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El Departamento turns Barcelona’s historic building into cultural learning hub

Expanish Learning Space. Design by El Departamento, Spain

Spain – Architecture studio El Departamento, led by Alberto Eltini and Marina Martín, has repurposed Barcelona’s Casa Degli Italiani, a Renaissance-era building, into a modern space for the cheekily named Expanish language school while preserving its historic charm. The studio embraced the structure’s original details, including wooden beams and vaulted ceilings, maintaining a dialogue between past and present.

‘Our goal was to establish a respectful dialogue between the old and the new,’ said Eltini in a press release. The layout introduces Tapas areas for communal activities, inspired by Spanish culture, and Siesta Spaces for relaxation, blending contemporary design with traditional aesthetics.

El Departamento’s approach preserved the building’s imperfections, which Martín described as ‘integral parts of the design’. This project shows how historical architecture can enhance the functionality of a school setting by using its rich heritage as an educational resource.

In our Neo-education Market, we analysed how, with Gen Alpha at prime schooling age, we are witnessing rapid change in education systems, from culturally nuanced curriculums to AI-powered learning.

Strategic opportunity

Explore creating versatile spaces that blend traditional office or retail set-ups with educational and cultural activities. Flexible spaces could attract diverse audiences and boost community engagement

Emteq Labs unveils emotion-sensing smart eyewear

UK – Brighton-based Emteq Labs has introduced Sense, a wearable technology innovation that uses nine optical sensors embedded in lightweight glasses to track subtle facial muscle movements.

With more than 93% accuracy, Sense provides real-time insights into emotions and behaviour patterns – useful for tracking physical and mental health. Unlike AR glasses, Sense’s lightweight vector-based design reduces energy consumption, taking inspiration from fly vision to capture 6,000 data points per second. The sensors collect data from the activation of facial muscles in the area around the eyes and the cheek muscles that control jaw movements.

Sense will be available in limited units to commercial partners in December 2024. In addition to interpreting facial expressions and mood-tracking, the glasses can be used for automatic diet-monitoring through cheek muscle movements and food recognition algorithms, a feature that may find appeal amid the popularity of weight loss drugs such as Ozempic.

In our Six Smart Glasses Innovations With Eyes on the Future report, we highlighted Emteq’s fellow innovators who are redefining the wearable tech market with smart glasses that blend fashion, functionality and AI.

Sense by Emteq Labs, UK

Strategic opportunity

Emotional health-monitoring is the next step for wearable technology. How can you use facial expression-tracking or heat sensors to provide insight into mood and behaviour, enhancing your product’s appeal as a holistic wellness tool?

YouTube launches media literacy programme to help teens spot AI content

My First AI by Modem and Wang & Söderström, The Netherlands

Global – Launched during the Global Media and Information Literacy Week, YouTube has introduced a free curriculum designed to help teens navigate AI-generated content and identify misinformation. Building on its 2022 Hit Pause media literacy initiative, the new programme includes 11 interactive lessons that can be used in classrooms or workshops worldwide.

The lessons aim to empower teens as discerning digital citizens who can recognise unreliable information online. ‘Teens today can access a world of possibilities online,’ YouTube and Poynter note in the curriculum guide. But they warn that misinformation is one of the ‘real challenges with youth online media consumption’.

The curriculum offers 30–45-minute lessons complete with YouTube videos, handouts and slides, covering topics from vetting sources to assessing AI-generated content. A recent Amazon study underlines the need for such education, reporting that almost 60% of web text content is AI-generated or translated by AI.

This initiative is YouTube’s response to a growing demand among Gen Z for cautious AI engagement, as younger users express concerns about intrusive AI features in daily media platforms.

We discuss the need for regulation and the spread of misinformation in the Blurred Realities section of The Synthocene Era macrotrend report we recently released.

Strategic opportunity

Develop AI literacy programmes for employees and equip them with the skills, similar to YouTube’s curriculum, to spot misinformation, and low-quality and AI-generated content

Stat: Climate change anxiety affects Gen Z across political divides

Gaia by Luke Jerram, UK

US – An October 2024 study published in The Lancet Planetary Health reveals the intense mental health impacts of climate change on young Americans aged 16 to 25. Of the 16,000 surveyed, 85% reported being at least moderately worried about climate change, with 58% expressing extreme concern. These worries are not just abstract; 38% of respondents said their anxiety about climate change interferes with their daily lives.

Interestingly, climate anxiety appears to cross political lines in this generation. While Democrats and Independents report higher levels of concern, a substantial 37.9% of young Republicans say climate fears influence their decision about having children. Furthermore, over half of all respondents, including 57.8% of young Republicans, noted that climate change would affect where they choose to live in the future.

Study lead Eric Lewandowski of New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine notes that, for Gen Z, climate change is increasingly seen as a non-partisan issue affecting personal life choices. We explore the importance of Sustainability in this generation in our Gen Z Now and Next: From Vision to Contradiction macrotrend report.

Strategic opportunity

Addressing climate anxiety in young consumers can build brand loyalty. Offer sustainable solutions and transparency to resonate with Gen Z’s environmental concerns