LSN : News : Need to Know 11 : 06 : 18

1. Accessing cryptofunds using your heartbeat

Trove watch by Layer design agency and Trove, UK

Trove is a digital wallet that uses the wearer's heartbeat access cryptofunds

Trove watch by Layer design agency and Trove, UK

UK – Benjamin Hubert’s design agency Layer has collaborated with fintech start-up Trove to create a new digital wallet that offers a safer, more reliable way to store and use digital currencies.

Now in its prototype stage, the wearable device is made up of four parts: Coin, Keep, Safe and the Trove app. To access their data and funds on the Trove app, users must press their skin against the contact zone of the wearable’s Coin. This removable token contains a built-in ECG sensor that will recognise the individual’s unique heartbeat and use it as a mode of verification.

Trove is positioning its wearable security system as a level of reassurance for those that have experienced problems with accessing their digital currency. By using intuitive biometric data, Trove hopes to mollify consumers’ worries about hackers accessing their finds.

With the cryptocurrency rapidly growing in the retail sphere, brands must consider how to implement strategies across their businesses for accepting payments from consumers’ coin wallets.

2. Installation addresses architecture’s impact on nature

Another Generosity by Eero Lundén and Juulia Kauste, Venice Architecture Biennale, Venice

Venice – At this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, the Nordic Pavilion hosts Another Generosity, an exhibition that explores the symbiotic relationship between nature and the built environment.

Curators Eero Lundén and Juulia Kauste hope to demonstrate how future architectural designs could better respond to their immediate surroundings. Featuring giant inflatable objects, each is installed with sensors that monitor the air’s carbon dioxide levels, humidity and temperature. These ‘breathing’ objects expand when the CO2 levels are high and contract when they fall. In response to the temperature of the environment, the installations also change colour.

‘The geological impact of human activity is so pronounced that it has changed the behaviour of our planet. This is the epoch of the Anthropocene,’ Lundén and Kauste explain. As the curators of Another Generosity, they note how the Anthropocene age provides an opportunity to rethink the fundamental relationship between buildings and ecology. ‘Architecture should be considered a tool for redefining the complete cycle of building, from its most basic components to its operating systems,’ they state.

Read how architectural design is mitigating the impact of urban living on the natural environment with our Smog Life opinion piece.

3. Apple iOS 12 tackles smartphone addiction

Global – Following in the footsteps of other technology giants, Apple has announced that its iOS 12 update will include several new features that encourage more measured use of its digital devices.

The update will include an improved Do Not Disturb feature that uses dimmed screen lighting to protect users from being woken by notifications during the night, while Siri is set to automatically suggest deactivating notifications on rarely used apps. Elsewhere, the new app Screen Time will collect information on individuals’ app usage, processing it into a weekly report that enables users to clearly see the amount of time they spend in apps, in order to modify their usage. In support of this, a further major function of iOS 12 will enable users to set limits on how long they are able to use certain apps.

With the tension between man and machine growing, brands are beginning to establish a moral code for their products and services to make them fit for the digital era. Taking the lead, Instagram and Samsung have already launched new tools for their platforms and devices that tackle users’ addiction to technology.

Apple IOS 12, Global

4. Shampoo start-up champions better haircare

Hair Story, US

US – Hairstory is encouraging healthier hair maintenance with New Wash, an extension of its first product line that offers two new formulas providing detergent-free cleansing and moisturising benefits.

Building on the notion of conditioner as the product that repairs the damage shampoo causes, New Wash merges the key properties of shampoo and conditioner. Developed with aloe leaf juice, jojoba seed oil and peppermint oil, the formulas are designed to enhance – rather than strip away – the scalp’s natural oils.

In tandem, the product also encourages users to wash hair occasionally, rather than daily, with ingredients such as apple cider vinegar and argan oil that offer a deeper cleanse while maintaining hair’s natural qualities. Aimed at those with thicker but damaged hair, the brand’s New Wash Rich is a richer formula that gently cleanses the hair without the use of silicones and moisturisers – the traditional cause of product build-up on the hair surface.

As consumers become increasingly aware of the impact of 21st-century irritants on their skin, haircare brands are drawing on innovations in skincare science to protection against external aggressors. For more on this topic, read our dedicated Future of Haircare market.

5. Veganism could save the environment

A new study by the University of Oxford reveals that meat and dairy production is responsible for 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. As it becomes more apparent that farming can have a detrimental effect on the environment, consumers are increasingly changing their eating habits to help abate these anxieties, and reduce their individual impact.

‘A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,’ explains Joseph Poore, lead author of the study.

6. Thought-starter: How can convenience stores enhance on-the-go eating?

Tapping into consumers’ changing attitude to food – in particular, the desire for healthier snack options – corner shops and mini-marts are transforming their offer to provide freshly made, gluten-free and vegan options, available round the clock.

The recently opened Choice market in Denver offers a wide range of convenience foods, from organic snacks, freshly made salads and customisable meal bowls to more mainstream treats such as M&M’s. Its USP, however, is accessibility. While its physical store is open 24/7, Choice also runs an online store and app that enables shoppers to order necessities on demand, with instant delivery via Postmates.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, The Goods Mart is new a convenience store with a focus on social causes and sustainability. Its products are selected from brands that use high-quality or organic ingredients and demonstrate ethical sourcing. In a bid to ensure its products are competitively priced alongside traditional convenience stores, The Goods Mart founder Rachel Krupa has worked closely with suppliers to ensure prices are accessible to all.

Read the full microtrend here.