Gender divide
Popcorn paints a shockingly bleak view of gender relations in
the wake of the sexual harassment scandals that rocked the
corporate and entertainment worlds in 2017: The sexes will be
separated, she predicts—at least at work.
"I think there will be female-only floors in companies and
male-only floors," she says. "There will be rage rooms where men
can act out because they are going to be very angry."
But in what sounds like a contradictory prediction, she sees a
rise in genderless retail stores as gender-neutral clothing spikes
in popularity. In a presentation on gender fluidity, her firm
points to signs of the death of gender, including the rise of
gender-neutral names—like Charlie and Sky—and
genderless emojis. She envisions apps to help people track their
fluid gender identities and chips that can be implanted to tweak
hormones. How can she predict gender separation at work and
unification elsewhere? "Trends don't always go flow in the same
river," she says.
Doctorless medicine
A trip to the doctor could soon become obsolete as people
increasingly monitor their health via embedded computer chips,
swallowable trackers and color-changing dots that rest on the
skin's surface, Popcorn predicts. "Doctors are going to become
keyboard technicians because all the measuring apertures will be in
your body," she says. "You can have a full checkup without even
being there." Amazon—which is eyeing a move into prescription
drug marketing—will play a major role on this new health
playing field, she suggests. The company "can control the entire
supply chain and tap their deep data insights," her firm states in
its 2018 predictions presentation.
Looking for calm
Anxiety will become the No. 1 health threat, Popcorn predicts.
And virtual reality will prove to be the most-used stress-relief
solution. Instead of hitting the road for a relaxing vacation, for
instance, people will plug into a VR experience. "You don't really
go anywhere," Popcorn says. Also, people will get relief through
sound therapy, as well as chemicals dispensed via embedded chips.
With VR, nothing is out of reach, including a relaxing trip to
outer space or a Narnia-like snow voyage, her firm predicts. Brands
could get involved by buying ad placements in these virtual
weekends away. "It's a new media," she says.
'Ecopalypse' now
Climate change will lead to strict environmental monitoring and
extreme survivalist solutions, with shore towns, under threat from
rising tides, being replaced by floating cities, according to the
predictions presentation. Also, radio frequency identification,
known as RFID, will be used to track how we deal with trash. "We
will know where your particular piece of plastic went, where you
put it," Popcorn says. "There will be fines based on that. Just
like there are fines if you go through a toll booth and do not
pay." Home buying will get more complicated, too, because protected
and guaranteed water sources will become part of the purchase
price, she predicts. And carnivores beware: Meat will become the
new tobacco, as land-use and pollution issues push it into
extinction, to be replaced by mushroom and plant-based "meats."
Emotional surveillance
"Your interior life is about to go public," Popcorn's firm
warns, noting that technology like facial recognition will be used
to monitor our moods. This will give rise to hair and makeup
methods that can be used to skirt the surveillance, she says. Your
escape mechanism? "Private, scan-free get-togethers where people
can vent, mourn and rejoice without prying AI eyes" will take hold.
"All of us are going to be read and parsed and marketed to by AI in
coming years," says Janet Siroto, a managing director at
BrainReserve. "It's scary, but it's coming."
You've been warned.
