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 Feature

  PROTECT AND SURVIVE CO NTE N TS

05.06 / 1 8
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: MATTHEW ROBERTS/MAVERICK SOLUTIONS. THIS PAGE: LIAM SHARP

A new chapter has begun

in the bloody war against
poaching in Africa – with
technology being used as
a force for good by rangers
such as Sanare Ololtele P.096
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 p. 026 Star t

JURASSIC FAUX PAS

From feathers to supersizing, movies
have been getting dinos wrong for years.
WIRED revisits the beasts of Jurassic
Park to see if the science still holds up

p. 047 Gear

RATED AND REVIEWED

Custom Rapha kit; the Mercedes AMG
Project One; Husqvarna’s Vitpilen 701
2018; aquatic kit; electric rides; Spengle’s
carbon wheel; the new McLaren Senna

 p. 06 3 Health CO NTE N TS

05.06 / 1 8
WIRED HEALTH 2018
Learnings from our annual Health event,
held this year at the Crick Institute, from
managing cancer therapies to VR surgical
procedures and smartphone eye tests
PHOTOGRAPHY: PHOSS; GREG WHITE

p. 072 Work Smar ter

OFFICE ESSENTIALS
Ready to take on the world with your next
great idea? From plant life to lighting, and
high-end computing to classy carafes, we
collate the products that give you an edge

p. 086 Feature

THINK DIFFERENT
The most valuable firm on the planet is
in serious danger of going stale – WIRED
asked ten influencers for ideas on how
Apple can recapture the innovation lead

p. 108 Feature

GIGANTIC
Once the destination of choice for
pensioners, cruise liners are now engaged
in an entertainment arms-race. WIRED
goes on board the biggest ship yet built

Top-right: Fabiola Torres,

in the Library of the Santo
Domingo Convent, Lima
Right: Ferrari’s assembly
line in Maranello, Italy
Editor Greg Williams
Group creative director Andrew Diprose
Features director João Medeiros
Digital editor James Temperton
Senior editor Victoria Turk
Staff writer Matt Reynolds
Engagement manager Andy Vandervell
Art director Mary Lees
Director of photography Dalia Nassimi
Acting director of photography
Cindy Parthonnaud
Managing director Albert Read
Chairman Nicholas Coleridge
Chairman and chief executive,
Condé Nast International
Jonathan Newhouse
Director of editorial
administration and rights
Harriet Wilson
Editorial business manager
Stephanie Chrisostomou
Human resources director
Hazel McIntyre
Finance director
Penny Scott-Bayfield
Chief operating officer
Sabine Vandenbroucke
Please contact our editorial team via
the following email addresses:
Reader feedback: rants@wired.co.uk
General editorial enquiries and requests
for contributors’ guidelines:
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Press releases to this address only
please: pr@wired.co.uk
Managing editor Mike Dent
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 Clair MacDougall
Based in Monrovia,
Liberia, MacDougall met
the Kenyan rangers
using tech to stop
poachers. “Eric Becker
is a brilliant engineer
who worked for the
Defense Advanced
Research Projects
Agency, and now
designs anti-poaching
tech,” she says. ”His
vision for a wildlife
reserve sounded like
a cross between a
Special Forces op
and Jurassic Park .”

C R EAT I N G 008
WI R E D

B RI NG I NG B ILLIE H OLID AY BACK

Photographer Spencer Lowell got a spooky glimpse of the future of

entertainment when he visited key players in the race to bring dead
celebrities such as Billie Holiday (above) back to holographic life.
“Alkiviades David from Hologram USA was quite the showman, while
Jordan Fiksenbaum and John Textor from Pulse Evolution were
much more interested in pushing the boundaries of CGI,” Lowell
says. “I felt very lucky to get a private performance from Tupac
at Hologram USA – but he was surprisingly difficult to photograph.”

Al Gore & Karen Emslie

David Blood A writer who has
Gore, the former US travelled widely in
vice-president, and South America, Emslie
P H O T O G R A P H Y: L I A M S H A R P. I L L U S T R AT I O N : M AT T H E W G R E E N
Blood, a veteran reports on the illegal
investor, explain how trafficking of Peru’s
sustainability can cultural heritage to
mean big profits for buyers who may not
firms that embrace realise many artefacts
this way of doing are stolen. “I had no
business: “There is idea of the extent of
plenty to be optimistic the problem until I
about, but a lot of work encountered Memoria
still to do,” they write. Robada – Ojo Público´s
“The Sustainability Big Data investigation,”
Revolution is, after she says. “The scale
E L E PHA NT E M E R G E N CY all, at an early stage. of the thefts is huge.”
Change will require
Liam Sharp headed into the Kenyan bush to follow park rangers not just business
as they stopped poachers – and gave first aid to elephants. leadership, but the
“A  call came through to help an injured elephant that had been involvement of other
speared by farmers. It needed guiding to a spot where it could parts of society, too.”
be tranquillised and tended to. Our truck boxed it in so it could
be shot with a dart, but the elephant began charging us. Luckily,
it began to wobble, then it passed out just before it ran into us.”
træ+buffalo horn
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 “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make
sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist.
Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something
you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”

Professor Stephen Hawking.

January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018

  FROM T H E
ED ITO R
PHOTOGRAPHY: MARCO GROB

BSME Editor of the Year, Technology 2017 • PPA Designer of the Year, Consumer 2017 • BSME Art Team of the Year 2017 • BSME Print Writer of the Year 2017 • DMA Magazine
of the Year 2015 • DMA Cover of the Year 2015 • DMA Technology Magazine of the Year 2015 • DMA Magazine of the Year 2014 • BSME Art Director of the Year, Consumer 2013 •
PPA Media Brand of the Year, Consumer 2013 • DMA Technology Magazine of the Year 2012 • DMA Editor of the Year 2012 • BSME Editor of the Year, Special Interest 2012 • D&AD
Award: Covers 2012 • DMA Editor of the Year 2011 • DMA Magazine of the Year 2011 • DMA Technology Magazine of the Year 2011 • BSME Art Director of the Year, Consumer 2011 •
D&AD Award: Entire Magazine 2011 • D&AD Award: Covers 2010 • Maggies Technology Cover 2010 • PPA Designer of the Year, Consumer 2010 • BSME Launch of the Year 2009
Gluten-intolerant readers may
want to look away – this image
shows an almost pure glob
of the chewy stuff, extracted
from a dough ball by washing
away the starch granules, and
then photographed at 734x
magnification. It’s from Nathan
Myhrvold’s $625, five-part foodie
megawork, Modernist Bread, in
which he reveals the microscopic
processes that go into a perfect
loaf. Any way you slice it, that’s a lot
of dough for a cook book… Joe Ray
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF NATHAN MYHRVOLD/THE COOKING LAB LLC

Knead to know:
gluten’s secrets
Nathan Myhrvold’s labour of loaf
reveals bread’s hidden depths
S TA R T 000
 O
n Claire Novorol’s first day as a
geneticist, she encountered an The smartphone
unknown illness. A baby was
brought into Addenbrooke’s doctor that’s
Hospital in Cambridge, sufering
from symptoms that matched no always on call
known disease. Novorol was
shocked. “I had no background in Claire Novorol’s app helps millions of
this area and, looking at the notes, patients in areas with limited access
I didn’t know what this was,” she to healthcare check their symptoms
says. The baby had been seeing
doctors for over a year.
By combining information
from databases, symptoms and
case studies, Novorol found the correct test, which led to a diagnosis. “Doctor Google” – but dedicated apps do a better
(To this day, the case is so rare that she cannot name the disease, as it job at symptom checking, according to a study
risks identifying the patient.) But that episode taught her the limita- published by the British Medical Journal in 2015.
tions of humans, especially when it comes to retaining information. So how does Ada stack up against its competitors?
“The knowledge just doesn’t fit inside the heads of doctors,” she says. “The questions are clear, and it translates free text
Novorol, 39, is co-founder of Ada, a Berlin- and London-based startup into sensible suggestions for the user to choose,”
whose app gives its users information about their symptoms. Answer says Hamish Fraser, senior lecturer in eHealth at
  a series of questions, and you’ll get guidance about your ailment, the University of Leeds. In our symptom-check- S TA RT
including an assessment of what it might be. The app, which is available ing-apps test (WIRED 09.17), Ada’s deep knowledge
on Android and iOS, can’t give a formal diagnosis – there are strict and conversational abilities made it the clear winner.
regulations around diagnosing patients – but in the UK it connects “Ada was by far the best,” says David Wong, lecturer
people directly to GPs via video. Since launching in the UK in April 2017, in health informatics at the University of Leeds.
Ada has been downloaded by two million people worldwide. “There were issues with the others on test. It was
Ada hasn’t always worked this way. When the company launched in surprising to be able to find things wrong in a few
2011, co-founders Daniel Nathrath and Martin Hirsch set out to help minutes, from a non-clinical perspective.”
perplexed doctors diagnose rare and complex conditions. “They were In October 2017, Ada raised €40 million (£35.2m)
focused on vertigo and then looking to extend out to neurology,” says in funding and plans to use the money to open
Novorol, who joined a few months after the company launched. The a US office. But Novorol’s long-term ambition
problem: overstretched doctors didn’t have enough time to enter the is to be more involved in people’s overall health.
symptoms and medical histories of complex patient cases into yet She says most of us are generally aware of the need
another system. So instead, Ada shifted its focus toward patients, to exercise regularly and eat healthily – we just
building a medical database to match symptoms and ailments. find it difficult to act on that
“We moved from one speciality to multiple specialities, knowledge. But interrupting a
then to covering all of general practice,” explains Novorol. person’s routine with advice
Ada’s database now contains more than 1,500 conditions, she ‘Ada moved that’s based on their medical
says, based on over 5,000 findings from scientific studies. But from one history may be the answer. “The
PHOTOGRAPHY: NICK WILSON. SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE NEWPORT STREET GALLERY’S PHARMACY RESTAURANT

even once it had all this information, Ada was left with a speciality next step is really to tell people
challenge. To draw information out of humans, the app needed to multiple what to do,” Novorol adds.
to talk to them – so Novorol and the team started to develop specialties “There’s a lot of great knowledge
a conversational artificial intelligence engine. to covering and theory on how to nudge
On launching the app, Ada’s “patients” are presented with all of general someone in the right direction.”
a long list of questions based on the symptoms they have practice’ Matt Burgess ada.com
entered (“Have you lost your appetite?”, “Do you have any
lumps under your abdominal skin?”). For each question – a
typical test can involve more than 20 – the app presents an
explanation of any medical complexities. Novorol says Ada’s WIRED TIRED EXPIRED
AI has been built to be “friendly, but at the same time
authoritative”. It’s not a doctor, but has the air of one. SEC ICO IPO
Several startups, such as babylon and Your.MD, are
attempting something similar – and the stakes are high for Crowd Surf Parabolic-lens drones Microsoft ICE
the company that comes out on top. According to the World
Health Organization’s 2017 Tracking Universal Health Cell watch Cell car Cell phone
Coverage report, more than half of the world’s population
doesn’t have access to health services. In India, poor access Neural-net fiction Emoji serials Olfactory novels
to public healthcare forces people to turn to private services
or forego basic analysis. (Ada has “several hundred thousand” Gochujang Sriracha Worcestershire
users there, Novorol says). At present, lots of people turn to

Left: Ada co-founder Claire Novorol: “The knowledge just doesn’t fit inside the heads of doctors”
 S TAR T

PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG WHITE

 Ferrari has
handmade its
vehicles in the
same place
for 70 years.
WIRED tracks
the 32 steps
needed to create
a supercar
in 90 days

This is the factory where Ferraris are

born. Housed in the location originally
chosen by company founder Enzo Ferrari
in 1947, the 165,000-square-metre plant,
in Maranello, Italy, produces 8,400 cars
a year and employs 1,300 workers. Every
car that has ever borne the famous
Prancing Horse was painstakingly
assembled here – and Ferrari wouldn’t
have it any other way.
Every Ferrari takes three months to
complete. The first and most critical stage
is the casting of the engine, which takes
place in the plant’s in-house foundry. The
completed parts are then delivered to
the assembly line, where 147 engines are
hand-built every day. Once the engine is
completed, two robots connect the
Ferraris’ valve mechanics – this is the
only part of the process not done by hand.
“The robots work so closely together
that we call them Romeo and Juliet,”
says Vincenzo Regazzoni, the company’s
chief manufacturing oicer.
To mark its 70th anniversary, Ferrari
invited WIRED inside to watch the key
stages of the manufacturing process,
from start to finish. EP ferrari.com >
STAR T
 ASSEMBLY LINE
Technicians in the 21,000m 2
Maranello line attach
mechanical parts to the inside
of each Ferrari, such as this
488 GTB, before adding wheels,
bumpers and windscreens. Once
the car reaches the end of the
line, the interiors are installed
and the engine is tested.


<

V8 ENGINE ASSEMBLY
The V8 assembly line
consists of 32 stations;
employees each work on
one phase of the process.
Ferrari’s V8 engines are
assembled separately to V12s
– the latter are more complex
and require additional human
attention, so get their own line.

>

GTC4LUSSO T V8 ENGINE ‘The robots work so closely

This is a V8 engine destined
for a Ferrari GTC4Lusso T, together that we call
a four-seater model that has
rear-wheel drive, as opposed them Romeo and Juliet’
to all-wheel drive. Aimed at
PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG WHITE

urban drivers, the engine isn’t

as loud as the larger V12, but
it has been tuned to produce
a similarly appealing sound.
 From peer-to-peer exchanges to smart insurance that spots problems
before they happen, the next generation of connected buildings will
look very different from the last, says Accenture’s Hugo Pinto

after it’s gone wrong’ to ‘we will use

The future of the connected
home isn’t internet-linked
toothbrushes – it’s entirely
new business models
The smart home is dumb – at least
in its present form. The first wave of
Connected Home products has become
synonymous with technology for its
own sake: fridges that remind you to
buy eggs; internet-enabled ovens;
AC C EN T U RE toothbrushes that connect to insecure
servers – but not with customers.
WIRED But that’s temporary. The coming
PARTNERSHIP wave of Connected Home innovation will
enable far more than smart locks and
security cameras – it will fundamentally
change our relationship with the built
environment. That means disruption
for existing providers in fields such
as energy, insurance and telecoms.
In energy, the traditional supply
models are under threat because of
trends such as low-cost renewables
(even IKEA now offers a solar panel and
battery product) and the emergence of
peer-to-peer microgrids. Then there
are additional pressures such as the
government-mandated rollout of
Smart Meters and new EU data rules.
The introduction of GDPR “means you
need to either have a very strong value
proposition, or you’re going to be under
threat,” says Hugo Pinto, managing
director at Accenture digital.
“A big cultural transition needs to
in aggregation or in new business-to-
business plays. “If you take care of
boilers for your customers, why aren’t
you taking care of the boilers for all
the other companies?” he says.
Take insurance as another example.
“Home insurance is a grudge purchase:
no one likes to spend money on it, but
you have to have it,” says Rebecca
Skiles, a managing director at
Accenture Digital. Behind-the-wall
innovations like leak detectors will let
companies change that. “There’s an
opportunity for insurers to alter the
perception from ‘we’ll help you fix it
connected devices to protect your
home so that bad things don’t happen.’”
Incumbents, Pinto argues, need to
be thinking radically. What if energy
companies ran autonomous car
fleets, to help manage electricity distri-
bution? Or will there be end-to-end
propositions like Tesla’s, which roll the
whole home and service into one?
Those might seem far off, but change
is coming fast – and traditional indus-
tries have been slow to adapt. Apple,
Google and Amazon already have
your bank details and the capital to
disrupt almost any market. “Commu-
nications service providers have been
conservative in rolling out connected
home products,” agrees Accenture’s
Cian O’Hare. In the meantime, AI
assistants are starting to assume
the role of virtual butler – one that can
provide access to services without the
involvement of traditional providers.
“One thing’s for certain,” says Pinto.
“The first to create the platforms for
these ecosystems are going to have
a much better chance of surviving.”
ILLUSTRATION: NATHALIE LEES

happen internally at the energy firms,

with regards to what these companies
think they are. What is the purpose
of energy providers, once they’re not
actually selling electricity or gas?”
Pinto suggests opportunities will arise
  S TART

FACTORY MECHANICS
Each car frame (this is a 488
Spider) is held by an individual
mechanical lift, made from
steel hooks. These are used
to move the car from one
station to another, rotating
the chassis and automatically
adjusting it to the height
appropriate to the task.
 <<
2
DOOR ASSEMBLY
The doors of all Ferraris
are made from aluminium,
and are pressed and cut at the
Scaglietti factory in nearby
Modena, 22km from Ferrari’s
main facility. The doors are
only attached to a completed
car body once it has reached
the end of the production line.

<

PROPULSION UNIT
This is where the engine,
transmission and suspension
systems are mounted on
to the cars’ underbodies. The
engine is removed from the
automatic guided vehicle
(AGV) that has transported it
through the production line,
STA R T and attached to the car body.  

<

INTERNAL MECHANICS
Two robots, Romeo and Juliet,
fuse the valve seats that will
go into the engines – a job too
intricate for humans. Romeo
picks up cylinder heads and
warms them with compressed
air; Juliet dips aluminium
rings into liquid nitrogen. The
parts are then joined together.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG WHITE

Initially, all Ferraris were red. Today, the colour represents 45 per cent of Ferrari sales
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 Ford’s helmet uses EEG to monitor a driver’s brain activity

MINDFUL
DRIVING: how
Ford’s crash
helmet could
enhance
focus behind
the wheel

PHOTOGRAPHY: CINDY PARTHONNAUD

Few people in high-pressure situations manage to
stay as focused as pro racing drivers on the track.
Absolute concentration can come in handy in situa-
tions other than professional races: in today’s distrac-
tion-filled society, being able to enter “the zone” during two subgroups: some performed mental preparation
a demanding task – from delivering a keynote address and some did not. Results were noticeably different.
to doing a job interview – can be an invaluable skill. “When normal people performed some simple mental
FORD Still, that high-performance mindset is so elusive exercises, they were also able to reach this higher
that one is left wondering whether drivers’ brains work level of performance,” Mouchlianitis explained.
WIRED somewhat differently from everyone else’s. We are not talking about complicated brain-
PARTNERSHIP It turns out that they do. New research from Ford teasers, or yogi-level mindfulness: exercises as
and King’s College London broke new ground by using simple as breathing and meditation, and a visualis-
EEG (electroencephalography) headsets to track ation technique that leverages keywords to conjure
the brain activity of pro auto-racers Sébastien Ogier up the task ahead, improved non-professional
and Andy Priaulx as they were in a racing simulator. drivers’ focus by up to 50 per cent.
They then used the kit on a group of everyday “Racing drivers aren’t born with this skill; our exper-
drivers, to assess how their brains performed in iment showed that mental training ahead of a task can
similar high-octane situations. Unsurprisingly, what help anyone to improve focus and ignore distractions,
goes on in racing aces’ heads is quite different from making them more successful at the task in hand,”
what happens in the brain of Joe Schmo. said three-time FIA World Touring Car Championship
“The study data revealed that when travelling at winner Priaulx, after taking part in the study.
speed and in a state of high focus, racing drivers’ Building on this new insight, Ford is now working
brains performed up to 40 per cent better when on an EEG-powered racing helmet (see above) able to
it comes to ignoring distractions than yours or track professional drivers’ brain activity while they are
mine,” explained Dr Elias Mouchlianitis, on the circuit, and transmit that data
who is a neuroscience researcher at live to the team. Driver health is
King’s College London. ‘When travelling at already monitored in real time – if
The good news, though, is that this speed and in a state a Le Mans driver is overheating,
gap is, in fact, far from insurmountable: of high focus, they are pulled into the pits. Ford’s
if ordinary people engage in specific racing drivers’ brains helmet could add to that picture with
mental preparation exercises before performed up to a live brain-activity feed, and the
taking the wheel, their focus and their 40 per cent better technology developed for it might
performance drastically improve. The than yours or mine’ find a place in a mix of health- and
researchers demonstrated this by wellness-monitoring applications that
dividing the everyday drivers’ group into look far beyond the racetrack.
 The team work
within the Arctic
Circle in northeast
Greenland

 Joseph Cook camps for months on S TA RT

the ice sheets of Greenland. It’s not
very comfortable, but it’s the only way
to accurately map the impact of climate
change. Cook, a postdoctoral research
associate at the University of Sheffield,
studies how microscopic algae are
causing glaciers to retreat. The theory:
that a dark melting strip along the
country’s west coast is being darkened
further by a little-known ecosystem of
biological growth. “Greenland has about
seven metres of sea level locked away
in it and it’s a giant reflector of solar
radiation,” says Cook, 30. “If we lose
it then we amplify climate warming and
release a lot of water into the sea.”
Cook wants to find out how much of
an effect these growths are having on
the speed of retreat. After spending two
years mapping the ice sheets by flying
drones over it in a grid pattern, he now
knows what species of algae are growing
and is modelling the impacts of different
pigmentations, cell sizes and growth Joseph Cook (top) and fellow researcher Francesco Sauro descending the Greenland ice sheet in 2017
conditions – before finding out if these
predictions are what happens in reality.
To do that, Cook needs to bridge
the gap between the small areas he’s
studying on the ground and the
500-metre-scale satellite maps from
the sky. So he added cameras and
sensors to the drones to take images Deep learnings from
in specific light wavelengths. “That will
give us a way to map life on ice,” he says. the Arctic Circle
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALESSIO ROMEO/MONCLER

Once the mechanisms that cause

the retreat are understood, Cooke says, Researcher Joseph Cook uses drones and satellite imagery to
the mapping methods can be rolled research the role algae has on dramatic glacier retreat
out elsewhere. “We can apply it to more
sensitive and complex glaciers and
ice streams that have more complicating
factors.” Bonnie Christian sheffield.
ac.uk/geography/staff/cook_joe
Despite Steven Spielberg’s best eforts, the dinosaurs in
the original 1993 Jurassic Park weren’t exactly scientifically Jurassic
accurate. By the mid-90s, for instance, it was established
that most species at that time would have had feathers.
But for Steve Brusatte, a palaeontologist at the University
faux pas
of Edinburgh, the film’s portrayal of dinos was revolutionary. From feathers to supersizing,
“It was the first time that dinosaurs were shown as intelligent, movies have been getting dinos
dynamic – not just sitting around waiting for an asteroid to take wrong for millions of years…
them out,” he says. “Sure, there were errors – but it brought
dinosaurs back into the public consciousness big-time.”
In his new book, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, Brusatte
showcases developments in palaeontology by comparing
the Jurassic Park digi-dinos and their real-world equiva-
lents. Ahead of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, he picks out
some of the most memorable inaccuracies. Stephen Kelly

2
 ILLUSTRATION: GUY SHIELD
1 “The T. rex could definitely
Standing totally see you if you stood still,”
motionless Brusatte laughs. “CAT scans
won’t save you of T. rex skulls have allowed us
from a T. rex to visualise the brain cavity.
We’ve learned from this that
the T. rex had binocular vision
– and a great sense of smell.
If a T. rex was after you, it was
probably going to get you.”
2 “A raptor was only around
The raptors the size of a poodle,” says
were not the same Brusatte. “They would have
size as humans been covered in feathers, and
they were very agile and fast.”
But could you train them,
as in 2015’s Jurassic World?
“These things would be trying
to gut you every second. But
 intelligence-wise, probably.”
3
3 Jurassic World is also notable
Genetically- for the Indominus rex – a
modified super- fictional, genetically-enhanced
dinos are a hybrid dino. “They’re getting
step too far a bit loopy,” says Brusatte.
“There’s a danger that the
public will see dinosaurs as
monsters and not as real
animals that actually lived on
this Earth before we did.”
4 Jurassic’s biggest crime
The Mosasaur is against palaeontology: the
cool, but it isn’t enormous aquatic Mosasaur
even a dinosaur in Jurassic World. “It was far
too big. I don’t know if a water
predator is even capable of
evolving that large. Plus, they
aren’t actually dinosaurs –
they’re more closely related to
things like Komodo dragons.” START

The Martian powered by AI
Meet the robot that aims to autonomously
build the first habitat on the Red Planet
S TA R T
When humans are ready to
relocate to Mars, they won’t be
able to do it alone. They’ll need
specialists with knowledge,
composure under pressure and
extreme endurance – droids like
Justin. Built by the German
space agency DLR, such bots
are being groomed to build the
first human Martian habitats.
Engineers have been refining
Justin’s physical abilities for a
decade; it can handle tools, shoot
and upload photos, catch flying
objects and navigate obstacles.
Now, thanks to new AI upgrades,
Justin can think for itself,
autonomously performing
complex tasks on a planet’s
surface while supervised by
astronauts in orbit. Object-
recognition and computer vision
allows Justin to survey its
environment and undertake jobs
such as cleaning machinery,  
maintenance, inspecting
equipment and carrying objects.
In a recent test, Justin fixed a
faulty solar panel in a Munich lab
PHOTOGRAPHY: URS BIGLER
in minutes, directed via a tablet
controlled by an astronaut
aboard the International Space
Station. One small chore for
Justin, one giant leap for future
humankind. Anna Vlasits
Specs
Justin is 190cm
tall and weighs in
at 200kg. Each
arm can lift loads
of 14kg – or make
tea and coffee
Eyes
High-definition
cameras and
sensors in the
head give a 3D
view of Justin’s
surroundings
Base
On-board storage
of protocols means
tasks can be
finished and data
saved, even if
comms go down
Are you a
problem solver?

Rubik’s Cube® used by permission Rubik’s Brand Ltd

£40,000
No experience required
tpp-uk.com/careers
 Copenhagen Suborbitals is a crowdfunded,
volunteer-run rocket programme. It plans to
launch a human into space within the decade
 
PHOTOGRAPHY: NICK BALLON
Above: Rune Henssel, one of Copenhagen
Suborbitals’ team of volunteers, next
to the tip of its latest rocket, the Nexø II
S TA RT
The plan sounds simple: at four o’clock on a mid-May
morning, a small flotilla of ships will set sail from the Danish
island of Bornholm for international waters in the Baltic Sea,
from where – later that day – a 6.7-metre-tall rocket, weighing
178 kilograms, will be fired 12.6 kilometres into the air, then
float back down to Earth with the help of a parachute. But
given that the rocket is a mishmash of pre-existing compo-
nents, repurposed for space travel, the task is gargantuan.
The rocket isn’t part of a national military test or a major
space programme supported by Nasa or the European Space
Agency (ESA). It’s not even the latest test of Elon Musk’s
multi-billion-dollar SpaceX project, or one of Virgin Galac-
tic’s trial launches. It’s been cobbled together by a crowd-
funded team of around 50 volunteers working in a Copenhagen
warehouse who share a dream: of putting a human into space.
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wouldn’t say we’re competing with Nasa,
per se,” says Mads Wilson, 41, a freelance
IT consultant who joined the group,
Copenhagen Suborbitals, in 2013, five
years after a handful of enthusiasts first
banded together with the goal of amateur
manned spaceflight. For one thing, Copen-
hagen Suborbitals’ budget is around
£10,000 per month – just 0.00084 per cent
of the amount that Charles Bolden, the
president of Nasa, requested from the US
government in 2017. But they are still
 
PHOTOGRAPHY: NICK BALLON
Launch remnants, including a 2012 TM65 engine, a 2016 Nexø I (with a 4 on its fin) and a 2012 Tycho Deep Space capsule
able to produce space-worthy vessels,
stepping stones on the path to sending a
human to space – something Wilson
believes they can do within a decade.
“If we had all the money we needed,
we could do it in two to five years,” he
says. But rather than a million-pound
budget, Copenhagen Suborbitals
subsists on the goodwill of around 700
supporters from around the world, who
pay $10 or $20 per month to receive
regular project updates from the all-
volunteer staff, who tend to spend
between five and 50 hours a week on the
endeavour. “We have engineers, metal
workers, electronics guys, software guys
– all sorts of skills,” says Wilson. But
their volunteer status is the main brake
on progress. “We don’t have the money
to pay people so they could work
completely dedicated to the project.”
Being outside the formal organisations
of a national or supra-national space
programme does have its benefits,
however. Wilson doesn’t call Nasa or
ESA conservative or boring, but does
say their political ties through funding
“make them very careful”.
Currently, Copenhagen Suborbitals’
supporters are receiving missives about
the Nexø II rocket, which will be able to
push with a thrust of 5,000 Newtons
thanks to its ethanol and liquid oxygen
engine. But not all aspects of the rocket
are cutting edge. Budgetary constraints
mean the rocket, which will cost just
£25,000 in total, is built using begged
and borrowed components. The
computer used in the engine control
system is a repurposed cashier’s terminal
from a Burger King; the pressure
regulation system is based on a scuba
S TA RT
 diving funnel; a previous rocket (the
current Nexø II rocket is the fifth Copen-
hagen Suborbitals have built) used a
brake cable from a Fiat car to synchronise
the opening of crucial valves.
Whereas Richard Branson and Elon
Musk are breaking new scientific ground
in their attempts to rekindle the Space
Race, Copenhagen Suborbitals powers its
spacecraft using principles and technol-
ogies developed during the Russia-US
space rivalry of the 50s and 60s. “I used
to think – as most of us perceive space-
flight – that you need loads of investment,”
says Wilson, who will be taking the role
of flight information dynamics officer,
feeding back telemetry from the rocket’s
GPS systems to the team during the Nexø
II launch. “But there are two ways of doing
this. We are using modern materials to
do what they did, but far more cheaply.
STAR T
Above: Team member
Bianca Diana, wearing a
protective welding jacket.
Above right: Rune Henssel
cutting a length of
pipe in the workshop.
Right: A Nexø I test launch
What was a cutting edge component back
in the 50s, you can buy of the shelf now.”
This second way also requires having
dedication that borders on obsession –
and an understanding family. “I’d be lying
if I said that sometimes they aren’t
annoyed,” explains Wilson. “It’s a diicult
balance: a lot of time goes from being
spent with the family to doing this.”
But like all those who give up their time
to work on the project, Wilson holds a
romantic view of space. “We all share the
same story,” he says. “Most of us here
grew up in the 70s and 80s, with Apollo
and the Space Shuttle. We were glued to
the television every time they broadcast
something about the Space Shuttle
launch. We all scoured the local libraries
for whatever we could find on rocketry.
All of us dreamt about rockets, spacecraft,
and building these huge machines.”
Provided the May launch of the Nexø II
goes well, the team at Copenhagen Subor-
bitals may eventually see their dreams
become a reality. The group are currently
designing the Spica, a one-metre-
diameter, 16-metre-tall rocket, about big
enough for a human. “Just moving that
baby around is going to be difficult,”
admits Wilson, who adds that they’ll need
to have plenty of unmanned test flights
before they dare put a pilot inside.
But they remain confident they’ll achieve
their target – and within the decade.
“We don’t want to stop,” he says. “Our
goal is to be the first amateurs to put a
human into space. But it’s also our goal
to inspire people all over the world; to
show that you can, if you want it badly
enough and collect the right people,
build a rocket.” Chris Stokel-Walker
copenhagensuborbitals.com
 
PHOTOGRAPHY: NICK BALLON; MADS STENFATT
EXPERIMENT
INSPIRE
COLLABORATE
and GLENFIDDICH

EXPLORE
WIRED
PARTNERSHIP

What does it take to change the world? To truly upend long-

held assumptions and forge a new path? These are the
questions all successful entrepreneurs ask of themselves –
so Glenfiddich, through its Experimental Series, joined WIRED
on a journey to rediscover the joy of fresh perspectives…
Experimental thinking has a transformative power – from remixing food and drinks to solving the planet’s biggest problems

Disruption, reinvention, pushing the
boundaries – these are the currency of
modern business, but they’re traits you
might not associate with a company that
has deep roots in traditional skills and
a heritage that is as rich and complex
as the product it makes. Yet Glenfiddich
has proved itself to be a taskmaster at
embracing the future while preserving
the timeless quality that makes its
spirits loved the world over – its bold
move in 1963 to introduce single-malt
whisky to the world beyond Scotland
created an entirely new category in the
spirits industry, and its commitment
to exploring new avenues continues
today. Like the master distillers past and
present, the Glenfiddich Experimental
Series attempts to extract the insights
and ideas of the select few challenging
norms to bring creativity, inspiration and
ideas to the fore – and perhaps give a
clue as to the path to tomorrow.
Tradition and respect for the past
are values that have immense worth –
they are the foundations for progress.
But maintaining a sense of discovery
is equally important – something
that Alastair Humphreys, an adven-
turer and guest collaborator of the
Experimental Series, epitomises. His
passion for the outdoors is unparal-
leled, and Humphreys has famously
cycled around the world, walked across
India, and rowed the Atlantic. But it’s
his work closest to home that caught
Glenfiddich’s attention. Adventures –
and adventurers – come in all shapes
and sizes. Humphreys’ “micro-adven-
tures” take people on trips into the
unknown, in locations that are often
ILLUSTRATION: SENOR SALME
right under their noses. An evangelist
for the joys and perception-altering
powers of a good adventure, big or
small, he strives to make transform-
ative experiences available to all.
Pioneers who
capture the spirit
of adventure and
experimentation
The Glenfiddich Experimental Series
celebrates the bold thinkers and doers
exploring the possibilities of the future
Where Humphreys’ adventures are meticu-
lously planned, another Glenfiddich Experimental
Series contributor relies on serendipity and try-it-
and-see. Lily Cole, model, activist and co-founder
of Impossible, was invited to share the lessons that
have helped to shape the groundbreaking work she
does with her company, harnessing innovation and
technology to solve global problems.
“For me, experimentation is everything,”
explained Cole, whose main focus is environ-
mental sustainability. “If you look at the past and
what humanity’s achieved, and the kind of crazy, GLENFIDDICH
extraordinary things we’ve managed to do, often
through accident and experimentation, I feel quite WIRED
optimistic that we will come up with solutions.” PARTNERSHIP
This foresight to imagine the potential and the
possibilities of the future is a reoccurring trait
shared by leading innovators, as we saw when
Chris Morton, co-founder of global fashion search
platform Lyst, presented his views on what it takes
to make a small dream a billion-dollar reality. When
he co-founded Lyst back in 2010, only one per cent
of branded fashion was being sold online. While
EXPERIMENTAL Alastair Humphreys
THINKING FROM Adventurer and writer (opposite, top right)
FIVE PIONEERS -
“When I go over a bridge, I always look
down and see if the river looks good for
swimming or canoeing or camping. Once
you start doing new things, the world
gets infinitely large. I find that very exciting.”
 most didn’t even see our current influencer-led,
on-demand marketplace on the horizon, Morton
had the confidence to anticipate and embrace
change, now crediting the high levels of testing,
iteration and learning to Lyst’s success. “What
worked in the past won’t necessarily work in the
future,” advised Morton. “Experimentation is key.”
Perhaps one of Glenfiddich’s most daring
experiments in the series came last September,
when it hosted more than 300 of Scotland’s
leading bartenders at its distillery in Dufftown.
The Glenfiddich Festival Experiment included
performances by two popular Scottish bands, The
Fratellis and Twin Atlantic, distillery tours, food,
drink and more – all in the name of new discoveries.
WIRED, meanwhile, hosted a pop-up Test-Lab
showcasing some of the latest technologies having
a tangible impact on the future. Attendees had the
rare opportunity to get hands-on with a range of
disruptive innovations and learn about new trends
pertaining to their industry, from how we interact
with products to mass personalisation, and even
how synaesthesia – the jumbling of the senses –
might open up new experiences in food and drink.
Celebrating the experimental spirit is important
to Glenfiddich, so it was only natural to toast
Scottish poet and national icon Robert Burns
by putting a truly modern twist on Burns Night.
Challenged to reinvent the traditional supper,
chef Adam Handling and mixologist Matt Whiley
GLENFIDDICH
WIRED
PARTNERSHIP
Alastair Humphreys (top) harnesses adventure to change perspectives, while chef Adam Handling uses food to upend tradition
rose to the occasion with innovative
combinations that upended assump-
tions of a typical Burns Night. Known
for combining technical savvy with
fresh, seasonal, sustainably sourced
produce, Handling served up a sensa-
tionally imaginative four-course meal.
Dishes including lamb and haggis
wellingtons, and clootie dumplings with
whisky parfait, infused a bold sense of
surprise into a traditional celebration.
Meanwhile, Whiley, who’s famous
for his love of foraged ingredients,
debuted four cocktails inspired by
Burns, including “Haggis” – a mix of
Glenfiddich IPA Experiment, burnt
potatoes, swede wine, cacao butter
and black ice – described by influencer
and Scotsman Callum Watt as “Burn
Night’s in a glass”. The feast wouldn’t
be complete without the great man’s
poetry, which was vividly brought to life
by the Loud Poets collective.
Through experimentation the old
becomes new, happy accidents occur,
and people come together in impactful
new ways. The Glenfiddich Experimental
Series has pushed boundaries, uniting
a community around curiosity, creativity
and the excitement of what’s possible –
and what’s next. No matter the industry,
this series is a great reminder to allow
space for playfulness, contemplation,
risk and possible failure today – because
these are the necessary ingredients for
the revelations, success and rewards of
tomorrow. glenfiddich.com
Chris Morton
CEO & founder, Lyst
-
“The world we understood and
knew isn’t the world that we’re
growing into. Testing, iterating,
learning constantly is key to
understanding the new world.”
Sven Rutherford
Glenfiddich Ambassador
-
“Experimentation is at the
heart of Glenfiddich. By keeping
an open mind, we continue to
challenge the rules of single malt
– a philosophy which led to the
Glenfiddich Experimental Series.”
Matt Whiley
Founder, Scout bar
-
“Collaborating with others who
share a deep understanding
of their ingredients and craft
allows experimentation
to be taken to the next level.”
Adam Handling
Chef-owner, The Frog
Restaurant Group
-
ILLUSTRATION: SENOR SALME
“It’s vital to experiment
with food. Experimenting
and making a classic dish,
modernised with your
interpretation – that’s fun.”
 Want an original
Better ask a machine
S TAR T This coral-like form is a spinal implant.
Created by Californian medical company
NuVasive, it is made from titanium and
fits precisely between two vertebrae.
By mimicking the porousness and
stifness of human bone, it can accelerate
bone growth following back surgery.
Spinal surgeons typically use implants
made from high-performance plastic,
because the material is less rigid than
metal, yet also porous. But NuVasive’s
research demonstrated that, with the
right design, titanium could be moulded
closer to the form and stifness of human
bone – with the added benefit of being
stronger than plastic. But how to make
it as porous while keeping this strength?
Put a computer in control of the design.
The process is known as generative
design: NuVasive sets constraints – such
as the implant’s weight and porousness
– into its software, and then asks the
algorithm to spit out solutions that fit
the brief. Humans have preconceived
notions about the way something needs
to look, but computers don’t – so it’s
easier for them to ofer original ideas.
“You describe your problem, and the
computer creates a large set of potential
solutions,” says Jeff Kowalski, chief
technology officer at Autodesk, which
designed the Dreamcatcher programme
used to create the implant. “In the time
it would have taken you to do one design,
Dreamcatcher has done all of them.”
Once the most suitable model has been
selected by a human designer, NuVasive
3D prints the implant. The computer’s
latticed, asymmetric design means it
design?
Free from preconceived
bias, automated design software
specialises in radical ideas
can be made of titanium, a material that
is strong and easy to detect in X-rays,
yet still lightweight. “We’re able to tell
it what load we’re putting on the implant
and then the lattice is actually able to
grow and shrink in thickness based on
those loads, which leaves us with the
least amount of material to meet
strength requirements,” says NuVasive
development engineer Jesse Unger.
At present, the implant only comes in
one size. But, as the 3D printing process
becomes more efficient, each patient
could get their own tailor-made implant
that specifically matches the needs of
their body and bone density. NuVasive’s
director of product development, Jeremy
Malik, says this will help overcome one
of the big hurdles of spinal implant
surgery: guaranteeing fusion between
bone and implant, which can mean
repeat surgeries if it doesn’t occur. “You
can design the implant to load-share in a
way that the bone has, theoretically,
a better opportunity to grow – and
potentially at a faster rate,” he says.
Generative design is being applied
across industries. Tyre manufacturer
Michelin is developing concept treads
that can be 3D printed on demand to
meet any road condition, be it dry, wet,
or icy; architecture firm Herzog de
Meuron used the process to optimise the
acoustic spaces for music performances
at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. But
these projects tend to be expensive
one-ofs. The promised land of gener-
ative design is products and devices
created specially for each individual.
After all, at present, as 3D-printing 
pioneer Francis Bitonti explains: “You
never get something that’s a perfect fit
for your behaviour, you always get
something that matches maybe 80 per
cent of the public’s behaviour. What we
can do now is have flexible designs.”
Bitonti’s New York studio uses gener-
ative design to create complex, geometric
fashion items, but one of his first commis-
sions was a scoliosis brace. Thanks to
generative design, it could be tailored to
the nuances of the patient’s spine, while
also containing 75 per cent less material
than conventional alternatives. “You can’t
scale these braces as they are, because
you go to an orthotist who has what’s
like a wood shop – it’s medieval,” says
Bitonti. “Now there’s the ability to bring
about that idea of mass customisation.”
Bitonti imagines that eventually
consumers will be given the option of
buying subscriptions to brands – a
design version of software as a service.
Subscribe to a sportswear label that
learns your athletic behaviour, and
when you come to replace your training
shoes, the next version is customised
to suit or enhance your running style.
For human designers, this means
change: once creators, they will have to
become curators, using algorithms to
come up with customised solutions for
design problems. “It’s going to shift from
PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDY BARTER
this idea of the producer of ambiguity to
somebody who’s building systems and
algorithms that are responsive and
adaptive,” Bitonti says. “That’s the goal
of generative design.” Bonnie Christian
 

The NuVasive spinal

implant’s porous
design means it
should merge with
new bone growth

The Sustainability
Revolution
has taken off
Former US vice-president Al Gore and veteran
investor David Blood champion thoughtful firms
There is a growing perception in the
markets of developed nations that our
current economic model is no longer fit for
purpose. For a number of reasons related
to economic performance, social and
political divisions have grown wider than
ever and large swathes of the population
 feel excluded from mainstream society.
Meanwhile, the global climate crisis is
worsening faster than solutions are being
deployed, and environmental damage
continues. Sixteen of the 17 hottest years
on record have occurred since 2001.
Extreme weather events are now
discussed as “the new normal”, though
they may be but a preview of what
scientists tell us is worse to come.
It does not have to be this way. In fact,
as Generation Investment Management’s
(GIM) recent – and first annual – “Sustain-
ability Trends Report” shows, the world
is at the beginning of a seismic shift.
More firms are employing a sustainable
approach to business, as it can benefit the
planet and society as much as their bottom
line. Based on our analysis, there are clear
indicators we are in the early stages of
a global “Sustainability Revolution”
that has the magnitude of the Industrial
Revolution and the speed of the Digital
Revolution. Empowered by new digital
tools, including the internet of things
and machine learning, this Sustainability
ILLUSTRATION: LIAM STEVENS
Revolution is giving many businesses the
ability to manipulate electrons, atoms
and molecules with the same precision
used by computer and networking
firms to manipulate bits of information.
In the report, we identify three
trends: first, companies are embracing
technology in order to produce the same
– or better – end products and services
more sustainably. People are familiar with
the cost eiciency gains caused by the use
of renewable energy, such as wind and
solar power. Renewables enjoyed record
levels of installations in 2016, according
to the International Energy Agency.
Other industries have made large
strides. Electric vehicles are greener than
those running on gas; now with longer
ranges, they are just as practical. There
is similar progress in the food industry.
Companies are producing high-quality
plant-based “milk” products – cutting
out cows results in lower emissions.
The second takeaway shows that
firms are encouraging consumers to use
products in a more sustainable way. Many
– especially in the Millennial generation
– have little interest in owning assets
outright, preferring to rent them for short
intervals, or share them with others. A
decade ago, fewer than half a million
people were members of car-sharing
schemes. Now there are six milion.
Bike-sharing schemes are also climbing.
The sharing economy does not just mean
that resources get used more eiciently:
it has improved access to products and
services for people who in the past have
found them too expensive to use at all.
The third and final trend is the growing
investment by businesses in entirely new
types of products. For example, for the
first time ever consumers are being given
tools to monitor their own health with
the use of new technology. In September
2017, a government-run pilot launched in
America, enlisting the help of nine tech
Al Gore is a former vice
president of the United States
and chairman of Generation
Investment Management.
David Blood is GIM senior partner
companies to introduce more innovative
health features on smart devices. As this
phenomenon takes of, it should reduce
acute pressure on health-care systems.
Meanwhile, with an explosion in the
number of micro-satellites, sensors
and drones, companies are increasingly
able to monitor and react to real-time
data on the environment. This is of
particular benefit to the agricultural
sector, whose businesses can apply water
and treatment to crops more sustainably.
These are not isolated trends. Both
public and private companies are
committing resources to sustainability:
the number of “Certified-B Corporations”,
which accept a duty to have a positive
impact on society and the environment
while they pursue profit, has grown to
over 2,000 in the past decade. Similarly,
the number of firms using an internal
price on carbon as a tool to reduce
emissions has risen eightfold since 2014,
according to CDP, a non-profit.
There is plenty to be optimistic about, S TART
but a lot of work still to do. The Sustaina-
bility Revolution is, after all, at an early
stage. Much greater levels of investment
are required, and many products and
services still need to be redesigned in a
more sustainable way. Change will require
not just business leadership, but the
involvement of other parts of society too.
Nonetheless, there is great momentum
behind sustainability. A new generation
of consumers is demanding greener and
more ethical products. Businesses and
investors alert to this shift will reap the
benefits, and will be engines of change.
 The future of health
From remote surgery to personal genomics,
medical technology is transforming lives

The healthcare sector is in the middle

of a technological sea change. New
advances in medical research could
transform such techniques as gene
therapy and liquid biopsy from futur-
istic hypotheses to everyday proce-
dures; robot-assisted surgery is now
a reality, and becoming more sophis-
ticated by the day.
While existing technologies are
evolving at a breakneck pace, new
trends and tools are appearing that
have the potential to reshape health-
J.P. MO R GAN care in radical ways.
Take the rise of personal genomics:
WIRED as technologies to sequence DNA
PA R T N E R S H I P become cheaper and more accessible
to the wider public, patients are going
to be increasingly empowered. “The
top-down approach to diagnosis,
disease risk or best treatments could
be replaced by personal, even
socialised decision-making,” says
Gordon Sanghera, CEO of Oxford
Nanopore, which produces a portable
DNA sequencer. “Specific groups of
people with a shared health interest shaping the future of healthcare. “We are excited about
could choose to share certain data to real-world AI-driven solutions, pushing innovation in both
further group or individual goals.” the therapeutic value chain, and just as importantly, in
Data will be at the core of another frontline delivery of healthcare,” he says. “We see exciting
key trend: artificial intelligence. AI step changes emerging not only in diagnostics and treatment,
researchers have already developed but in the efficiency of the system, changes that are required
computer-vision algorithms that can for us to be able to cope with the ever-increasing strains on
be trained to spot signs of cancer in the system posed by the rapid ageing of the population.”
medical images. Some companies are AI could even change the way patients and doctors
also planning to use AI to find new interact: chatbots harnessing natural language processing
drugs or repurpose known drugs for can provide quick answers to users concerned about their
treating different conditions. health. “Medical chatbots, built using sophisticated natural
Juha Anjala, co-head of EMEA language processing techniques, are being used to under-
healthcare at J.P. Morgan, explains that stand not just the complexities of medicine, but also the
AI is one of the most relevant trends idiosyncratic way that users express their health concerns,”
explains a spokesperson for British healthcare app Babylon
Health, whose chatbot has been sanctioned by the NHS as
an alternative to the non-emergency 111 number. Patients
 can start a conversation on the app to describe their limbs able to outperform “natural” arms and legs;
symptoms in order to receive an assessment of their and hearing aids able to filter out noise or to
condition and related recommendations, or to be redirected improve the comprehensibility of a conversation
to medical professionals for more detailed answers. thanks to voice recognition algorithms could
The company is also exploring another significant paradoxically be preferable to ears. While most
technology trend: wearable devices. Babylon recently bionics-focused efforts – such as the research
launched a new feature enabling its app to be paired with carried out at the Massachusetts Institute of
a wearable fitness tracker to gather a user’s physiological Technology’s Center for Extreme Bionics –
data and – after crunching it with AI – predict whether primarily aim at treating disability or other health
they will develop a health condition. conditions, the same technology could
“Today, personal health-tracking one day be used to enhance our bodies
devices allow users to monitor and analyse beyond their biological boundaries.
their health in real-time. By integrating “When the disabled consistently run
multiple sources of physiological data into an 800m faster in the Paralympics than
our models, AI systems will be able to the ‘able bodied’ Olympians, when
predict a patient’s’ future health state with The most exciting a person born deaf ends up with better
exceptional accuracy,” says the company. development is hearing and pitch than most of us, we
“The most exciting development is in in providing doctors have to rethink the notion of handi-
providing doctors with more accurate and with more accurate capped,” says Juan Enriquez, managing
rapid access to clinical data, enabling more and rapid access director of life-science-focused VC
accurate and efficient clinical diagnoses,” to clinical data firm Excel Venture. “What used to
adds J.P. Morgan’s Anjala. “The human mitigate a disability can now provide
touch a doctor brings to difficult judgments, as well as the ever more enhancement. And as the benefits of
personal interface they can provide to a patient, are not various enhancements become clear, more people
easily replaceable with AI. However, nothing is more will voluntarily want to alter their bodies.”
frustrating for a patient, or more wasteful for the healthcare So, is the future with us already? Not quite. The
system, than having patients bounced around to different road to innovation can be bumpy, and there are
specialists based on incomplete diagnoses. some challenges we cannot overlook. “In Europe,
“By increasing the efficiency of diagnosis using AI, we we still have too many barriers between the
can streamline the patient pathway, eliminate unnecessary efficiencies and funding provided by the private
costs and ask highly trained medical professionals to focus sector, and a public healthcare infrastructure
their time on patients and treatment.” that in many countries thinks of the profit motive
When it comes to wearable devices, their applications go as fundamentally suspect. Innovation requires
beyond tracking our health: they could also become tools seamless transfer of ideas, which in turn requires
for treatment, or for connecting patients with healthcare open minds and open communication,” says
professionals. New Jersey-based company ThirdEye has Anjala. “It is not surprising that markets in China
designed a pair of smart glasses that combine augmented or parts of Central and Eastern Europe, or some
reality and AI to improve the lives of dementia patients. of the initiatives of the Gates Foundation in Africa,
“Patients with Alzheimer’s can look at a family member exciting new treatment models are emerging at
and ThirdEye can use image recognition to identify that a much more rapid pace, and without the same
person and show a label with their information next to their amount of systemic resistance to change we
face,” explains ThirdEye founder Nick Cherukuri. “This see in many western European countries.”
technology also has huge applications for visually impaired
people, helping them recognise what they are looking at.”
The device also has a streaming application that allows
doctors to remotely visit patients in far locations, and one
day it could be used in the operating room, too.
These developments do not necessarily mean we will
stop going to see our GP when we feel unwell, explains
Anjala, although things will necessarily evolve. “I think
technology will continue to reduce the number of physical
visits needed by patients to hospitals and outpatient
surgeries,” says Anjala. “However, there will always be the
need for physical hospital infrastructure for a very simple
reason: there will always be a subset of medical conditions
that require physical intervention at a dedicated healthcare
facility. Hospitals will continue to get smaller, more efficient
ILLUSTRATION: MARCUS MARRIOTT

and smarter, but they will always be around.”

In addition, when it comes to augmenting our capabil-
ities, wearables could be only the first step. Bionics, once
the stuff of sci-fi, is now making strides, aided by advances
in computer modelling and AI. What we now call prosthetics
could soon be replaced by high-tech, AI-powered artificial
 WIRED Live is our annual
showcase of the most
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Bringing innovation to influencers since 2011

 WIRED’s Rapha design
is based on London
Heatmap data from
activity tracker Strava

O GEAR
RIDES

APPAREL _____ RAPHA CUSTOM

This summer, Team Sky’s kit partner Rapha will make its professional-quality riding OCanyon Ultimate CF SLX.
WORDS: ANDREW DIPROSE. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE

apparel available for would-be Froomes to create their own bespoke designs. The This full carbon Pro Tour-
London-based company has teamed up with luxury custom-clothing manufacturer worthy racing bike comes in
Unmade – create your pixel-perfect garments online, and they will be printed on male- and female-specific
demand and delivered within six weeks. A collection of 24 items can be remixed using geometries. Full build from
a templated set of graphics, patterns and colourways, so you won’t need a degree in £3,199 canyon.com
design to concoct your own stylish piece of kit. And if you’re worried how your bespoke QGiro E70 Knit. The latest
item might look in the flesh? A computer-generated preview of your masterpiece, woven-sneaker technology,
wrapped on to an image of a rider, will help you visualise exactly what your now available in a bike shoe.
finished garment will look like before you click “buy”. Prices vary per item rapha.cc £199 zyrofisher.co.uk
 G EA R 
A UT O P I A
 This is the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE hypercar. “One” is the operative word
here, as there is only a single prototype currently in existence. When it goes
into full production in 2019, just 275 models will be built – and yes, they are all
already spoken for. Those lucky customers will receive a car that makes the most
credible claim yet of translating Formula 1 technology to the road: its hybrid
drivetrain is derived from the last three iterations of Mercedes F1 power units,
and uses the same combination of 1.6-litre V6 hybrid petrol engine and electri-
cally assisted turbocharging that Lewis Hamilton drives on the track. Chris Hall

H Y P E R C A R _____ M E R C E D E S A M G P R O J E C T O N E

 It wouldn’t be a hypercar without a headline-
grabbing performance claim, so here it is:
Mercedes-AMG has announced that the Project
One can reach 200kph in under six seconds
and top out at more than 350kph. Making this
feat possible is a 500kW F1-derived V6 engine –
retuned to idle at a more manageable 1,100rpm
rather than a racer’s 4,500rpm, and estimated
to have a 48,000-kilometre lifespan – as well as
four additional electric motors.
Two 120kW motors drive the front wheels, a
third is connected to the turbocharger to reduce
lag and there’s a fourth mounted on to the drive-
shaft. Together they attain thermal efficiency –
the amount of energy in the fuel that is actually
converted into motion – of 40 per cent, something
Mercedes claims is unmatched in production cars.
An eight-speed transmission has been developed
(which, unlike in F1, will be either fully automatic
or paddle-shift controlled), and the car can be
driven under electric power alone for 25 kilometres.
Easing off on the accelerator cuts out the petrol
engine, devolving all drive to the electric motors,
and Mercedes says regenerative braking will
capture up to 80 per cent of available energy.
Airflow is managed as seriously as possible:
starting from the automatically extending front
splitter, hot air is channelled down the sides of
the car by the bonnet vents, leaving colder air
to enter the roof-mounted air intake – another
F1-originated feature, and a necessity when the
PHOTOGRAPHY: JONATHAN GLYNN-SMITH
modes and suspension setup, and has an LED GEA R
readout along the top to display the engine’s AUTOP I A
revs. In a rare interior nod to visual theatre,
the start/stop button gets its own red-rimmed
housing on the central console.
The dashboard – itself a functional component,
providing rigidity to the chassis – is equipped
with two ten-inch flat-screen high-definition
displays designed to provide vital on-track infor-
mation to the driver – but, since this is a road car,
they also host Mercedes’ COMAND infotainment
system. Expect voice recognition, 3D maps and
Apple CarPlay and Android compatibility.
A third, aluminium-edged screen, is integrated
into the roof, replacing the traditional driver’s
mirror with a feed from a rear-facing camera.
Elsewhere, there’s a lightweight aluminium air vent
system and, straying slightly from the stripped-back
F1 spec, a storage unit with a transparent lid.
From €2,275,000 mercedesamgf1.com

engine is operating at full pelt.

Inside the cockpit, the Project One’s seating
position is more forgiving than a racing car’s –
but not much. The seats are fixed, bolted directly
to the carbon composite monocoque chassis;
adjustments are instead made to the steering
wheel and pedals. The oblong steering wheel A distinctive central rear fin
houses an airbag and controls to adjust driving adds lateral stability when
cornering and minimises drag
to the car’s forward profile
Three years since launching its VITPILEN concept with the 401, the Swedish company The 701’s LED tail
better known for chainsaws unveils this stylish café racer. With a design ethos that light is integrated
strips away any unnecessary gimmicks, the bike is a progressive mix of classic thinking within its bodywork
and modern manufacturing, evidenced by the lightweight, narrow bodywork and a laser- to highlight the clean,
cut, robot-welded and hydro-formed chrome-moly steel-trellis frame. Extending from stripped-back,
the main bodywork and floating above the rear wheel, the low-profile seat forms part race-focused design

WORDS: JEREMY WHITE. PHOTOGRAPHY: ALEX HOWE

of the minimalistic rear subframe. Powered by a 693cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder
75hp engine, electronic fuel injection is operated via a ride-by-wire system and delivers
immediate power. £8,599 husqvarna-motorcycles.com

MOTORBIKE _____ HUSQVARNA VITPILEN 701 2018

GE AR
AUTOPIA
 1_ 2_ 3_ 4_
5_ 6_

7_


WORDS: MATT BURGESS. PHOTOGRAPHY: ROGER STILLMAN

8_ V 8_ 9_

GEARHEAD _____ WATER ADVENTURE

1_ PowerRay and 2_ Vollebak Solar 3_ Aquapac Wet & Dry 4_ Ultralight 403
Powerseeker Charged Jacket backpack outboard motor
The PowerRay drone can A phosphorescent layer The Wet & Dry has a If you require a little extra thrust while on the water,
dive up to 30 metres deep allows this jacket to detachable waterproof this electric outboard motor is just the ticket.
and stream 4K video. The absorb light and glow in pocket, taped seams Attachable via a universal mounting ball, it’s a
PowerSeeker, meanwhile, the dark. Weighing in at to keep its contents lightweight 8.9kg (including a 320Wh lithium
monitors water for fish and just 230g, it has three protected and a yellow battery), has a 40km range and a maximum speed
sends notifications when fabric layers to keep inner to help you locate of 10kph. In-built GPS enables it to calculate its
they’re nearby. From ocean spray at bay. items with ease. remaining range, and additional solar chargers mean
£1,699 powervision.me £270 vollebak.com From £50 aquapac.net it can be topped up mid-trip. £1,399 torqeedo.com

5_ Nikon Coolpix W300 6_ Hydro Flask 7_ Bragi Dash Pro 8_ BOTE Rover 9_ Fanatic Bamboo
This 16MP camera is water Made from stainless steel, These earphones comprise Modular connections Carbon 50
resistant to 30 metres, this scratch-proof bottle IPX7 water-resistant mean the Rover can be This 165cm paddle
making it ideal for paddle keeps drinks cool for up to wireless buds with in-ear configured for multiple combines a 50 per cent
boarders. Built-in GPS 24 hours and warm for up biometric sensors to track activities, whether fishing, carbon-fibre shaft with a
means you can track to 12. There’s a sports cap running, swimming and paddle boarding or using an bamboo finish. It weighs
where – or how deep – for drinking on the move, cycling. And 4GB of internal electric motor. It supports just 720g and breaks
you are shooting, via the and a range of colours to storage means you can up to 227kg and its whole down into three parts for
camera’s 75mm screen. help you match it to your listen to music while on the length can be walked on. easy transportation.
£410 nikon.co.uk board. $36 hydroflask.com water. €349 bragi.com $3,499 boteboard.com £239 thesupco.co.uk
 BIG JOBS NEED BIG POWER. THAT’S WHY INSIDE ALL EGO POWER+
MOWERS, THERE’S A UNIQUE 56V ARC LITHIUM BATTERY THAT’S BEEN
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To find out more visit egopowerplus.co.uk or call 0333 222 0436

 OFF-ROAD BUGGY_ Nikola NZT

The Nikola NZT is an exceptionally powerful and fun all-electric off-roader

capable of 0-100kph in 3.5 seconds over a range of up to 240km. The 400V
AC motor, powered by your choice of 75kWh, 100kWh or 125kWh Li-ion battery
pack, can hit 590hp (that’s the same as a Ferrari Portofino) and charge within
three hours. The 33-inch Kevlar-reinforced tyres consign punctures to the
past and, with all four wheels having 51cm of travel from the FOX Podium
Internal Bypass shocks and 37cm of ground clearance, the NZT is good to
go just about anywhere. The chassis and military-grade steel roll-cage have
been engineered to take serious abuse and cleverly house the buggy’s IP67-
rated battery pack. It’s not without luxuries, either: there’s a 12.2in colour
touchscreen display, keyless ignition, ultra-soft seats, multiple power outlets,
LED lighting and full Bluetooth audio. From $28,900 nikolamotor.com

MICRO SCOOTER_ Smacircle S1

  Weighing in at a mere 6.8kg and capable of GE AR

collapsing down to 19.5cm x 29cm x 49cm,
the Smacircle S1 is the world’s tiniest folding
electric scooter. Comprising a carbon-fibre
frame, shock-absorbing wheels, flip-down
foot platforms and a padded tube seat, it
can transport riders of up to 100kg. Range is
an estimated 19km on a single charge, with
a top speed of 20kph, powered by a 240W
brushless front-wheel-drive motor and
36V, 5,800mAh Samsung battery hidden in
the seat. Riders can connect via Bluetooth
to the obligatory companion app to track
battery level, monitor journeys and activate
the security lock. The folding mechanism
owes a debt to Brompton, but by tucking
the wheels inside the frame – and having no
pedals – Smacircle has done a smart job of
disappearing its design. $649 smacircle.com

SURF_ Fliteboard eFoil

Graceful and virtually silent as it skims

across the water, this elegant electric
hydrofoil is a smart reworking of the calm- TRANSPORT _____
shattering jet ski. It’s made from strong-
yet-light Paulownia wood, stainless steel, NEW
aluminium and carbon, and its unibody design
doesn’t generate a wake, so you can ride ELECTRIC
without disrupting other humans or wildlife.
A high-torque brushless electric motor has RIDES
a top speed of 36kph with a running time of
around an hour before recharging. Velocity
control comes via a waterproof Bluetooth
remote with a colour screen, but direction
control is down to the rider. Instructional
WORDS: CHRIS HASLAM

videos on Fliteboard’s YouTube channel

suggest you’ll need surfing skills to get
standing up, and a snowboarding brain to
remain there. £tbc fliteboard.com
Spengle’s wheels are
specced to accept boost
and non-boost thru axles,
and give you the option
of centrelock or six-
bolt disc-brake rotors

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE

WORDS: CHRIS HASLAM.
 WHEEL _____ SPENGLE CARBON MONOCOQUE

Spengle claims it has reinvented the wheel with the tri-spoke Carbon Monocoque. Doing
away with the three traditional elements of rim, spokes and hub, the company used a
custom carbon lay-up and proprietary bonding method for its retro-futurist aesthetic. The
thinking behind the one-piece design is that stress and forces to the wheel are absorbed
across the entire carbon structure, eliminating the risk of a single area failing. Right now,
the wheel only comes in 27.5-inch size (and off-road “trail” build) – although a lighter, less
indestructible version for “roadies” is in development. From €1,490 spengle.com

AQUASCOOTER _____ SUBLUE WHITESHARK MIX

000 GEAR

Taking you a step closer to Nemo, Sublue’s WhiteShark MIX is an affordable,

compact and extremely capable underwater scooter that can drag you through the
depths at a stately 5.6kph. Weighing 2.8kg, it can run for up to 60 minutes per charge
and dive to depths of 40 metres, making it an ideal accessory for lazy swimmers or
inexperienced divers looking to get the most from their oxygen tanks. Cleverly, the
MIX also comes with a universal GoPro mount on the underside, so you can record
your POV adventures, as well as mesh guards to protect inquisitive fingers from
the propellers. Operation is safe and simple, requiring the swimmer to grip the bars,
press both triggers to start the propellers, and then just hanging on, steering as you
might do a bicycle. The motor will cut out if you release either hand – and if you let go
completely, its zero buoyancy means the MIX won’t sink like a stone, or shoot back to
the surface. To compare your aquatic performance to the competition, the average
swimmer will manage a top speed of around 3kph – while 23-time Olympic gold medal
winner Michael Phelps has been clocked at 9.6kph. You won’t outrun many aquatic
predators on the MIX, but, with a thrust of 23.95Nm from the 110Wh Li-ion battery,
you’ll get a good head start without kicking your feet. $329 www.sublue.cn
HYPERCAR _____ MCL AREN SENNA
With a mid-engine, carbon-fibre design described by its creators as “brutal”
and “unforgiving”, the Senna is McLaren’s most excessive road-going
vehicle to date. All of the team’s efforts have been focused into creating a
hypercar with unprecedented levels of downforce, designed to deliver the
most intensive track experience possible.
McLaren’s lightest road car since 1998’s F1, the Senna weighs in at 1,198kg
– 220kg lighter than the 720S. It has a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine
producing 800hp, resulting in a barely comprehensible power-to-weight
ratio of 688hp/tonne. There’s nothing organic or fluid about the design of
the Senna: this is a car crafted purely by aerodynamics.
Built around McLaren’s featherweight Monocage III chassis, the one-
piece carbon-fibre intakes at the front flanks epitomise the car’s barbarous
design. Active flaps direct air for aerodynamics or cooling as required, and
used warm air is forced over the roof and away from
the engine cooling intake. Further intakes along the
flanks suck air into the engine bay and out through
the louvres on the engine cover, while the hydrau-
WORDS: CHRIS HASLAM. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE
lically controlled twin-plane rear wing constantly
moves – it can rotate nearly 90° when needed as an
airbrake, and also helps to minimise drag. McLaren
has announced a top speed of 340kph, with accel-
eration a toupee-troubling 0-200kph in 6.8 seconds.
The real story here is really one of fanatical de-
votion to weight loss: a new carbon-fibre recipe has
enabled engineers to slash the weight of the front
wing from 2.2kg to just 650g; the engine has been
lowered to help further reduce heft; and the 8.8kg
doors are half the weight of those on the 720S. As a
final flourish, McLaren’s carbon-ceramic brakes have
been re-engineered to reach peak operating tempera-
ture 50°C lower than before, while – you’ve guessed it
– weighing significantly less than their predecessors.
Even the front number-plate is quick-release to help
maintain airflow and keep the weight down.
The suspension is an enhanced version of the
existing double-wishbone layout, with hydraulically
interconnected dampeners and a separate hydraulic
system working as an anti-roll bar. It’s all controlled
using RaceActive Chassis Control II (RCC II), which
incorporates a kinetic roll system called a K-damper.
While you can leave the RCC II to tweak performance
automatically according to road conditions – choose
from Comfort, Sport and Track modes – you can also
configure everything manually as required.
If you’re looking for storage capacity, you’re going to
be disappointed: it’s limited to a rear bulkhead cavity
that’s just large enough for a couple of spare helmets.
Limited to a run of 500 – and yes, it’s already sold
out – the McLaren Senna is a hypercar designed for
racing. Built without compromise, frippery or frills, it
may technically be road legal, but zero concession has
been made for the school run. £750,000 mclaren.com
GEA R
AUTOPIA
Below: Even the
rear lights have
been reconfigured
as single-blade
designs to minimise
airflow interruption
At the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show, intelligent systems,
luxury design and connected green energy combined to shape a future
global energy system that is powered by 100 per cent renewables

When design meets Designed by future-thinking luxury automotive

clean energy, the
future looks beautiful
For Lei Zhang, a car is no longer simply a car.
“We see them as intelligent and connected
machines,” explains the founder and CEO of
smart energy management firm Envision.
His mission? To contribute to a world powered
by 100 per cent renewable energy. At the Geneva
International Motor Show, Zhang unveiled a
product that will make this possible: Sibylla,
an electric, intelligent, connected concept car
that shows what can be achieved when beautiful
design is paired with beautiful energy.
design firm GFG Style in Turin, connected to
Envision’s global clean energy ecosystem and
powered by German energy storage company
sonnen, the car is a global effort. The classic,
elegant shape of a sedan is blended with comfort
levels usually achieved with a bigger SUV. The
gullwing doors combine with the world’s first
sliding windscreen front section, so even the
initial interaction with the car – stepping into
it – is a seamless experience. The driver has
access to a full-dash-width smart interface,
providing information on the car’s performance
and the environment it is driving through. “It is
a new vision: to think about the future of the car
business and the luxury sedan, is to think about
the world on full electric,” says Fabrizio Giugiaro,
co-founder with his father, Giorgetto, of GFG Style.
 This is the vision for the auto industry, and
powering it is the largest energy Internet of
Things (IoT) platform in the world: Envision’s
EnOS. The system manages 100GW of energy
assets globally, equalling about the same of
the UK’s entire generating capacity. Through
50 million sensors, it connects supply, demand
and storage of sustainable energy. Because
it is an open-source platform – it is the IoT
platform used by sonnen – its applications span
industry and infrastructure, from wind to solar PV,
storage batteries, smart grids and buildings,
intelligent electrical terminals – and electric
vehicles and charging networks.
Envision’s new focus on e-mobility stems
from its considerable heritage in the renewable
energy sector. Founded in 2007 with a vision
of a different concept of software for wind
turbines, today the company provides software
for OEMs and is China’s second-largest wind
turbine company – and the eighth largest in the
world. “We created the largest IoT platform for
energy globally, bringing together wind, solar
and charging,” says Zhang. “This new energy
world will be decentralised and fragmented,
so with EnOS we’re orchestrating all the
elements in the ecosystem to get everything
synchronized and working together.”
The EnOS Sibylla car is 5m long and 1.48m tall. The swooping one-piece glass roof slides forward to allow entry
Zhang sees e-mobility as key to sustainably
stabilising the electricity grid and turning
consumers into prosumers of renewable energy.
But getting to this point has meant dealing with
a few key challenges. First, is the level cost
of energy, which is overcome with continued
innovation in green energy technology, where
Envision is at the forefront. “The cost of energy
will continue to fall, enabling renewable energy
to become more competitive versus other energy
sources,” says Zhang. The other cost is that of
synergy - addressing the growing penetration
and integration of renewables into the market.
“Right now, our automotive sector – from
electrical vehicles to trucks and vessels – is being
electrified,” he says. “What is very important
is that the auto industry is being integrated
into our ecosystem and the new global energy
system; one that is affordable, sustainable,
abundant, secure, resilient and robust.”
For the auto industry as a whole, but particu-
larly electric vehicles, integrating into the energy
system is one of the biggest challenges. Zhang
says this is due to two factors. First, building
charging stations that fit into the current infra-
structure. Second is charging the cars. “If all
electric vehicles are charging at the same time,
the system can’t handle this usage,” says Zhang.
ENVISION
WIRED
PARTNERSHIP
 Creating renewable energy with Envison’s smart turbines has abated 19,662,834 tonnes of CO2 from being released
WIND POWER Envision’s solution? To turn the driver of the
EN115-2.3 turbine car from a consumer into a prosumer, who can
- store and sell energy back to the grid. Having
Envision makes six this synergy powered by EnOS means the car
types of wind turbine is intelligent within its environment and the
to operate in different wider energy ecosystem. Using connectivity
environments all over and big data, EnOS creates a seamless efficiency
the world. To date, between energy assets to balance supply and
they have generated demand, capturing energy lost in the current
19,722,001,078kWh fragmented system. This not only enables drivers
of clean energy. to take and share electricity from the community
pool of clean and affordable energy, but the
virtual battery system allows them to access
excess solar and wind energy. This means the
car becomes part of the energy solution, intel-
ligently supplying the clean electricity it needs
to run, smartly storing and, when it’s not being
used, transacting surplus energy between the
driver’s home and their community.
For this to work and for e-mobility to be
available to the masses, it needs to be powered
with intelligent systems. This concept car
unveiled in Geneva goes beyond the standard
thinking, integrating harmoniously with its
surrounding energy systems. Envision has
also partnered with, and invested in, sonnen,
Europe’s largest residential storage company.
They are the creators behind the sonnenCharger,
a universal electric vehicle charger that connects
tens of thousands of solar and wind gener-
ators, and is one of the first in many applica-
tions using Envision’s technology to progress
the transition towards a sustainable energy and
transport ecosystem. The charger provides as
much as 8,000 kWh of free electricity per year per
car, depending on the tariff, while also helping
to stabilise the public electricity grid. Philip
Schroder, sonnen’s global chief marketing officer,
says the partnership with Envision was a natural
one. “Not only is Envision one of our major share-
holders, they are enabling us to grow globally –
and the key is EnOS. We are using EnOS as the
software platform to enable our services,” he
said, adding that, “Our concept for consumers

is that they no longer have to depend on the
large utilities – in Germany today, they can now
supply themselves with 100 per cent renewable
electricity in a convenient and automated way.”
The significance of this becomes clear when
looking at how much renewable energy was
produced in Germany last year. The surplus
amount resulted in one billion Euros worth of
renewable energy being thrown away. “There
was simply nobody needing it on a windy Sunday
for example, or in the middle of the night when
nobody’s at work,” explains Schroder. So what
to do with all this extra energy? Find the best
solution for when to charge the car. If all electric
vehicles in a city are being charged overnight
the grid would buckle. Powered with EnOS, the
solution is to charge the car battery when there
is surplus wind or solar energy, making it free for
their customers. Translate this on to the global
stage, and this provides a glimpse at Lei Zhang’s
future vision and the potential impact of EnOS.
To discover more about Envision’s plans for a
smarter, more connected energy future –
and the Sibylla car – visit envision-energy.com
EnOS Sibylla concept
GFG Style/Envision
-
Combining sleek lines
and clean, smart
energy consumption,
the Sibylla car is named
for the ancient oracles
endowed with the
power to see the future.
ENVISION
WIRED
PARTNERSHIP
Now the first steps have been taken, it’s a
clear signpost for designers to be focused on
how an individual can contribute to the global
community. For the auto-industry, this means
looking beyond the traditional electric vehicle.
“We have to ask ourselves: What can we do to
inspire the auto industry? We don’t want to join
a commodity game. We have a strong desire to
transform the industry,” says Zhang. This mass
marketisation of electric vehicles will have a
fundamental impact on the global energy system.
As renewable energy becomes more dominant,
this concept car leads the way in the bottom-up
revolution of the sector. For Envision, this means
they are ramping up their efforts, rather than
slowing down. “We are already taking action,” says
Zhang. “We think the challenges are outside of the
car, in the ecosystem. This intelligent green power
plant is about to connect to the largest renewable
energy network with 100 per cent clean renewable
energy. And at the same time, the car can connect
to other cars and buildings to create a very flexible
system. What we consider to be the future energy
system is very flexible, robust, intelligent and
digital.” In other words, it will be beautiful.
When an industry changes, it is inevitable that there are casualties
along the way – those organisations that don’t modernise and keep
up with the latest trends are left in the wake of companies that
are open to new ideas, and which continue to disrupt themselves.

But in the life sciences sector, transformation

isn’t focused on a single type of change. There are
numerous interlinked drivers at play: technology
has become more sophisticated; scientific
LIFE SCIENCES 4.0: resources and understanding have improved
significantly; and customer demands have
a data-driven upgrade sky-rocketed because of the way the retail, banking
and transportation industries have been disrupted.
Consumers are now accustomed to on-demand
features and access to information anywhere, at
any time, on any device. In addition, they want
products tailored for them – and in the life sciences
sector, that means customised to individuals’
genomes, microbiomes and metabolomes.
To be able to meet these growing expecta-
tions, life sciences companies have to shift their
business models away from speciality products.
Instead, they need to create shared value focused
on personalised outcomes and fuelled by unlocking
the power of data. This requires the ability to
collect the right sources of data, combine them,
and analyse them to create insight and enable
improved experiences for patients and physicians.
EY To exploit the likes of AI and the internet of things
(IoT), the quality and quantity of data gathered is
WIRED crucial, as this will enable algorithms to maximise
PARTNERSHIP health outcomes. Imagine being able to predict
when a patient may need urgent care in real time,
by using the results of a blood test, IoT sensors
that track the environment that they’re living in,
and a heart-rate application on a smartwatch.
Organisations will need platforms that can store
and process data in real time, fusing the digital,
biological and physical aspects of care. These
care platforms will have to be built and developed
with existing and new partners, and must be
continuously updated and improved.
In other words, biopharmas and medtechs will
ILLUSTRATION: DAVID DORAN

need to adopt data-centric platform-based models

‘Life sciences companies have to shift
their business models away from specialty
products to personalised outcomes,
fuelled by unlocking the power of data’
– Life Sciences 4.0. The platforms that emerge out
of this endeavour provide value based on collab-
orative innovation to drive further value creation.
Companies need to respond to a new, demand-
driven economy, where customers expect
affordable personalised interventions. Data is
the critical component of this revolution.
The only way to succeed in this next phase is
to work with partners, listen to customers and to
innovate to create a future-proof, data-sharing
system. Life sciences firms need to ensure they’re
taking care of patients by offering affordable,
personalised interventions that maximise health.
By doing so, life sciences companies can ensure
they don’t become a casualty. ey.com/progressions
06 3 HEALTH
BRI E FI N G

Ten lessons from WIRED Health.

From AI doctors to 3D X-rays.
XXXXXXXXX
PHOTOGRAPHY: BENEDICT EVANS. WORDS: STEPHEN ARMSTRONG

A health check of the world today may seem gloomy – antibiotics are failing, people are dying of easily treatable
diseases because they’re poor, and conditions such as dementia are on the rise. The scientists, researchers, investors
and startups at the Francis Crick Institute in London were only too aware of the challenges – here’s what we learned.
 Romas Geleziunas has been working in HIV
research since the mid-80s, when HIV infection
invariably led to AIDS and death, and he believes
the development of effective HIV treatment is
one of the standout achievements of modern
medicine. “Technologically it’s an amazing story,”
says the senior director of biology at Gilead
Sciences – a biopharmaceutical company –
and world leading developer of HIV therapies.
“HIV was identified in 1982. By the mid-80s, the
first antiretroviral drugs had already started to
materialise. Then in the 90s the combination
therapies arrived and by the mid-2000’s, HIV
could be treated with one tablet once a day. We’ve
moved from the virus being a death sentence, to a
situation where for the vast majority of people who
can access treatment, they can wake up in the
morning and manage their condition effectively.”
While a single tablet is a far less demanding
regime to follow than the multiple doses a day
required of the first HIV patients back in the 90s,
antiretroviral therapies only prevent an active virus
from copying itself and spreading throughout the
body. They do not cure the infection altogether, and
patients must continue to take those medicines.
“Adherence is the number one mission in HIV
treatment,” Geleziunas explains. “If patients do
not take their medication every day, they can
develop viral resistance, which can basically
render that regimen useless. As a result, potential
treatment options begin to diminish.”
At the same time, providing access to these treat-
GILEAD
SCIENCES
WIRED
PARTNERSHIP
ments around the world has been a public health
success story. Today, it is estimated that nearly 21
million people living with HIV are accessing antiret-
roviral therapy globally, with the majority living in
low and middle-income countries. According to
Sarah Fidler, professor of HIV medicine at Imperial
College London, this progress is thanks to a combi-
nation of international co-operation and dedicated
funding from organisations such as the Global
Fund and PEPFAR. Most important, she says, is to
continue to sustain that strong political will, in order
to bring treatment to the many millions still in need.
Why research
into new HIV
therapies is still
a key priority
Innovations in HIV treatment will enable
more people to live longer, healthier
lives, and also prevent new infections
From a research perspective, the ultimate aim is to find
a way to remove the virus from the body altogether. The
challenge is that while HIV typically hijacks the cellular
machinery in a person’s immune system in order to copy
itself, the virus may also lay dormant inside certain cells as
well. These reservoirs of latent HIV can linger for the lifetime
ILLUSTRATION: EIKO OJALA. DATE OF PREPARATION: MARCH 2018 999/IHQ/18-03//1014
of a patient and they are extremely difficult to detect. At
any time, cells in the latent reservoir can become active
again and start making more HIV. “Getting rid of these viral
reservoirs is the central issue,” explains Geleziunas. “If we
could eradicate these, we could potentially achieve a cure.”
The most promising approach, according to both
Geleziunas and Fidler, is what is known as “kick and kill.”
“The ‘kick’ is a compound that reactivates the latent virus
to make it show itself,” Geleziunas explains. “And the ‘kill’,
for example, are antibodies that engage the exposed
infected cells and attract immune cells to kill them.”
In research supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and presented at a recent scientific meeting,
scientists from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
showed that 45 per cent of monkeys infected with a virus
very similar to HIV, and treated with two
of Gilead’s investigational agents, a TLR7
agonist and an antibody, were able to ‘Nowadays, HIV is a
prevent the virus from rebounding in treatable and
their blood once antiretroviral therapy manageable disease.
was withdrawn. Gilead will test these As long as I take my
in clinical trials and is funding research treatment properly,
at Aarhus University in Denmark to I should not have to
test similar agents in human trials. worry about
While a search for a cure continues, spreading the disease’
scientists are also focused on longer-
acting antiretroviral therapies which
could be injectable. “The next frontier,” Geleziunas says, “is to get
to a point where patients could have an injection just two,
maybe four times a year, rather than daily treatments.”
“Nowadays, HIV is a treatable and manageable disease
for many like me,” says Winnie Ssanyu-Sseruma, an inter-
national development consultant who has lived with the
disease for 30 years. “As long as I take my treatment properly,
I should not have to worry about spreading the disease to
other people. However, the epidemic is not over and there is
still a need for this continuing research.” @GileadSciences
 1 TECH BY AND FOR WOMEN 2 THE ECONOMY OF HIV

Femtech is Governments need

revolutionising to see healthcare
healthcare as an investment

Women account for almost 50 per Governments need to look at healthcare

cent of the world’s population, spending in economic not just social
but women’s health technology terms, Botswana’s minister for health
hasn’t updated for years – however, and wellness Dorcas Makgato told the
Tania Boler, CEO of London- and room. The huge African country with a
Berlin-based start-up Elvie, argued tiny population (2.3m) provided free
Tania Boler that’s about to change. Dorcas Makgato treatment for every citizen with HIV/
Founder, Elvie, “We are witnessing three big Minister for health AIDS. As a result, Botswana is on course
London trends,” she told the room. “The big and wellness, to be free of HIV/AIDS deaths by 2030.
feminist surge, the tech revolution Botswana “Twenty five per cent of our people
i n c o n n e c te d d e v i c e s a n d t h e had the virus,” she explained. “We had to
paradigm shift towards individuals divert most of our resources to HIV – it
taking charge of their own health.” was the best investment we ever made.”
Two years ago Boler launched
a discrete, mobile-connected,
medical-grade silicone pod that
helps new mothers – half of whom
suffer post-natal pelvic prolapses –
strengthen their pelvic floor muscles.
Boler has just signed an agreement
to supply the devices to the NHS –
“Investors finally realise femtech is
a huge opportunity,” she said.

06 5 HEA LTH
BRI E FI N G

3 CANCER TREATMENT

Nature already has the best defences

against disease – let’s use them
Medicines are of limited use and have too many
side effects, Bruce Levine from the Center for
Cellular Immunotherapies argued – so it’s time
to use nature to treat disease.
Levine uses chimeric antigen receptor-modified
T cells – a patient’s own white blood cells modified
Simba Gill CEO, by a disabled form of the HIV virus – to identify
Evelo Biosciences, and attack cancer cells. “Three patients we treated
Cambridge MA in 2010 had between 1.3 and 3.5 kg of leukaemia
Bruce Levine killed by their own T cells,” he told delegates.
Deputy director, “We’re seeing patients given three to nine months
Center for Cellular to live being free of cancer six years later.”
Immunotherapies, With FDA approval for his “bag of cells” granted
University of last August, the next step is tackling solid cancers
Philadelphia – a much harder target.
Simba Gill, CEO of Evelo Biosciences, is using
gut microbes instead of T cells. “We’ve spent
hundreds of years trying to destroy microbes and
only now realised they are part of us,” he explained.
Gill converts microbes into a white powder
that’s taken orally – where they interact with the
immune system through the gut-body network,
shutting down inflammation.
He has isolated different microbes to treat
different diseases and is running ten trials on
diseases such as melanoma, colorectal and renal
cancer, arthritis and inflamed bowel disease. He
expects clinical results in the next 12-18 months.
Both have work ahead but, Levine pointed out,
“There are three stages to a scientific revolution:
1) You’re crazy; 2) It’s possible but not worth it;
3) I knew it was a good idea all along.”
 4 UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE 5 HOME EYE TESTS

This app allows

Cancer treatment is a
matter of privilege –
that needs to change
Urgent action is needed to address
national and global inequalities
in cancer treatments, said Jess
Mills, co-founder of new cancer
organisation Adaptive Collaborative
Treatments and daughter of
Jess Mills Labour peer Tessa Jowell, who’s
Co-founder, battling brain cancer.
Adaptive “We were lucky,” she explained.
Collaborative “The surgeon flash-froze Mum’s
Treatments, tumour after surgery, which helped
London us find the right treatments – chasing
down the chief medical officers of
big pharma for off-label drugs.”
What Mills’ mother finds hardest
is the fate of hundreds of fellow
s u f f e re r s w h o d o n ’ t h av e h e r
connections. “Privilege should never
decide patient access,” argued Mills,
“so Adaptive Collaborative Treat-
ments is pushing for everyone to
have new treatments irrespective
of their income.”
every school
teacher to become
an optician
Curing blindness is easy and cheap,
according to Andrew Bastawrous,
co-founder and CEO of Peek Vision,
a social enterprise owned by regis-
te re d c h a r i t y Th e Pe e k Vi s i o n
Foundation. “It’s diagnosing that’s
Andrew hard and expensive,” he says. Smart-
Bastawrous phones may have the answer.
Co-founder “In schools in the developing world,
and CEO, Peek three children in every 40 are dealing
Vision, London with poor vision and blindness,” he
told the crowd of investors, scientists
and CEOs. “But no one knows which
kids sufer from it, and it’s costly to
test everyone in distant rural schools.”
Peek’s smartphone app aims to
overcome that problem – ofering an
optician-style eye test and back-of-
the-eye scan that’s so simple that
teachers can use it. He’s working on
a hearing test – but, he warned,
governments need to step up and
join in to keep this sustainable.

HE A LT H 06 6
BRIE F I N G

6 DIAGNOSIS BY AI

The AI doctor will

see you now…
The world needs high-quality healthcare just as “Doctors can just press a button, the AI looks
it’s running out of doctors, warned Ada Health at the patient’s health record then spits out
co-founder Claire Novorol – but AI can help. “In immediately – a ten per cent chance of dying in
India and China, doctors have two minutes per next five years, for instance,” he explained. The
patient,” she told delegates. “In Bangladesh it’s 43 next step? Letting AI help prescribe treatment.
seconds.” Her solution is Ada – a diagnostic AI built
Claire Novorol with GPs. It’s human plus machine, she explained.
Co-founder, Ada “Doctors are better at patient relationships, but
Health, London AI has less bias and a better memory.”
Andrew Steele Francis Crick Institute researcher Andrew
Research fellow Steele argued that AI’s lack of bias means it’s
in computational ideal to answer the dreaded question – how long
biology, Francis have I got, doctor? Steele analysed the electronic
Crick Institute, health records of more than 100,000 patients,
London checking for diagnosis, prescription and results
to arrive at strong prediction models.
 Harnessing brain power in the fight for fitness and fat loss,
the Modius headset uses neurostimulation to influence the
body – effectively hacking fat storage and the metabolism

How a weight-loss wearable

could transform our health

What is the secret to successful weight loss?

In the case of wearable headset Modius, it is
the application of neurostimulation (electrical
pulses), and it goes straight to the source.
Created by Neurovalens, a health tech
startup founded by Dr Jason McKeown and
Dr Paul McGeoch, the science behind Modius
is based on research that has its origins in
work undertaken in a Nasa laboratory 50
years ago. “The scientists discovered that
stimulation of the vestibular system – which
runs into the brain from just behind the ear
– is interpreted by the brain as the body
being more physically active, which in turn
influences how the hypothalamus regulates
body weight,” says McKeown.
The headset adds to the formidable arsenal MOD IUS
of weight loss tools already available, but it
goes beyond exercise and diet by harnessing W IRED
neuroscience. Worn like a headset for one PARTNERS HI P
ILLUSTRATION: LOUISE POMEROY

hour a day, two electrodes that sit behind

the ear send a small electrical pulse directly
to the vestibular system. Already, results
are encouraging. When McKeown tried the
prototype, he lost an impressive 44 per cent
of his body fat within a year, while also putting
on two kilograms of muscle mass. While those
results are not typical, the company now has
more than 100,000 hours of data from users
in the real world, and results are very encour- The Modius is designed for use in an easy daily routine
aging: out of the first wave of users, 80 per
cent experienced significant weight loss – an
average of three kilograms in three months,
with the top ten per cent losing an average start losing weight. They can access meal plans,
of eight kilograms. Additionally, many users workouts, recipe ideas, headset FAQs, or simply
reported a decrease in appetite, more energy connect with other users to congratulate them on
– and even that they slept better at night. their progress and get advice, which helps turn
The success behind the headset is boosted the use of the Modius into a habit. “We want users
when the user joins the online community to incorporate Modius into their lives and use it
Modius Life. Thousands of people who now every day,” says McKeown. “Just as you would
have the headset can get support online so brush your teeth in the morning, you switch on
they feel motivated and encouraged as they your Modius for an hour a day.” modiushealth.com
 7 X-RAYS IN 3D
Cardiovascular
surgery is broken –
here’s how to fix it
Vascular surgery is so primitive it’s like
a mechanic merely guessing which
brake pads are worn out on a car, Oxford
Heartbeat founder Katerina Spranger
told the room. The most common
cardiovascular treatment is a stent.
Katerina Spranger While researching her PhD, Spranger
Enterprise fellow, watched a surgeon trying to work out
Royal Academy of which device to use from a 2D X-ray.
Engineering, and “It was like they were watching a silent
founder, Oxford black and white movie,” she explained.
Heartbeat, London Her solution? An image processing 3D
visualisation of a patient’s arteries to
help choose and deploy the best stent.
HE A LT H
BR IE F I N G
9 PSYCHEDELIC ANTIDEPRESSANTS
Science’s elitism hurts We’ll cure ageing with
our mental health drugs we already have
Mental illness affects one in four
people in the UK, yet mental health
makes up just five per cent of
research spending, according to
Robin Carhart-Harris. He researches
psychedelics as a possible alternative
Robin to antidepressants and the results
Carhart-Harris are promising – after a single dose,
Head of patients who experienced an emotional
psychedelic breakthrough report benefits for days,
research, Imperial weeks and even years.
College London This autumn, Carhart-Harris is
crowdfunding a new charity – Global
Psychedelic Research – to tackle
science elites and fund new studies.
8 VR DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS
Gaming is
shaking up
mental health
Virtual reality is moving into
healthcare – and gaming with it
can diagnose dementia and help
stroke patients recover, said Tej Tadi,
founder of Switzerland’s f irst
unicorn, MindMaze.
Tej Tadi For stroke patients, playing VR
Founder, MindMaze, games makes physical therapy fun
San Francisco and something they do for them-
Michael selves, he explained.
Hornberger Michael Hornberger, co-creator of
Creator, Sea Hero the Sea Hero Quest game, showed
Quest, Norwich how players’ spatial perception was
measured while playing – with poor
spatial perception an early indicator
for dementia, it allows diagnosis long
before memory loss.
Tadi foresees simple electrodes
to decode face movements under
headset cameras treating autism,
Parkinson’s and cerebral palsy. “It’s
time for braintech to take centre
stage,” he told the room.
06 8
10 ANTI-AGEING GENES
We could all live until we’re 115 if
we start treating the symptoms of
ageing, according to Nir Barzilai.
“Ageing is the strongest risk
factor in heart disease, cancer,
stroke and diabetes,” he explained.
Nir Barzilai Barzilai has identified genes that help
Director, Institute cardiovascular health and proteins
for Aging that may protect against ageing.
Research, Albert He’s testing 30 drugs – including
Einstein College of rapamycin, which increased mice
Medicine, NYC lifespan by 24 per cent in trials.
Increasing life expectancy by 2.2
years could save $7.1 trillion (£5.1
billion) in healthcare costs, he argued.
 What does
it take to
be the UK’s
next tech
unicorn,
valued at
more than
$1 billion?
Industry experts predict Clinova’s
commitment to innovation will
soon see it join this exclusive club

Arsalan Karim wants to help make the world a healthier place. To do this, his WHY CLINOVA “Clinova has CLINOVA
healthtech company Clinova, co-founded with Charles Ebubedike, has launched WILL BE THE grown rapidly
Caidr. The digital healthcare app helps users assess common medical issues – NEXT UNICORN and is part of an WIRED
like an ear infection or cold – that can be self-treated. Its aim is to help people interesting, fast PARTNERSHIP
distinguish these minor ailments from more serious illnesses to decrease unnec- “We’re excited to growing, consumer
essary visits to the GP. A November 2017 self-care survey estimated 57 million GP work with Karim healthcare sector
appointments and 3.7 million A&E visits each year for self-treatable conditions. and Charles in the UK.”
A lack of information is driving people to seek advice from doctors unnecessarily. on creating - John Honey,
Caidr is the most recent product for Clinova, which counts O.R.S hydration great consumer Chief Strategy
tablets, Wayk alertness tablets, Repelsect insect repellent patches and healthcare brands.” Officer, Clinova
Magastic digestive tablets among its innovative, natural products made to fill - Patrick Brindle,
the gap of unmet medical needs. The market size of these products in the 20 Global Category “Clinova is a
countries Clinova operates in – including the UK, Canada, the US and Thailand – Director, Havas great innovation
is £14 billion, with this success attributed to their focus on modern healthcare, company with great
prevention and natural ingredients, and in providing a market leading direct “Leveraging app- relationships with
to consumer model. “As digital technology becomes central to our lives, we based decision their customers.”
are harnessing digital opportunities to improve consumer health,” says Karim. support, Clinova - John Molter,
This innovation has attracted some of the biggest names in healthcare. Clinova’s will accelerate former Head of
backers include the former head of sales at P&G, the former head of Novartis US, its integration Worldwide Customer
the former head of over-the-counter products at Reckitt Benckiser, and the former into everyday Sales, P&G
ILLUSTRATION: JOE WALDRON

head of consumer healthcare at Asia’s largest healthcare company DKSH. “Seven of management of
the ten biggest consumer healthcare companies are in discussions to license our wellbeing.” - Dr Joe “Clinova is a patient
products or technology,” says John Honey, Chief Strategy Officer of Clinova. “We are Taylor, Lecturer of centric company;
at the forefront of changes in the global consumer healthcare marketplace.” Where Medicine at Oxford creating and
will those changes lead them next? That’s the billion dollar question. clinova.co.uk University delivering products
and services that
meet the needs of
the population in
the 21st century.”
By helping users with basic healthcare advice, Caidr aims to alleviate - Sachin Patel,
pressure on NHS services – saving it money and freeing up resources Pharmacist, Boots
Living in one of Nigeria’s rural communities – 63 per cent of which
have no access to the energy grid system – Ngozi Deborah Atalor
needed to find a reliable way to charge her phone. Her solution?
To build a solar panel. But she didn’t limit herself to just powering
her phone: “My idea was to ensure every home in Nigeria enjoys
uninterrupted power supply”

POWERING THE
FUTURE: ideas
for connecting
off-grid Nigeria

With her bright idea to manufacture, install and

maintain solar panels while also training engineers,
Atalor is working to provide access to water, light and
power to the millions of Nigerians who live without
access to reliable energy. Her contribution has not
gone unnoticed. In 2017, she won a pitching compe-
tition for young Nigerian entrepreneurs in alter-
native energy business, the Shell #makethefuture
Accelerator event, held in Port Harcourt. She took
home NGN 1 million prize money – and an expanded
support network to grow her company, De-rahbs
Energy Services. This is at the core of the Shell
#makethefuture Accelerator: the idea that through
collaboration, human progress can thrive and bright
ideas can transform lives by bringing more and cleaner
energy to communities in need. The programme has
toured the world since launching in Rio de Janeiro
in 2015. Nigeria was the sixth, following similar,
inspiring events in India, Singapore and London.
Since 2003, more than 6,500 young people
have benefited from access to LiveWIRE, Shell’s
flagship entrepreneurial programme in Nigeria. In
2017, four other local businesses pitched alongside
Atalor. Two runners-up won NGN 500,000 each to
scale up their businesses. First was Prince Ledee
Basi, CEO of renewable energy and safety wear
company Basiled Energy Ventures. Basi trained as
an engineer but remained unemployed before coming
 The Shell LiveWIRE programme has helped thousands of entrepreneurs to scale up their ideas in Nigeria
ILLUSTRATION: ADI GILBERT

across Shell LiveWIRE and the support needed

to pursue his idea. Now, his low cost products
are providing access to energy to those who
may not have been able to afford it. The second
was Ibiere Gilbert David, CEO of Ibdav Resources
– its bio-fuel-powered cleaner cookstoves
combat domestic fires in the Niger Delta area.
CEO of Alternate Integrated Energy Services,
Henry Chukwubueze Chikogu, pitched his
renewable energy solutions business, which was
a beneficiary of the Shell LiveWIRE enterprise
programme in 2016. He says the high costs of
energy products is a challenge, but the mentorship
helped him develop solutions, such as intro-
ducing payment plans. Similarly, CEO of Zapelebi
General Services, Zifegha Alpheaus Peletiri, saw
the benefit of installing solar panels to deliver
uninterrupted energy to the community as well
as training for the young people of Niger Delta.
These big ideas solving the dilemma between
affordable energy and the environment are
propelled by the Shell #makethefuture Accelerator.
Gloria Udoh, Shell Nigeria’s social performance
manager, says collaboration is key. “We can support SHELL
with training and startup capital to turn an idea into #MAKETHE
a sustainable business,” she says. This encour- FUTURE
agement comes from industry leaders such as
Dr Wiebe Boer, a speaker at the Accelerator event WIRED
and CEO of All On, which invests in off-grid energy CONSULTING
businesses. He says most feel the problem of power
in Nigeria. “The Nigerian power sector has been
driven from the top down,” he says. “What entrepre-
neurs can do is start powering homes, businesses,
communities, villages and towns – it’s a bottom-up
approach to transform the power sector.”
Shell LiveWIRE encapsulates the spirit of
Nigeria’s entrepreneurs and the desire to learn,
collaborate and deliver a brighter future. Sola Abulu,
Shell Nigeria’s communications manager, says
these businesses are just the start of what can
be achieved. “Nigerians are people who naturally
have a global view,” she says. “We do not want
to be constricted or constrained by
our environment.” For pitch winner
Atalor, a better future for the next
‘These entrepreneurs generation is her biggest driver. “It
can start powering is an encouragement towards the
homes, businesses, visions and goals of De-rahbs Energy
and communities’ Services,” she says. “All human
Dr Wiebe Boer, activity depends on energy, and this
CEO of All On means a bright future for my son.”
 WORK
SM A R T E R  
PHOTOGRAPHY: JAKE CURTIS PRODUCTIVITY

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 WO R K
S MAR T E R  
 W H AT I ’ V E L E A R N E D Sarah Kauss founded S’well in 2010 after ten
years as an accountant – a mid-career leap from
running spreadsheets for startups to setting
2. Leave your comfort up her own business selling steel water bottles.
Inspired by the idea of keeping plastic containers
zone: Sarah Kauss out of landfill, she self-funded S’well with just
$30,000 (£22,000) in savings, bootstrapping her
Founder, CEO of S’well way to success. By 2016, the company’s revenue
had topped $100 million (£74 million), and
Kauss has gone from being the sole employee
to managing a team of more than 100 people.
Here, Kauss shares what she learned while
creating a fast-growing firm – one in which she
still retains a 100 per cent stake. Nicole Kobie

C H I L D H O O D I D E A I N S P I R A T I O N P E R S O N A L G R O W T H M E N T O R S

  “Both my parents “In Arizona, hiking “At the University of Colorado Boulder, “Entrepreneurs are “In the early days,
are entrepreneurs, with my mum, I students are issued a big mug, and you made, not born. I wasn’t confident
so I grew up was in a reflective pledge to try to not use foam cups or plastic I’ve accepted more enough to ask
around business. mood. My mum bottles. It’s fine in Colorado to use a bottle imperfection than mentors for help.
It got into my asked me, that looks like a camping accessory, but the risk-averse Now I realise
blood. I didn’t know ‘What would you then at Harvard and New York and working accountant inside there are so many
I’d grow up to be an do if you could internationally, my bags, my shoes and my me was born with. formal and
entrepreneur, but do anything?’ suit were getting nicer, but my water bottle You can convince informal networks
I don’t think that It all just came still looked like I was an undergraduate.” yourself that and opportunities
I was shocked out of me at once: you have the for entrepreneurs
when I did start I would create a disposition to be to learn from
my own business.” better water R E S T A R T I N G an entrepreneur, each other. If only
bottle that looked even if it’s really I could go back
good and actually “I was tired of accounting, but luckily, I’d uncomfortable and tell myself not
kept things cold. worked with entrepreneurs, and my clients to begin with.” to hold it all in.”
It was that day the were people, not companies. I was trying
idea was born.” to understand, as a junior accountant,
F U N D S how I could become one of my clients.”

“There are benefits

and challenges
to self-funding. K A U S S ’ S M I L E S T O N E S T A K I N G R I S K S J O U R N A L S

I didn’t want to be
pushed on 1975 Born in Florida “Take yourself out of your “A professor at
numbers until we 1993 Gets handed a reusable comfort zone with reckless Harvard University
had built the brand mug as an undergraduate testing. Get a little closer to convinced me to
– but because I 1997 Joins EY as a junior the line, and you’ll realise do this. My journal
didn’t have the accountant you’re OK, so the next day you covers five years
capital, I didn’t 2001 Heads to Harvard to get a little closer again – until on one page, so it
have the budget to get an MBA you realise there is no line.” shows progress
market the brand. 2010 Launches S’well, wins its and helps me log
So, up until now first major customer the highs – and to
PHOTOGRAPHY: BENEDICT EVANS. ILLUSTRATION: SAM PEET

it’s really been 2011 O, The Oprah Magazine realise that

word-of-mouth. features S’well, inspiring a challenges aren’t
There was wider range of colours insurmountable, as
something special 2013 S’well included in TED Talk I’ve managed them
about building a delegate gift bags in the past. It’s a
brand in an 2016 S’ip bottle is launched and little pep talk to my
authentic way. sold in Target stores future self, and
It’s been fun to < helps me put one
grow slow and Sarah Kauss, 42, who foot in front of the
steady, and now be self-funded and launched other, even on days
fast and strong.” S’well bottles in 2010 when it’s difficult.”
 PRODUCTIVITY Now in his late sixties, Biver started
his career at Swiss watchmaker
Audemars Piguet and then at multi-
3. Jean-Claude national brand Omega. In 1982, he and
his friend, watchmaker Jacques Piguet,
Biver, watch bought the rights to the Blancpain
brand and started producing watches
magnate using traditional methods. They sold
Identify your passion
“In the late 70s I was a hippie and I
lived in a commune in Lausanne,
Switzerland. I knew that I would not go
and work for a big corporation; it really
wasn’t my style. As a young boy, I’d
been passionate about steam engines,
but of course, they didn’t exist any

PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURA STEVENS

the company ten years later, and Biver more. Then a friend of mine, who was

ILLUSTRATION: SAM PEET

returned to work at Omega, before a watchmaker, said to me, ‘A steam
joining Hublot as CEO in 2004. Here, engine is just like a watch: look at all
Jean-Claude Biver is head of the he recalls a few of the highs and lows the wheels and cogs. If your passion
watches division at luxury conglom- of his career – and some timely lessons as a boy was steam engines, your
erate LVMH, where he oversees the he learned along the way. Tim Hulse passion as an adult can be watches.’”
Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith brands.
He has spent his entire working life in
the Swiss watch industry and has been
credited with playing a primary role in
saving it from the threat posed by the
so-called “quartz crisis” of the 70s,
WORK when the new technology almost put
S MA R T E R an end to mechanical watchmaking.  

Jean-Claude Biver, photographed

by WIRED at LVMH’s Paris HQ

Q&A
How do you What is your What’s your
manage sleep routine? secret to public
your time? Sleeping is like speaking?
My management dying. Sleep takes I don’t do it for
style is through your life away. I get long and I talk in
email – I never call. up at 3am or 4am. a way a baby can
On the phone, I only need four or understand. The
you speak for too five hours of sleep. important thing
long, and nobody is only to speak
remembers what What are your tips about what
you say. I tell my for coping with an you truly know.
employees to international
email me and not travel schedule? What is your
to write more Jet lag is my advice for people
than a quarter of a biggest enemy. It’s just starting
page. If it’s any why I never stay their career?
longer, I won’t more than one My advice is
read it. You have night – maybe two always the same:
to be concise. – wherever I go. try never to work.
As soon as jet And the only way
lag starts to not to work is to
affect me, I say make money
to myself, “I’m from your passion.
leaving, bye!” –
and I’m on the
plane. I leave the
jet lag behind
in my hotel room.
 Take time to learn the trade
“My friend introduced me to the boss
of Audemars Piguet. He said, ‘I can give
you a job in the sales department. But
before that, I will give you an internship
on half-salary for a year, because you
need to understand the art of making
watches.’ So for one year I worked with
watchmakers every day. Slowly I under-
stood their mentality, and I learned a lot
about the history of watchmaking.”
Don’t let ambition make you impatient
“I left Audemars Piguet after five years
because, when I asked the CEO about
my future, he told me I would be the boss
in 14 years after he retired. I was 29. That
meant waiting until I was 43, which BIG QUESTION
seemed old. I didn’t leave for a good
reason, but because I was in a hurry.”
Dare to go against the grain 4. What advice would
“[At Blancpain] we took advantage of
  the quartz revolution. The idea was to you give to someone
take the oldest watch brand in the
world and make watches like in the working in the
past – not in a factory, but one man
sitting at home on his own, making the creative industries?
watch from A to Z. By going back to
the old way of working, we could create
art again. And we had huge success.
Our advertising claim was that since Elizabeth Varley Rafe Offer
1735, the year Blancpain was born, Founder and CEO, Co-founder,
there had never been a Blancpain TechHub Sofar Sounds
quartz watch – and there never would “‘Don’t get it right, “There’s nothing
be. Everybody believed quartz was the get it written!’ My better than getting
future, but we said no.” mother would tell Alex Ward out of the office Otegha Uwagba
Prioritise your personal life me this when I’d Co-founder, and connecting to Founder,
“I sold Blancpain because my wife be meticulously Three Fields people who engage Women Who
left me. I’d never failed at anything wording a Entertainment with your product. “‘Not everyone’s
before – and that was a weakness, paragraph of an “A passion for For Sofar, it meant gonna clap for you’
because you must fail to get strong. essay due the next gaming often understanding – some tough love,
Gradually, I lost motivation, and after day in school. It’s begins as a hobby, frustrations in courtesy of my
two years I sold the company because important to get and converting the events space mum. If you do
I believed – wrongly – that it was the things right, it into your work is and removing creative work,
reason for the failure of my marriage. but sometimes something many those barriers.” you’re going to
So I went back to my wife and said, if a vision of people find hard. hear ‘no’ a lot. Not
‘I’ve sold it, let’s start again.’ She perfection stops Playing games can Yana Peel everyone’s going
replied, ‘I don’t love you any more.’ you delegating be individual and CEO, Serpentine to like, appreciate,
Without family life we can achieve very or accepting an solitary, whereas Galleries or be into whatever
little. Family life means internal peace.” option that’s making them “Rather than taking it is you’re doing
Disrupt with purpose perfectly good, requires working jobs in the arts, I – and that’s OK.
“At Hublot, whatever we disrupt must it might mean as part of a team, find it exciting to Learn not to take
make sense and must fit with our something doesn’t collaborating, make them. it personally, and
message. Take gold. What’s the get done at all.” problem-solving Resources can be to move on.” EP
weakness of gold? It’s soft, it scratches. and stepping in sparse, but there is
But what about an alloy? I asked to lend a hand plenty of innovation
that question to professor Andreas in different areas.” and ambition.
Mortensen, a big guy in metallurgy. Presenting great
And a few years later he found an alloy proposals for
that makes our gold unscratchable. partnership is
We still have the patent. Our disruption the best way to
is productive. We don’t disrupt for the engage with
pleasure of disrupting; there must artistic leaders.”
always be a result, and it must always
be coherent with our brand.”
 VC INSIGHT

1. 2.
5. Google’s GV on why Tom Hulme Krishna Yeshwant
General partner General partner
money isn’t the “I’m interested in “The hottest thing
computer vision, in biotech is
most important part whether for training immuno-oncology
autonomous – ways of using the
of an investment vehicles or digital immune system
pathology. Quantum to cure cancer.
computing is also a There’s single-cell
very exciting RNA drop-
prospect – but if sequencing, which
you ask the experts gives us the ability
WO R K when they think to precisely break
S MA R T E R When Google founders Larry Page and to invest about $500 million (£360m) breakthroughs will apart cell biology.  
Sergey Brin asked neuroscientist Bill per year. Companies in its portfolio come, you will get Venture funds
Maris to set up the company’s venture include big names such as Uber, varied responses. rarely invest in
capital arm, Maris had two conditions: Periscope, Slack, Medium and Jet, and The same is true of behavioural health,
his team alone would decide who to it invested in more than 75 startups in artificial super- but palliative care
work with, and they would ignore 2017. The fund has an operations team intelligence. Right and primary care
Google’s strategic interests. “If we that helps founders with everything now, I’m interested demands will grow.
invested for Google’s strategic goals, from product design to marketing. in how you apply Also, I’m looking
which are always shifting anyway, “It’s all added value,” says Hulme. machine learning for back-pain
that would be a bar no investor could Strategically, healthcare is key. GV and AI to traditional therapies – it’s so
pass without dumb luck,” Maris was one of the largest investors in industries, such common, but we
explained at the time. digital health last year, thanks to as insurance.” don’t have a cure.”
Launched as Google Ventures in its participation in a $65m Series A
2009 and subsequently rebranded as round for cancer detection specialist
GV in 2015, the firm is an independent Freenome, a $50m Series B round for 3. 4.
fund with Google’s parent company stem cell transplant platform Magenta Kate Aronowitz Blake Byers
Alphabet as its sole limited partner. Therapeutics, and a $29m Series C Design partner General partner
This arrangement gives the team a round for clinical trials startup Science “Founders are “Cell therapy
great deal more freedom than many 37. But it says that its most important often technical but and genetic
VCs, explains general partner Tom “investment” was its support of the haven’t thought engineering will
Hulme. “It’s not demanding returns to American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) through user allow us to
deadline, so we can fit our investment in the wake of the Trump administra- experience, brand, harness a few
timeline to the startup,” he says. “If tion’s immigration restrictions. design and billion years of
companies are acquired by Alphabet, Europe has proved trickier – a strategy. We run evolution – that’ll
then we recuse ourselves from the European fund founded in 2014 was sprint sessions – be the most
conversation – as they will want to rolled back into the main fund a year from idea to exciting biotech
minimise the price, while we want to later, and only two of GV’s general user-testing in one investment area.
maximise it. We don’t want conflict.” partners are currently based in the UK week. In areas In fintech, helping
GV now has $2.4 billion (£1.7bn) in office. “But I don’t think there are that such as robotics the underbanked
assets under management and aims many VCs investing as heavily and as and health, that’s is the long-term
aggressively in Europe as we are,” says key – we’ve worked vision, and while
general partner Krishna Yeshwant, with one founder flying cars are
who leads GV’s Life Science team and on the design of a almost a sci-fi
still practises medicine for two days delivery robot joke, battery tech
PHOTOGRAPHY: NICK WILSON

a week in Boston. “It’s got great people, to see what level has reached the
good infrastructure and a collaborative of personality stage where
From left: culture – which makes a breeding customers might eight rotors on
Tom Hulme, ground for legendary companies.” respond to, and a drone will carry
Krishna Yeshwant, Stephen Armstrong helped a company four people.”
Kate Aronowitz working on
and Blake Byers, an external
photographed defibrillator make
at GV HQ, London it user-friendly.”
 COMIC

6. How BrewDog built its

£1 billion craft-beer empire

Founders James Watt and Martin Dickie recall their journey in brewing up a global success story

WO R K
SM A RT E R  

ILLUSTRATION: RUBY FRESSON. WORDS: ELEANOR PEAKE

 THE INSIDER
EVENT EDIT

Somnai
Clerkenwell, London
March 1-May 6, 2018
Live the
-
Created by dotdotdot, a
WIRED life
design studio specialising Events, new products and promotions
in merging virtual reality Compiled by Amira Arasteh
experiences with multi-
sensory aspects and live
performances, Somnai is a
lucid dreaming experience
being brought to London.
Using immersive technologies,
Somnai aims to awaken all
of the human senses, so
that participants will be able
to access and control their
subconscious in their sleep –
all in 90 minutes.

The Trash-ic or Trash

in The Face of Beauty
Saatchi Gallery, London
May 17-20, 2018
-
The second show of French
Lebanese artist, painter and
philanthropist Mouna Rebeiz,
this exhibition will display
Rebeiz’s personal view on
current societal issues,
exploring the fine line between
trash and beauty, and how
they can coexist in art. WIRED
INSIDER
Brain Bar Budapest
Budapest, Hungary
June 1-2, 2018
-
Worldwide experts gather
in Budapest to discuss
the future of technology,
data, geopolitics, food and
humankind. Speakers range
from Margrethe Vestager, Arper Ply H-36 arper.com £315 – £880 Eve Sleep Bedspread evemattress.co.uk £159
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July 11-15, 2018 B&O Play M3 Speaker beoplay.com £279 Muuto Tip Lamp skandium.com £245
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03.18 LESSONS FROM DIDI CHUXING, 01.18 THE INTERNET IS BROKEN – WIRED 12.17 STEPHEN HAWKING AND THE
THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE STARTUP SHOWS HOW TO FIX IT WORLD’S LEADING SCIENTISTS

10.17 BUMBLE’S WHITNEY WOLFE 09.17 AMAZON’S NEXT MOVE – 07/08.17 THE SCIENCE OF SUCCESS – BEN
TAKES ON TINDER THE JEFF BEZOS MASTER PLAN AINSLIE’S RULES FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE

06.17 HOW RUSSIA HACKED THE INTERNET… 05.17 WHO’S NEXT? – EUROPE’S £35 04.17 THE SMART LIST – TECH’S BIGGEST
AND WHAT THE WEST NEEDS TO DO NOW BILLION WAR ON SILICON VALLEY NAMES PICK THE STARS OF TOMORROW

03.17 THE END OF THE WORLD EDITION… 01/02.17 THE TASTEMAKERS WHO DECIDE 12.16 GO BEYOND! BERTRAND PICCARD’S
BUT WIRED WILL SAVE YOU WHAT YOU WATCH AND LISTEN TO ROUND-THE-WORLD ADVENTURE
Be it cultural, strategic
or practical, we deliver
actionable foresight
in whatever format you
require: from research,
bespoke events and
editorial reports, to
innovation roadmaps
for business cases
and training sessions
for teams throughout
your organisation.
 SET DESIGN: JO ELBOURNE. MOBILE CREATED BY WINDING COLOURED COTTON YARN AROUND
LASER-CUT ACRYLIC SHAPES, TO WEAVE A GEOMETRIC NUMERICAL PATTERN ON FRONT AND REAR
PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE

 

“User forgiveness has its limits.” Rachel Botsman, p88

S TO RI E S
LONG-FORM
IT’S THE MOST VALUABLE COMPANY ON EARTH.
IT HAS UNPARALLELED POWER AND REACH.
NOW WHAT? TEN EXPERTS OFFER THEIR VIEW ON WHAT’S NEXT

ESSAYS BY Rachel Botsman, Azeem Azhar, Sarah Lacy,

Leander Ka hney, Tony Fadell, Carl Miller, Connie Chan,
Gadi Amit, Dan Ariely and Scott Galloway
CURATION: Amit Katwala ILLUSTRATION: Bo Lundberg


THINK DIFFERENT
How Apple can change the world again
 1. TRUST
APPLE NEEDS
TO BE
UPFRONT
WITH ITS
CUSTOMERS
The saga began with a simple post – and ended
with a rare Apple admission. On December 9, 2017,
reddit user TeckFire posted a note titled “iPhone
slow? Try replacing your battery!” It sparked a flurry
of comments from iPhone 6 owners.
On December 20, a few days after a damaging test
report was released by developer John Pooler, Apple
admitted its iOS software intentionally slowed
down the performance of older iPhones. “Our goal is
to deliver the best experience for customers, which
includes overall performance and prolonging the
life of their devices,” stated Apple.
It wasn’t the best start to the unfolding trust crisis:
ofering some wale rather than a direct apology, and
only after being publicly “outed” by a third party. The
ACTIVE APPLE DEVICE USERS
company claimed it was just a technical issue to do
with ageing batteries, and not a devious marketing
1.3 BILLION
ploy designed to encourage frustrated users
______ ______
to upgrade to a new phone. Critically, the company
had failed to tell people that a simple battery
replacement would solve the slowdown problem.
Apple has a history of responding to customer
complaints by laying blame at anyone’s door but its
own. For instance, in June 2010, iPhone 4 customers
grumbled about reception issues. Apple’s response?
It was the customers’ fault for gripping the phone in
such a way that it reduced reception. In September
2014, when hackers broke into the iCloud accounts
of Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities, stealing
nude photos and posting them online, Apple
dismissed the breach as “low-tech”. The hackers
merely guessed weak passwords. Apple could take
a little paraphrased advice from Shakespeare:
“The fault lies not in the stars, but in ourselves.”
A barrage of damaging accusations followed the
reddit post and Apple’s initial response. Among
them that the admission of the slowdown was proof
of suspicions about “planned obsolescence”.
So, Apple tried dousing the flames again,
formally apologising on December 28, 2017 for
what it called a “misunderstanding about the issue”.
It also promised to replace the batteries of iPhone 6
or later in stores for £25 – a £54 discount. It was an
efort to “regain the trust of anyone who may have
doubted Apple’s intentions”, the company said.
Apple was right to focus on intentions. Inten-
tions are powerful when it comes to trust. It doesn’t
matter whether we’re deciding to trust a bank with
our money, a babysitter with our kids, or Apple for
its smartphones, the four traits of trustworthiness
are the same: competence, reliability, benevolence,
integrity. The last trait is often the hardest to get
right. It’s the ultimate trust test for companies:
whether their words match their actions. As Dr
Seuss put it, “Be who you are and say what you
mean.” Companies with integrity don’t waiver. They
are consistently straight with their customers. The
bargain-priced battery, and the public profession it
would never manipulate a product like that, were
an attempt by Apple to show that their interests
were aligned with those of the customer.
During Apple’s Q1 2018 earnings call, held in early
February, Tim Cook, the company’s CEO, was asked
by an investor whether he expects iPhone upgrade
rates to decrease now that customers are aware they
can replace their batteries to jump performance.
“I don’t know how it will impact upgrades,” Cook
replied. “We did it because we saw it as the right
thing to do for our customers.” And, he might have
added, because a gesture of goodwill is a powerful
builder of trust, even if it’s well overdue.
Apple sold 77.3 million iPhones in its first quarter,
down 1.24 per cent year-on-year from 2017 (78.3
million). Was the slump due to the battery debacle?
It’s possible. However, despite a media backlash
and intense legal scrutiny (Apple now faces more
than 45 class-action lawsuits about the software
update), total sales are up 13 per cent year over year.
It may be that the entire Apple ecosystem of
products have become so indispensable to users
that brand loyalty can take a few knocks before they
switch to Android. For consumers, convenience can
trump issues of trust, to a point. User forgiveness has
its limits. When Apple is not upfront with customers,
suspicion starts to brew. What other shortcomings
we don’t yet know about might lurk in the system?
Simple goodwill solutions lie in the design of
their products, right down to little things such as,
on the battery front, they could notify users that
their batteries have passed their peak performance.
Apple, and others, can no longer behave as if we are
in an era of unbridled enthusiasm for all things digital.
With the growing backlash against the tech titans,
PR pufery won’t be enough to cover up closed-door
antics. Apple will need to crack open the “black
boxes” of its products, to lift the veil on the opera-
tions of systems with which we interact daily and
yet know very little about – and may trust too much.
It’s not enough merely to tell us, after the fact,
that its intentions were good. It needs to give
us reason to believe its claims of good intention.
RACHEL BOTSMAN is the author of Who Can
You Trust?: How Technology Brought Us
Together – and Why it Could Drive Us Apart

2. HARDWARE
APPLE WILL
USHER IN
AN ERA
OF INVISIBLE
COMPUTING
Apple is still a hardware company. Despite the
success of the App Store and iTunes, it’s always
been driven by hardware, and our relationship
with hardware. It’s had two significant waves –
the computing wave, and the mobile wave.
Next, the combination of device miniaturisation
and the improvement in user interface, both in
terms of voice and gesture control, will take us
to a point of ubiquitous, invisible computing.
You’re still going to access your computing
resources, but you’re going to worry much
less about the interface or form factor. You’re
starting to see this with the Apple Watch and the
HomePod. The Watch has sold more units than
the Mac this year, and is closing in on the iPad.
It’s a natural extension of what Apple has done
since the Apple II, the Mac and the iPhone, with
multi-touch and Siri. It’s about giving you access
to the beauty and power of computing, by pushing
its engineering further and further away, and
bringing its design and human factors closer.
With that in mind, the three obvious places
for Apple to put itself are going to be transport,
health, and this pervasive computing layer that
lives within our homes. As personal computing
becomes embedded in our environment, it’s hard
to believe that Apple is going to sit on the sidelines.
AZEEM AZHAR
Curator, Exponential View;
board of directors, Cronycle
3. GROWTH
APPLE SHOULD
GROW
BY SNAPPING
UP MEDIA
COMPANIES
Tim Cook can’t build and grow Apple the same
way that Steve Jobs did.
Yes, the company should continue to work on new
hardware, but it should also go all-in on media. Jobs
had also been the CEO of Pixar, and so the media
industry should have been Apple’s for the taking.
But Netflix and Amazon have destroyed them
36 PER MINUTE
in the television space, Spotify has done better on
MACS SOLD IN 2017
music and the Roku box is, arguably, better than
______ ______
the Apple TV as a piece of living-room technology.
Apple has said that it is going to start spending
on content to try and compete on streaming. One
prediction has it spending as much as $4.2 billion
(£3bn) a year on content by 2022, nearly twice as
much as HBO spent in 2016, while others put the
annual figure at a more modest $1 billion. But, Apple
spent $3 billion on Beats in 2014, and that didn’t
help it to win against Spotify.
At this point, Apple needs to seriously change
its game plan. To keep growing, it should do what
worked for Google and Facebook: it should grow
by buying aggressively, and by buying the right
things – and not another Beats.
SARAH LACY
CEO of Chairman Mom;
founder of Pando
 4. HEALTH
APPLE’S 2018 Q1 REVENUE
$88.3 BILLION

APPLE WILL
______ ______

It’s obviously going to be very important to get

TURN THE
WATCH INTO
A LIFE-
SAVING TOOL
Apple is looking for a big industry to disrupt,
and it doesn’t get any bigger than healthcare.
It is already deep in the medical space with
ResearchKit and HealthKit, two platforms for
distributed digital healthcare and monitoring.
These have been taken up by the research
community in a big way, along with the Apple Watch.
Healthcare is moving much more towards
prevention – and health monitoring is a big part
of that. An ongoing pilot in the US allows people
to download their medical history to their
iPhones, and the Apple Watch is being used in a
nationwide heart study conducted by Stanford
University. The Apple Watch can already detect
Parkinson’s tremors and dodgy heart rhythms.
With the addition of more sensors, it could
become a life-saving platform for remote health
monitoring and disease prevention.
Last year, a 28-year-old man in New York had a
pulmonary embolism – reaching the hospital in time
to save his life due to his Apple Watch detecting that
his heart was racing. It’s rumoured that the next
Watch will have an electrocardiogram reader to give
more detailed information about heart rhythms.
the software right: it’s not going to be much fun if
your Watch tells you that you’re about to have a
heart attack and it turns out to be a glitch.
Next, Apple should put a non-invasive blood-
sugar monitor in the Watch. Apple’s health-con-
scious CEO Tim Cook has been wearing a glucose
monitor, and the company reportedly has a team
devoted to developing ways of measuring it contin-
uously without puncturing the skin.
It would be useful for diabetics, but it would also
be a powerful tool for weight loss if, ten minutes
after you ate a doughnut, you could see how your
blood had been flooded with sugar.
Apple should use the Watch to give its wearers
immediate feedback about what they eat and the
impact of exercise. It would transform eating and
dieting – and could potentially save lives.
LEANDER KAHNEY
Editor and publisher,
cultofmac.com
091
5. BEHAVIOUR
APPLE SHOULD
TACKLE THE
PROBLEM OF
SMARTPHONE
ADDICTION
In 1976, Steve Jobs dreamed of a “computer
for the rest of us”. Forty years later, his dream
has been realised, and more than a third of the
world’s population now uses a smartphone. But
the success of these devices has also brought
unintended consequences, including concerns
around addiction and overuse.
Many people say “this is a Facebook problem.”
Yes, some app providers that rely on advertising
or in-app purchases are incentivised to distract
us and take advantage of the fact that we now
have these always-on devices with us.
I strongly believe this is not just a “Facebook
problem” or just a “kids’ issue”. All of us, adults
and children, have had our lives transformed in
the decade since the iPhone was unveiled. Now
we have always-connected email, messaging,
shopping, banking and so on, in addition to social,
gaming and entertainment apps. Many of these
seem benign, but we use them more than we know.
There is no consensus on what constitutes
healthy device usage. We need more data so that
we can establish useful recommendations.
Take healthy eating as an analogy: we have
advice from scientists and nutritionists on
how much protein and carbohydrate we should
include in our diet; we have standardised scales to
measure our weight against; and we have norms
for how much we should exercise.
But when it comes to digital “nourishment”, we
don’t know what a “vegetable”, a “protein” or a
“fat” is. What is “overweight” or “underweight”?
What does a healthy, moderate digital life look
like? I think that manufacturers and app devel-
opers need to take on this responsibility, before
government regulators decide to step in – as with
nutritional labelling. Interestingly, we already have
digital-detox clinics in the US. I have friends who
have sent their children to them. But we need
basic tools to help us before it comes to that.
I believe that for Apple to maintain and even
grow its customer base it can solve this problem at
the platform level, by empowering users to under-
stand more about how they use their devices.
To do this, it should let people track their digital
activity in detail and across all devices. You should
be able to see exactly how you spend your time
and, if you wish, moderate your behaviour accord-
ingly. We need a “scale” for our digital weight,
like we have for our physical weight. Our digital
consumption data could look like a calendar
with our historical activity. It should be itemised
like a credit-card bill, so people can easily see
how much time they spend each day on email,
for example, or scrolling through posts. Imagine
it’s like a health app which tracks metrics
such as step count, heart rate and sleep quality.
‘WHEN IT COMES TO DIGITAL
“NOURISHMENT”, WHAT IS
“UNDERWEIGHT” OR “OVERWEIGHT”?
WHAT DOES A HEALTHY, MODERATE
DIGITAL LIFE LOOK LIKE?’
With this usage information, people could then
set their own targets – like they might have a goal
for steps to walk each day. Apple could also let
users set their device to a “listen-only” or “read-
only” mode, without having to crawl through a
settings menu, so that you can enjoy reading an
e-book without a constant buzz of notifications.
WEEKLY SIRI REQUESTS
Apple is particularly well-placed to tackle
this problem, with system-level control across
______ ______
2 BILLION
devices. With access to this information, I think
many of us would be astonished at what we
found and would probably choose to change our
behaviour. I already do this with my family – we
try things like “tech-free Sundays”, no devices at
meals, and a parental control product called Circle.
Designing and building a tool like this won’t
be difficult: the pieces are already in place, and
it would be far easier and cheaper than building
a self-driving car. Unlike that of many tech
companies, Apple’s business model revolves
around people buying more devices, not neces-
sarily spending more time on them. I believe Apple
will sell more devices if it makes this kind of digital
activity tracking available, as people will feel more
comfortable buying them for themselves and
their children if they have that extra control.
If Apple does the right thing, the industry will follow.
TONY FADELL
Co-inventor of the iPod;
co-founder of Nest Labs
 6. PRIVACY
APPLE NEEDS
TO GIVE USERS
SOVEREIGNT Y
OVER ALL
THEIR DATA
We’re at a tipping point in the way large tech
companies leverage user data, in terms of whether
people feel that it’s something that is being done
to them, or something they are actually part of.
Apple can be the decisive voice, by giving its users
control over their own data.
There are two good reasons why it can only be
Apple that does this. Firstly, although it collects
an enormous amount of valuable data about its
users – on transactions, locations, health – its
business model is not as heavily predicated on
data as are Google and Facebook’s.
Secondly, it’s large enough to actually move
a market. It could find ways to share the data it
collects from each of its users, with its users, and
then find ways for those users to get more value
from that data if they want to.
APPLE EMPLOYEES
Apple could enable new software, apps and
______ ______
123,000
spin-off companies as a data broker. Instead of
companies profiting from the sale of personal data,
it would be the users themselves. You could have a
data-brokering service that you centralise all your
data within, and then it can go of and negotiate the
best deal for you according to a series of stipulations
about how exactly you want your data to be shared.
It might even make commercial sense. This is
a service that has value for customers. You use
Apple, and on average you make, say, £500 a year
by selling your data through “iData”, a service that
Apple provides. It’s another selling point.
Apple giving its users data sovereignty could
create a really powerful precedent, moving the
market a bit further away from the surveillance
capitalism model that is causing anxiety among
a great many consumers, and further towards
something that really puts the user in control.
CARL MILLER
Research director, Centre
for the Analysis of Social
Media at Demos
7. M E S S A G I N G
APPLE
SHOULD TURN
MESSAGES INTO
AN APP FOR
EVERY THING
Later this year, Apple is set to launch Business
Chat, a way for companies to connect with
consumers directly via Messages. It’s a devel-
opment that clearly takes inspiration from
WeChat, the app from Chinese web giant Tencent.
WeChat started as a messaging service, but has
grown into an “app for everything” that includes
transportation and payment services.
If the western world continues to follow the
same tech trends as Asia, then our future will
be one where mobile is the new normal and the
desktop experience becomes an afterthought.
Already, developers are skipping websites
altogether and only making apps – one day they
could forego apps to make Messages apps.
However, messaging and communication
is already fragmented in the west, so to help
Business Chat take off, Apple should give
Messages an “unfair” advantage, by allowing it
to interact with other preloaded apps (such as
Wallet, Calendar and Files) in a much deeper way.
Business Chat’s other major advantage is Apple
Pay. In China, WeChat has shown that adding
payments to a messaging platform can produce
near-frictionless transactions and high efficiency.
Business Chat might be the carrot that convinces
offline merchants to promote Apple Pay.
Consumers are used to giving businesses their
phone numbers or email addresses for loyalty
points and discounts. Merchants could give
promotions to users that pay for goods via Apple
Pay – if they agree it also triggers a Business Chat.
Apple has been studying the success of
WeChat and LINE, and it hasn’t given up on the
consumer wallet opportunity. The messaging
wars in the west are about to heat up.
CONNIE CHAN
Partner, head of
consumer sector,
Andreessen Horowitz
093

8. HOME

APPLE’S
FUTURE IS
AT HOME

Apple is a phenomenal technology giant that
brought us the truly personal computer, the iPod
and the iPhone. It is amazingly successful, a brand
with strength like no other, that’s making a lot of
money. But, Apple is perceived to be trailing behind
Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook in areas such as
voice control, autonomous cars and virtual reality.
hardware and networking. Combined with a broad
ecosystem of content delivery, services and
user-interface standards, the company could pull
together a game-changing iPhone-style moment
for this mundane market segment.
This will mean flawless integration and instal-
lation of your security system, TV, kitchen appliances

CURRENT VALUE OF APPLE

$894.9 BILLION
Apple is clearly making eforts in these areas, and innovative new devices. It will provide a common
but I don’t think any of them present the company ground for new innovation and startups, much like

______ ______
with its best chance of making a big impact.
Instead, Apple should focus its attention on the
fragmented connected-home market, an oppor- ‘THE CONNECTED HOME
tunity that is optimal for its DNA. IS A MEGA-CHALLENGE
This giant market has a trillion-dollar potential, FOR A MEGA-COMPANY
but it’s currently broken and dysfunctional, with SUCH AS APPLE’
bad user experience, poor technology integration
and a lack of business cohesion. Interacting with all
these devices and services is a complete mess, as
each has its own app, business arrangement and, the iPhone’s impact on the mobile-phone market.
generally, entrenched poor design heritage. This Services attached to these home devices will be
mediocrity is reminiscent of the mobile phone scene accessed as simply as the App Store and third parties
just over a decade ago, before the iPhone arrived. will have a clear technology road map to follow, with
It is ripe for Apple’s design and powers of execution. a single powerful operating system to rely upon.
The company already has some notable The connected home is a mega-challenge
networking (Apple TV), entertainment (Beats), and suitable for a mega-company such as Apple.
interface and computing (Mac, iPad, iPhone) devices It should recapture its leadership by addressing
at home. It has recently introduced the HomePod, a neglected market with its ingenuity and talent.
a smart speaker with a somewhat unclear focus –
between voice control and an audio device. It also has
notable credentials in the music and content markets.
With its massive economic power and brand
cachet, Apple will have the power to reframe the
service and business models currently held by more
traditional service providers. The introduction
of 5G will bypass them all together as mobile
technology makes cable or phone lines obsolete.
But above all, Apple has the humanistic design
discipline and ability to execute a grand master GADI AMIT
plan. This is exactly what the dysfunctional President,
connected-home market lacks – and needs. New Deal Design,
Apple’s connected home will ofer a seamlessly designer of the Fitbit
integrated and well-designed system of software,

9. P R O D U C T I V I T Y
APPLE NEEDS
TO HELP OUR
PRODUCTIVITY
AND STOP
PAID APPLE MUSIC SUBSCRIBERS
DISTRACTING US
27 MILLION
______ ______
We all get distracted. But while we recognise the
cost of the initial distraction, we fail to understand
the deep effects that distraction has. Even when
we get back to our work, we’re not fully at work.
Yes, we might just respond to a quick text
message or Facebook post and then return to
the document we have open, but we’re not truly
engaged in the task. Our mind has wandered on to
something else, and it can take up to 15 minutes
for us to get back to the previous depth of focus.
There are some studies that show that even
just having our phone on the table while we’re
at work distracts us. The mere presence of this
device changes our ability to focus.
Why is the phone so tempting? Psychologist
BF Skinner showed us that random reinforce-
ments are incredibly powerful. If you give a rat a
piece of food every 100 times it presses a lever,
that’s exciting. But what if it’s a random number,
between one and 200? You might think that
the rat would press less, because it’s not clear
when they’ll get a reward. But the reality is the
rat presses much harder, and for longer. Even if
the reward goes away, the rat keeps on pressing.
To some degree, the electronic world around us
is random reinforcement. Take email, for example.
It’s mostly uninteresting, not that important and
rarely urgent. But from time to time, something
is useful or important, and that’s what keeps us
coming back to check our phones again and again.
Apple could help us break this cycle. When
we get distracted, it’s not at the moments we’ve
chosen to be sidetracked: it’s when other people
think about us and want to contact us, or when an
app we have thinks it’s the right time to pipe up.
Apple’s iOS could figure out which notifications
are truly urgent and which are not. We’ve done
some experiments that show that just batching
notifications and delivering them every three
hours gets people to be more productive, sleep
better and suffer less from stress.
The second thing Apple could do is try and
understand how productive we are, and only
interrupt when it’s the right moment for us. It
could try and track what we call “flow”, this rare
state when we’re really into something and we
are excited and concentrated.
Apple could measure our productivity using a
combination of how we type and move the mouse,
and only send us notifications when we’re not in a
state of flow. If you’re writing something contin-
uously at a certain speed and you don’t stop too
much, you’re more likely to be in a flow. If you type
and stop after every word, you’re probably not.
If we’re in an app that doesn’t require focus,
such as Facebook, then it can stop us at any
time. It’s only if we’re using an app where we’re
producing something then it should wait until we
switch to another app, or find a better moment
when we’re not in this state of flow. To me, taking
this state away from us is a crime. It’s something
that’s so rare that we should try and preserve it.
These suggestions aren’t easy to implement,
and I don’t think any company is actually that
proactive in helping us improve our productivity.
But given the importance of the topic, and how
much energy and attention we are losing, I can
think of very few things that Apple could do at this
point in time that would be more useful to mankind.
DAN ARIELY
James B Duke professor
of psychology and behavioural
economics, Duke University

10. EDUCATION
APPLE SHOULD
L AUNCH THE
WORLD’S
L ARGEST FREE
UNIVERSIT Y
Apple’s ability to create low-cost products and sell
them at premium luxury prices has landed them
with a cash pile greater than the Russian stock
market and the market capitalisation of Boeing
and Nike combined. The big question is whether
Apple has an obligation to spend this enormous
pile of cash? And, if so, how?
My suggestion: Apple should launch the world’s
largest tuition-free university.
The company has roots in academia and its
brand foots really well with creative services and
education. But, ultimately, I also think this idea is
an enormous profit opportunity.
How can Apple make it tuition-free as well as
profitable? It needs to “flip” the current funding
model, by making it tuition-free for students and
by charging companies to recruit there. At the
moment, companies go to universities and think of
them as their giant HR departments. The reasons
are obvious. Universities are great at screening
applicants, picking smart people, ensuring they
can work in groups and that they are emotionally
stable. Universities aren’t in the business of
educating, as much as they are in the business of
granting credentials to its students. Apple would be
very good at attracting the best candidates. And in
exchange for access to those students, corporates
would be willing to pay a lot of money.
Corporate profits are at an all-time high. Student
debt is at an all-time high. So we need to flip the
model and put the costs of education on to the
corporation. Apple could also deploy a bidding
system, similar to what Google and Facebook do
in advertising, where corporations bid to have first
access to the very best students.
Apple is already 60 to 70 per cent there. It
has the brand and it would attract incredible
applicants. What makes a quality school? Sure,
it’s the faculty, but mostly it’s the brand’s ability
to attract the best and brightest. As long as the
best and brightest apply to your programme,
you’re going to have the best and brightest faculty.
As long as you have the best and brightest faculty,
you will have the best recruiters showing up, who
will pay the most. And as long as you have the
recruiters who will pay the most showing up, you
get the best and brightest applying.
Apple would immediately get several million
applications. Or enough applications where they
can have an outstanding faculty. And then, by
ofering free tuition, they can place competitive
pressure on my colleagues to start ofering tuition
at a lower price. This is desperately needed because
currently we have this cartel that makes OPEC
look cuddly and socially conscious.
I work with one of the best faculties in the world
– and I think two-thirds could leave and not be
missed. Now, does that mean they should be fired?
No. But does it mean that they should be making
as much money as they do, without the same
competitive pressures that everyone faces in the
marketplace? Of course not. This just translates
into outrageous tuition fees which kids finance
with debt. Which means they get houses later;
which means they start families later; which means
they take fewer risks – it’s a drain on the economy.
So, I think a healthy dose of this tech-inspired
eiciency and competition would be a great thing
for academia. Today, we currently have the wrong
attitude. We turn away people and take pride in
our exclusivity. It’s like a homeless shelter bragging
about the people it doesn’t let through the door.
The whole mentality is screwed up.
Apple Stores could be used as campuses for the
Apple University. The stores are in highly dense,
‘WITH APPLE’S PROFITS, IT COULD
START THE EQUIVALENT OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS – AND
BE THE LARGEST FREE TUITION
SYSTEM IN AMERICA’
populated areas; they’re not used after hours and
they’re already starting to give some classes.
Alternatively, what if Apple had taken their space
ship and turned it into a university? What if they
said it was a university from the hours of 6pm to
10pm? And what if they said that three per cent
of its 150,000 employees that have credentials
as being the best and brightest in the company
become the adjunct professors in this university?
With Apple’s profits, I believe it could start the
equivalent of the University of Texas, the University
of California or the Michigan state system – but
ultimately, I think it could start the largest free-
tuition system in America. It would be good for
society, it foots to their brand and I think it would
be wildly profitable. What it would really come
down to, to make all of this work, is execution.
As told to Tom Upchurch
SCOTT GALLOWAY
Professor of marketing,
New York University
Stern School of Business
 A new chapter has begun
in the bloody war against
poaching in Africa –
with technology being used
as a force for good

( Protect and survive )

By Clair MacDougall
Photography: Liam Sharp

 

PHOTOGRAPHY: XXXXXXXXX
As day bleeds into night in the Maasai Mara National
Reserve in Kenya, Ntayia Lema Langas, the deputy
warden of the Mara Conservancy, barrels across the
landscape in a Land Rover flanked by rangers, crossing
an invisible border into neighbouring Tanzania.

torches, radios and their naked eyes Previous page: Mara Conservancy  
and ears. Now they use the infrared deputy warden Ntayia Lema
camera and handheld thermal Langas. Right: Kenya Wildlife Trust
cameras that can detect the body heat commander Peter Lokitela

A
pickup full of Tanzanian rangers
heading back across the border stops
and the vehicles’ occupants greet each
other. A senior officer shows photo-
graphs of poachers they had arrested
earlier in the day at a makeshift camp.
He flicks through photographs on his
smartphone of hacked zebra meat,
spread out on the dry grassland.
After the brief meeting, 30-year-old
Langas continues the journey with his
troops. They park behind shrubs at two
strategic points facing an escarpment.
A tiny sliver of Moon smiles high in
the black sky while flashes of
torchlight twinkle in the distance.
Sylvia Nashipai, a 24-year-old ranger
who joined the conservancy in 2016,
stands in front of the car, the other
rangers scanning the escarpment for
torchlight and movement.
The expanse of savannah breathes
gently as crickets chirp, the calm
broken by the occasional crackle from
the radio followed by directives from
Langas. He scans the area through a
forward-looking infrared camera (FLIR)
strapped on to his car, and a monitor
used to follow the images and direct
the camera. Before, the rangers used
of poachers and animals up to three
kilometres away. Armed with this infor-
mation, Langas’s rangers can chase and
apprehend them in under an hour.
“It’s difficult to ambush poachers
without this camera,” Langas tells me
the following day. “A lot of arrests have
been made – I think more than 100 now,
I don’t have the exact figures.” Recently,
Langas has caught dozens of poachers
who have been turned over and prose-
cuted. In this area, most of them kill
for bush meat, but rangers also have to
chase elephant poachers who roam the
Maasai Mara, a vast stretch of savannah
that is also home to populations of lions,
leopards and cheetahs.
On this occasion, no arrests are made.
As the rangers set out to leave, one of
the four-wheel drives fails to start.
A handful of them gather behind and
push the vehicle until the engine
splutters back to life. The headlights
flood the landscape ahead and the two
vehicles full of tired workers rumble
of into the distance.
Despite the eforts of Kenyan rangers,
elephant and rhino poaching numbers
remain at alarming levels. Conserva-
tionists estimate that, currently, more
elephants in Africa are being killed
than born. Despite an increase in ivory
seizures and a declining number of
elephants being killed for their tusks
over the past five years, at least 20,000
elephants were killed in 2015 alone,
according to data collected by the
Convention on the Trade in Endan-
gered Species. The black rhino remains
critically endangered; in countries such
as Kenya, they have been gathered in
sanctuaries and are guarded by armed
wildlife rangers. China, one of the world’s
biggest markets for ivory and rhino
horn, began enforcing an ivory ban on
January 1, 2018, but new frontiers for the
illicit trade in Asia continue to emerge.  
In 2012, the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) launched the Wildlife Crime
Technology Project, an initiative focused
on using technology to protect some of
the world’s most vulnerable species.
Initially supported by Google and in
collaboration with companies such as
FLIR and hardware giant CISCO, the
project has the ambitious mission of
achieving through technology what
conservation groups and national
wildlife services have failed to do so far:
to make wildlife reserves poacher-proof.
I meet conservation engineer Eric
Becker in November 2017 on the edge
of an airstrip scratched into the vast
green plains of the Maasai Mara, one of
the world’s most spectacular wildlife
reserves bordering Tanzania.  
Becker, a tall, dark-haired and bespec-
tacled man who describes himself as a
“nerd” is reserved, often retreating to
the sidelines, bowing his head to inhale
from a silver box-shaped e-cigarette. He
initially seems uncertain as to how much
 Below: Conservation engineer Eric Becker checks a jeep-mounted FLIR camera while on patrol

to divulge to me. Born into a family of

military engineers who have worked
on fighter jets and weaponry, he is used
to dealing with highly classified infor-
mation. He has worked as an engineer
for the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Special
Forces. At DARPA, where he worked as a
contractor, he developed technologies
the public doesn’t know exist: proto-
types which, according to Becker, are 50
years ahead of commercial technology.
“Everything they did was science
 fiction,” Becker says about DARPA at our
camp. He mentions synthetic blood they
invented, and a pod with robotic hands
that can be placed over wounded soldiers
for doctors to treat remotely.
Becker talks sparingly about his
inventions for the US military, but
when he talks about his experiments
with anti-poaching technology his
words soon flow. A natural inventor, he
is perpetually weighing up the precision
and possibilities of diferent technol-
ogies and how they can be combined, technology that could survive the In 2016, Becker approached Brian
stretched and shaped in diferent ways. rugged terrain of national parks in Heath, the conservationist who runs the
Becker was contracted by the WWF Africa and Asia came with a specific set Mara Conservancy. Heath, who witnessed
in 2014 because of his background in of challenges. For example, with a lack some of the most brutal days of elephant
drone R&D. A wildlife organisation of consistent power supply and basic poaching in Kenya, was “sceptical” of
deploying in remote parts of Africa infrastructure in many of the parks Becker’s technological approach. His
surveillance and tactical communica- the WWF works in, battery life is an rangers were equipped with .303 calibre
tions technology traditionally used by important consideration. Another early rifles from the first and second world
the US military, has raised concerns project, involving the use of drones as a wars, a handful of old radios and a small
over privacy, human rights and data deterrent for poaching in Namibia, had to fleet of Nato-green Land Rovers. Unlike
collection among conservationists. be shut down in 2017 as drones became other parts of Kenya and East Africa,
In some countries, legal frameworks unpopular with African governments there were few sophisticated armed
for the use of surveillance technology concerned about external surveillance. poaching rings operating in his stretch
may be lax or ill-defined. Although Becker began experimenting with of the Maasai Mara National Reserve
Becker is proud of some of the combat thermal cameras, repackaging the known as the Mara Triangle. Bush-meat
technology he developed, “Making sensors within FLIR units that have poachers from Tanzania would walk down
it like a video game to kill people been used by the US military for years a steep escarpment that acted as a natural
just wasn’t my thing,” he tells me. for night operations. He then developed frontier between the two countries. They
He soon found that developing algorithms that could help them identify would lay hundreds of snares during the
low-cost surveillance and tactical human silhouettes and vehicles, and day before returning at night to collect
trigger alerts in a control room. He their kill. The snares would injure and
mounted the cameras around a stretch sometimes kill dozens of animals every
of fence line in Lake Nakuru, a govern- year – leopards, lions, elephants, zebras
Left: Sylvia Nashipai, ment-run rhino sanctuary. In the national and girafes – even if the poachers never
a ranger at the Maasai park located in the city of Nakuru, Kenya’s intended to catch them. Most poachers
Mara National Reserve, third-largest city, poachers were known would use bow and arrows and spears,
patrols the 1,510m 2 to enter through a 20-kilometre stretch and rarely fought with rangers or resist
savannah for poaching of fence line, kill rhinos, saw their horns arrest. The main problem for Heath and
activity armed with a of and disappear into the bright lights his team of rangers was that they simply
rifle and a FLIR camera and congested streets in the distance. couldn’t see the poachers in the dark.
 
 After visiting the Mara Conservancy, Below: Armed Kenya Wildlife Service rangers on patrol during the day
where he shadowed the rangers on day
and night foot patrols, Becker decided
to mount a FLIR camera on to a car. He
wanted to operate it like a ground-level
drone. The camera would be monitored
by a commander, who then directed
rangers using handheld cameras. Unlike
night-vision cameras, which rely on
moonlight and starlight to function,
heat-detecting thermal cameras can
operate during the daytime and in the
pitch-black night, helping rangers scan
areas up to three kilometres away.
Around the same time, in March 2016,
Becker installed static thermal cameras
capable of identifying human forms and
vehicles near a fence line often used by
poachers in the national park of Lake
Nukuru, around 300 kilometres north
of Heath’s conservancy.
“In the past, we would never have
found these people,” Heath says. “Now
the poachers are saying it’s just not
worth going out, because the chance
of getting caught is getting higher and
higher. It has been a big deterrent.”
Heath says the technology could
be useful in ivory-poaching hotspots,
where the H&K G3s and Kalashnikovs of
national rangers are often matched by
skilled gangs, who are typically armed
with similar weaponry.
In January 2018, Colby Loucks, the
head of the WWF’s Wildlife Crime Becker and introduced him to Heath
Technology project, met senior oicials in 2015, while Becker and Powell were

from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
and Jef Frank, vice president of global
product strategy at FLIR, to discuss the
possibility of rolling out the technology
in the country’s national parks. They told
WIRED that they are planning to deploy
the technology in rhino sanctuaries and
reserves throughout the country.
After the cameras were deployed at
Lake Nukuru, Becker received a request
from the Kenyan government: “They
wanted this system on the Somali border
to monitor the Somalis coming in.” He
turned it down. “We need to make sure
they’re focused on the parks,” he says.
Previous page: An injured
bull elephant, treated by
veterinary surgeon
Campaign Limo, walks
unsteadily back to the bush.
The blue marks are antiseptic
clay to help prevent infection
W
hile in the Maasai Mara with Becker
I met Marc Goss, manager of the Mara
Elephant Project, which also works
to combat poaching in the reserve.
Dressed in a brown ranger’s uniform
with tortoiseshell aviator glasses, Goss
stands next to his parked helicopter
smoking and talking on his phone in
Swahili. Adults and barefoot children
gather to marvel at the helicopter. Born
in Kenya, Goss is one of a cast of “Kenya
cowboys” or white Kenyans, who are key
figures in the conservation movement.
He met Becker through George
Powell, a conservation biologist who
works with Becker on the Wildlife Crime
Technology Project. Goss befriended
touring Kenya looking for potential
sites to experiment with their drones.
Goss had been using them to scare
elephants away from farms they often
raided for food. While Goss’s work has
focused on breaking down poaching
rings, in recent years his organi-
sation The Mara Elephant Project
has become more concerned with the
escalating conflict between humans
and elephants. Farmers are fencing of
land and planting and grazing cattle
closer to national parks and the range-
lands between the Masai Mara and
the Serengeti. “As people continue to
spread, farm and herd more livestock,
the area for elephants to live in gets
smaller and smaller,” Goss explains over
a cup of cofee at our camp.
Goss and his team fitted elephants
with collars containing electronic
GPS trackers, and monitored their
movements through a smartphone
with the STE Tracking App, developed
by Vulcan, a private company owned
 Below: …and how rangers – and poachers – are seen at night through FLIR cameras

drone to locate the animal and circled

the helicopter low to push it out into
a clearing where he could be treated
by a vet. As Goss edges closer towards
the striken elephant in the helicopter,
Campaign Lino, a veterinarian with
the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust,
shoots it with a tranquillizer from the
window. The elephant falls to the ground
and the team swiftly begin treatment,
cleaning out the animal’s wounds and
applying antiseptic. When they are
finished, Campaign injects the elephant
 to wake it. After examining the injuries,
the team concluded the elephant was
likely attacked when it encroached on
a farm, he says, because there was no
poison in the wound – a sure sign of the
involvement of poachers. As the animal
comes to and stumbles towards a thicket
of acacia trees, we speed of in a pickup
truck back to the camp.

As we rumble across the Mara in a

shiny white WWF jeep we are accom-
panied by Peter Lokitela, a tall, slender
man with sharp brown eyes who was
born in the Turkana region of Kenya,
‘In the past, we would never have found these people. an area known for its fierce cattle-
raiding culture and the discovery of the
Now, the poachers are saying it’s just not worth going out, skeleton of the Turkana Boy, the earli-
because the chance of getting caught is getting higher est-known human remains. Lokitela
and higher. Thermal cameras have been a big deterrent’ works for the WWF’s Kenya office on
anti-poaching and speaks frankly about
– Eric Becker the hardship he has faced as a ranger:
by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. We take off in the helicopter with finding bloody elephant carcasses
Once the elephants started heading into Goss and Becker. Cumulus clouds encircled by vultures; camping in
villages and farmlands to raid crops, and blue skies unroll before us, green the open bush; chasing poachers for
Goss would fly out in his helicopter grasses and hippopotamuses bathing months on end and violent shoot-outs
and shoo them away to prevent in the winding brown rivers below. The in which rangers had been killed.
them from getting speared or killed landscape soon fades into arid, treeless Lokitela’s stories about past opera-
by villagers and farmers. In recent patches of land dotted with small farms tions often end abruptly with accounts
months, he has managed to obtain a fenced of with dry acacia branches. of violent encounters with poachers.
licence from the Kenyan Ministry of We touch down in the plush camp “When you get poachers in the bush
Defence to operate two drones that he once owned by Paul Allen and are and they’re armed, what do you discuss
hopes will replace his helicopter – which greeted by a young white Kenyan man with them?” says Lokitela.
costs an expensive £280 an hour to run in a cowboy hat, a large knife sheathed The KWS has also long been rumoured
– as a means of pushing the marauding in leather on his hip. Standing next to to have a policy of shooting poachers
elephants away. He and Becker have him is an older, squinting South African on sight, introduced by paleontologist
discussed strapping a thermal camera man with the gravelly voice of a smoker. and conservationist Richard Leakey,
to the drone to make it easier to Goss and Becker begin setting up their who is now chairman of the organi-
shoo the animals away at night. Goss DJI Phantom drone. There had been sation. Leakey founded KWS in 1989,
also plans to use the drone to spray reports of a large old bull elephant that during the height of the poaching crisis,
chilli powder over the elephants as a had been injured and was stumbling and is seen as the man responsible
means to keep them away. across the escarpment. Goss used the for the militarisation of modern
conservation in Kenya, through his
use of helicopter gunships and the
deployment of Maasai warriors.
Groups such as Human Rights Watch
have accused the KWS of involvement in
disappearances and counterterrorism
operations, and claim the organisation
lacks transparent processes through
which rangers who commit abuses
can be held accountable.
Later, I meet Leakey at his office
at the Nairobi-based Turkana Basin
Institute. On a long, squat shelf in the
corner of his oice rest an assortment
of ornaments: a model of a museum on
the origins of mankind that he plans
to build in northern Kenya, a skull his
mother discovered in 1959 in Tanzania
and a model of dung beetle rolling a ball
of manure given by a friend as a joke.  a national park in Zambia, an ivory-
For Leakey, the big challenge in the
fight against poaching isn’t technology,
but managing a team of dissatisfied,
ill-equipped and underpaid rangers. “I
fear that security through technology,
which is quite costly, is drawing more
potential funding away from the real
issues,” he tells me as he sits behind his
immaculately organised desk.
“If we could be less corrupt and
steal less money in KWS, we could
probably manage without donor
support, except for vehicles, planes and
things like that. But we’ve had a lot of
holes. It’s been like a sieve.”
AFRI CA
Nai robi
Maasai Mara
Nati onal Reser ve
TA NZANI A
Poaching activity in
the area is at its most
prevalent where
Kenya’s Maasai Mara
National Park meets
the border with
neighbouring Tanzania
F
or Eric Becker, constant surveillance
could mean greater accountability and
mean that rangers are less likely to
conspire with poachers or steal seized
ivory or rhino horn.  before dividing them into “classified” and
In January 2018, he began work at
poaching hotspot. With the support of
CISCO, Becker will install mobile-phone
towers fitted with radios and antennas
across a 60-kilometre stretch of Lake
Itezhi-Tezhi in Kafue National Park. He
will mount thermal cameras that can
rotate 360° and are trained to detect
the movement of dugout fishing canoes
– a common method of transport for
poachers. The rangers will be trained to
use a sophisticated tactical application,
the Android Team Assault Kit, used by the
Special Forces and US law enforcement,
which they will use to send back images
to central command via a secure Wi-Fi
network. If this project, on schedule to
be up and running this spring, proves
successful, the WWF plans to roll it out in
other areas where wildlife species remain
under threat from poaching.
In Becker’s future vision of a wildlife
park, glowing figures of elephants, lions,
zebras and girafes move across computer
screens in a control room. Fatigue-clad
wardens monitor the area in towers fitted
with rotating thermal cameras, sensors
and camera traps, placed within the
savannahs and the thicket. Elephants are
tagged with small devices that translate
their cries and calls. Gunshot detectors
alert central command to incursions by
poachers. Under the moonlight, teams of
rangers would rally with real-time infor-
mation and directives beamed to their
smartphones. They would launch micro-
drones fitted with thermal cameras to
find their target. They would move in on
the poachers and arrest them. Ideally no
animal or human would be killed in this
process. In the daylight, rangers would
ferry tourists around the park. As they
approach wildlife, sensors would be
triggered and a virtual tour guide would
tell them about the animal and their
habitat. The animals would be perpet-
ually monitored and protected.  
Back in the real-world control room
at Lake Nukuru, a ranger monitors
a computer screen containing feeds
from 16 cameras across the fence line,
near where one notorious poacher who
was killed once lived. An alert is tripped
whenever there is movement and the
ranger must acknowledge every one
with a keystroke or a click of the mouse.
Becker had to “dumb down” the system
to only trip off alerts when there is
movement from humans and vehicles,
“unclassified.” Updates from the system
are sent daily to the park’s warden.
“It just keeps people honest,” Becker
tells me. “They know that Big Brother
is watching.”
Becker also envisions a national
“war room” in Nairobi where real-time
footage and information from the parks
could be fed. In the coming months he’s
hoping to experiment with wireless
camera traps that could send images
back to base immediately.
At nightfall at Lake Nakuru, we head
out on patrol with the rhinoceros squad.
They spot a cluster of three rhinos
near the lake, shimmering with bright
city lights in the distance. The rangers,
brandishing their G3s and AK-47s,
must monitor the huge mammals
throughout the night.
Steven Juma Were, a portly sergeant
with the rhino squad who has been with
the KWS for 24 years, has seen camera
traps and new technologies come and
go. Over the past two years the cameras
have “helped a lot”, he says, particu-
larly with securing this particular
boundary. Becker demonstrates to the
rangers how the FLIR cameras work in
comparison to the night vision.
The poachers, the sergeant says,
have already found a new entry point.
But Becker, and his vision of a future
park, is edging closer. The thermal
cameras mounted on towers will
continue scanning the surface of the lake.
His electronic eyes in the sky, constantly
monitoring man and the wild. 
Clair MacDougall is a freelance
journalist based in Liberia. She wrote
about activists fighting for online
freedom in Africa in issue 11.16
 Below: Elephants are also under threat from farmers protecting their crops. Bottom: Eric Becker scans the Mara Conservatory

 
G I G A N T I C
HOW CRUISE SHIPS TRAVELLED FROM PENSIONERS ’ P A S T I M E ...
...T O F L O A T I N G C I T I E S E N G A G E D I N A N E N T E R T A I N M E N T A R M S R A C E
BY O l i v e r F r a n k l i n -Wa l l i s . PHOTOGRAPHY: Benedict Redgrove
Previous pages: Symphony of the Seas has 484 cabins, or “state rooms”; the ship’s Central Park is an open-air garden at sea
MS
SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS -
which, on its maiden voyage from
Barcelona in March became the largest
passenger ship ever built – is about five
times the size of the Titanic. At 362
metres long, you could balance it on
its stern and its bow would tower
over all but two of Europe’s tallest
skyscrapers. Owned and operated
by Miami-based cruise line Royal
Caribbean, it can carry nearly 9,000
people and contains more than 40
restaurants and bars. Also on board:
23 pools, jacuzzis and water slides; two
West End-sized theatres; an ice rink; a
surf simulator; two climbing walls; a zip
line; a fairground carousel; a mini-golf
course; a ten-storey fun slide; laser
tag; a spa; a gym; a casino; plus dozens
more shopping and entertainment
opportunities. To put it another way,
Symphony of the Seas might be the most
ludicrously entertaining luxury hotel
in history. It just also happens to float.
Picture a cruise ship. You’re likely
imagining crisped-pink pensioners
bent double over shuleboard, cramped
cabins, bad food and norovirus. And,
once upon a time, you’d have been
right. But in the last decade or so,
cruise ships have gone from a means
of transport to vast floating cities with
skydiving simulators (Quantum of the
Seas), go-karting (Norwegian Joy),
bumper cars (Quantum again) and
ice bars (Norwegian Breakaway).
Restaurants ofer menus designed by
Michelin-starred chefs. As a result,
the cruise industry is experiencing a
golden age, boosted by millennials and
explosive growth in tourists from China.
More than twenty-five million people
set sail on a cruise liner in 2017.
‘ There was a big shakeup – companies
started to treat the cruise liner as a
floating resort, rather than as a ship’
“Most people’s idea of a cruise is ‘Oh
God, I’m going to be packed in with five
thousand people I don’t want to talk to
and getting bored out of my tree,” says
Tom Wright, founder of WKK Architects,
who has worked on cruise ships and land
hotels. “In fact, it’s like going to a hotel
that just moves magically over night.”
(As one cruiser I met on Symphony’s fan
page put it, “We get to see five destina-
tions, and I only have to unpack once.”)
For many, a maiden cruise is rarely
the last. From Southampton to Venice to
Barbados, ports are full of white-hulled
ships packed with repeat customers.
Industry satisfaction ratings regularly
exceed 94 per cent. And, as Richard Fain is
fond of saying: nobody gets those kinds of
numbers. Not even chocolate companies.
Fain is chairman of Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd, a position he has held since
1988. (RCL comprises three lines: Royal
Caribbean International, Celebrity
Cruises, and Azamara Club Cruises.)
Now 69, Fain is square-jawed, broad
and handsome. More than anyone, he
is responsible for the transformation
of cruise ships from modes of transport
to mega-attractions. (Symphony is one
of his. So are the world’s second-, third-
and fourth-largest cruise ships.) A gifted
salesman, the first time you meet he’ll
lean in, tilt his head just so, and ask you
straight: “Have you cruised?”
It was Fain who realised that the
cruise industry’s image problem was in
fact an opportunity. Convince sceptical
landlubbers that cruise ships aren’t
outdated, boring and, as an industry
joke put it, full of “the newlywed and
the nearly dead”, and Royal Caribbean
could lock up customers for life.
The problem was just one of perception.

TO ATTRACT A NEW KIND OF CUSTOMER,
Fain needed a new kind of ship. To build it, he hired
Harri Kulovaara, a Finnish naval architect who made
a name for himself designing passenger ferries.
Kulovaara has a round, boyish face and glasses
with such thick upper frames it has the efect of a
monobrow. Growing up in the coastal city of Turku,
he would watch the ferries sail out of the harbour for
Sweden each morning, and spend every moment he
could on the water. After graduating in the late 80s,
he designed two groundbreaking ferries for Finnish
company Silja Line. They included a 150-metre,
two-deck-high promenade down the centre, culmi-
nating in a huge window at the aft. The window
brought natural light into the centre of the ship –
before that, dark, depressing places – and created
a natural, street-like hub for passengers.
Fain, who has a keen eye for design himself – his
mentors included Jay Pritzker, the Hyatt Hotels
co-founder and creator of the Pritzker Archi-
tecture Prize – took notice. “When Richard saw
[the Kulovaara-designed] Silja Serenade, he said, ‘I’d
like to have this kind of ship.’ The [Royal Caribbean]
technical department told him it couldn’t be built,”
explains Kulovaara. So, in 1995, Fain hired him to
help run the company’s shipbuilding department
alongside Njål Eide, a Norwegian architect who had
become a legend in shipbuilding. (Eide had designed
the first hotel-like atrium at sea, now a commonplace
feature.) The company was planning to commission
a carbon copy of its existing flagship, Sovereign of
the Seas. “We’re not going to build that, Harri,” Fain
told him. “We need something better.”
That “better” was 1999’s Voyager of the Seas.
Costing upwards of $650 million (£469m), it was 75
per cent bigger than the previous-largest cruise ship,
exceeding Panamax – the width of the Panama Canal,
an industry-standard measurement. They intro-
duced a central promenade, similar to that which
Kulovaara had designed for Silja Line, ending in two
banks of panoramic lifts. It was on Voyager that
Royal Caribbean introduced the first ice rink at sea,
and climbing walls on the rear funnel. (Fain initially
Below: Two 66-metre Ultimate Abyss slides snake their way from the Sport Zone on deck 16 to the Boardwalk on deck six
Below: At 362 metres, Symphony of the Seas dwarfs The Shard, the UK’s tallest skyscraper 

SHIP VS SHARD

SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS - 362M

‘ The ships are now large enough to give us a

platform to do amazing things. I don’t personally
see a need to build larger – but never say never’

THE SHARD - 310M

thought climbing walls were a bad idea.
Now they’re an industry standard.)
If you want to pinpoint the moment
ship design went crazy, it’s with the
launch of Voyager. Suddenly, cruising
was in an amenities arms race. “There
was a big shakeup,” says Trevor Young,
vice president of new building at Royal
rival MSC Cruises. “Companies started to
treat the cruise liner as a floating resort,
rather than as a ship.” Consider: since
the launch of the RMS Queen Elizabeth
in 1940, the record for largest passenger
ship had changed hands twice. Since
Kulovaara joined Royal Caribbean,
the record has been broken 11 times.
Kulovaara has designed ten of them.
“We don’t set out to build the largest
ships,” Kulovaara told me, somewhat
sheepishly. “The goal is to build the
best ship. But we have so many ideas
that we need a little bit more space.”
C
RUISE-SHIP ARCHITECTS FACE CONSTRAINTS
that would confound their land-based counter-
parts. Ships need to be able to face North Atlantic
storms, Baltic snow and blistering Caribbean heat
in equal measure. The hull is beset on all sides by
waves, which cause not only perpetual motion,
but vibrations through the steel structure – as do
the engines and propellers. A ship at sea is its own
island: it must generate its own energy and water,
and treat its own waste. There is no fire service nor
ambulance, so every crew member is fire trained
and the on-board medical centre must be able to
handle almost any kind of emergency (including
death: all ships have a small morgue, a necessity
for a pastime so beloved by the elderly). Some
maintain a brig, in case of onboard miscreants –
though I’m told their use is rare.
Kulovaara’s New Build department is located in
Royal Caribbean’s Innovation Lab, which is based in
PortMiami – the largest passenger port – in Biscayne
Bay, Florida. The team has around 200 people,
including naval architects, interior designers,
engineers and project managers. “When I started
to get involved we didn’t use CAD,” says Fain. “We
used SAD, or ‘scissors-aided design’, because what
you did was spread out your drawing on the dining
room table and then cut and paste it.” Today, the
Innovation Lab includes extensive prototyping
and testing facilities, and a large virtual-reality
“cave” simulator to allow Kulovaara’s designers
and architects to walk around interior
spaces throughout the design process.
The essential consideration when
designing a cruise ship is flow of
human traic. “They have a relatively
high density of population. How can
you spread the people and make sure
they find their way?” asks Kulovaara.
“Understanding how people behave,
anticipating how they behave, is key.”
With nearly 9,000 people on board
including crew, distributing attractions
evenly across the ship is crucial. Hence,
Symphony’s two main theatres are at
opposite ends. The casino is central, but
below the Royal Promenade. (A rule of
thumb is that it takes the first two days
of a cruise just to get your bearings.)
Perhaps even more important is the
movement of the ship’s 2,200 crew,
who must be able to access galleys and
stores in the bowels of the ship easily.
There are safety considerations, too:
today’s megaships are split vertically
into six or more fire zones, which can be
isolated in case of an emergency. Muster
stations (usually large public areas) must
be evenly spread. Even corridor width
is calculated for the necessary flow of
passengers in the event of an emergency.
Once the major spaces are sketched
out, there’s the onerous task of plumbing.
“The big part of building a ship, 85 per
cent, is what you don’t see. It’s the air
conditioning, the electric systems, the
water systems, power generation,”
says Kulovaara. Cruise ships are built
using concurrent design: while the keel
and lower hull are being cut, the top of
the ship is still being laid out. “We do
the conceptual design and the archi-
tectural design,” says Kulovaara. “The
naval architects think about hydrody-
namics, hydrostatics, hull forms. Then
we transfer that to the shipyard and they
do the final engineering.”
As the ship is so vast, the detailed
design work is commissioned out to
multiple architectural firms. Restaurant
architects design restaurants; caravan
designers tend to be good at state rooms
(the industry term for cabins). “We have
Left: Symphony of the Sea’s
Royal Theatre will host
Broadway-style productions
and 3D film screenings
probably 100 architects who have worked
closely with us for a long time,” says
Kulovaara. Early in the design process,
Royal holds open competitions to design
new spaces. “The reason is if you do it
in-house, you become blind to change.”
When trying to introduce “anything
extraordinary”, Kulovaara assigns a
special projects team. With Voyager,
New Build had sketched a blank space
in midship for a new entertainment
venue. The team proposed an indoor
arena including a synthetic ice surface,
“glice”. Kulovaara assigned the project
to Boston-based Wilson Butler Archi-
tects. The firm has since worked on
several of Royal Caribbean’s wildest
schemes, including a viewing platform
that extends high above Quantum of
the Seas. “We’ve become pretty good
at problem solving,” says Butler.
IN JANUARY 2018, I WENT TO VISIT
Symphony under construction in Saint-
Nazaire, France. It was a miserable day:
grey mist hung in the air like gauze,
but the ship was still visible several
kilometres away. The shipyard, STX
France, is one of the few equipped to
build liners of Symphony’s scale. The
decks are built upside down, in around 80
huge sections – each can weigh upwards
of 800 tonnes – and are then robotically
welded together like vast LEGO blocks.
On the dockside, deck sections of a new
MSC Cruises ship lay idle. The legs of
an offshore rig stood monolithic, the
platform unattached. Symphony was
running ahead of schedule.
Kulovaara, Fain and the Royal
Caribbean management team were
visiting another of their ships, Celebrity
Cruises’ Celebrity Edge, due to sail in
November 2018. While they attended
meetings, Timo Yrjovuori, the project
manager for Symphony’s build, gave
me a tour of the ship. Another Finn,
Yrjovuori has light stubble and blond
hair hidden under his yellow hard hat.
As we boarded Symphony’s lower decks,
the ship was teeming with activity. More
than 1,000 workers were undertaking
the final outfitting, and the sounds of sawing,
welding and industrial vehicles cut through a riot
of languages and radio stations.
Symphony is the fourth ship in Royal Caribbean’s
Oasis class, which launched in 2009. Oasis of the
Seas was another paradigm shift in ship design: 50
per cent larger again, at 225,000 gross tonnes, it
was almost double the industry average. Each Oasis-
class ship costs more than $1 billion, not including
the vast new cruise terminals Royal Caribbean
built in Miami to hold them. “The complexity of
building ships goes up exponentially” with size,
Kulovaara says. (Previously, the largest lifeboats on
the market carried 150 people. In designing Oasis,
Royal Caribbean also had to develop a new class of
Right: Symphony ’s
galley. In an average
week, guests will
consume 9,000kg
of potatoes
370-person lifeboats. Symphony has 18 of them.)
The Oasis class’s crowning glory is its split
superstructure: 18 decks tall, its central section
is a progression of Voyager’s promenade design.
The aft is divided up the middle by an 11-deck
valley, giving it a horseshoe shape. Standing
in the centre of the Boardwalk (Oasis ships are
split into seven “neighbourhoods”) feels like
standing in Manhattan, with mini-skyscrapers
on each side. The chasm is bridged by a Sun deck
at the top; from there the 11-storey Ultimate
Abyss slides curl down to the Boardwalk.
“To split a cruise liner down the middle in this
way was a really big departure,” says Tom Wright,
who helped in the development of the
exterior spaces for the Oasis class ships.
“It’s probably the biggest departure
ever by the cruise industry.”
Yrjovuori and I toured the ship. Below
decks, Symphony of the Seas is like an
Amazon warehouse, a cathedral to
logistics. The ship’s bowels are split
by a two-lane corridor, nicknamed I-95
after the US highway. In the main galleys
are bathtub-sized food processors
and dishwashers closer in appearance
and size to car washes.
Food is stored in bungalow-sized
cold rooms. Even here, flow is king: the
layout of the room has been meticulously
optimised by observing chefs and service
staf to maximise output at peak time;
because cold food guarantees unhappy
passengers, all of Symphony’s restau-
rants are designed with a set maximum
distance from galley to table.
“The level of hygiene is extreme,”
Yrjovuori announced, as we passed
a hand-washing station. Though
ship-wide outbreaks of sickness make
the news at least once a year, the total
number of passengers who fall ill is
a fraction of one per cent. But close
quarters enable outbreaks, so sanitation 
regulations at sea are stringent. Every
part of the ship, from lift buttons to
the casino’s chips, are sanitised daily;
interior materials have to stand up to
the high level of chlorination from the
constant cleaning. Rubbish is frozen in
vast storage containers to slow bacteria
growth and is only removed in port.
In midships above the Royal
Promenade lies perhaps Symphony’s
most remarkable feature: Central
Park, an open-air garden enclosed by
the upper cabins. Its development was
another first, and was fraught with
challenges. “I suggested it was going to
be a grassy field,” says Wright. Fain loved
the idea, but a grass park at sea seemed
insane: the deck faces salt air, scorching
Sun and foot traic from thousands of
passengers almost every day of the year.
“We do a lot of research,” explains
Kelly Gonzalez, Royal’s vice president
of newbuilding architectural design.
Gonzalez, who leads the design of the
ships’ public spaces, is Kulovaara’s
closest collaborator; the two have worked
together for 20 years. “We hired a grass
and lawn expert from the University of
 Below left: Four 14,400kW and two 19,200kW diesel engines power the ship.
Below right: Symphony of the Seas contains 27 51m2 split-level Crown Loft suites
Florida. We did a machine test, which
was a rolling wheel with sneakers on it
that would simulate footsteps.”
The results were not encouraging.
“The immediate response is always
‘We’ll tweak it,’” says Fain. “We said no,
this is not a tweak. This is a design flaw.”
Kulovaara called a charrette – a closed-
doors design retreat that Royal has used
for problem-solving since Voyager. “We
went back to redesign it,” he says. Their
solution was a landscaped garden with
12,000 plants and trees. It required
extensive engineering, right down to
the soil. “It’s a kind of volcanic exploded
clay, so it’s not as dense as it would be on
a land-based arboretum,” explains Butler,
whose firm worked on the engineering.
“On land you put in a sprinkler system and
the soil gets saturated. We can’t aford
that wet weight, so we do underground
watering.” Botanists were consulted, as
were ports’ various customs agencies for
rules on foreign plant species.
Even unfinished, it’s remarkable: an airy
urban park, floating on a skyscraper with
an open-air café and performance space
thrown in, all in the middle of the ocean.
AFTER THE PARK, WE TOURED
Symphony’s accommodation. Its state
rooms are pre-fabricated en masse
and inserted into the ship like huge
Jenga blocks. Yrjovuori’s army of
outfitters were busy adding mattresses
and other finishing touches.
More than half of Symphony is taken
up by state rooms. “We always say the
millimetres matter,” says Harold Law,
a senior architectural associate who
oversees their development. A centi-
metre saved by using a thinner veneer
might, along the length of the ship, mean
an extra cabin per deck. Storage is honed
with IKEA-like precision (the secret
is calculating average luggage size plus
a little extra, for souvenirs).
State rooms must be acoustically
insulated – to shield occupants from
their neighbours, but also vibrations from
the engines, nightclubs or an overhead
skydiving machine. The bathroom units
are subjected to an incline test: a blocked
toilet must still drain at 10° of ship tilt
without spilling into the room.
The biggest challenge comes when
designing the interior rooms. “Tradi-
tionally on inside rooms there’s no
natural light, so you can lose track of
time very quickly,” says Law. (Days
at sea distort time – Symphony’s lifts
contain screens reminding passengers
what day of the week it is.) On 2014’s
Quantum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean
introduced Virtual Balconies, floor-to-
ceiling screens which show a live camera
feed of the outside view. There are four
cameras, because during testing, they
discovered that a feed facing the wrong
direction causes seasickness. “You have
the sensation of the motion of the ship;
the visual has to match,” Law says.
“We’re constantly using design
to alter the perspective of the room
environment,” says Gonzalez. Uplighting
and mirrors can help ceilings feel taller.
The right pattern on a carpet can lengthen
or shorten a space, or provide a subliminal
‘ The cruise industry is incredibly conservative.
To change the structure of how it’s
always been done is really quite a big deal’
help with wayfinding. One problem
with such huge ships is the absurdly
long corridors, so the architects insert
fake arches or obstacles to make them
appear shorter. On Quantum, Royal intro-
duced lenticular wall art, which changes
whether you’re walking fore or aft.
Celebrity Edge will introduce perhaps
the biggest change in state-room design
since balconies were introduced in the
80s. “I was watching the cruise ships going
out from Miami one day,” explains Xavier
Leclercq, Royal’s senior vice president of
New Build and innovation. “I counted the
passengers on their balconies – only two
per cent of people [were] using them.”
Kulovaara’s team commissioned
some research and came to a counter-
intuitive conclusion: ofer passengers
balconies and they say they want
them, but few actually use them. So, on
Celebrity Edge, Wright – the ship’s lead
architect – and Royal’s New Build team
eliminated balconies entirely. Instead
they designed what they call the Infinite
Veranda: floor-to-ceiling windows, the
upper half of which lowers entirely to
create an indoor balcony. As a result,
Edge’s entry-level state rooms are 23 per
cent larger and bathrooms 20 per cent
bigger than the previous standard. “The
cruise industry is incredibly conserv-
ative,” says Wright. “To change the
structure of how it’s always been done
– it’s really quite a big deal.”
 IN NOVEMBER 2017, BEFORE MY
visit to France, I flew to New York to see
the future of cruise ship design. Royal
Caribbean had rented a space in Brook-
lyn’s Navy Yard to demonstrate what it
calls Project Excalibur. Guests from the
travel industry lounged on white leather
sofas, ordering drinks via an app. Wi-Fi
beacons tracked our locations, and the
waiters’ custom-designed trays included
a smartphone displaying our picture, so
we never had to go to the bar.
The feature will debut on Symphony
of the Seas and be rolled out across
the entire Royal fleet. On the main
stage, huge 4K screens on robotic arms
delivered a dance performance (the
show, something of a novelty gimmick,
Right: Sculptures
and other obstacles
are used to visually
shorten the ship’s
long walkways
is featured on Quantum-class ships),
before Fain made his presentation.
Kulovaara watched from the side of
the room. New Build were early in the
masterplanning phase for Royal’s next
class of ship, codenamed Icon, which is
planned to debut in 2022. Notably, Icon
class, at 200,000 gross tonnes, will be
smaller than Oasis. Instead, the focus
is on efficiency, an urgent trend in an
industry long criticised for cruise ships’
environmental impact, which included
burning huge quantities of fuel and,
for several decades, dumping of waste
water. (Today, black water – the ship’s
sewage – is treated on board, and only
dumped into the sea when it reaches
near drinking-water purity.)
“Energy eiciency is something we 
have a lot of pride in,” says Kulovaara.
They expect Symphony to be, by weight,
the most energy-efficient ship at sea
(a claim currently held by Harmony).
“We were able to improve the ship’s
energy efficiency by 20 per cent with
about 100 diferent initiatives. The hull
form was improved, the propellers were
improved, the air conditioning controls
were improved, the lighting system was
improved.” New Royal ships feature hulls
that emit tiny bubbles to reduce drag,
meaning the ship in efect sails on air.
After Fain’s pitch for Excalibur, we
were given a rundown of the attractions
Icon might eventually bring. Some, like
a shallow VR sushi-eating experience,
felt more like gimmicks for the tech
press in attendance. But other elements
seemed inevitable: check in via facial-
recognition, and a Star Trek-like bridge
of the future which included augmented-
reality displays showing live data
streams. Perhaps the most significant
demo was the least well attended: a
hydrogen fuel cell, which will be used
to generate electricity on Icon, supple-
menting existing diesel engines. Icon
will also be the first of Royal’s fleet to run
on liquefied natural gas; Carnival, AIDA
and MSC also all have LNG ships under
construction, as part of an industry-
wide move to meet emissions targets.
Icon’s design is still a closely-held
secret, and Kulovaara would only speak
in veiled terms. “We’re looking at how the infra-
structure has been done on a cruise ship for the last
40 years, and we believe that there is the potential of
doing drastically diferent things,” he said. The last
time we spoke, in January, the outline for Icon was
coming together, but the design was still lacking…
something, so they took a break to look for inspi-
ration. “A ship’s lifespan is at least 25 years. So we
have to plan that a ship is still relevant, purposeful
and eicient, more than 20 years ahead.”
Right now, Kulovaara has 13 ships on order. In
2014, Royal Caribbean became the world’s largest
cruise line by passenger capacity (Carnival is still
larger by total passengers, primarily because it
offers shorter cruises). Other cruise lines have
followed Fain’s lead: in 2017, MSC Cruises announced
plans to build four 200,000-tonne World class ships,
with split hulls remarkably similar to Symphony.
Arch-rival Carnival has ordered two
180,000-tonne ships, due in 2020.
Still, Symphony’s record as the largest
ever looks like it won’t be broken for a
while. “The ships are now large enough
and give us a platform that we can really
do some amazing things,” says Fain. “So
a gut answer is: I don’t personally see a
need to build larger. But never say never.”
B
ACK ON SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS,
Yrjovuori momentarily lost his bearings.
We stopped and, taking our cue from the
stairway’s decor, set of downwards. The
sky was getting darker and it had started
to rain. Construction was winding down
for the night, and for the first time the
ship’s corridors were quiet. “It’s maybe
romantic, but I think ships have a kind
of soul,” he said. “It’s not like a building.
They have a kind of personality. ”
It was a few weeks before Symphony
would set out on final sea trials. “It’s such
an interesting moment in the ship’s life,
when she first meets the sea,” Leclercq
told me, back on shore. “It’s like a baby
being born. Thousands of people,
thousands of skill sets… it’s a big human
adventure.” When Harmony was floated,
the locals in Saint-Nazaire took to the
water to meet her. “Thousands of boats
were in the water. It was a beautiful day.”
Symphony of the Seas already has
bookings until the end of 2019. At the
time of my visit, the ship’s Facebook page
was filling with passengers excitingly
monitoring its progress and discussing
itineraries. Kelli Carlsen, an American
teacher based in Oslo, told me she booked
after her and her husband spent their
honeymoon on Harmony of the Seas. “It
was once in a lifetime,” she said – until it
wasn’t. They’re booked for June 2018.
The week after they disembark, she and
a friend are cruising again, on Serenade
of the Seas. They’re joining the ship late,
in Rome, but Carlsen says she doesn’t
mind. “There’s so many stops. We just
go for the ships, really.” 
Oliver Franklin-Wallis (@olifranklin)
is a freelance writer. He wrote about
veterinarian Romain Pizzi in 12.17
 A black curtain raises, the sound of a
helicopter rotor fades and there he is.
Surrounded by body-painted dancers,
wearing a gold jacket and sitting on
a throne at the centre of an ornate
tableau. A flash brings the scene to
life before Michael Jackson, five years
after his death, makes his way down
the steps on to the Las Vegas stage
and proceeds to sing and dance his
way through a previously unreleased
song called “Slave to the Rhythm”.
Lighting picks out the swish of his
hair, the tape on his fingers. However
momentarily, it’s not difficult to give
yourself over to it. To believe that the
King of Pop is really, truly back.
Below: Pulse Evolution CEO Jordan Fiksenbaum ( left) and founder John Textor
The performance, at the 2014 Billboard
Music Awards, was the latest in a stream
of holograms featuring deceased
artists. Just as, two years earlier, Tupac
Shakur had been beamed on to the
stage at Coachella, here was another
computer-generated resurrection to
meet with a combination of awe and
disquiet. But Jackson’s resurrection
nearly didn’t happen that evening. Days
before the ceremony, an emergency
patent infringement lawsuit was filed
against Pulse Evolution, the company
behind the performance, accusing it of
using technology it didn’t own. A request
to cancel was denied by a judge, but in
the weeks and months that followed, a
heated disagreement erupted between
the two firms. The promise of future
resurrections – Whitney Houston and
Elvis, Billie Holiday, Marilyn Monroe –
was delayed as a chaotic power-grab
engulfed the fledgling industry.
As “Slave to the Rhythm” ended
and the excited crowd rose to its feet,
Pulse founder John Textor and his
team toasted their success. They had
worked for months on a multi-million-
dollar gamble and it had paid off.
Then, three days later, Textor turned
on his television and saw the man who
was trying to sue them telling CNN, and
the world, exactly how his company had
brought the King of Pop back to life.

P Despite harbouring dreams of being
 epper’s Ghost, the joint invention of
London-based engineer Henry Dircks
and scientist John Henry Pepper, was
first shown in an 1862 stage production
of Charles Dickens’ The Haunted Man.
The illusion is based on a simple but
deft piece of visual trickery: an unseen
figure in a darkened room is lit and
reflected on to an angled pane of
glass, to give the impression they are
floating on the stage. It’s a low-tech
piece of razzmatazz that has since been
adapted for modern stage shows (Ghost
the Musical) and theme-park attrac-
tions (Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion).
As proven by its use in bone-chilling
plays and, in one instance, a French
conjurer’s sham seances, Pepper’s
Ghost provided a vehicle for the
Victorian-era obsession with the
supernatural. As Dircks himself
described it, “Here, then, a means was
at once at hand for producing the best
possible illustrations of all descriptions
of spectral phenomena.”
In the mid-90s, German inventor Uwe
Maass patented a derivation of Pepper’s
Ghost that replaced cumbersome glass
with a tightly stretched translucent foil
and a hidden performer with projected
high-definition video. Maass estab-
lished a company called Musion to
commercialise the technology. By the
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY
mid-noughties, Musion had captured
the music industry’s attention: their
trickery enabled Madonna to perform
alongside animated band Gorillaz at Textor fended off a lawsuit (later settled)
the 2006 Grammy Awards. But it took accusing him of cheating taxpayers out
a modern ghost, in this case a hip-hop of more than $80 million (£57m) in public
icon, to reveal the tech’s true potential. grants. Meanwhile, Musion’s directors
“Pepper’s Ghost had been around entered into a dispute over a lucrative
for a long time,” says Textor. “What $10 million contract with Narendra Modi,
made that [Coachella performance] the prime minister of India.
unique was Tupac saying, ‘What the Musion was placed into admin-
fuck is up, Coachella?’ That moment istration and put up for sale. Textor
told everybody this was something prepared a $1 million bid, but Maass
different. It was new content, not old wasn’t ready to let go of a valuable
video. I think that’s primarily respon- patent founded on his innovation. As
sible for what happened next.” a contract race was announced in late
Blue-eyed and tanned with soft 2013, Maass sought help to prepare his
features and a high sweep of chestnut own rival financial package. And, in a
hair, Textor, 52, was once a college self-styled billionaire famed for a series
room-mate of film director Michael Bay. of notorious pranks, he found his man.
a dancer, he found his way into the
dot-com bubble and, having amassed
a sizeable fortune through software
investment in the 90s, acquired James
Cameron’s visual effects company
Digital Domain in 2006. High-profile
Hollywood victories followed, most
notably Oscar-winning work on The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Then,
in early 2012, Digital Domain was asked
to marshal the animation for Tupac.
For all the focus on the 3D effect of
Musion’s projection, it only tells half the
story of how the effect is achieved. The
other half is the creation of a “digital
human”, which involves a physically
similar stand-in being filmed wearing
motion-capture markers in front of a
green screen. From here, visual artists
combine data from the body double’s
performance with archive live footage
and, if available, 3D scans, to create a
mutable, computer-generated likeness
of the celebrity. Known as facial rigs,
these involve meticulous toil – the
Tupac team worked round the clock
for two months in a room plastered
with pictures of the rapper – but when
complete, they supply the VFX team
with an entire bank of facial movements
and expressions to manipulate.
Finally this video is projected on
to a mirror at the foot of the stage,
then bounced back on to that angled,
undetectably thin scrim of reflective
material. This pushes the 2D footage
into the audience’s field of vision with
other elements such as musicians and
dancers helping to sell the ruse.
The Tupac performance attracted
universal acclaim; Digital Domain won Above: The Pepper’s Ghost
the Titanium Award at the Cannes illusion has been deployed on
Lions that year. But the high preceded stage for more than 150 years
a sudden plummet in fortune. After years
of debt and a disastrous agreement with
aggressive creditors, Digital Domain
filed for bankruptcy in September 2012.

Previous: The 4.5m-long mixing desk at
The Dub Stage in Burbank, California,
where Pulse syncs music to holograms
T 2013 and was repeated in 2014.
he sole heir to the Greek-Cypriot
Leventis dynasty’s £1.9 billion Coca-Cola
bottling fortune, Alkiviades David was
born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1968. Ask him
how he came to be born in West Africa
and he will tell you, without missing a
beat, that “[his] mother’s vagina was
there”. David is squat with pronounced
eyebrows, close-cropped silver-grey
hair and arms thick with tattoos. His
voice – a newscaster baritone that
shuttles between British upper-
class and unplaceable European —
betrays his attendance of prestigious
private schools in the UK (Stowe) and
Switzerland (Le Rosey).
In the past, David produced films and
worked as an actor. In 2006 he founded
FilmOn, an internet TV provider that
retransmits recognised channels online
for free. He has also pumped money into
a number of wheezes (offering $1 million
to whoever could streak on camera in
sight of then-president Barack Obama,
and faking an assisted suicide on his
Jackass-ish prank network BattleCam).
All are part of what he calls his “master
plan”: to affect consciousness.
“Uwe and [Musion director] Giovanni
came to me because they didn’t want
to sell to Digital Domain,” says David,
amid the afternoon burble of the
Berkeley Hotel in London. “So I went
there, saw the Tupac that they had done
and walked over the heads of the other
executives to make a deal.”
Right: Hologram USA founder
Alkiviades David at his LA home
David, Maass and Palma won the rights
to Musion’s patent in September 2013
and soon formed a new company,
Hologram USA. David boasts that he’s
invested $25 million in it.
Ever the showman, David wasted no
time in approaching celebrity estates
and promising potential hologram hit
shows with late stars such as Amy
Winehouse and Liberace, Richard Pryor
and Buddy Holly. There were tangible
successes to match the bluster, too.
Musion’s Modi broadcast – which saw
the Indian premier simultaneously
materialise in 53 villages to deliver a
2012 re-election campaign speech –
made the Guinness Book of Records in
By this time, Textor had already
established Pulse Evolution and
recruited former facial animators from
Digital Domain. They began quietly
working on a digital performance
involving Jackson. Then came the
Billboard Music Awards performance,
the ensuing court case and David’s
audacious appearance on CNN.
While Textor and Pulse’s attorneys
argued, among other things, that
Pepper’s Ghost’s 19th-century origins
planted it in the public domain, David
held firm. “They took our patent and just
turned it upside down,” he says, incred-
ulously. “It was reverse engineering.”
Things got personal. Textor, in leaked
correspondence, accused David of
starting “world war three”. David made his
anger public, posting a photo of Hitler on
Instagram and tagging Textor, uploading
gun-toting images captioned “Come at
me bro”. Textor filed for a protection
order, ultimately denied, in which he cited
harassment and cyberstalking.
Today, both parties see the result
of their court battle (Pulse reached a
confidential settlement in March 2016)
as a form of vindication. “We won the
initial ruling [where] he tried to stop
the show [without] any evidence,” says
Textor, evenly. “But where [Hologram
USA] ultimately won was that it looked
like a case that might go for a century,
so we decided to settle.”
“We caught them red-handed, they
settled, we won,” says David with relish.
“Pulse doesn’t do what we do. Apart
from Michael Jackson, which was a
fiasco, they haven’t produced a single
fucking thing.” Equally, David dismisses
the notion that the court battle may
have had an adverse effect on Hologram
USA’s planned rollout of shows.
Now, when David is not reeling off
potential subjects for resurrection
– “We’ve got Tammy Wynette, Patsy
Cline, the Jackson 5, Bernie Mac.
Hendrix I had to walk away from
because the estate is a mess…” –
he’s also talking up Hologram USA’s
potential for expansion. “We’re rolling
this technology and the shows we’re
creating into 150 North American
theatres right now,” he says. “We’ve
got a couple of things in the works
to open up with some large theatre
chains as well. So it may go from 150
to 2,000 or 3,000 in a very short time.”
David appears unfazed by Pulse’s
own agreements with high-profile
acts – it is working on an Elvis Presley
show and, as part of a deal with Simon
Fuller, an ABBA hologram show set to
tour in 2019. The reason soon becomes
apparent. “John Textor got kicked out
of his own company,” he tells me, with
a smile. “He’s gone, he’s out.”
Six weeks after David’s revelation,
in summer 2017, I pin down Textor 000
for another conversation. “I’m still a
shareholder but I resigned,” he admits.
It transpires that, in July 2017, Textor
quietly stepped aside from his role as
Pulse’s chairman, in part so Jordan
Fiksenbaum, a former VP of marketing
for Cirque du Soleil, could become
Pulse’s CEO. “Since I’m a technology
guy, it’s the right thing to bring in
somebody who knows how to put butts
on seats.” There may well be more to
Textor’s departure than he’s willing to
admit. But he still advises Pulse and
is openly disparaging about Hologram
USA’s Pepper’s Ghost-focused vision
for the future of digital humans.
“Yeah, there’s that moment when
you get that holographic feel of, OK,
he’s floating in space, somebody is
dancing in front and behind,” he says.
“But after a couple of those gags? You
can’t make a show out of that.”
Undeterred, there are plenty of
other resurrectionists hoping that
live performances by holograms
can attract large audiences. Roy
Orbison: In Dreams is touring the
UK this month. Eyellusion, a rival
Pepper’s Ghost startup headquartered
a 20-minute drive from Hologram
USA’s office, is planning a tour
that will bring back Frank Zappa.
And, of course, there’s David,
exploring new uses for his hard-won
patent. And he is ready for a fight with
anyone who encroaches on what he
feels is his turf. “I’ve got seven years
left on my patent and Pepper’s Ghost
is not public fucking domain,” he
says. “[They’re] going to get sued the
moment [their] feet hit the ground.”
 It’s September 2017, two months after
our first meeting, and David steps from
the interior of his company’s Hollywood
theatre into the California sunshine.
Striding quickly down the Walk of Fame,
he barrels past an employee’s attempts
to placate him and catches up with his
target: a stage rigger called Kyle who
he has just fired. Fingers are jabbed
and words are traded but, ultimately,
an agreement is reached. David rehires
Kyle and the pair troop back under-
neath the throbbing screens of the
video marquee, back into the darkness.
The venue is a 200-seater former
adult cinema on Hollywood Boulevard
that’s envisioned as the flagship for
Hologram USA’s global chain. In just
over 24 hours, David is due to host a gala
opening. But they are behind schedule:
huge boxed UHD screens clog the lobby,
wires dangle from the ceiling and inside
the seatless auditorium the buzz of
power tools can still be heard.
When David re-emerges, he smiles
and invites me to hop in his car so we
can talk further. “Everything in my life is
dust at the moment,” he jokes, brushing
remnants of terracotta powder from the
interior of his convertible Rolls-Royce.
“We don’t have an army of bodies,
so I need to lead by example,” he adds.
Plugging in his iPhone, he makes a
series of calls relating to tomorrow’s
planned premiere. “‘Try’ doesn’t mean
anything to me,” he says to one worker.
“What will it take to have this ready?”
The whole affair finally peaks as
David threatens an underling with
both a termination and a lawsuit,
then stumbles upon a solution to the
production conundrum they had been
discussing, and eventually signs off the
call with a cheery, “OK, brother.”
“There’s definitely a creep factor to
Pepper’s Ghost,” says Jeff Jampol from
behind the desk in his West Hollywood
office, his 2011 Grammy Award for Best
Music Film glinting on a nearby shelf.
“Whenever you screw with nature and
create something – whether it’s GMO
food or talking sex dolls – you’re going to
get a reaction.” He rocks his chair from
side to side. “But we want a reaction.”
Two metres tall with tightly bundled
curly hair, Jampol, 59, looked after punk
bands in the late 70s, survived heroin
addiction in the 80s, and went on to set
Right: Hologram USA has created a
40-minute-long Billie Holiday concert
up Jam Inc, his “legacy management”
company, in the 90s. With a client list
that includes The Doors, Janis Joplin,
the Ramones and Otis Redding, Jampol
is one of a number of handlers who have
carved out a thriving sub-industry that
uses licensing, social media, documen-
taries, exhibitions and more to boost
the earning potential of dead celeb-
rities. (Michael Jackson’s estate – the
exemplar in this world – has made
nearly $1 billion since his death in 2009.)
But, while Jampol looked after Tupac’s
estate at the time of the Coachella
performance and has met David, he
has misgivings about holograms as an
alternative to live performance.
“The potential that a digital human
holds is fascinating,” he says. “But
Pepper’s Ghost is what I consider to
be the lowest iteration of the technology.
You can’t move around it, it can’t interact
with you other than from a distance. It’s
the equivalent of a used VHS tape.”
Not all estate handlers share
Jampol’s reservations. But, as long as
deceased stars continue to be the focus
of virtual shows, brand managers and
their estates hold all the cards.
“We’re a hyper-realistic human
animation company, which is why we
have these relationships with Elvis,
with Marilyn, with Michael Jackson,”
says Textor. “There has only been
one company that has demonstrated
the ability to make major estates
comfortable that they can protect the
likeness of the celebrity. And Pulse is a
company that does not talk about these
shows until they happen.”
One example of how things can go
wrong is Hologram USA’s widely publi-
cised Whitney Houston global tour.
Announced in 2015, the resurrection
was scuppered after preview footage –
a duet between Christina Aguilera and
a revived Houston set to feature in the
2016 finale of The Voice – leaked.
“We hadn’t digitally composited
the face yet and NBC freaked out,”
says David, acknowledging the widely
disseminated clip of Aguilera gamely
performing alongside a projection of
a somewhat fuzzy Houston lookalike.
The clip faced widespread derision
and prompted the late singer’s estate
to pull the deal. Continuing the holog-
raphy industry’s theme of near-
constant litigation, Hologram USA
issued the Houston estate with a breach
of contract lawsuit in July 2017.
The ethics of posthumous recre-
ations are, like a flickering hologram,
fuzzy. In 2013, a Johnnie Walker advert
starring a digitally recreated version
of Bruce Lee – a lifelong teetotaller –
showed how resurrections can distort
the sense of who someone was. And the
CGI-wary stipulations in a deed filed by
Robin Williams before his 2015 death
(his image cannot be inserted into a
new film, used commercially or as a
hologram, until 2039) perhaps show
that more celebrities are considering
the implications of this new immortality.
“It’s very complex,” says Tim Webber,
Oscar-winning chief creative officer
of Framestore, the British VFX house
that created a CGI Audrey Hepburn for a
2013 commercial. “I certainly think that
if I was an actor like Peter Cushing I’d
like the chance to reappear in a global
franchise after my death [a virtual 000
Cushing appeared in 2016’s Rogue One:
A Star Wars Story]. But having said that,
it all depends on the circumstances,
how it’s executed and for what reason.”
“I have to be careful,” admits Jampol.
“Janis [Joplin] and Jim [Morrison] aren’t
here to speak for themselves, so I stand
in their stead, with their families, and
speak for them.” Textor says Pulse takes
a case-by-case approach. “Jackson
already had a 3D scan of his body so he
was exploring his likeness in ways other
celebrities weren’t,” he says. “We, and
his estate, were comfortable that it was
something he was trending towards. It’s
always a delicate thing, done with the
family. We’re not going to have, like, Elvis
hawking marshmallows or something.”

B augmented by live comedy and the
ack in Los Angeles, it’s the night
of Hologram USA’s ribbon-cutting.
Everything is running at least an hour
late and reality star Janice Dickinson is
shivering by the hastily gaffer-taped red
carpet, but the show is finally about to
start. Invited guests, who will hopefully
soon be replaced by customers paying
$29.95 a ticket, spill out on to the street.
Inside, the air is thick with the skunky
scent of hemp-oil-topped vegan
popcorn. Billy Zane, a friend of David’s,
mills around the foyer, resplendent in
flat cap, sailor stripes and a shoulder-
draped sweater. The lights go down.
The short preview flits from the
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY
magical (a revived Jackie Wilson
dancing; comedian Jon Lovitz shooting
lasers from his fingers; eerily realistic
puffs of smoke from a chain-smoking
magician) and the baffling (a prolonged
MMA fight broadcast from within an oval
frame that kills the illusion).
There are unfortunate technical
problems too, and it also appears that
the revived performers – who lack the
visible animation of Tupac or Michael
Jackson – are VFX-free lookalikes.
(When asked later to clarify this, David
replied: “Our experts use all the tools
at their disposal, including CGI, in our
celebrity resurrection holograms.”) More
than anything, it begs the question: why,
beyond the initial novelty, people would
stump up to see a projected image of
a working stand-up comedian when a
living, breathing comedian telling jokes
is no more than a taxi ride away?
After the show, David lingers near the
exit. Four hours earlier, he had seemed a
man possessed as he barked orders into
a walkie-talkie and even commandeered
a scissor lift to install speakers himself.
Now, he appears muted and wrung out
by the adrenalin rush of the evening.
There are curses aimed at malfunc-
tioning equipment (“The satellite link-up
didn’t work, we only had one projector Jim Morrison quote that I’ll leave you
so we couldn’t do Billie Holiday”) but with,” he smiles and permits himself
there’s also optimism about the future. a showman’s pause, “‘Money beats
And the mix of entertainment planned soul, every time.’” 
for Hologram USA’s first screenings, a
40-minute Billie Holiday performance Jimi Famurewa is a freelance writer.
This is his first story for WIRED
burlesque-heavy Sexy Hollywood
Freakshow, perhaps indicates that,
through accident or design, David’s
plan for the future has shifted. Many of
the shows he has discussed – Bernie
Mac, the Jackson 5, Liberace – are either
billed as “coming soon” on Hologram
USA’s website or completely absent.
“The lowest hanging fruit is resurrec-
tions,” he explained to me in London.
“The controversy of bringing somebody
back from the dead sparks conver-
sation, but the future is Wimbledon live
in Times Square, the latest greatest
boxing match live at your local cinema.”
Textor, David’s old nemesis, also sees
an application for holograms that isn’t
tethered to the IP of a celebrity estate.
“We used Michael Jackson to teach the
world more about the utility of digital
humans than I could do at a thousand
trade shows,” he says. “Digital humans
delivering information, a maths teacher
that travels on a flash drive and never
gets an answer wrong. Some really big
things came out of that night.”
However, it’s the Jackson show that
people talk about. Jackson, leaping from
the frame of a shimmering picture. In
the 19th century, Dircks and Pepper’s
invention was applied to many things,
but it was ghosts people wanted and
ghosts they got. Their 15-month Pepper’s
Ghost installation at the London
Polytechnic made the modern-day
equivalent of more than £1 million.
Whether it’s Pulse, Hologram USA
or some other hologram startup that
eventually prospers, the urge to bring
people back has always predated the
technology to do it. Above: Pulse Evolution’s
Nostalgia is big business. But Michael Jackson appearance
immortality? As Jeff Jampol said at the 2015 Grammy Awards
back in his office, where the late Rick
James’s guitar sits propped up by his
open door: “I don’t think this technology
meets the test yet, but there’s an old
 000

Healthcare’s
higher state
of consciousness

PHOTOGRAPHY: XXXXXXXXX

Photography: Leon Chew

 Scientist Robin
Carhart-Harris
wants to use
psychedelic
drugs to treat
psychiatric
disorders. Early
results are
promising – but
can he convince
big pharma and
the public of
their potential?

By Nicola Davison
PHOTOGRAPHY: XXXXXXXXX

LATE 2016,
R O B I N C A R H A R T- H A R R I S H A D A M O R B I D I D E A .
The head of psychedelic research at Imperial College
London and his lab were about to embark on a study
of dimethyltryptamine (DMT). The compound is more
commonly ingested in the form of ayahuasca, a psycho-
active brew boiled from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and
Psychotria viridis, or chacruna, leaves. It has been used
for centuries by indigenous cultures in Latin America to
communicate with the spirit world and, more recently,
by millennials on voyages of self-discovery. People who
take ayahuasca report of mental journeys to other realms.
Many have visits from unearthly entities. Experiences
like these are also described by those who come close
to death. So Carhart-Harris set out to discover whether
psychedelics in general, but especially DMT, induce a state
in the brain that is similar to the act of dying.
I meet Carhart-Harris at his oice in Hammersmith,
west London. Out of the window, muddy playing fields
stretch beneath a midwinter sky. The conversation is
suitably gloomy but, in a way, it is typical of the research
fellow, who can be pensive and grandiose.
Scanning the brain of a volunteer who is tripping on
DMT is not a simple procedure, Carhart-Harris tells me.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) caps are full of sensors that
are disturbed by the slightest movement.
Participants are blindfolded. A minute or so after the
drug is injected, they begin to hallucinate vivid geometric
patterns that bloom in texture and scale. Every minute,
the researchers ask the participants to rate the intensity
of their experience from nought to ten. In Carhart-
Harris’s previous studies of LSD and psilocybin, the
psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms,
the peak would be around seven.
“For volunteers, there seems to be some kind of threshold
at which there’s almost a pop,” – he snaps his fingers – “into
this DMT world.” On the EEG monitor the researchers can
see when the threshold had been crossed. The peaks and
troughs of the oscillating traces of the reading usually
become shallow, indicating that a lot was happening.
While under the influence of DMT, participants do not
always hear the researcher’s questions. “I was in this
place that was unbelievably bright and full of uncon-
ditional love,” one subject tells me. “And when I was
coming back to my body it was more blue, purple and dark.
Then I saw this being, this insect-like
being that was female, and she opened
her arms and then her tongue came out
of her mouth and she entered me.”
It takes participants about 15 minutes
to fully return to their normal selves.
Afterwards, they are asked to describe
their experience using a questionnaire:
Did you feel separated from your physical
body? Did you feel a sense of harmony with
the Universe? Of course, the ratings were
subjective, one of the limits of psychology.
Yet when the answers were tallied and
compared to those of people who had been
through a near-death experience, there
was little statistical diference.
Carhart-Harris was not surprised
with the results. He has long suspected
that psychedelics induce some kind of
mind death that mimics an aspect of
the death process itself. He felt that the
measure was useful because it revealed
something about the nature of the drugs
in their ability to give users a new way of
thinking. Similarly, people who have had
a near-death experience will say that they
are able to see the world afresh.
For half a century, researchers inter-
ested in psychedelic drugs have inhabited
the fringes of neuroscience. In the UK,
Carhart-Harris is responsible for making
this field of study respectable again. He
has spent much of the past decade inves-
tigating the ways certain compounds give
rise to uncommon conscious states. He
thinks that Lysergic acid diethylamide
(LSD), psilocybin and DMT are powerful
tools for accessing the brain. “The term
‘psychedelics’ comes from Greek words for
‘mind-revealing’ – and that’s what these
drugs do,” Carhart-Harris says.
“The question is, what is dying? I guess
a major part of the death process is that
the thing at the top of the hierarchy, if you
like, that tends to dominate consciousness
ordinarily when you’re awake, is the first
thing to go. That’s why DMT is useful. You
can appeal to the lessons that are there
when you understand that your ego isn’t
absolute. That’s an amazing insight, and it
can be a really healthy insight. It can allow
you put things in perspective.”
He also believes that psychedelics
could potentially be used for treating
mental illness. Current treatments
for depression, anxiety and addiction
can be life-saving, but they also have
limits. About a third of people treated
for depression never fully recover.
In England, antidepressant prescrip-
tions have doubled in the last decade:
one in every 11 UK adults is prescribed
them. Psychedelics, Carhart-Harris
thinks, could be used to deliver a turbo-
charged form of therapy, one that does
everything that psychoanalysis does,
but in a more cost-efective manner.
  Below: Patients are given capsules containing psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic and scribbling in the library’s books.
The ban remains in place today.
As a scientist, Carhart-Harris has two

R
overarching and interlacing concerns:
he wants to understand how psychedelic
drugs act on the brain in order to so dramat-
ically alter thought, mood and behaviour;
and he wants to see if their power can be
OBIN CARHART-HARRIS IS NOT THE FIRST SCIENTIST Carhart-Harris harnessed to serve humankind.
to think that psychedelic drugs could be used to treat says that LSD, A few years ago, he undertook a study
psychiatric disorders. Albert Hofmann, the Swiss psilocybin to see if psilocybin could be used to
chemist who first synthesised LSD in 1938, referred to and DMT are treat depression. He enlisted 20 people
his discovery as “medicine for the soul”. In the 50s and powerful tools who had tried at least two courses of
60s, tens of thousands of patients were given psyche- for accessing the medication, so called treatment-resistant
delics for disorders such as anxiety and addiction. A 2016 brain. ‘The term depressives. On average they had lived
meta-analysis of 19 studies published between 1949 and “psychedelics” with the disorder for 17.7 years. On dosing
1972 found that 79 per cent of patients showed “clinically comes from day, each patient would arrive at Imperial
judged improvement” after treatment. But the heyday Greek words for at 9am. After answering a questionnaire
would be short-lived: in 1971, LSD was made illegal thanks “mind-revealing” in the patient lounge and taking a urine
to the United Nation’s Convention on Psychotropic – that’s what test, they were led to a room that had been
Substances treaty, ending all major research programmes. these drugs do’ decorated to look more like a bedroom
Carhart-Harris, who is 37, entered the field just as the
disapprobation of drugs was waning. In 2006, a study by
Francisco Moreno at the University of Arizona, Tucson,
found that psilocybin reduced the symptoms of obsessive-
compulsive disorder in nine patients. Then, in 2011,
another study found that the same alkaloid significantly
eased the anxiety of people dying of cancer. Each year,
there are progressively more clinical trials with psyche-
delics. In 2016, three investigated the therapeutic action
of psilocybin; another looked at ayahuasca.
Brain imaging has also transformed neuroscience. The
development of functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI) means it’s now possible to observe the brain
thinking, doing and feeling. Scientists in the 60s “second
wave” of psychedelic research – the first being the use in
indigenous cultures – could only guess at the biological
mechanisms by which the drugs change the brain. Carhart-
Harris uses imaging to unpack their mysterious power.
The oices of the Psychedelic Research Group are on the
fifth floor of Imperial’s Burlington Danes building. There,
on Thursdays, Carhart-Harris holds a team meeting. On
the day I attend, he has just returned from Peru where
he had been invited to carry out a brain scan on a partic-
ipant in a traditional shaman-led ayahuasca ceremony.
In person, Carhart-Harris is polite and warm. He is
medium height and athletic, with just-greying hair and
electric-blue eyes. His humour runs on the dry side. “I’ve
just come back from a retreat in the Amazon,” he tells
the group. “It’s now very clear to me that the spirits are
real and science is a waste of time.”
In his oice is a framed poster, bought at the Sigmund
Freud Museum in Vienna, containing the quote: “It is not
easy to deal scientifically with feelings.” On shelves above
his desk, behind a bottle of mouthwash and a disposable
razor, are Freud’s complete psychological works. “I have
something quite frightening,” he says, reaching for an
A3 pad on the top shelf. Text copied from Freud’s books,
referenced and colour-coded, filled every sheet. On a page
entitled “The Ego”, one phrase – “WITH THIS IDENTITY
IS ATTAINED” – is capitalised and highlighted.
Carhart-Harris has a reputation in the department for
excessive indexing. “At one point he asked if I could borrow
a book from the library for him,” David Erritzoe, a psychi-
atrist and research fellow, tells me. “I said, ‘OK, but why
can’t you go yourself?’ He was like: ‘It’s a bit problematic.’”
Carhart-Harris had been banned for highlighting
than a clinic, with drapes, flowers, music
playing and electric lights that flickered
like candles. After swallowing the psilo-
cybin capsule, the patients were invited
to stretch out on a bed. Two psychia-
trists stayed in the room – Carhart-Harris
believes that a soothing environment and
psychological support before, during
and after dosage is essential. People on
psychedelics are psychically vulnerable;
anxiety and paranoia are not uncommon.
When the results came in, they showed that the depression had 
reduced in all of the patients. (The results reflect the experiences
of 19 people; one dropped out.) Three weeks after dosage, nine
were in remission; after five weeks, all but one felt less depressed.
Carhart-Harris admits the study has its problems: it was
not placebo-controlled and because of the small sample size
it is not possible to make grand inferences. Yet for some of the
participants, the treatment was life changing. “Before, I was like
a beetle on its back, now I am on my feet again,” reported one.
Another went out for dinner with his wife for the first time in
six years, feeling “like a couple of teenagers”.
 Left: An MRI scanner in Carhart-Harris’s laboratory at Imperial College London
T
H E S E C O N D O F T H R E E B R O T H E R S,
Carhart-Harris was born near Durham in
northeast England. When he was four, his
family moved to Poole on the south coast. He
was raised Catholic, and though he is now
an atheist, traces of the altar boy remain.
Psychedelics, he says, were suppressed
during the 60s like a “forbidden fruit” of
which knowledge was too dangerous.
In his youth, Carhart-Harris was not
academic. He liked PE and science, but
would hide his school reports. “I remember
one that started, ‘Robin’s behaviour gives
cause for concern as he progresses into
his GCSE years’,” he says. “I was a bit of a
precocious raver.” He was also hobbled by
anxiety. Once, when asked to read aloud
to his classmates, he found he couldn’t
breathe. He went to the University of
Kent to study biochemistry but dropped
out. He returned home and applied to his
local university to study psychology. “I
wrote this personal statement – you know
what young people are like sometimes,
grand and over the top – I was saying how
I wanted to help people to just live and not
be shackled by mental-health problems.”
Carhart-Harris first encountered
Freud in 2004, during his masters at
Brunel University London. At a seminar
on “methods to access the unconscious
mind”, he discovered that Freud’s theories
For some of
Carhart-Harris’s
psilocybin-test
participants, the
treatment was
life-changing.
‘Before, I was
like a beetle on
its back – now
I’m on my feet
again,’ reported
one subject
rest on a belief that the mind is like an iceberg, with the majority of its mass
hidden from the view of the conscious self, which he called the “ego”. He was
captivated by Freud’s ideas but saw that there was no empirical evidence to
support them. “I thought, what is this cult if all it is is us believing?” Born
in an age before computers and brain imaging, Freud had relied on blips
in the system, be it slips of the tongue, compulsive patterns of behaviour
or dreams. Carhart-Harris was amazed that these were still the methods
espoused by his professor. Dream interpretation just seemed too kooky.
Back in his room, he typed “LSD unconscious mind” into the library
search engine. It returned a title from 1975, “Realms of the Human Uncon-
scious: Observations from LSD Research” by Stanislav Grof. He took out
the book and read it that same day. Something clicked: “I was like: this is
fucking big. You can prove something really fundamental about the mind.”
Freud had said that dreaming was the “royal road” to the unconscious.
Carhart-Harris felt sure the same was true of psychedelics. He began to
wonder: how is the ego represented in the brain? What are the neural corre-
lates? He felt that the obvious place to start was with a scan of someone’s
brain on LSD. He looked for a lab where such a thing might be possible.
Carhart-Harris wrote to David Nutt, then the head of the psychop-
harmacology unit at Bristol University. (Nutt has since moved to
Imperial.) Nutt was interested in brain circuitry and addiction and was
publicly critical of drugs policy; in 2007 he lost his place on the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs, a body that advises the government,
over outspoken remarks. He agreed to meet.
“I went along, nervous as hell,” Carhart-Harris said. “I told him ‘I want to
study the brain on LSD, I think it could tell us a lot about Freudian principles
and their biology.’” Nutt heard him out, but rejected his proposal. Then he
asked if Carhart-Harris was interested in MDMA. The department was in
need of a PhD student to investigate whether the drug damages the brain’s
serotonin systems. Carhart-Harris said that he was interested but left
feeling despondent. On the way home he called his mother. She advised
him to accept the ofer, that it could act as a stepping stone.

STUDY OF
NEURONS TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND HOW CONSCIOUSNESS
arises is a waste of time, says Carhart-Harris. All experi-
ences – from the disgust of seeing a dead rat to the
memory of a childhood holiday – happen as diverse
parts of the brain become networked. In an fMRI scan,
electromagnets detect changes to blood flow in the brain.
Since neural activity increases blood flow, it is possible
to observe discrete parts of the brain reacting to various
stimuli; on screen, engorged regions are presented as
colourful splotches. Zoom in too closely and the full
picture is lost. “It’s not thinking about the quarks or
atoms in the neurons,” Carhart-Harris said. “That’s kind
of meaningless, there are too many steps and levels to
get up to a point at which you have a functioning system
that maps on to something that you can feel.”
Normally the brain is good at hiding its vast and
unfathomably complex machinations. Most mental
activity is not under conscious control, and we only notice
the fact if we make a Freudian slip or pause to consider a
pupil dilating. One barrier between the self and the vast
data-processing thought-swamp of the rest of the brain
is what neuroscientists call the “default-mode network”.
It is an intricate system of interlinking brain regions
that together give rise to what some call the “monkey
mind” – the stream of internal chatter that surfaces in
between periods of more focused thought.
By studying LSD, Carhart-Harris has found that psych-
edelics do something unusual to the default-mode
network. In a 2016 study published in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences journal, he injected
20 healthy volunteers with either 75 micrograms of LSD
or saline, a placebo, on two separate occasions. As the
drugs kicked in, volunteers reported a “sense of eerie
dread” as their anchorage in the world shifted. “Usually,
depending on how it goes, there’s a bit of a kick back,
there’s some anxiety.” They then had two fMRI scans
followed by a magnetoencephalography (MEG) scan –
if the various scans pointed to the same mechanisms
the results would be stronger. Afterwards, volunteers
responded to a questionnaire so that scan data could be
correlated with experience. Statements included “sounds
influenced things I saw” and “edges appeared warped”.
In the brains of the volunteers, as the visual network
became more connected (all the LSD-injesting partic-
ipants hallucinated), the blood flow in the 000
default-mode network receded, indicating that it
had lost its force. For the participants, this corre-
lated with a change in the way they processed
the world. The monkey mind had gone quiet.
In society we talk approvingly of “well-
rounded” individuals and “getting ourselves
together”. But a little chaos can be a good thing. In
certain psychiatric disorders, the brain becomes
entrenched in pattern. Someone with depression
might have relentlessly negative thoughts about
themselves; people with obessive-compulsive
disorder get trapped in repetitive action.
Carhart-Harris believes that psychedelics
work like a reset button. He likes the analogy
of shaking a snow globe. Under LSD, as the
default-mode network disbanded, other segre-
gated parts of the volunteers’ brains began
communicating in an unpredictable way – a state
of increased entropy. Psychedelics seem to break
down entrenched ways of thinking by disman-
tling the patterns of activity on which they rest.
For instance, the most-prescribed class of
antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRIs), raise levels of serotonin in the
brain by blocking its natural reabsorption. When
we are anxious or stressed, parts of the brain
become overactive. Serotonin, a neurotransmitter,
binds to receptors in the brain that are prevalent
in regions involved in stress and emotion, the
5-HT1A receptors. Once bound to the receptor,
serotonin initiates a signal that decreases the
activity of the neurons. By keeping the 5-HT1A
receptors doused in serotonin for longer
than normal, SSRIs calm the stress circuitry.
But they also blunt emotion more generally.
‘When you
say you want to
measure well-
being to funding
panels, I’ve
got a feeling
they’re thinking:
“I knew it!
He’s a hippie,
he’s not a real
scientist”’
 Psychedelics work on the brain rather
differently. Though they also temper
serotonin, they target the 5-HT2A
receptors, concentrated in the cortex.
Humans have vastly more cortex than
other species, and the 2A receptors are
dense in regions with human-specific
traits such as introspection, reflection,
mental time travel and the self itself.
Carhart-Harris thinks that when
psychedelics disrupt the level of
connectedness in the cortex they create
space for insight and catharsis. For
patients, the process can be difficult.
“You need to be able to say to people:
this could be tough, it could at times be
the worst experience of your life and
you may see your worst fears staring
at you in the face.” But he believes that
the process can be freeing. “I think it’s
possible to know your defences and know
your insecurities and through knowing
them not be at the mercy of their force.”
I pseudo-scientific undermine the field.”
N JULY 2017, CARHART-HARRIS GAVE A
talk at a conference called Breaking
Convention, which bills itself as “the
largest psychedelic conference in the
known Universe”. Held at the University
of Greenwich, the gathering was good-
natured, with a propensity for tie-dye.
The programme listed 150 speakers from
across the psychedelics spectrum. One talk
was on the nascent field of phenomenocon-
nectomics, a largely theoretical method of
quantifying altered states. Another was
titled “Encounter with the Jaguar”.
Carhart-Harris stuck around for most
of the conference, fielding entreaties
from undergraduates, hobnobbing and
catching a few science talks. He attended
a lecture called “Mental Organs and the
Depth and Breadth of Consciousness” by
Thomas Ray, a biologist at the University
of Oklahoma. As talks on consciousness
go, it was difficult to follow, whipping
through molecular compounds, the evolu-
tionary tiers of the mind and the “rise of
insanity”. When Ray presented his central
idea, that “conscious space” is modulated
by the brain’s 5-HT7 receptors, Carhart-
Harris sat forward. “These are wild
extrapolations,” he whispered.
In the question-and-answer session,
Carhart-Harris’s hand shot up. “Have
you plotted the correlation between the
affinity of psychedelics for the 5-HT7
receptor and the drug’s potency?” Ray
said that he had not. “I think that you
Above: Carhart-Harris’s office is packed with literature on the psychedelic experience
should, it’s important.” People fidgeted:
this was not a hostile crowd.
Afterwards, Carhart-Harris left
the conference and stopped in a local
café for lunch. He was quiet, almost
ruminative. “How can you present such
poor science? I think that people should
be allowed to speculate. But the people
who contribute to the mainstream
perception that this research is
The episode had tapped into something
deeper. Research with drugs that are
strictly controlled by the law is not
straightforward. In the UK, LSD is a
class A, schedule 1 drug. Heroin, which
causes more harm to individuals and
society than LSD, and is addictive, is in
the slightly less prohibitive schedule 2
because it is a diamorphine, which can
be used for medication. For a lab to stock
LSD it must acquire a licence from the
Home Oice and meet certain criteria,
such as having a fridge that is bolted to
the wall. All this is demoralising. It took
Carhart-Harris three years to execute the
psilocybin-depression pilot.
Funding is also an issue. Big pharma-
ceutical firms are generally not inclined
to back research into drugs that are
illegal and un-patentable. Carhart-
Harris’s studies have been largely
financed by grants, donations and
crowdfunding. In 2016, he applied to the
Wellcome Trust, the largest charitable
supporter of science in the UK. When he
was shortlisted, he thought he stood a
chance. He had meticulously designed the
two trials he was hoping to carry out if he
got the £1 million-plus grant. But one of
the judges on the panel took issue with his
suggestion that “well-being” should be a
primary outcome. Carhart-Harris had the
impression that the judge considered it
flowery. He didn’t get the grant.
“I’ve got a feeling they’re always
thinking: he’s a hippie,” he tells me at
lunch. “And when something comes out
of your mouth like: ‘I want to measure
well-being’, they are like: I knew it!
He’s a hippie, he’s not a real scientist.”
Carhart-Harris went back to the trust,
asking them to be honest: was it the area
he was researching? But when they said
it wasn’t, he didn’t believe them.
Later that evening, at the conference
soirée, Carhart-Harris gets talking to the
organisers of a Finland-based conference
on psychedelics at which he is scheduled
to speak. What, they want to know,
does he think of ketamine? A study at
the University of Oxford has found that
some patients with treatment-resistant
depression responded positively to the
drug. Carhart-Harris tells them that the
work is interesting, but he does not think
ketamine is as important as psilocybin.
Of all the psychedelic drugs, Carhart-
Harris believes that psilocybin is
probably the closest to becoming legal.
It has fewer stigmas attached to it, and
in the brain, LSD is active for far longer,
making it less practical in the clinic,
while DMT is probably too powerful.
The fact that psilocybin occurs naturally
in mushrooms also helps. It could be
marketed as a natural alternative to
antidepressants. He believes that, one
day, psychedelic therapy will be available
on the NHS, just like SSRIs and cognitive
behavioural therapy are today.
This spring, he plans to do another
psilocybin study, this time directly
pitching psychedelics against SSRIs.
Fifty people living with depression
will receive either daily doses of escit-
alopram, an antidepressant, or a single
25mg shot of psilocybin, plus therapy.
The contest is unequal, in one sense,
because those taking escitalopram
will have a regular reminder that they
are taking medication. “Maybe psilo-
cybin will work at least as well, that’s
my prediction,” Carhart-Harris says.
“But imagine that psilocybin is more
efective? That’s really quite…” he tails
of. “That would be something.” 
Nicola Davison (@nicola_davison)
is a freelance writer based in London

n December 2016, David Hidalgo received a photo-
graph of a 17th-century Peruvian painting. The
unsigned artwork, of the Virgen de Guadalupe,
depicts the Virgin Mary surrounded by appari-
tions and tells the story of her appearance to Saint
Juan Diego near Mexico City in 1531. Hidalgo’s
tip-of came via email from a source who had seen
the painting on show at the Bowers Museum in
California, where it was on loan. Hidalgo’s source
suspected that the painting had been stolen.
Hidalgo is serious and softly spoken; a lover of
books and a stickler for detail. An investigative
journalist, he co-founded OjoPúblico, a Lima-based
digital media organisation, with fellow journalist
Fabiola Torres in 2014.
OjoPúblico’s newsroom is in a tower block
overlooking Lima. It’s June, winter in the southern
hemisphere, and the sky is white and formless.
Hidalgo has his back to the window. The city is
edged with crumbling clifs that have been gnawed
by the Pacific Ocean and the skyline is dominated
by high rises. In the distance, pueblos jóvenes
– shanty towns – creep up the desert hills. The
streets are jammed with taxis, hand-painted combis
and shiny blue buses. Road signs say “Saca la mano
del claxon” (“take your hand of the horn”), but
most people ignore them.
“In the past six years, there have been sold in
auction houses at least 7,000 pieces of Peruvian
cultural patrimony,” he says. “So it’s a real traic.
It shows you the scale of this.”
In October 2016, Hidalgo and his team, frustrated
by the continuing trafficking of his country’s
cultural patrimony, launched Memoria Robada
(Stolen Memory), the first big-data investigation
into the traicking of artefacts from Latin America.
Hidalgo won’t reveal the identity of the
source that alerted him to the possible theft
of the Virgen de Guadalupe. To stick your nose
into the trafficking of art and artefacts is to
interfere with a deadly business. On January 26,
1996, Raúl Apesteguía, a Peruvian art collector
and dealer, was brutally murdered in his Lima
apartment. When his bruised and bloodied body
was discovered, several boxes of pre-Columbian
gold and ceramics were missing.
“Some pieces which were probably stolen that
night, or soon after that night, are still on the
market,” says Hidalgo. “Peruvian experts have
found some pieces that were about to be sold in
auction houses in Europe as recently as 2016.”
No one has been charged with the murder or
the robbery. Thieves and traickers of cultural
heritage are seldom prosecuted, explains Hidalgo.
“In Latin America, it’s easier to catch a drug
traicker than an art traicker.”
Peru’s cultural heritage is an easy target for
thieves because there is so much of it. Many archae-
ological sites remain unexcavated or unsecured,
making them hard to protect and ripe for looting.
In the parched coastal desert, lumps in the sand
hint at man-made structures below; in the fecund
highlands, bottle-green hummingbirds sup from
plants that camouflage pre-Columbian dwellings.
And who knows what treasures lie tangled up in the
spidery vines of the country’s Amazon rainforest?
In Lima, past and present stand cheek by jowl.
Amid the ceviche and fried-chicken joints are
colonial churches; street vendors sell acid-yellow
Inca Kola next to Huaca Pucllana, a grand adobe
pyramid dating from before 700CE. Peru’s towns
and cities are easy pickings for the looters, who are
tempted by valuable artefacts held in churches,
museums and libraries.
Pre-Columbian civilisations, those which
predate Columbus’s arrival on the continent, such
as the Chachapoya, Chimú and Inca, constructed
remarkable citadels such as Kuélap, Chan Chan
and Machu Picchu. The objects they left behind –
squat ceramics depicting mythical animals, silver
figurines, gold ceremonial headdresses, mummified
shamans and countless more – are Peru’s legacy.
Starting around the 16th century, when the
Viceroyalty of Peru extended throughout most of
South America, rare books, exquisite manuscripts,
maps and religious artworks were created; hybrids
of Spanish realism and decorative, indigenous styles.
Such precious artefacts have been coveted and
collected in Europe and North America for centuries.
Precisely defining cultural theft can be a
frustrating business. The Peruvian Ministry of
Culture, which identifies artefacts of cultural signif-
icance, does maintain reportes de robos (theft
reports). Other bodies, such as the police and the
church, also keep records. Yet oicial paperwork
can be disorganised, inaccurate and out-of-date,
and, according to Hidalgo, is contradictory and
spread across diferent oices and organisations.
Even if an object has been registered as stolen, the
current owners can claim that they bought it in good
faith. This paradox, whereby an object can be both
stolen and sold with certification (which could, while
authentic, be inaccurate) allows questionable trading
of historical artefacts to continue around the world.
 Through its investigations, OjoPúblico set out is flatter and more decorative. Many combined
to expose some of the mechanisms behind the both styles. Scholars call this the Cusco School.
smuggling. In doing so, it has reported on traickers Until 2015, the Archdiocese of Cusco maintained
and corrupt dealers and exposed loopholes in an online database of stolen artworks. But,
international laws that facilitate the sale of stolen according to Hidalgo, it was taken down when a p r e v ious pag e
artefacts. The team’s work is based on an analysis of group of lawyers tried to sue the church, which they _
thousands of court and police records, government claimed was involved in traicking. However, back Investigative journalist
reports, theft alerts, auction-house catalogues and when the database was still accessible, Hidalgo’s and OjoPúblico founder
on- and of-the-record interviews. source had taken a screenshot of a photograph of David Hidalgo travels the
The team scanned and transcribed the documents the Virgen de Guadalupe which had been registered world in search of missing
and carried out huge online data scrapes. Over six as stolen. This, said the source, was the painting Peruvian artefacts
months, they collected information from sources that was now in California.
including the Peruvian Ministries of Culture and The screenshot shows a black-and-white photo- below
Foreign Affairs, museums, Interpol, police and graph of a damaged painting propped up against a _
customs and auction houses. They used Freedom wall outside a church. There are holes and tears on A painting of the Virgen de
of Information requests and publicly available data. its surface. Fold marks suggest that the painting Guadalupe, registered as
The backbone of Memoria Robada is a vast online had been concealed at some stage – hinting that it stolen from a South American
database of Latin America’s cultural patrimony. had been in the hands of smugglers. church, appeared in California
It contains more than 268,000 objects, 42,300 of
which have been reported as stolen. It also contains
more than 7,800 records of auctioned artefacts that
OjoPúblico believes were illegally taken from the
 region. It’s free and publicly accessible to allow the
cross-checking of pieces ofered for sale.
“We put all the information, detail by detail, in
a big database that had two million facts,” says
Hidalgo. “Two million details on, for example, the
origin, the category, the age, the author [of books]
in some cases.” Teams in Guatemala, Mexico,
Argentina and Costa Rica gathered their own data.
Each artefact has a photograph and an index card
detailing its name and origin, as well as a description
and note of whether it has been stolen, auctioned or
repatriated. There are also downloadable PDFs of
documents, such as theft reports and police records.
To date, around 30 per cent of the documents have
been uploaded. The process is ongoing.
It does not matter whether artefacts remain
in situ or have been removed to public or private
collections; they are equally at risk of traicking
by criminal groups. The Memoria Robada team
has identified theft from museums and libraries,
by public officers, looters and archaeologists,
Hidalgo says. “That’s why a project like this is
uncomfortable for so many people.”
Theft can happen anywhere: during its investi-
gations, OjoPúblico found that a painting on loan
from The Lima Art Museum to La Presidencia del
Consejo de Ministros (the Presidency of the Council
of Ministers) was never returned.
“We have the documents that prove it,” Hidalgo
says. “So if it could happen at this level, you can
imagine what can happen in museums in the Andes
that have very important patrimony but no custody,
no security and no budget for hiring guards.”

According to Hidalgo’s source, the Virgen De

Guadalupe belonged to the Santiago Apostol Church
in Cusco, a city in the Andes’ Huatanay valley.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Cusco
had an imperial air; Inca and Spanish nobility
commissioned thousands of paintings, resulting
in a period of extraordinary artistic productivity.
Some artists followed the Spanish taste for
anatomical perfection and perspective, which the
conquistadors introduced in the mid-1500s, while
others preferred the indigenous aesthetic, which
r ight Untangling how artefacts are smuggled out of Peru
_ is one of the most intriguing aspects of OjoPúblico’s
David Hidalgo in the work. The team identified several main routes, one
Library of the Santo via Argentina – often through the antique markets
Domingo Convent, Lima’s of Buenos Aires – and another via Costa Rica to
oldest religious complex Miami. It’s hard to see how traickers can operate
without the complicity of oicials such as custom
agents or bureaucrats, says Hidalgo.
In October 2012, US investigators noticed that an
unusually high number of Peruvian handicrafts were
arriving at the home of César and Isabel Guardera
in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Peruvian husband-
and-wife team were later found to be part of a
traicking network which used illicitly procured
export certificates to conceal its smuggling racket.
Hidalgo believes that the fold marks on the Virgen
de Guadalupe not only reveal how it was traicked,
but also provide clues about the thief. If it had been
stolen in its frame while legally out of the country,
it would not have been folded. “It could be a local
thief, probably one who received the proposal to
steal it for very little money,” he speculates.
The audacity of the smuggling networks is
impressive. In 2002, an enormous altarpiece, the
Altar de Challapampa, was illegally moved from
Peru to Mexico. “If you can smuggle something that
size out of the country,” says Hidalgo, “imagine
how easy it is to take a painting.”
t is impossible to know exactly how many
artefacts have been stolen from Peru, nor the full
extent of South America’s cultural patrimony.
Many private and public collections have not been
registered, for fear of the consequences should the
pieces later prove to be stolen. Often, owners do
not want to return valuable items, or even if they
do, there is no amnesty to protect them from being
accused of theft themselves.
Muddying the waters is the fact that, in Peru,
the Catholic Church, which has vast collections
of artworks and religious objects, has the legal
status of a private person. Hidalgo explains that
if he wants to know what objects have been stolen
from national museums and libraries, he can send
a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry
of Culture, but the Church is diferent. “If I want to
know what pieces are missing from the Catholic
Church, from churches or from monasteries, I could
not have that information because the Catholic
Church has no obligation to give it to me.”
Recovery is also laden with a raft of bureau-
cratic problems. Objects taken out of Peru prior
to 1970 do not have the same legal protection
as those that were removed later, and artefacts
that have not been oicially declared “cultural
patrimony” are harder to recover. “If you steal
a book from the 16th century and that book has
not been officially declared part of cultural
patrimony, you could only be charged with theft
like if you have stolen a present-day pair of shoes,
or a lamp, or any book,” Hidalgo says.
Rare books and manuscripts are easy to
smuggle and can be extremely valuable. In 2009,
while working for the Lima-based newspaper El
Comercio, Hidalgo investigated the theft of four
rare books that were documented as belonging to
the National Library of Peru. He was tipped of by
a source who had received the books from a dealer
who claimed to be working with library staf.
In 2010, on the day that Ramón Mujica took his
oath as the new national director of the National
Library of Peru, a carpenter discovered a pile of
rubbish bags on the building’s roof. It was stufed
with manuscripts by Mariscal Andrés Avelino
Cáceres, a Peruvian hero from the war of the Pacific.
According to Mujica, the manuscripts had been
kept in two secure sites: a vault, and a bookcase in a
restricted area to which only authorised personnel
had access. “It was obvious that this was an inside
job and that they were utilising this moment of
an administrative hole with no national director
for this theft to take place,” he says.
Mujica recounts this tale from a plush sofa in
his apartment in Lima. He has the breezy air
of a charismatic intellectual and is fluent and
flamboyant in his use of English.
When the carpenter found the manuscripts,
he recounts, they were carefully wrapped and
prepared to be thrown out of the building. “That’s
apparently how old manuscripts and books are
stolen from public buildings. They come out
through the garbage.”
Mujica initiated an investigation that continued
throughout his six-year tenure as director. He
believes that the investigation was intentionally
stalled and halted, then eventually buried – due, he
claims, to corruption that runs from library staf
and legal administrators to government oicials.
Eventually, Mujica himself was put under inves-
tigation – a smoke screen, he says. “Of course,
they didn’t find anything, nothing.” He remains
incredulous at the lack of progress on the thefts.
“The verdict of the famous commission didn’t
even mention the fact that books were being stolen
from the National Library.”
In 2016, Mujica resigned and now, as a private
citizen, he has contracted independent lawyers
and initiated a criminal court case. “I have not
allowed for this trial to just be closed,” he says.
The case is ongoing.
Other cases have been more successful: in 2012,
a 17th-century Quechua manuscript that had been
stolen from the National Library was found in
Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Library in
Washington. The purchase was reversed and the
Argentinian seller returned the manuscript to Lima
on condition of anonymity.
Despite his frustrations, Mujica is proud of what
he achieved at the library. He organised an interna-
tional campaign entitled “Wanted! Lost books from
the National Library of Peru. Reward: 30 million
happy Peruvians.” His eforts resulted in the return
of hundreds of books from all over world, some of
them valued at more than $1 million (£725,000). He
also invoked an amnesty that enabled local people
to return stolen items.
“I spoke to the Archbishop of Lima to see if the
citizens, in an act of anonymous confession, could
give back the stolen goods in a black bag,” he says.
“And that’s how we’ve received all these extraor-
dinary things: books of sermons, manuscripts,
maps… extraordinary documents.”
Part of the problem, says Mujica, was that nobody
really knew what was in the library. Small catalogues

a bov e
_
OjoPublico co-founder Fabiola Torres pictured among the 1,800-year-old ruins of the Huaca Pucllana in Lima, Peru
 

a bov e
_
This Moche portrait vessel from Lima dates from 200 to 700CE. The area is thought to contain thousands of similar undiscovered artefacts
 of independent collections existed, and disjointed
lists from various historical periods, including
triumphant records made by Chilean troops who
had plundered the library during the Occupation of
Lima. But there was no unified catalogue.
In 2011, Mujica initiated the first complete
inventory of the library. It took several months
to complete and was carried out under strict
surveillance to prevent thefts. New records were
made and old ones cross-checked. “You can have
complete lists of books, but part of your function
is to corroborate that what you are announcing
you actually have on your shelves, he says.”
The history of The National Library of Peru
is marred by a tragic event. In 1943, the original
library burned down and more than 140,000 books
and manuscripts disappeared forever. “During my
time, I discovered a paper, an oicial report done
by the Peruvian state at the time, that the fire was
not caused by an accidental source,” says Mujica.
One startling theory is that the director at the
time did not want anybody to make an inventory
r ight of the collection as it would expose the extent of
_ insider looting. Mujica says he has no idea if anyone
Bibliographic records of the would go to that extreme to cover their tracks, but
National Library of Peru’s he does believe that the fire was started inten-
artefacts exist, but are tionally. “The best way to get rid of the evidence of
disjointed and incomplete a major theft,” he says, “is by burning it all down.”
engaging in dubious practices such as the issuing
of inaccurate certification. The company has been
embroiled in several high-profile cases, including
that of the art dealer Subhash Kapoor, currently
on trial in India accused of selling stolen antiques,
paintings and artefacts through his New York gallery.
Another well-known database maintained by
Interpol is incomplete, says Torres. “It’s not updated.
It has a lot of mistakes in the names of the pieces. All
the information is in English and some translations
are not according to the correct culture or name.”
Torres believes that auction houses do not follow
strict enough protocols. “They do not ask enough
questions,” she says. “They say, ‘Oh! But we have
ALR. They certify everything we sell or we buy.’”
The team at OjoPúblico argue that these certificates
are not always accurate and are seldom questioned.
A spokesman for Christie’s, which submits its
auction catalogues to the ALR but also draws on
other international archives, experts and sources
when checking provenance, points to its policy
on the looting of cultural property. An extract
of which states: “Christie’s adheres to bilateral
treaties and international laws related to cultural
property and patrimony… as a part of that due
diligence, we work closely in partnership with
many national and international organizations
that pursue the same goals.”

naccurate or inconsistent data makes theft easier

to commit and harder to prove, while loopholes
in international laws facilitate the trade in stolen
objects. In 2010, a sale at the Lempertz Auction
House in Brussels prompted theft alerts in seven
Latin American countries. “The catalogue was filled
with pre-Columbian pieces that Peru, Costa Rica,
Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia
recognised as part of their cultural heritage,” wrote
Hidalgo in his report on the incident.
Representatives of the countries involved were
reassured by the Belgian foreign minister that
Belgium would honour a UNESCO 1970 Convention
that seeks to control the import, export and
traicking of cultural property. All the countries
had to do was produce documents proving that
the items belonged to them, that they were stolen,
and that oicial proceedings had been initiated
to seek their return. The evidence was requested
three days before the sale.
“None of the embassies were able to demonstrate
the illicit origin of the pieces in a timely manner,
says Hidalgo. The Belgian Foreign Ministry declared
itself not competent to intervene on the case. The
auction carried through on September 11, 2010.”
OjoPúblico’s Fabiola Torres believes that existing
mechanisms used by auction houses to carry out
due diligence are not working. Databases such as
those managed by the Art Loss Register (ALR)
and Interpol are either exuberantly expensive,
incomplete or inaccurate. ALR is a commercial
database used by many international auction
houses. Searches can be carried out in batches of
25 for £500, which is prohibitively expensive, says
Torres. (Though regular users, such as auction
houses, do have access to diferent rates.)
Further, the ALR, which is run by British
businessman Julian Radclife, has been accused of
 Hidalgo traced the photograph of the Virgen
de Guadalupe in the screenshot back to Fred
Truslow, a US lawyer who had taken it in the
80s while compiling a catalogue of more than
2,000 paintings in Peru’s churches. Truslow had
wanted to ensure they were properly documented
in case they were stolen.
In February 2017, Hidalgo travelled to the US to
meet Truslow. They compared the screenshot from
the database with a photograph of the painting that
the source had taken in California. The paintings
appeared to be identical – but it was the damage that
proved conclusive. At some point, the painting had
been restored, and the positions of holes and tears
shown in the screenshot matched the positions of
signs of restoration in the new photograph.
“It proves that it’s the same painting because
there’s no possibility that two paintings have the
same signs or same details,” says Hidalgo.
Hidalgo’s team then traced the Virgen to its
current owners: the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Orange in California, which had loaned the painting
  to the Bowers Museum. At the end of June 2017,
Hidalgo contacted the Diocese by email. They have
since confirmed that they purchased the painting in
San Diego in 2015 and believe that they did so legally.
There is always a way to justify owning a stolen
artefact, Hidalgo says. “Private owners might say,
‘Well, I bought it 30 years ago and I had no clue that
it was a stolen piece,’ or, ‘It was in the will of my
grandfather and I received it as a gift.’” Hidalgo
does not believe that the Diocese were complicit
in the traicking, but he does believe they are in
possession of a stolen painting.
The story of the Virgen may take many more
months to reach a conclusion. The case is now in
the hands of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.
“The next step is that the Peruvian authorities
ask for the painting, or at least an examination
of the painting, to be completely sure that it is
the same one,” Hidalgo tells me. “I have no doubt
that it is the painting, but there is a methodology
that has to be followed to confirm it according to
international standards in the art market.”
Whatever the outcome, the Virgen case
illustrates the mess that the Memoria Robada
team has set out to expose. By making the database
publicly available and free to use, Hidalgo’s
team has ensured that, in future, it will be harder
for anyone – be they an individual, a religious
body, a museum or an auction house – to claim below
ownership of stolen heritage. _
But in the meantime, he says, there are plenty Items such as this Moche mask,
more paintings to be found.  on display at the Peruvian
Ministry of Culture, are small,
Karen Emslie is a freelance journalist valuable and easy to steal

THE
CO LO P H O N
SHIP-SHAPE SHOOTS
While visiting Symphony of the Seas – the world’s biggest
cruise liner – photographer Benedict Redgrove thought the
job was more of a commitment than he’d planned: “We went
to scout it in the morning, thinking that would take three to
four hours, and we’d shoot in the afternoon and the following
day. Then a rep from Royal Caribbean said, ‘Tomorrow will be a
very exciting day when she (ships are always “she”) heads out
for her sea trials!’ I had visions of calling the WIRED office to
say, ‘Hi, I’m just on my way to Miami – see you in two weeks…’”
THE FLUFFY FACTS
ABOUT DINOSAURS
Illustrator Guy Shield’s first drawings
of Jurassic-era dinosaurs were good
enough for WIRED’s art department,
but, like Hollywood’s past efforts,
didn’t pass paleontologist Steve
Brusatte’s high bar. The classic
error: “You’ll definitely want feathers
on all of those two-legged meat-
eating dinosaurs,” he told us. “Also,
the hands of these dinosaurs didn’t
droop down. They could only be held
facing inwards, like they’re clutching
a basketball.” At least fact-checking
will never go extinct at WIRED…
CORRECTIONS
03.18’s Index stated £3.9bn of public
sector money was invested by the UK
government in science and tech in
2016-2017. The true figure is £5.9bn,
from combining resource and capital
budgets. Also for 03.18: Jean Liu is
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 MODERN DAY DUKE
Modern Day Duke
Luxurious Beard Wash is
UK made and has been
specially formulated to
help cleanse and condi-
tion your facial hair. The
Luxurious Beard Wash HALO
will leave your facial hair Next generation wireless phone charger -
feeling fresh and soft HALO. The perfect combination of technology
for only £13.95. Use code and design, which brings a touch of nature to
‘WIRED’ for 15% discount at your daily tasks. It’s a multifunctional gadget, AION WATCH COMPANY
moderndayduke.co.uk as you can use it in various positions, but also Aion Watch Company have one clear ambition, to
or contact multitask with your phone while it’s charging. combine simplistic design and quality materials
sales@mgessentials. Visit halostands.com or email to create timeless watches that can be worn at
co.uk (expires 30/11/18). info@halostands.com for more. any occasion. Buy online at aionwatchco.com

EDGE OF BELGRAVIA
The future has arrived: Teak Star. If you are tired
of boring traditional squares and circles, the
Teak Star cutting board collection from Edge of
Belgravia offers something more exciting. The
angular hexagonal look is striking and appears
like something from the future, perhaps
making cutting a little more thrilling. You may
also be tempted to use it as a serving platter.
Your guests will no doubt be intrigued. Only
available for pre-order on kickstarter.com until
the beginning of May. For more information see
edgeofbelgravia.co.uk

HARBER LONDON
Discover better ways to carry with their new
Nomad series, for life on the go. Designed
WIR E D to be adaptable, comfortable and durable.
A DV E R T ISI N G Handcrafted with premium vegetable tanned
F E AT U R E leather. Get yours now at harberlondon.com
ANHEM
Anhem is your one stop shop for all your Apple
Watch needs. They offer a full line of premium
accessories to take your Apple Watch to the
next level. Try on their classic stainless steel
watch band and cover for just £28.77.
Visit anhem.tech or contact
team@anhem.tech for more information.
BERROLIA
Berrolia No. 1 is a premium car holder with
charging capability. Each and every individual
piece is hand-crafted from the highest quality
materials. It enables drivers to insert and
operate the phone with just one hand at any
time. Visit berrolia.com for more information
and to purchase.

MAKELØS
The DANDYLINE is inspired by historical
dandy, a man of simple, refined elegance.
They have combined very high-quality
materials in an inconspicuous design. In
addition, they have found a way to offer
top quality materials at low prices. €419 at
makelos.de or email team@makelos.de for
more information.
LILLIAN SINCLAIR DESIGN CO
Lillian Sinclair Design Co. creates timeless
home decor for those who
cultivate eccentricity. All items are
handcrafted in British Columbia and shipped
worldwide. Visit lilliansinclair.com or email
letters@lilliansinclair.com for more.
KITSOUND
The KitSound Voice One Smart Speaker,
is packed full of features from the 20 Watt
drivers offering stunning Hi-Fi sound, the
stain-resistant Nano coating protecting
against little splashes, to the multi-room
technology, allowing you to connect up to 8
speakers. With Amazon Alexa built right in,
the Voice One is a smart speaker with soul
that will completely rock your socks off.
#TalkToMe £129.00 at kitsound.co.uk
05/06.18
TO JOIN US ON THESE
PAGES CONTACT :
020 7499 9080 EXT 3705

AZIO RETRO CLASSIC AMANT WATCH

Vintage inspired and crafted with ultramodern
features, the Azio Retro Classic is the perfect
amalgam of past, present and future. A backlit
mechanical keyboard with round key caps that
evoke nostalgia of yesteryear complemented
with durable Zinc alloy frame and a sumptuous
genuine leather or wood surface. Visit
aziocorp.com for more.
ELEVATIONDOCK 4
The first Apple certified dock to work
one-handed. elevationlab.com
A disruptive timepiece that can last you a
lifetime. Probably the best affordable watch
ever launched on Kickstarter, or anywhere else
for that matter. Pure perfection at an irresistible
price. They also launched sustainable Polos so
soft your old clothes will feel like sandpaper.
Guess heroes don’t wear capes anymore.
Discover more on amantworld.com

LUMICHARGE
Upgrade your workspace
with the LumiCharge
LED Smart Lamp.
Features include adjust-
able brightness and a
motion sensor night
light with an integrated
MANTIDY universal smartphone
PANTOS PARIS Functionality and style. Mantidy Tech Roll is charging dock as well
Pantos Paris is an artisanal eyewear brand a perfect travel companion recognised by its as two USB ports and
dedicated to the mythic shape Panto. Each signature herringbone exterior. It includes 6 a smart LED display.
frame is 100% handcrafted in France with carefully curated essential tech accessories Compatible with iPhone,
Italian acetate and anti-reflection lenses, held in a cool elasticated inner band; made of Android, Windows and
only €165. Free UK delivery and returns at full grain cowhide leather with a beautiful patina. Google devices.
pantos-paris.com Visit mantidy.co.uk Visit lumicharge.com

RAYO
Get ready for an enhanced riding experience
with the most advanced bicycle tail-light.
Equipped with ultra-bright LEDs, engineered
optics, motion detection, and Bluetooth
connectivity, the award-winning Rayo not
only boosts your riding safety but also makes
your ride more convenient and seamless.
Visit hauteworks.com
EQ LIGHT
EQLight is dedicated to innovate timeless
design and immaculately crafted pieces. Here
is the LED Zazil Ceiling Semi Flush Mount 30W;
with six white hexagonal panel lights and one
chrome hexagonal at the centre. To see the
LED Zazil complete collection visit
eqlight.com or email sales@eqlight.com for
more information
DMITRY TIES
DMITRY Ties have redefined fashion by intro-
ducing a unique and exclusive palette of lux-
urious silk men’s neckwear that appeal to
fashionable men of all ages. Each tie has its
own voice and personality. Their mission is WIR E D
to take a classic accessory and update it for A D VE RTI SI N G
today’s man on the go. Visit dmitryties.com FEATU RE

LOCK, STOCK AND BARREL

SLOW WATCHES
About slow in short: A slow symbolizes a
mindset. It subtly reminds you that it’s your
decision to chase every minute or to live for
the moment. Consequently the watch has
only one hand that accompanies you through
all 24 hours of your day. It’s your time – be
slow. Visit slow-watches.com
Volumatte Hair Powder from
British men’s grooming
brand Lock Stock & Barrel
is a unique, protein-loaded
hair styling powder that WIMBLEDON CUFFLINK COMPANY
actually liquefies to the Wimbledon Cufflink Company offers unique
touch to give hair cufflink and watch designs, which draw inspi-
suspension and volume. No ration from classical, historical and culturally
powdery residue, just significant images, patterns and emblems.
gravity-defying lift and It puts a modern twist on the traditional with
a properly matte finish. high quality, wearable style. Wired readers get
RRP £9.50. Available from an exclusive discount code with ‘WIRED30’ at
thegroomingclinic.com wimbledoncufflinks.com (expires 30/06/18)
 MILLION TONNES
The maximum total weight of prey killed by spiders Estimated amount Average amount
globally every year. Ninety per cent of arachnid of money lost to lost by individual
food consists of insects and collembola (insect- cyberattacks in cybercrime
like invertebrates with internal mouthparts). 2017 – 978 million victims, most
The remainder of their diet is made up of plants, people fell victim commonly due
molluscs such as slugs, worms and other spiders during the year to malware

T HE WIR E D 
IND E X The number of nanoseconds in a
“flick”, a new unit of time invented The percentage
WE S O U RC E by virtual-reality company of Americans
EV ER Y T H IN G Oculus to help measure frame who own a smart
rates. It is slightly longer than a speaker, such
nanosecond, with each flick as an Amazon
lasting 1/705,600,000 of a second Echo or Google
The total amount of sunlight Moscow Home, according

579 MILLION TONNES

received in December 2017, making to National
it the darkest month in the city’s Public Media. The
recorded history, beating the previous amount rose 128
record of three hours set in 2000 per cent in 2017
The total reduction in carbon dioxide emissions
attributable to the increased usage of LED bulbs in 2017,
according to UK analyst IHS Markit. This is the
equivalent to shutting down 160 coal-fired power plants

ILLUSTRATION: GIACOMO GAMBINERI. WORDS: ELEANOR PEAKE. SOURCES: THE SCIENCE OF NATURE; NORTON; OCULUS;
THE NEW YORK TIMES; NATIONAL PUBLIC MEDIA; IHS MARKIT; MERSENNE; TWITTER; PUBLICATIONS.PARLIAMENT.UK
The number of accounts Twitter
has identified as being linked to
The amount of digits in the largest known prime the Russian Internet Research
number. This new total was discovered in December Agency, also known as Glavset, in
2017 by John Pace, a FedEx employee from Tennessee, its investigation into interference in
as part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search the 2016 US presidential election

2.5 billion 1 in 400

The number of disposable
coffee cups that are
thrown away in the UK
every year – enough to
stretch around the world
five-and-a-half times
The amount of disposable
coffee cups that are
recycled after use.
The remainder – 500,000
of them are binned every
day – end up in landfill
The number of Twitter users who engaged with the
Russian Internet Research Agency-linked accounts,
which had posted a total of 175,993 tweets in the ten
weeks before the 2016 presidential election. In January
2018, Twitter began emailing people who had followed
these accounts or liked or retweeted their posts
 THE BIGGEST EUROPEAN FESTIVAL ON THE FUTURE

1–2 JUNE 2018 – BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

Peter Jacquelline
SOPHIA THIEL FULLER
THE WORLD’S FIRST CHAIRMAN OF VICE PRESIDENT OF GOOGLE
ROBOT CITIZEN PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES PRESIDENT OF GOOGLE.ORG

Margrethe Ted Massimo

VESTAGER CHIANG BOTTURA
EU COMMISSIONER AUTHOR OF FOUNDER
OF COMPETITION “STORY OF YOUR LIFE” OF FOOD FOR SOUL

Tickets:
brainbar.com