If these walls could talk

Our spaces will not talk. They will scream, mass-produce data and turn into big, smart wonder boxes. Squares, streets, stores, hospitals, schools, offices, and so forth, will be populated with AI powered sensors and augmented reality features, which will be able to act, react and proactively serve what we need, instantly and in toto. Everything will be tracked, in full respect of local regulations, so that data will flow where needed, to make sure business or social objectives are met: getting a passport or buying furniture will be as simple as ordering a cappuccino at Starbucks.

You may not believe me. This is why we cross-checked our predictions with Andrea Abrams, founder and CEO at Phygicode, advisor, investor and board member. Abrams is a technology veteran, with a rich background in real estate and retail. She is based in the USA, but has clients everywhere in the world, as the “phygital revolution,” as she calls it, is something that affects us all.

“In the 1990’s, before the expansion of e-commerce, the retail industry consisted of thousands of brands and product sellers, but only a handful of truly exceptional retail operators. Many of these operators managed to remain relevant by expanding geographic reach with digital commerce, increasing experiential in-store connections, and eventually building stronger loyalty with social media platforms. They remained true to their DNA and took their community through the transition. In some cases, their products changed and the channels of distribution improved, but the relationship with the customer evolved to a more community-oriented engagement. Operators of retail experiences today must understand that we live in the era of intersectional culture, and the product is a connector. The product is part of a service. Access, culture and community are the foundations,” Abrams states.

We are moving into a hybrid future, where digital and physical will merge, work together, be in an ever moving balance, to surround humans and serve them at best. “The present is phygital. We chase access instead of possession. Culture and community are the true priorities.” confirms Abrams.

Doing business some thirty years ago was tough, if you wanted to make sense of it. Shopping malls had sales assistants going around with palm pilots (the ancestors of Ipads), asking five questions to all shoppers, from what they bought to why, from pricing to satisfaction. Data would be collected and processed by external agencies, who would brief mall owners and operators on how to better their services. The whole thing was cumbersome, inaccurate, slow, and rarely insightful.

We live in a different era now. The context around us will be able to track what people do, using wearable technologies and sensors spread around us. Data will flow into AI powered engines, able to make sense of it, predict and suggest, with the goal to simplify, inspire and delight our fans.

According to Abrams, the world will move along three avenues:

1. Connected experiences: every product will be connected and have a digital twin; this is already happening, from fashion and luxury, to the industrial world
2. Phygital environments: this will take a bit more time; thanks especially to augmented reality, digital and physical will interact to guide fans, to lead them through games, treasure hunts, discoveries, and so forth; phygital is a language, a code that every brand is going to use to engage users and build loyalty; sports is a great example of this, but business and government will greatly benefit from these new capabilities
3. Data capture: this is where AI will play its pivotal role, feeding recommendations and real time propositions, for every human immersed into this phygital universe

There is, of course, room for blockchains in Abram’s vision. “Blockchain will lead to better adoption of new solutions. On-chain activities force us to operate with ‘truth’ instead of ‘trust,’ and this will be crucial, as we enter an era that will highly value authenticity more than ever before,” concludes Abrams.

There is a continuous loop that embraces fans in phygital marketing. Physical leads to digital, and vice versa. The gaming world understands this. Games need to be powered by strong communities and great experiences that are phygital. Pudgy Penguins for example, is a Web3 project that went mainstream through their retail partnerships with Walmart and Target, and now they are combining their efforts by building a game with Mythical on the Mythical Platform and Mythos Chain, already used by millions of consumers. “Shopping leads to access to a community and culture. Communities merge, fans share their experiences, leveraging the brand values, being rewarded for their engagement and receiving social status for their participation,” says Abrams.

Technology gives operators and brands, governments and corporations the tools to nurture communities, but it forces them to fireproof the intent of everything they do, the reason why they exist in the first place. “We see a lot of deductive narrative, copy – paste, which is old school. Brands need to be authentic and have a long term plan, when it comes to managing communities. It all starts with company culture and mindset,” warns Abrams.

Welcome to the era of data, truth and authenticity. If done well, human connections will be heightened by technology. Technology is one piece of a puzzle made of space for fans to create, hardware and AI tools that track and interact, and infrastructure that is interoperable and so smooth that it becomes invisible. Walls will talk, so that we can, as humans, talk to each other better, deeper, faster. If the present is phygital, our future can be even more human.

Written by Francesco Pagano.