for better … or worse, as is the case with a hypothetical near-future product called the “NuturePod” created by artist and experimental futurist Stuart Candy. The installation on exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, Belgium … Read more
The bored husband at a shopping mall is one of the most common stereotypes of suburbia and now a Chinese gaming company has a solution that is rapidly going viral. The so-called “husband pod” features seat massages, retro video games and virtual reality experiences. While there are no plans to expand this outside of China … Read more
What if elevators went sideways? They might soon thanks to a new system invented and being tested by German elevator producer ThyssenKrupp which aims to get rid of cables altogether and build elevators more like magnetic levitation trains, which are common in Japan and China. The idea would allow people in a tall tower to … Read more
As investing in robotics takes off, this story about what VCs and investors look for has a valuable insight as shared by investor Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital: “what I recommend in two words is: make magic … when we feel that we’ve seen something that nobody else has seen, that we’ve seen something that … Read more
In a world where luxury consumer demand is changing, how can one f the world’s most iconic luxury destinations stay on top? It turns out Monte Carlo has a fairly sophisticated strategy which hinges on being about more than just gambling and opulence. The city is launching music and art festivals, charity galas and even … Read more
Do you actually read the terms and conditions for Wifi access before accepting it? If not, apparently you’re not alone in your lazy behavior. Wifi provider Purple hilariously added a clause into their terms for WiFi as a social experiment, and over 22,000 people blindly agreed to do everything from cleaning toilets to “manually relieving … Read more
Non-Obvious Thinking is my latest book about the 4 secrets of becoming a non-obvious thinker - relesaed 10/01/2024.
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Non-Obvious Company and the 3-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of ten books.
Skip the obvious and anticipate the future with our weekly newsletter. Join over 25,000 subscribers and start receiving the stories (and insights) you’ve been missing.
In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.
