Need to Know
19 : 02 : 18

Germany – Dutch firm MVRDV has designed a mirrored facade, laden with QR codes, for the Milestone office block in Esslingen, southern Germany. Manufactured from fritted glass – a finely porous material – and embedded with solar cells, the building has been designed to reflect the surrounding cityscape.

The surface of the building will be printed with QR codes, allowing pedestrians to interact with the facade and access information about the city. ‘Each pixel carries different information, featuring the stories of the city and its inhabitants, accompanied by a smartphone app one can discover its richness, creating the public library of the town,’ the company says in a press release.

While QR codes have not as a rule lived up to the hype they were afforded when first introduced, forward-thinking brands such as Amazon and MVRDV are demonstrating how they can be used creatively to enrich the consumer experience.

US – Atolla Skin Lab is an MIT-based start-up that uses machine learning to create personalised skincare products tailored to the consumer’s skin data.

Inspired by co-founder Meghan Maupin’s own experience with a skincare routine that stopped working for her, the team collect data on the individual’s skin needs during a face-to-face consultation which factors in both environmental data points such as age and location, as well as physical dermal data such as oil and pH levels.

After this information is fed into an algorithm, the customer then receives a personalised skincare product, with the team monitoring progress over the next few weeks to determine the efficaciousness of the item. The next iteration of At-home Analysis, Atolla Skin Lab offers continuing evaluation of a person’s skin condition and the effect that the environment is having on it, supported by machine learning and expert opinion.

US – Outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, has launched a microsite, named Patagonia Action Works, to bring together activists from the local community. Tapping into the global angst around climate change, identified by the American Psychological Association as eco-anxiety, Patagonia is seeking to allay these fears through action. ‘I've always known that the cure for depression is action’, states founder Yvon Chouinard in a video introducing the initiative.

Visitors to the site can select their location and the causes they care about, which include bio-diversity, climate, land and water to be connected with relevant organisations, nearby events and volunteering and petition opportunities. In a further demonstration of its civic-minded approach, the site also provides links for grassroots groups who are new to Patagonia to apply for funding.

With the imminent arrival of the sugar tax in the UK, junk food brands are being forced to reconsider their sugar content or pay a levy. With studies showing that the UK currently consumes more ultra-processed food – including cakes and chocolate – than any other European country, brands like Nestlé are innovating around products that remain familiar but have a reduced sugar content.