designboom TECH predictions 2020: ethical manufacturing

tech predictions 2020: as the world keeps turning, the incessant need to buy, sell and produce goes on with it. in 2019, marie kondo popularised a need to declutter and greta thunberg guilted a rhetorical ‘you’ for stealing her dreams. a new consumer consciousness seemed to take hold and a sudden surge in activity among young protesters gripped nations worldwide — just the mere discussion of climate change made waves, not to mention the actual impact it had on the ecosystem. earth is now the warmest it’s been in some 120,000 years, eighteen of the last 19 years have been the warmest on record, and concentrations of carbon dioxide are the highest they’ve been in millions of years.

in may, a one-of-a-kind digital design from the fabricant, a dutch startup and the world’s first digital-only fashion house, sold for $9,500 at a blockchain conference (read more…)

a solution to one of the world’s major eco problems might involve creating clothes that don’t actually exist. digital fashion, which refers to 3D-rendered garments that only exist virtually, offers much greener, zero-waste alternatives in a world with growing fears over waste and concerns about the negative effects of manufacturing. the idea is that you dress your digital avatar instead, or overlay these digital fashions on images of yourself, assuming that the only people worth impressing are those on social media. What might seem odd could have quite lucrative ‘real-world’ applications, especially in the heavily digitized world we are living in. as our separate realities remain fractured over various devices, social networks, platforms and mediums, it’s not hard to imagine this having a huge market one day.

in 2019, toyota unveiled its ‘LQ’ concept featuring AI that builds a bond with the driver and an air-purifying coating that fights emissions (read more…)

it’s no surprise that technology will continue to transform our daily lives, perhaps no more rapidly than on the roads. artificial intelligence and electric charging are already making petrol-fuelled cars a thing of the past. meanwhile, a wave of rising consumer eco-awareness is focusing manufacturer’s attention on the environmental impact of driving. the sion model by german manufacturer sono motors demonstrates this shift with a cabin interior that uses dead moss to filter air inside. sono describes the feature as ‘a natural filter that improves the interior climate and reduces particulate pollution.’ similarly toyota, who recently unveiled its ‘LQ’ concept featuring an air-purifying coating that decomposes ozone into oxygen, which apparently purifies 60 percent of ozone contained in 1,000 liters of air over the course of an hour drive.

german electric car maker sono motors revealed its sion model with an interior that uses dead moss to filter the air inside the cabin (read more…)

it’s all symptomatic of a global condition plagued with fears over global warming, biodiversity loss and climate change, a condition many are trying to treat with a ‘techified’ approach. in 2019, development firm hypergiant industries unveiled a bioreactor it claimed can suck as much carbon dioxide from the air as an acre of forest. filled with algae, the 3’x3’x7′ cube is intended for use in urban environments where it can fit within office buildings and could give dense cities a new weapon in the fight against climate change. the prototype device, which hypergiant industries says is currently in operation, is three-by-three-by-seven feet. it’s a closed system that works indoors, connecting with an HVAC system to reduce CO2 levels inside and release cleaner air. the long-term vision imagines integration with ‘smart’ city programs where the algae byproduct of biodiesel can provide fuel for a variety of other products that promote and improve urban living.

the ocean cleanup came up with a way to stop plastic pollution at the source unveiling the ‘interceptor’, a solar-powered floating device designed to scoop plastic out of rivers before it reaches oceans (read more…)

then there’s plastic, which can’t always be seen spurring a revolution in packaging design and recycling methods. microplastics are polluting the environment, being found in soil, air, and now our food chain and water supply. concerns over microplastics have so far largely focused on wildlife and the environment but now attention is turning to us. although it could take years to properly evaluate the problem — let alone solve it — researchers and designers are beginning to offer some solutions to the problem. in 2019, irish teenager fionn ferreira won the 2019 google science fair for his research on filtering microplastics out of water using magnets; a canadian company called ‘change toothpaste’ created a zero-waste, plastic-free toothpaste that does without the typical tube containing 11 layers of plastics, polymers and resins; and the ocean cleanup unveiled a floating garbage truck to catch plastic in rivers.

in september, canadian company ‘change toothpaste’ revealed a zero-waste, plastic-free toothpaste in the shape of a tablet (read more…)

as a new decade begins, the world finds itself at a juncture; a critical point for those who buy and those who manufacture to take stock on their values, in light of a growing consciousness over the environment. it’s not the point of this prediction to stir action or resolve issues so deeply entrenched. in the future there are many potentialities but one that seems inevitable is the desire to create and exchange. what is also clear is that in 2020, designers and project makers will continue to contribute to the necessary discussion surrounding ethical manufacturing, making for a very interesting future indeed…