City

For over 100 centuries, cities have been epicenters of human civilization, continually shaping and reshaping culture and commerce. Never has this been more true than today. Cities around the globe are bristling with innovation as they seek to address longstanding urban challenges while leading the charge to meet emerging challenges like climate change and significant population growth.

Cities are home today to over half of the world´s population. In another quarter century, almost two-thirds of us will call a city home. Many come for the economic opportunities found in cities, which account for over 80% of global GDP. But the constant growth and intense commercial activity come with a price: cities are responsible for 67% of global energy consumption, and more than 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. Cities are also uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of the climate change they helped create. If one considers just rising sea levels and powerful storms, almost every city is vulnerable as 90% of all urban areas are coastal. Fortunately, cities are also uniquely positioned to reduce the global carbon footprint and drive more sustainable modes of living and consumption. Some of the highest impact changes are being realized through the federation of data, collective working environments and the "Internet of Things." It enables a new economy of services and experiences: cities, citizens and businesses alike using the same city referential that holistically maps the city´s systems and processes with the aim of harmonizing product, nature and life. This theme is devoted to exploring how a coherent, dynamic digital (data) model of the city offers the environment through which mapping, analyzing, designing and simulating the life of cities and citizens alike can be advanced in order to transform cities, and the citizen experience, for a better tomorrow.

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life

In research, training and practice, medicine is being transformed by 3D technologies like 3D modeling, 3D printing, immersive virtual reality and digital simulation. From pharmaceutical research to medical device manufacturing, to classroom training and medical procedures, these technologies are paving the way to a world of personalized, highly-effective treatment of disease and injury.

Advanced digital technologies like 3D modeling, 3D printing, and digital simulation are rapidly changing medical training, research and practice. In education, 3D printed anatomical models and immersive environments are providing highly realistic and cost-effective training to medical students and staff. In hospitals, 3D models are enabling medical teams to plan and rehearse complex surgeries, producing superior results in fewer hours in the operating room.

3D modeling and 3D printing are also allowing medical engineers to produce implants and prostheses that are tailor-made for individual patients, boosting the quality of outcomes. And in pharmaceutical research, 3D modeling and digital simulation are advancing primary research through uses such as modeling the behavior of proteins, predicting molecular and sub-molecular interactions, and mapping the three-dimensional architecture of the human genome.

It´s a remarkable evolution that is already having a positive impact on the lives of the ill and injured. However, it´s only the tip of the iceberg. One day, virtual models will be able to simulate the true physiology and pathophysiology of human beings – even an individual patient – changing forever the way we research, diagnose and treat injuries and disease.

If you are working with a breakthrough use of 3D technology in medical or life science fields, join us in the quest to use virtual technology to help human beings live longer, healthier and more productive lives.

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LifeStyle

The day-to-day ways in which we live, work and play are a reflection of who we are as individuals, and as social beings living out our lives in a unique time and place. How can we ensure that the lifestyles we lead today and in the years to come bring us pleasure, well-being and a sense of belonging while ensuring a healthy and abundant life for generations to come?

Our lifestyles are without a doubt expressions of our individual personalities, aspirations and beliefs, but external forces such as urbanization, globalization, the Internet, and mobile and social technologies have wrought enormous lifestyle changes for everyone in the past few decades.
When we consider the world in at mid-century, how will daily life be further transfigured by these forces, and emerging ones like demographic and environmental changes? By 2050, there will be an estimated 9.6 billion people on Earth, consuming ever more resources. That´s a nearly three-fold increase from the 2.5 billion that were here in 1950, and a one-third increase from today´s 7.3 billion.
What´s more, nearly 80% will be living in developing countries, where people naturally aspire to lifestyles that more closely resemble those of their peers in developed nations. How will our modes of living and consuming be affected by increasingly strained natural resources? By climate change? By increasing urbanization, an aging population, and an ever-accelerating rate of technological change? How will the key daily components of our lifestyles - food, fashion, housing, mobility, leisure activities, work, and family life - shape, and be shaped by, our changing world?
These are the questions this theme addresses, and we´d like you to join us in exploring how a collaborative use of 3D technologies, digital modeling and simulation can help us understand, anticipate and respond to evolving lifestyles.

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Internet Of Things

The Internet of Things is a phenomenon in which billions of everyday objects are being equipped with sensors, processors and communications devices to share data across the Internet or other networks. The resulting flow of intelligence is giving rise to wholly new consumer experiences and business models, and bringing automation, increased efficiency, accuracy and safety to nearly every industry.

In the Internet of Things (IoT), billions of everyday objects ranging from toasters to turbines to tennis shoes to trees are being equipped with sensors that can gather information about the internal or situational state of their host ´things,´ and communicate that information across wireless networks to information systems or other things.

This new information flow is providing an affordable means to understand and manage real-world things from a distance while giving some things - your thermostat, for example - the data and capabilities they need to manage themselves.

And while much of the media buzz around IoT today may focus on clever consumer gadgets, it is clear that these new capabilities are having a significant impact on every sphere of life, from business and industry to society, education and research.

In the automotive industry, the IoT is enabling the incremental rise of the self-driving car. In retail, it is being used to auto-replenish dwindling inventory. In health care, it is enabling the elderly to remain safely in their own homes. In cities, it is powering smart lighting systems that save significant energy and money. In education, it is bringing increased convenience and integrity to online learning, and in research, it is significantly enhancing scientists´ ability to make observations and run experiments.

If you´re working on a disruptive IoT project that you feel can transform your own industry or sphere of activity, we´d love to hear from you.

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FabLab

The Fablab theme is devoted to understanding and supporting the Maker/Fab/Hacker movement. Our goal is to create the physical and digital spaces to explore this social movement, and to enable ourselves and others to innovate through design and manufacturing. Together, we believe we can move closer to an economy that is at once successful, meaningful, and sustainable.

The name of this theme is inspired by the Fab Labs born of an MIT outreach program that seeks to provide access to tools and know-how to allow anyone to make (almost) anything using technology and digital fabrication. Fab Labs, like TechShops and more general makerspaces, serve as collaborative community spaces for the do-it-yourself inventors, tinkerers and designers of the maker movement. Situated at the convergence of hacker culture, traditional artisanship and collaborative/sharing/P2P trends, the maker movement reflects a growing desire for authenticity and meaning in an economy built on the heavy consumption of generic, mass-produced merchandise. Encompassing goods ranging from craft beer to robotics, the maker movement instead privileges the production and consumption of goods and services that are local, largely hand-crafted and unique. Beyond just creating things for personal satisfaction, the maker movement is an entrepreneurial movement. It is spawning new businesses built upon networks of small, local manufacturing with direct-to-the-customer marketing and distribution. Large manufacturers and retailers are taking note of the trend, and seeking ways to participate in or adapt to it. As a company dedicated to sustainable innovation in design and manufacturing, and as a company that has always believed that consumers buy meaningful experiences, not goods and services, we want to support the makers inside our own company, in schools and in the marketplace.

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Ideation

How do innovations come to life? Where does inspiration come from? Can the process be digitized? How are mobile technology, social media, sensor data and the Internet changing the ideation process? Are there new technologies that can facilitate brainstorming, better separate the wheat from the chaff, and more rapidly bring winning ideas to life? These are the questions at the heart of this theme.

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