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Seventeen Teahouses elevates the ritual of teatime in Nanjing

Seventeen Teahouses. Design by Modum Atelier, Nanjing, China

China – Seventeen Teahouses in Nanjing is redefining hospitality with a sensory retreat centred on the mindfulness of tea rituals. Designed by Modum Atelier, the 160-square-metre space features six rooms inspired by natural terrains, with irregular forms, textured walls and slanted ceilings creating a cave-like ambience.

Skylights and soft curtains interplay with light and shadow, while angled windows aid vegetation to grow inside. Furnished with dead trees and rocks, the design blurs boundaries between nature and architecture, fostering a grounding experience.

By prioritising sensory connection over mere consumption, this project epitomises how design can transform simple acts into profound rituals, embracing timelessness and the art of presence.

In our World Retail Congress 2024: Let’s Get Hyperphysical report, we explore how retailers are using hyper-locality to redefine store experiences, adapt to consumer preferences and create destination-worthy spots.

Strategic opportunity

Transform retail and hospitality spaces into dynamic multisensory experiences by using hyper-local design elements that create a venue as compelling as the products offered

Label Emmaüs destigmatises second-hand gifting with Christmas Backstories campaign

Christmas Backstories by Label Emmaüs, France

France – As the holiday season approaches, Label Emmaüs, the community centric e-commerce platform of the French Emmaüs movement, has launched Christmas Backstories, a bold campaign to redefine second-hand gifting. In a culture dominated by fast fashion and low-cost products, the initiative seeks to inspire people to embrace meaningful consumption through the power of storytelling.

Using AI, the campaign creates narratives that reveal the emotional value of second-hand items, transforming them into unique gifts with rich histories. ‘By adopting AI, Emmaüs is training its companions to use tomorrow’s digital tools,’ says Ludovic Chevallier, director of Havas Paris Social, who partnered on the campaign.

Label Emmaüs’s marketplace now offers more than 2 million second-hand items catering to a growing number of consumers who prioritise sustainability. According to a recent Ifop study, 43% of French people, particularly younger generations, have already embraced second-hand gifting.

Maud Sarda, co-founder and director of Label Emmaüs, emphasises the social and environmental impact: ‘Buying new, low-cost items en masse is the worst gift. Second-hand items have proven durability and fund projects with ecological and social impact.’

Explore our Resale Redux report to understand the surge of the resale market and Gen Z’s desire for sustainable fashion.

Strategic opportunity

Second-hand items all have their own unique story. Consider introducing heritage tags to accompany these items, accompanied by written narratives or AI-generated stories about their origins, past uses or distinctive features. This approach transforms each item into a fascinating conversation starter

World Labs' AI system brings photos to life with interactive 3D worlds

US – World Labs, a start-up founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, has introduced an AI system capable of transforming single images into interactive 3D video game-like scenes.

Unlike other AI tools, World Labs’ creations are interactive and modifiable, allowing users to transform any image into an immersive 3D experience, scrollable with a keyboard and mouse.

Still in its early stages, the system maintains scene consistency and physical realism. Current limitations include constrained movement areas and occasional rendering glitches, but World Labs aims to refine its fidelity and interactivity.

‘Most generative AI tools make 2D content like images or videos,’ World Labs wrote in a blog post. ‘Generating in 3D instead improves control and consistency. This will change how we make movies, games, simulators and other digital manifestations of our physical world.’

Our latest macrotrend report The Synthocene Era: Merging Human and Machine Intelligence explored the potential of spatial computing and layered realities in transforming the experience economy. By introducing new immersive and interactive experiences, AI can make digital interactions more engaging, intuitive and fluid.

AI imagery by The Future Laboratory, UK

Strategic opportunity

As the technology develops and becomes more widely accessible, consider how you can transform your retail and entertainment spaces using AI-driven 3D worlds that blend storytelling and interactivity with e-commerce

Stat: Global mobile internet growth stalls as hard-to-reach populations remain offline

Photography by Ketut Subiyanto

Global – The growth rate of new mobile internet users is slowing globally, with around 160m people coming online in 2023 and a similar number in 2023. This is in contrast with more than 200m each year from 2015 to 2021, according to Global System for Mobile Communications Association Intelligence (GSMA).

While 57% of the world’s population – 4.6bn people – are now connected to mobile internet, barriers such as affordability and infrastructure hinder further growth, particularly in developing countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria.

‘You get this peak of adoption in the beginning because it’s new,’ Max Cuvellier Giacomelli of GSMA told Rest of World. He explained that many who can afford mobile internet are already online.

Even countries with high connectivity rates, such as China (80%) and the US (81%), have stalled progress in reaching offline populations. Advances in satellite technology, including SpaceX’s Starlink, may help address coverage gaps, but affordability and accessibility remain critical challenges to achieving universal mobile internet access.

For more insights on the future of 5G and connected devices, head to our analysis of Mobile World Congress 2024: The Future of Connectivity.

Strategic opportunity

Consider how to design apps and services that work offline or with minimal internet bandwidth, such as lightweight apps or progressive web apps, to cater to areas with patchy connectivity