The Future Agency app forces you to consider the design industry in 20 years and it’s…creepy
Design agency Uniform is taking us inside the office of the future with a new AR app that realises all our most Black Mirror-esque visions of what might be waiting for us. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the agency has launched us into the depths of dystopian despair, exploring the exciting and terrifying possibilities of the design industry 20 years from now.
Packed with tools like the sinister-sounding “dream builder”, bioengineered brand influencers, automated office pets that force you to exercise, and a truly awful ”Client Cam" that offers absolute transparency into what we’re working on at all times, The Future Agency forces us to imagine what’s next, exaggerating our current moment into a evolving vision of the future. The app is available for download and aims to ask users to feedback on the things they encounter, and more conceptually, consider where the future of the design might feel like in an industry context.
“Everything in the app is based on research and insight,” says senior creative Richard Pay. “We want people to question where we’re heading – how will we deal with issues like privacy and automation? What opportunities can we realise if we look at the big picture?”
Executive creative director Tim Sharp says, “There are many stories, toys, tools and roles to explore in The Future Agency. We want people to discover them, to vote on them, and to help us shape the future together.”
The app can be downloaded from Uniform’s website and the app store – handle with caution.
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Kieran Yates is a London-based journalist and author who has been writing about culture everywhere from The Guardian and Independent to Dazed and WePresent for over a decade. She is the author of All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In, exploring the art and design of homes.