Institute For The Future

Artifact from the Future: EZ LIFT

This Artifact from the Future is an example of products, services, and experiences that may play out in the future based on the forecast perspective DESIGN: The Personalization of Health Design from our 2013 Reworking Health: New Authorities in a Well-Being Economy research.

EZ LIFT

WHAT:

That dreaded “low balance” beep rings in your ears as you near the top of the escalator. “Come on! It’s Monday morning,” you say to yourself. You’re not in the mood to take the stairs… but unless you buy more credits, that is your only option. That silhouette spray-painted on the ground looks an awful lot like your own and taking the escalator won’t shrink that belly. But you’re siding with who ever vandalized the sign this morning: EZlift sucks. You don’t like being forced into someone else’s health agenda—and you’re not alone.

SO WHAT:

The next decade will bring unprecedented numbers of both older people and obese people, each of whom have health and well-being needs that can be addressed
through the built environment. Redesigning physical spaces becomes a question of who has the authority to set a health agenda. Mandating physical activity may prove necessary to reign in health spending, but could risk disempowering the very people it’s trying to help. Designers are faced with the difficult task of making healthy behavior change intrinsically motivated, not mandated.

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 2013 Reworking Health: New Authorities in a Well-Being Economy research, which explored the new tools and resources that are challenging traditional roles of patients, consumers and providers and empowering new authorities to emerge and engage people in their health.

Like all of 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.