Physical x Digital

Is this the future of space planning?

“Opening this flagship has been perhaps the most important milestone in our company’s long history,” Nordstrom co-president Erik Nordstrom said on the company’s third quarter earnings call.

We’re collaborating on a to-be-named project with Refik, and are so impressed with his ability to bring data to life. Watch this piece to learn more about his use of AI to demonstrate the dreams of machines.

Everyday we make decisions, some of which end up completely changing our life course, usually unbeknownst to us at the time. This project was definitely one of those times for us. I'm thankful for the opportunities this created, and discovering what a joy it is to work and create with my partner.

Flexible screens are going to disrupt how we think about digital in physical spaces. I doubt this specific iteration is going to radically transform anything, though. This strikes me as similar to the Laserdisc—fundamentally the idea that we would have media on digital discs was right, but the final format was different. These will eventually seem like clunky ancestors, much like our notch-filled phones now.

We're not yet close to the VR tipping point, but exhibits like this push us exponentially closer.

Is this the next generation of Disney MagicBand?

AR is getting smaller and smaller....

Eventually, we’ll get VR out of the headset, especially in a controlled environment like a car or an elevator. Meanwhile, these are important steps to shift how we think about our idle time in places that used to require our focus.

Ok, Andreessen has the street cred to say whatever he wants, but I think this is a massively pointless statement. The devices—and eventually contact lenses then bio implants—that replace today's headsets will converge. AR and VR will simply be modes on the same device.

This quote from the article sums up what drives us perfectly: "Design of spaces will become more holistic. Across both work and retail spaces, digital and physical will become fully entwined and influence each other more closely. It will become harder to distinguish between permanent and moveable space, business- or art-focused space, and publicly- or privately-owned space. Those that can’t afford to either invest in work or retail space or drive differentiation in the physical environment will give up market share to those that can."

The HoloLens is a platform I’m very excited about and represents a ton of potential—which is to say it’s not that great today. However, it’s a crucial step to improve AR in the real world.