The Near Futurist

What's wrong with video conferencing - Studiobox part 2

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing Near Futurist Guy Clapperton's discussion with Manoj Chawla, inventor of the Studiobox - in part 2 we look at the practicality and ease of ...

What's wrong with video calls - Studiobox part 1

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're so used to video calls now that we hardly notice how naff they are. No eye contact, people looking around the room - whatever happened to human ...

Driving (not just) in my car part 2

04 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing the conversation between Near Futurist Guy Clapperton and TomTom's global business manager for traffic, Douglas Gilmour. We finish the conv...

Driving (not just) in my car

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We all take satellite navigation for granted but maybe we shouldn't - it's finding its way into smart cities, fleet management, delivery and huge amou...

A Little AI Learning - 2

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In part two of this interview, Ten10 co-founder Ash Gawthorp continues his conversation with Guy Clapperton about the impact of sudden innovation in a...

A little AI learning - 1

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial Intelligence has been hitting the news even more than usual as Chinese company Deep Seek has turned the market upside down, hitting numerou...

From 5G to 6G part 2

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this second part of the interview with Dimitra Simeonidou of Joiner, the academic project to explore what's coming next in 6G and beyond, Guy Clapp...

From 5G to 6G - where networking goes next

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You thought the conspiracy theories over 5G were bad but had stopped - well, we can only hope it won't all happen again because, wait for it, plans fo...

A Smarter Way To Work part 2

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the second part of this interview with Smartrectuiters CEO Rebecca Carr, near futurist Guy Clapperton explores the advantages of using artificial i...

A Smarter Way to Work

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Should we be worried about AI in terms of job seeking? Rebecca Carr is a specialist who sees pros and cons. She speaks to Near Futurist Guy Clapperton...

Mind over technological matter

02 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We keep hearing that we're too stressed because we're always on and we spend too much time in front of screens. No argument there but technology can a...

Powering the People

05 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

So many myths about selling electricity between neighbours and yet it never seems to happen - meanwhile the cost of living is set to continue skyrocke...

AI and women - still an issue?

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sound and Fury

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Noise cancelling headphones work by adding noise. What's more, if you measure the annoyance of someone when a contact centre agent asks them to repeat...

Shopping Around

06 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Shopping is changing - we're abandoning cash almost without realising it and you can walk out of an Amazon Go store feeling as if you haven't paid at ...

Changing the world a message at a time

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What's that? There's another social network out there? There certainly is and we don't mean Threads. Guy talks to Sue Fennessy, founder and chief exec...

Reuse your refuse

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are all making too much rubbish and it's going to landfill. This is generally agreed to be a bad ikdea - so of course we still do it. Chris William...

Your car, your transport of desire

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Your car isn't just your vehicle any more, says Yasmine King of ADI - it's your workplace in some cases and not in others. You also need a quieter env...

Metaverse or metamyth

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We've all heard of the metaverse by now - but is it a "thing" or a marketing construct? There are no holds barred in this Dividing Lines debate, the s...

An office of one's own

09 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Received wisdom suggests that we're all going to work flexibly and it's going to be great. Winter is coming, however - so will we scurry back to the o...

Power to the People

14 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Carol Nakhle of the University of Surrey and Robin Peters of Snugg Energy discuss the energy crisis with near futurist Guy Clapperton: * Is the i...

The Near Futurist trailer: Power to the People

10 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A preview of Friday's Near Futurist interview: * Dr. Carol Nakhle of Surrey University and Robin Peters of Snugg debate * Is the dice loaded against u...

80a. Education, education, education transcript

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Transcript of interview with Alexa Joyce from Microsoft

80. Education, Education, Education

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Education was doomed and schools would universally suffer as a result of the pandemic, we were told. It's certainly changed stuff. but has the disaste...

79a: Are we ditching the doctor too soon (transcript)

27 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

79: Are we ditching the doctor too quickly?

27 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We all have a lot of information about our bodies - we might own smartwatches or phones that count our paces or measure our pulse rate, we may have a ...

78a: Nice_to_Meat_You_-_Near_Futurist_transcript.pdf

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

78: Nice to Meat You

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lab-grown meat or factory-made fillets - is the future of meat away from the farm? Daan Luining of Meatable thinks the balance could change while Tim ...

Nice to Meat You

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lab-grown meat or factory-made fillets - is the future of meat away from the farm? Daan Luining of Meatable thinks the balance ay change while while T...

77a: Space_Garbage_transcript.pdf

25 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

77: Space Garbage

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's been an exciting 12 months for astronomy enthusiasts - Jeff Bezos actually took Captain Kirk to outer space! But in the past we've jettisoned a l...

76a: Near_Futurist_working_in_the_new_environment.docx

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Working in the new environment

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We've all heard about the Great Resignation and in this episode of the Near Futurist, Vodafone's chief HR officer Leanne Wood tells Guy Clapperton the...

76: Working in the new environment

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We've all heard about the Great Resignation and in this episode of the Near Futurist, Vodafone's chief HR officer Leanne Wood tells Guy Clapperton the...

75a: Graphene_a_material_for_the_future_otter_ai.docx

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

75: Graphene, a material for the future

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Graphene used to be a theoretical thing but nobody was sure they could extract it - now it has the potential to change the way we make and keep clothe...

74a: The_Near_Futurist_An_Engineered_Earth_otter_ai.docx

21 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

74: An Engineered Earth

21 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A lot of people advocate getting back to nature as the way to preserve the Earth but they may be wrong. Geo-engineering, in which we intervene artific...

73a: The_Near_Futurist__Flying_and_reducing_carbon_transcript.pdf

22 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

73. Flying with reduced carbon

22 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As the Cop26 conference convenes in Glasgow we are aware we'll have to make changes and flying remains a major carbon polluter. This may be about to c...

72a: Labels_that_speak.docx

03 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

72: Labels that speak

03 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Suppose a pair of trainers could not only assure you they were genuine but enable you to sell them back to the manufacturer for remaking so someone el...

70a Michele_Arnese_Transcriptdocx.docx

20 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

71a: Dividing_lines_2_-_does_vertical_farming_work_.docx

20 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

71. Dividing Lines: Does vertical farming work?

20 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vertical farming - put your crops into a high rise building, maybe based on hydroponics so they take up less space and you control the climate. Is thi...

70. Sounds familiar?

06 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Coca-Cola song from the 1970s, the Bond theme, Windows start-up, Apple switch-on - we're surrounded by aural branding as well as logos and visual ...

69a. The_Near_Futurist_presents_Dividing_Lines__Can_algorithms_that_power_fake_news_really_prevent_its_spread.pdf

23 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

69. Dividing Lines: Can Algorithms That Power Fake News Really Prevent Its Spread?

23 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

New to the Near Futurist - a mini-series of debates sponsored by Diffusion PR. In this episode Vinay Nair of Lightful returns to speak to Guillaume Bo...

68a. Young_people_and_data_Near_Futurist_transcript.pdf

25 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

68. Young people and data

25 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guy Clapperton interviews Helena Schwenk of Exasol on how the "D-native" generation doesn't necessarily think it's as fluent as all that in data - and...

67a. Cyndi_Williams_of_Quin_on_the_Near_Futurist_podcast.pdf

11 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

67. Diabetes: how apps can help

11 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lockdown has prompted unhealthy behaviours in a lot of us and we're putting on weight. One unlooked-for effect of all this is diabetes, and Cyndi Will...

66. Elevate yourself

28 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We all use elevators but did you know that the maintenance charge can be invoked even when they haven't moved? Augustin Celier of Uptime believes it's...

65. Dancing with Robots

14 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Merritt Moore is a bit of a renaissance woman in that she is a professional ballet dancer with a doctorate in physics and a qualified astronaut. S...

64. State of the Stadium

30 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Live sport is on the way back and it's going to be soon but we all want stadiums to be safe. Mike Elliot, CEO of Over-C, explains how the answer may l...

63. Your HQ in Cyberspace

16 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vicky Brock of cyber-safety specialist Vistalworks could see her international government clients becoming unable to buy from her after Brexit - so sh...

62. Will you get the vaccine?

01 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Vaccine hesitancy is a major problem among certain minorities and the answer lies not exclusively in old-fashioned campaigns but in the digital world ...

61. It's a bird, it's a plane...

19 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We've been promised these for ages and now at last they're going to arrive - Patrick Hessel of Airmobil explains how he's bringing the flying car to t...

60. Hacking the Hacker

05 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What if you could actually fool the person trying to hack into your system that they were somewhere they wanted to be, when they're not? What if you c...

59. IoT From Fridges To Ganges

22 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Data collection is going to do everything from monitor your refrigerator to cleaning the river Ganges. Michael Sack, chief executive of Teracode, expl...

58. How secure is your home?

05 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Home working is not so much mainstream as compulsory but it may not be as secure as a lot of people hope. Mike Wood of Versa Networks discusses the is...

57. Back to the office?

22 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's 2021 so sometime this year, surely, we'll be able to return to our offices safely. Hold on though - Kristine Dahl Steidel, VP of VMware, has rese...

56. Lock up your data

08 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

2020 is done, dusted and can close the door on its way out, it won't be missed. But as we look forward to vaccines and a gradual return to normality i...

55. Developing the Uni Cycle

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Anders Kohn of Aula speaks to Guy Clapperton about how students need more interactivity in their lectures, particularly in the online world. It's not ...

54. Safe as houses?

20 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've been working from home for months and there is more of it to come. Just to cheer us up even more Chris Morales, head of security analytics for V...

53. Coronavirus forces digitalisation

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Coronavirus has changed many things, one of which is that business and public sector have had to think "digital first". Returning guest Galina Antova,...

52. Staying sustainable

23 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Where are we with sustainable energy and how can we improve? James Kirk, CTO of ENSEK, talks figures, sustainability and data with near futurist Guy C...

51. Blockchain - brilliance or bluff?

09 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Author Kate Baucherel discusses her new book, Blockchain Hurricane, along with banking, durian fruit and science fiction writing with Near Futurist pr...

50. Drone On!

25 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Drones are here already and there are going to be a lot more of them, very quickly. In this episode I speak to Amit Ganjoo, founder and CEO of drone m...

49. The e-doctor will see you now

11 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A short while ago automated consultations with doctors were conducted over Skype and used video, but this doesn't solve the problem. Dr. Murray Ellend...

48. Medicinal Marijuana, Blessing or Burden?

28 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It helps with epilepsy and arthritis, Portugal and California have noted no upticks in crime rate since liberalisation - so is it time to look again a...

47. Make an exhibition of yourself

14 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Lockdown is increasingly eased and the exhibition and event industry wants to come back. Its clients are mad keen to get on with it too - but will peo...

46. Pinch back your pennies

31 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The shops, pubs and cinemas are back albeit in altered forms and they need our money - which we also need because so many households have less than £...

45. Returning to retail - virtually

17 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In case you've been hiding, shopping is back for non-essential goods BUT not everyone wants to go. So what are the options for the shopper who wants t...

44. Carbon footprints and lightening up

03 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Carbon footprints are an issue and have gone down during lockdown, so how do we continue to reduce them as we emerge? Near futurist podcaster Guy Clap...

43. Hearing aids - destroy the stigma, increase the functions

19 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Hearing aids can be stigmatised because they're associated with growing old - meanwhile the effects of hearing isolation on mental health can be profo...

42. Back to school with apps

05 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Many schools in the UK were back this week but only for certain year groups. In this Near Futurist podcast Guy Clapperton talks to Quizlet's UK Countr...

41. Keep on Keeping on (virtually)

22 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With everybody under lockdown and entire households simultaneously on Zoom and Netflix, to say nothing of the business sector, you could be forgiven f...

40. Retail after Covid, the experience economy

07 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nobody is kidding themselves that the retail market is going to be the same when Lockdown has stopped - names will vanish, already-squeezed margins wi...

39. Keeping the children safe

24 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sexting, grooming, bullying - we all know what can happen to our children online and we hate it. In this edition, Neil Fairbrother of the SafeToNet Fo...

38. Education has to change

10 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Obviously everyone is isolated and technology is helping with the educational needs of the young. However, in this episode of the Near Futurist podcas...

37. Augment your retail business

27 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Near Futurist Guy Clapperton speaks to London Dynamics founder and ex Ikea AR expert Michael Valdsgaard about how we're going to be buying our furnitu...

36. Cybersecurity and how safe we feel

13 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Near Futurist Guy Clapperton interviews Etay Maor, chief tehnology officer of security specialist IntSights. They explore mistakes people make but Mao...

35. The future of learning

21 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Why do organisations treat learning tasks as if they were still at school? This isn't the best way to assimilate skills, believes Steve Dineen, head o...

34. To cluster or not

07 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the early nineties Bill Gates wrote that we'd all be working remotely from home because of the Information Superhighway, and yet tech companies at ...

33. Artificial Intelligence - ethics get PARCed

24 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There is a perception out there that artificial intelligence is ethically neutral - but can it be? Kyle Dent of PARC thinks not and he is involved in ...

32. Who will pay for going cashless?

10 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

One of my favourite games when speaking at conferences is to get people to realise they've all but stopped using cash. Which is fine and neutral - unl...

31. Retail - the small business bites back

06 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Customer experience is key in retail - and a lot of it is about technology these days, says Jacyn Heavens, founder of Epos Now in this interview with ...

30. The human factor - a premium customer service

22 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

People are buying from people again given the chance and customer service and customer experience - that's CX to the professionals - is leaving techno...

29. Artificial Intelligence and where it can go wrong

08 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Near Futurist Guy Clapperton talks to Bernd Greifeneder, founder of Dynatrace, on the nature of artificial intelligence - what do we mean by it, what ...

28. Active voice

25 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The #nearfuturist podcast is a year old this week! But is that who it sounds like congratulating us at the beginning of this episode? Guy Clapperton t...

27. Smart Cities and a matter of time

11 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Smart Cities are becoming a thing, and Simon Kenny of Hoptroff believes he knows what will make them work - super-accurate timing. But there will also...

26. Security, the evolving threat

27 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Nation states may be attacking our water supplies and other basic utilities but there are steps we can take. Galina Antova, co-founder of Claroty, tal...

25. What's App-ening to the Economy

13 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Do you own a business and base its value on your intellectual property? This may be a bad move if Ross Mason of MuleSoft is right in his conversation ...

24. Management - a set of contradictions

30 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Can you be humble but confident? Ambitious but human? Alison Maitland of Lane4 thinks it's going to be essential in the next evolution of management t...

23. Robots and their rights

02 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The robots are coming and they will make low-grade, tedious jobs redundant, that's a given by now. Guy Clapperton's interviewees this week, James Ewin...

22. Space: the final comfort zone

19 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's 50 years ago this week that Neil Armstrong first stepped out of Apollo 11 and onto the moon's surface, followed by Buzz Aldrin (and don't you fee...

21. Is Artificial Intelligence a massive con?

05 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Have you heard the one about the toothbrush that uses artificial intelligence to tell you to brush harder? Morey Haber of BeyondTrust has and it annoy...

20. Brother can you spare a crypto dime

21 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The weird thing about crypto currencies like Bitcoin is that although some people will sell them to you, you can't actually spend them. Which is an od...

19. Machine learning - what will we learn?

07 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

OK, look, it's not the Near Futurist Guy Clapperton who ends up referencing Skynet and the Terminator in this episode - it's Oliver Tavakoli, a serial...