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Artifact from the Future: GOTTA EAT 'EM ALL
Read coverage in Fast Company »
WHAT: Your microbial diversity score just hit the 95th percentile! Nice job! When you started playing “gotta eat ‘em all” you were only at 80%. An intestinal sensor transmits real-time information about your microbiome to the game, which then uses computer vision to identify foods--in your refrigerator, at the grocery store, or on a restaurant menu--that could help boost your gut health. The goal: maximize diversity. Every new microbe you “capture” in your gut adds to your score, and also helps build the world’s largest crowd-sourced database of microbiome data. This microbiome game craze has taken over cities around the world--kids in Singapore are begging to go hunt for rare microbiome-boosting foods at wet markets, and urban foraging teams in Seattle are mapping public fruit trees in search of polyphenols that help increase Bacteroidetes. Fermentation bars have opened up everywhere from Kyoto to Johannesburg with lines out the door for coveted krauts and misos. Prior to the launch of the game, the average person consumed just over 100 species. Now, the global average has jumped to over 500.
SO WHAT: Low-cost genetic sequencing will enable direct-to-consumer microbiome testing, which will usher in an era of discoveries about the intimate connection between our diet, our gut microbes, and our health. Using this new wealth of data, game designers and citizen scientists can join forces to create engaging ways to help people maximize their microbial diversity. Not only will this result in measurable improvements in lifestyle diseases, but it will actually drive demand for diversified agricultural systems - even in those areas where industrial monocrops once reigned supreme.
How did we get to this future? Signals from today:
A signal is a small or local innovation that has the potential to grow in scale and geographic distribution. Signals are very specific examples that, when clustered together, point to a larger trend or shift. When creating Artifacts from the Future, IFTF combines today’s early signals to tell a new story about what’s possible in the next decade.
Here are some of today’s signals that, when combined, make “Gotta Eat ‘Em All” a possible future:
Pokemon Go, the insanely viral augmented reality game, had some unexpected mental and physical health benefits for its players. Context-aware augmented reality gaming has potential to engage people in positive behavior change.
A wearable augmented reality nutrition advice system patented by Microsoft could overlay the advice of a dietician (or your favorite food blogger) on top of any food choice, or communicate personalized information based on your own needs.
Engaged eaters are playing games to solve big food systems issues, such as the challenge Mars Corporation launched on Fold.it where people play puzzle solving games to find a solution to aflatoxin, a problematic mold that grows on many staple crops.
On the personalized nutrition side of this story, people are already testing their own gut microbiome with services such as uBiome, and seeking personalized meal suggestions from companies such as Day Two or Habit.
Even the ingestible sensor in this scenario might be closer than we think. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an ingestible sensor as a way to observe the gut, look for signs of infection, or track medication adherence. As technology gets cheaper and smaller, health conscious eaters might be ok bringing it inside their bodies.
Finally, Many of the early findings in human microbiome research suggest that the common denominator of healthy diets for humans is high fiber form naturally diverse, plant-based sources. As eaters seek to both improve their own health and the health of the planet, they may look for biodiversity boosting foods such as Kernza - a perennial grain that researchers at the Land Institute are growing in polyculture.
What other signals of this future do you see already happening today? Or, what else becomes possible when these signals combine? We invite everyone to practice being a food futurist and creatively imagining futures that are radically different from the present. Share your ideas with us at [email protected]!
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This particular Artifact from the Future—Gotta Eat 'Em All—is one of six Artifacts developed in conjunction with our recent Food Innovation report, and might be something you would see over the coming decade as Scalable Biodiversity revolutionizes the food system. Read more forecasts and signals about how Scalable Biodiversity will be an ingredient for food innovation in the future.
This Artifact from the Future is a snapshot of what might emerge if forecasts about the future materialize. It was developed as part of our Food Innovation: Recipes for the Next Decade report which is a book of recipes on how to create systems-level change across the food system. This Artifact from the Future is an at-a-glance tool for exploring the fundamental question: What is possible?
Like all IFTF’s Artifacts from the Future, this image offers insights into future everyday lives and is intended to give you an immersive look at a possible future change.