Virtual Futurist Speaker Nikolas Badminton talks about virtual events
With COVID-19 I have been thrust from the 2000+ stages I have been used to into being a Virtual Futurist Speaker. In addition I have focused a great deal of time on building out my foresight practice and running virtual futurist workshops with clients. We need to see ahead to bring back evidence from the narratives we create to strengthen our strategic thinking and shift our mindsets from what is to WHAT IF…
What’s been fascinating about these times is that so much of our lives have become truly virtual. This transcends the idea that we strap a VR headset on to immerse ourselves in a virtual world. It’s much more subtle than that and far-reaching across multiple channels.
We are craving a reality we miss. A human connection and an experience that fires our mirror neurons and creates emotional reactions.
Here are some of my favorite virtual experiences that are inspiring me to rethink what ‘virtual’ really means.
Travis Scott and Fortnite Present: Astronomical
‘Astronomical’ is an other-worldly experience that was created by Travis Scott and Cactus Jack’s creations. It was built from the ground up in Fortnite for the players in that world.
This experience passed into the real-world as kids dragged their parents along to watch with them. Maybe there was a hope that parents could finally understand this virtual world. Interestingly enough I included this in a strategic planning session with a property developer about how we can look to the future of showcasing properties and locations. Both of my clients had attended Travis Scott’s Fortnite event alongside another 12.3 million concurrent players . Epic, the developer of Fornite, says this is “an all-time record” for the battle royale game.
Zwift and The Tour de France
The Tour de France 2020 was initially scheduled to take place from the 27th June to the 19th July however this has been pushed back to 29th August to 20th September due to COVID-19.
The Tour de France is still driving participation, inclusion and engagement at this time using a virtual road biking platform called Zwift.
The Virtual Tour de France features top women’s and men’s teams from across the world will compete for the ultimate prize. With Virtual L’Etape du Tour rides on new courses and high octane pro races to watch, this is cycling history in the making.
Here are links to all of the stages:
- 4th July // Stage 1 — https://youtu.be/EhIikOHoGlw
- 5th July // Stage 2 — https://youtu.be/KUnOS06RRIE
- 11th July // Stage 3 — https://youtu.be/GOJRqS5VSGM
- 12th July //Stage 4 — https://youtu.be/70uPja8o2CM
- 18th July // Stage 5 — https://youtu.be/bEKRJR7QgTc
- 19th July // Stage 6 — https://youtu.be/cc4BADLAgyM
What’s also amazing is that you can ride all of the courses as well.
Virtual Futurist Keynotes: Future Explorers
Of course I am going to mention the world I am working on. Client engagements have changed only in the medium by which I deliver the insights, foresights, and visions of the future. I’ve found it’s most effective with shorter deliveries with extended Q&A sessions and additional content to support it beyond the event. That means hi-res videos of the event, post-event reports that go deeper, and follow-on consultancy with the strategic leaders to help clients effectively create conversations with their future.
Back in 2019 I was already doing this. I was asked to speak at an event in Singapore organized by members of the World Economic Forums (WEF). Here, I talk about how we can frame DYSTOPIA as a useful tool for designing desirable futures and how hope and optimism are our most powerful tools as futurists.
I delivered this without being there and then joined for a Q&A with the audience. It was incredibly engaging and I provided a full article on Medium to accompany it as well. It’s even become the opening book chapter for ‘The Future Starts Now’ that will be released by Bloomsbury in 2021.
Where do we go next?
For the past 4 years I’ve featured Keichii Matsuda’s Medellin of the future depicted in ‘HYPER-REALITY’ to many of my clients and their audiences. Matsuda presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media.
Companies like Magic Leap have been calling this ‘Layers’ and Kevin kelly calls this the ‘Mirrorworld’. A place of assimilies, digital twins and secondary selves living out their dreams.
This is the goal.
But, with that journey we will need to ensure equity and empathetic relationships with real and virtual objects in these worlds. Or, we will be lost to the wills of Facebook, Microsoft and other companies wanting to redfine your world.
What virtual events are you loving? Enjoy them and reflect on how they bleed into the real world. That’s the power of virtual reality.
Remember you read my Pro-tips for world-class virtual futurist keynotes, and do reach out to ask me any questions you have.
