RMIT WEARABLEs + Sensing Network (W+SN), 2019
W+SN Megatrend Mapping
W+SN Megatrend Mapping Activity. Photographs by Adam R. Thomas, 2019.
Megatrend visualisation developed in collaboration with Ally Crimp, 2019.
The RMIT Wearables and Sensing Network (W+SN) brings together over 70 researchers from 11 University Schools to collaborate and connect. At the W+SN launch in May 2019 we customised the Tactile Tools™ toolkit to a megatrend mapping activity. Table groups were asked to identify and map what megatrends the Wearable and Sensing Network should aim to focus on. Each group included participants with different expertise to allow for an exchange of diverse ideas. The Tactile Tools methodology encouraged participants to collaboratively overlay, link, and cluster megatrends into themes. These recurrent themes were concerning health and wellbeing, sustainability, and data. The data from the maps was collated after the workshop and informed the creation of a visualization that enabled the network to highlight its three priority areas: Health and Wellbeing, Data, and Sustainability.