METATREND
The METATREND Institute
Published by METATREND Media Group, Inc. at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 METATREND Media Group, Inc
METATREND vol. 8
Registered: December. 1, 2009
Registeration No.: Yeongdeungpo Ra-00225
Published: AUGUST. 2010
Publisher: In-oh Yoo
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CHAIRMAN
Yong-teh Lee
DIRECTOR OF THE BOARD
Sang-bae Kim
PUBLISHER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR
In-oh Yoo
EDITORIAL DIVISION
Editor in Chief
Dong-youn Shin
Hee Min
Analyst
Min-guk Ji
Jung-hwan Min
Min-soo Kim
Hye-young Min
Dae-yeol Moon
Consultant
Sean Park
Charles Ahn
Ellie Lee
Jae-un Noh
Richard Biggs
Translator
David H. Chung
Cameron Lee
Chul-hwan Kim
Photographer
Jae-sung Lee
Correspondent
GREAT BRITAIN:
Sang-min Yoon/Chun-gi Jaegal/Kyung-yoon Yang/Yun-woon Jung/Jae-young Park/Bo-yoon Choi
USA:
Byung-jae Jo/Sung-soo Shin/Sae-ho Park/Sang-won Park
FRANCE:
Min-kyung Kim/Hee-kyung Kwon
GERMANY: Kyung-ran Park/Woo-yun Kwon
POLAND: Eun-guk Noh
SWITZERLAND: Myung-hee Lee
SPAIN: Dong-yun Yoo
DESIGN DIVISION
Editorial Design
Ji-ye Yoon
Da-hyun Kim
Graphic Design
Bong-yup Song
Ji-ye Yoon
Product Design
Hong-joo Kim
Sun-woong Oh
Inforgraphic Lab
Min-guk Ji
Bong-yup Song
In-chol Yoo
Nam-soon Kim
INPA FUTURE INSTITUTE
LEGAL ADVISOR
Jong-hag Jeon(Patent Attorney)/Kyung-Eun Patent & Law Office
SUBSCRIPTION
Ji-yeon Min
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Jason Goo
Tina Yu
PRINTED BY
ITEMPOOL
01 TREND MAP
02 SPECIAL REPORT
03 TREND INSIGHT
04 TREND RADAR
05 CONCEPT DESIGN
06 CLOSE UP
DECATEGORIZATION
REAL CONNECTION
URBAN ADVENTURE
EMOTIONAL & OMITTED
CLOUDBOOK
WARM-HEARTED GADGET
JUST RIGHT PLACE
RETRO-TUNE ACCESSORY
AUGMENTED EXPERIENCE
JUST ONE HOLE, MAKES BIG DIFFERENCES
COVER STORY
DECATEGORIZATION
Decategorization is a process that draws out innovation and creativity. It is the process for creating culture and art, and new products and services that don’t fit into existing categories.
MONTHLY TREND MAP
Find an answer to a problem by putting heads together. Attempts to solve problems are continuously being made using collective intelligence. In particular, as more people are using social networking services, crowd sourcing is coming into the limelight, resulting in rapid development. Social networking usually connects people to people, but is now attempting to connect devices to devices, or devices to people, meaning that it is time to think about how to make better use of devices in the form of crowd sourcing.
TRANSPARENCY AS A SERVICE MY TEST
Transparency, Audi, Experience
Present and future consumers choose goods and services based on trust. Therefore, companies should recognize transparency as part of their product. Audi provides a service which focuses on transparency. This service, “The Direct Reception System” allows customers to see and communicate with technicians as they perform diagnosis and repair work.
PERSONALIZED PLACES
Personalization, Burgerking, Musical Shower
Enjoy a personalized space in public places. A Toyko-based Burgerking in Japan has installed “Musical Showers”, which allows you to choose your favorite song to listen to. You do not need to be conscious of others. You can create an atmosphere only for you. In this regard, Musical Showers offers personalized services.
UNFRIEND SERVICE
SNS, LBS, Avoidr
The dichotomy of “Like” and “Dislike” becomes clearer on social networking sites. As many people build a network of relationships via social network services, they feel the need to break such relationships as well. Avoidr (www.avoidr.org) embraces a location-based service, which makes it possible for you to avoid social networking friends both on and off line.
PICTURES IN MAP
AR, Map, Storytelling
View the past and present on the same display by overlaying a photo on a map. In this way, you can search for sentimental aspects on the map, such as hidden stories, memories, and the flow of time. Historypinn (www.historypin.com) enables users to add old photos with stories to Google Maps Street View via crowd sourcing.
PERSONALIZED SOCIAL MAGAZINE
SNS, Media, Flipboard
Can SNS play a media role? This question has been raised for a long time. Flipboard (www.flipboard.com) claims that it is the first personalized social magazine. Flipboard elevates the level of SNS media by automatically showing people, companies or themes on SNS in e-magazine form.
CELEBRATING LONGEVITY
Robustness, History, Optimist
The life cycle of cutting edge products is getting shorter. In this situation, using a product for a long time is becoming a virtue in terms of eco-trend. In particular, the scratches and stains on a product clearly show the product’s history. The Optimist is a toaster, which tells its history through the production date, number of uses, and simple and sturdy design.
LBS SHOPPING
Location, GPS, Shopping
Domino’s Pizza Japan is enjoying remarkable success because it allows customers order using an iPhone application. Customers do not need to explain their locations because pizza deliverymen can find them by using the iPhone as a GPS. Even if a customer orders a pizza outdoors, the resturant closest to the customer will be responsible for delivering the pizza. In this regard, this service shows a new possiblity of LBS shopping.
LONG-TAIL ECONOMY
e-Book, Long-tail, out-of-print
It is expected that the advent of the e-Book will strengthen the position of long-tail books. Why? The use of e-Books makes it easy to manage books in stock, distribute them, and lower cost. Zeppan (zeppan.org) is a Japanese Internet bookstore, which re-publishes out-of-print books in e-Book format
MOBILE INTERFACE TREND MAP
MOBILE INTERFACE TREND MAP
TOUCH SCREEN MY TEST
The touch screen has been established as the main interface of the mobile terminal. Also, it represents intuitive interface. As countless technologies are applied in new ways, touch screen is evolving into multi-touch, projection touch, and 3D touch.
VOICE RECOGNITION
It is not guaranteed that the hand will always operate mobile terminals. Therefore, voice recognition is emerging as the next generation of interface. Already, voice searching is one of the important functions of mobile terminals. People naturally interact with mobile terminals via voice.
AR GLASSES
Augmented reality requires a cell phone camera and a screen. But, these devices will be ultimately replaced with glasses. A Japanese animation, “Coil a Circle of Children” clearly shows that augmented reality glasses can provide a new aspect of life for people.
EYE TRACKING
The senses of humans depend heavily on sight. Eyes exactly recognize what humans are interested in. Eye movements will be a key technology for new interfaces, such as AR Glasses and Text 2.0.
HAPTIC
The touch and motion interface for the mobile terminal may make users feel empty because they do not receive physical feedback. But, Haptic technology provides more sophisticated movements, convenience, and even sensations by giving physical feedback to motion.
NATURAL USER INTERFACE
Natural User Interface (NUI) is a breakhrough technology. The basic concept of NUI is that natural movement can be used as an interface. Attempts to develop technologies, such as motion recognition and touch, are being made. Also, interfaces like “Brain Computer Interface”, which responds to thought is being developed.
Decategorization
Core of Creativity & Innovation
INNOVATION BY DECATEGORIZATION
From Rationality to Creativity & Innovation
Internal Breakdown
Designed Deconstruction
DECATEGORIZED BY MASH-UP
Mash-up is Creative Process
Mash-up Breaks Technology Boundary
Mash-up Creator & Consumer
USERISM IS RULE CHANGER
User Defined Category
Dynamic Category
Over the Category
CROSSOVER INTERACTION
Tech Culutre
HyperReal
Digital Humanity
Creative Canvas
DECATEGORIZATION IS NOT RECATEGORIZATION
DECATEGORIZATION, FIRST STEP OF INNOVATION
DECATEGORIZATION
INNOVATION BY DECATEGORIZATION
Decategorization is a process that draws out innovation and creativity. It is the process for creating culture and art, and new products and services that don’t fit into existing categories. Decategorization can be largely conceptualized into two types. One is the break down of self-regulating categories that depend on internal factors, while the other is an attempt to break down categories from the outside while having a specific purpose
DECATEGORIZATION BY MASH-UP
Products, lifestyle, and cultural categories are disappearing thanks to mash-ups. Culture and culture, technology and culture, and technology and technology come together and break down existing categories and create new values. The mash-up is a fusion process that is undertaken to create new things between countless areas
USERIMS IS RULE CHANGER
Userism, which decides which category a product belongs to while regulating it based on the user’s application, is one of the central aspects of decategorization. How things are categorized changes according to this userism. Now, the category a product belongs to is determined based on what the user intends to use it for.
CROSSOVER INTERACTION
Different fields influence each other such as technology and the humanities, the arts and technology, technology and technology, and culture and the arts, while new paradigms are made through decategorization which is guided by the free division and consilience of these areas
DECATEGORIZATION IS NOT RECATEGORIZATION
Decategorization is not the process of recategorization, which reorganizes categories. It is the eternal process of decategorization. Decategorization is found in the process that breaks down existing values and creates new ones
DECATEGORIZATION, FIRST STEP OF INNOVATION
Decategorization is the first step for innovation and creation. People or businesses within the decategorization process are at the forefront of creative thinking, and other people are looking for new worlds that they have yet to explore and become adventurer due to this
Innovation by Decategorization
Decategorization is a process that draws out innovation and creativity. It is the process for creating culture and art, and new products and services that don’t fit into existing categories.
From Rationality to Creativity and Innovation
Simplified Consumer Circulation, and the Disappearing Wallet
The debate over whether the standardization of technology plays a role as a catalyst for advancing the dissemination of technology and the strengthening of use by users, or if it is a necessary evil that stops the innovation of technology from escaping the fetters of standardization has been a perennial subject for discussion. Moreover, people up until now have attempted to systemize, group and organize all of the things around them that are tied to the value of the previous generation such as efficiency and speed. Although you cannot deny the huge contributions that this type of movement has made to the development of culture and technology up until now, trying to leave the existing categories has attempted to standardize to match the existing system or exclude technology, ideology, or innovative thoughts while considering insecure things as undesirable. However, creativity and innovation don’t always go together with logic. Rather, insecurity is derived from the dissolution and destruction of the existing system. The world is already changing. As the existing values of systemization, grouping, and categorization are being broken down and becoming meaningless, decategorization is a phenomenon where core values are moving towards innovation, creativity, diversity, and insight. Decategorization is already occurring in many different areas around us. In fact, it begun a long time ago, however, the recent radical changes in technology and culture are gaining traction and starting to accelerate.
Decategorization can be largely conceptualized into two types. One is the break down of self-regulating categories that depend on internal factors, while the other is an attempt to break down categories from the outside while having a specific purpose. People recognize the former as “diversification,” while the latter is “innovation.”
Decategorization is developing a close relationship with creativity. Swarthmore College Professor Barry Schwarz, in a 2009 TED lecture titled “Our Loss of Wisdom,” stated that the present standardization, and manualization is creating a state of affairs that is inefficient and inhuman, while discernment and wisdom are necessary rather than knowledge to rectify the situation.
Internal Breakdown
The sudden acceleration of decategorization due to the development of IT is underway.
Existing categorical divisions are becoming meaningless and decategorization is progressing according to intrinsic factors. People’s lifestyles are becoming more diverse, and the trend of decategorization is slowly accelerating while demand for technology, culture, and the arts is changing. Information technology is at the center of this trend. Although interaction between individuals, ethnicities, and countries began around the world as navigation and aviation appeared, the acceleration of interaction within the global community due to the development of the phone and internet has ushered us into an age of genuine globalization. Now, the culture and lifestyle of local communities are spreading across the world, while the infrastructure for numerous people to have exchanges across the world in real-time is being created and divisions or categories such as ethnic and nations are disappearing. For example, how the vuvuzela, which is a part of South African local culture, became popular around the entire world through the world cup is well known by everyone. Moreover, the representative social network services (SNS) Twitter and Facebook are great example of how barriers created by distance, nations, and ethnicities are broken down and how quickly simple ideas can spread around the entire world in a short amount of time. In addition to globalization, the mash-up trend is also another important factor that guides decategorization. As different categories are gathered, mash-ups create new things that cannot be classified according to existing categories. Already, there are diverse mash-ups of elements from lifestyle, culture and the arts which are leading decategorization.
Moreover, as we encounter the development of technology and the diverse desires of people, there are new transformations that happen within existing products. Although feature phones have been clearly shown as different from smartphones, differentiating between the two has become meaningless while the distinction between smartphones and tablets is also becoming vague. For example, Dell’s Streak is a tablet device that has all of the functions of a normal smartphone, but has a five-inch screen. However, even at this size, when compared to the 4.3 inch screen of HTC’s EVO 4G or Motorola’s Droid X, it is easy to see how the distinction between the two becomes meaningless. Diverse lifestyles produce diverse technologies, tools, culture, and arts, while this diversity weakens the meaning of categorized divisions.
Designed Deconstruction
The process of intentional decategorization forms the foundation of disruptive innovation.
Businesses and people who do creative work intentionally carry out the decategorization process to create new artistic genres, new methods of expression, and to establish new markets.
There are already numerous competitors to existing categorized groups that are on the horizon. If you want to avoid this competition and draw up a blue ocean strategy, disruptive innovation must be established through the process of decategorization. Decategorization is a process of creating a new paradigm through the break down of existing order, while it becomes the foundation for new innovation. During the past years, Apple has become a leader in innovation while maintaining a reputation for being a business that offers the most creative products and services. Apple released the iPod, turned the idea of an MP3 on its head, while it revealed its version of the smartphone – the iPhone, and a tablet device – the iPad, afterward. The biggest feature of the products that Apple released is that they are products with new concepts that are entirely different to existing products. These types of products are great examples that show how the center of the business ecosystem has moved from one that was centered on selling only hardware to one that combines both products and services. In addition to Apple, there are a countless number of materials that illustrate how companies like Google and Amazon are breaking the existing mold and being innovative. In this way, there is no need to expand upon how decategorization has become the foundation for innovation and creativity. Even in the arts such as music, painting, photography, and performance, unprecedented artistic works that break the existing mold are being revealed, while this tendency is leading performance culture and new types of arts like the DIgiStage, media façade, music and art that don’t fit into genres.
Decategorization by Mash-up
Products, lifestyle, and cultural categories are disappearing thanks to mash-ups. Culture and culture, technology and culture, and technology and technology come together and break down existing categories and create new values.
A Mash-up is a Creative Process
A mash-up is a process of new creation that breaks down existing categories.
The mash-up is a representative trend that influences multiple areas of our lives such as technology, culture, and lifestyle. Mash-ups, which combine different categories and create new things, are an important factor of decategorization that weakens the meaning of existing categories.
The interaction between cultures creates new ones, and the interaction between art and technology, or different types of technology creates something new that doesn’t fit into existing categories. The industrial revolution led to mass production by focusing on the efficiency and speed of production, enabling the general population to enjoy the benefits of technology and culture. However, this led to an impersonal experience by providing countless people with the same products, food, and clothes. Now, emphasis is being placed on creativity and diversity as a counter trend to this. Combining existing things has become a way to create things that are different than what has come before and that have never existed. There is nothing completely new in this world. Therefore, you can create things that have never existed by combining things that already exist.
Miyake Spring Summer 2010 Collection, Issey Miyake
For example, Issey Miyake, who combines the tastes of both Eastern and Western fashion, breaks free of the universal style that is centered on the West, and creates a new design trend that is neither Japanese nor Western. This combination of Eastern and Western culture creates decategorization that doesn’t fit into existing categories.