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We’re creative futurists at Swagger. And we’re smart ones at that. We’re always on the lookout for future products, trends, and behaviors. What’s in the when, not just the now. We chat about stuff like that at our Future Cafés, a weekly internal pow-wow where our crew gathers to debate the pros and cons of the latest futuristic news. It’s a mission of ours to keep up with these things. Here are the ones we found most share-worthy.

Future Products and Trends (Part IV)

May 10, 2018

After Face ID to Unlock Your iPhone, Face-Recognition Could Be the New Airline Boarding Pass (9to5Mac)

If you were one of many who scooped up the iPhone X, then you’re already familiar with its new facial recognition software. Even if you haven’t gotten your hands on the newest iPhone, you’re probably aware of the hype surrounding the new technology. What you may not be as familiar with is airlines catching on to the trend. Facial recognition software could now replace paper boarding passes. The best part? The airlines that have begun testing the software say it cuts boarding time in half! People may reject the idea initially, feeling that it may be too invasive. Personally, I could see the benefit in how much time this would save. It could also help when pinpointing individuals in any sort of security issue.

Marketing to Parents of “Theybies” Is Now a Thing (AdAge)

With a rise in popularity of rearing gender-neutral children, we see fellow marketers jump at the chance to label these children “theybies” in an effort to more effectively market to their parents. The trend is nothing new; we saw Gap-owned Banana Republic launch a genderless clothing line in 2015, as well as Target ridding of their gender-categorized toys and bedding. Now, I’m a bit skeptical. This labeling fad may die out, however, I don’t think gender-neutral parenting will. I don’t have any children of my own, but if I had a daughter that wanted Jurassic Park bedsheets, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash over whether they were “boy” or “girl” sheets.

Life…UNLIMITED: Beating Aging Is Set to Become the Biggest Business in the World, Say Tycoons (Daily Mail)

We all know that money can’t buy happiness, but it might buy youth, or at least Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos hopes so. Along with PayPal Co-Founder Peter Thiel, Oracle Founder Larry Ellison, and Google Co-Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, other Silicon Valley billionaires are pitching in on “efforts to extend life by slowing the aging process.” This research can possibly also help with age-related diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. In the next three decades, lifestyle improvements and drugs could increase the average lifespan to around 110 years. Governments have not begun to plan for this which means that we’ll see people working way past the current retirement age. It makes sense to me that if you live longer, you inevitably work longer, but at what point do we draw that line?

This Crazy Gadget Helps You “Talk” to Your Computer without Words (Futurism)

Is moving your mouth becoming too much of a hassle when you use talk-to-text? Do you despise the constant opening and closing of your jaw while you force your lips to squeeze out utterances for the public? …Yeah, me neither. However, in the event that the above does apply to you, then boy do I have the most terrifying-looking gadget for you! Enter, AlterEgo: a device designed to intercept the messages being sent from your brain to your mouth’s muscles. Now all jokes aside, this device could offer a huge advantage to those with speech disabilities. The bottleneck, however, may lie with the signals the device picks up. Rather than picking up direct brain signals like other technology, this relies on your mouth’s muscles which may preclude those with physical limitations.

This 3D-Printed House Goes up in a Day for under $10,000 (SingularityHub)

Move over tiny houses, we’re printing homes from here on out. This house was constructed in 24 hours for less than $10,000. “At the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, construction technologies startup ICON and housing nonprofit New Story unveiled their version of a 3D-printed house. The model is 650 square feet and consists of a living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and shaded porch.” Sign me up! That sounds like the kind of investment I can ponder upon…but how do you light a printed stove? Hmm…