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Modem’s Dream Recorder turns sleep into spatial storytelling

Modem Dream Recorder, The Netherlands

The Netherlands – Dutch design studio Modem has unveiled Dream Recorder, an AI-powered device that transforms spoken memories of dreams into cinematic video sequences. Users narrate their dreams aloud in any language and the device’s built-in AI model generates a visual interpretation, played back as an ‘ultra-low definition dreamscape’ – a deliberate nod to the hazy, surreal quality of dreams.

Dream Recorder is entirely DIY. Open-source software and modular hardware components allow users to build the device themselves with no soldering required. It operates as a standalone unit, promoting phone-free bedrooms and preserving the intimacy of dream recollection.

As covered in our Synthocene Era report, the convergence of spatial computing and layered realities is reshaping how we engage with memory, storytelling and personal expression – territory where Dream Recorder offers a provocative glimpse into the evolving experience economy.

Strategic opportunity

Explore how immersive tech can unlock new modes of self-expression and emotional storytelling. Consider prototyping open-source, AI-driven tools to deepen people's engagement through personalised memory, dream or narrative experiences

Australia approves nation’s first lab-grown meat for high-end menus

Forged, Australia

Australia – Australia has approved its first lab-grown meat products, with Sydney food-tech startup Vow set to serve cultured quail dishes in upscale restaurants.

Following a two-year review, Food Standards Australia New Zealand has given Vow the green light to sell three products made from cultured Japanese quail cells: a whipped parfait, foie gras and an edible tallow candle. Under the sub-brand Forged, the cultivated meat products will appear on menus at Bottarga in Melbourne and Nel in Sydney, with global demand for Vow’s products reportedly growing by 200% each month.

‘We selected very high-end products, very high-end positioning… as a way of trying to shape and influence food culture,’ says Vow CEO George Peppou.

Rather than replicating traditional foie gras exactly, Vow’s version tones down the offal-heavy flavour. Its unique texture and form reflect a key ambition: to create new culinary experiences, not just alternatives.

With one of the world’s largest food-grade bioreactors, Vow joins just two other companies in the world permitted to sell cultivated meat, a milestone in the shift from lab to luxury dining.

Explore our Cultivated Meat Market feature to meet the innovators pioneering sustainable protein solutions that appeal to meat lovers and vegans.

Strategic opportunity

Position lab-grown products as premium by launching through fine dining and luxury channels, co-creating novel taste experiences with chefs and designers to signal innovation, exclusivity and ethical indulgence

Stat: America’s millionaire class is growing faster than ever

Sporty & Rich and The Carlyle, US

US – Global wealth creation accelerated in 2024, with the US leading the way. According to UBS’s 2025 Global Wealth Report, more than 1,000 people became millionaires every day in America in 2024 – a surge driven by buoyant stock markets and rising asset values.

The number of ‘everyday millionaires’ or Emillis – individuals worth £734,900–3.67m ($1–5m, €862,450–4.3m) in assets – has more than quadrupled since 2000, now totalling 52m worldwide and collectively holding £78.6 trillion ($107 trillion, €92.3 trillion) in wealth globally.

Wealth in North America grew by over 11%, outperforming the global average of 4.6%, fuelled by 25% returns on major US indexes. Meanwhile, regions such as Western Europe and Latin America lagged behind amid weaker markets.

Looking ahead, UBS highlights the oncoming great wealth transfer, with £61 trillion ($83 trillion, €71.6 trillion) set to be passed down by Baby Boomers in the next two decades – a shift that will mean women, particularly in the US, will inherit and control an increasing share of global wealth.

This echoes insights from The Future Laboratory’s The Global Wealth Transfer report from 2023, which unpacked the implications of this shift in demographic wealth for society at large and the luxury sector.

Strategic opportunity

Prepare for the global wealth transfer by building brand narratives, loyalty strategies and product lines that resonate with younger, purpose-led inheritors, particularly affluent women and next-gen investors seeking meaning alongside money