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YVR’s Futurist Offers GlimpseOf What Next-GenerationAirports May Offer

With each passing year new technologies andinnovations continuously impact the lives of everyone onthe planet. In turn, businesses and institutions mustconstantly consider where the world is heading and whatthe future will look like.

In its most recent round of master planning, whichlooks out toward 2037, Vancouver International (YVR)wanted to find a way to both engage the public more inthe planning process and widen its net of ideas of whatairports of the future could be like. “We really wanted tohear from the public,” says Craig Richmond, presidentand CEO of YVR.

The airport decided to enlist the help of the EdelmanVancouver PR agency and Nikolas Badminton, a futurist.It’s a role Badminton fell into through his interests. He

By Claire Cole

FLOATING ROBOTS & FOOD FARMS

FLOATING ROBOTS & FOOD FARMS

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remembers taking an applied psychologycourse during his university studies thatcovered everything from behavioralpsychology to cognitive psychology toartificial intelligence.

That stuck with him as he spent timeworking in technology, customer relationshipmanagement, and data and analytics.Eventually, he began producing conferenceson technology’s ability to change people andthe world, and that’s where he picked up thetitle of “futurist.”

As a futurist Badminton helps companiesand organizations plan for what’s going tohappen next, whether it be 10, 20, 30 ormore years into the future. At YVRBadminton and the agency were chargedwith coming up with a campaign focusingon how the airport of the future might differfrom those in the present and finding a

compelling way to present those ideas. It’s not an easy task by any measure. “It’s

difficult to actually predict 20 years into thefuture because it’s speculative at best,” notesBadminton.

However, he has a process for trying tofigure out what the future holds. First, heconsiders what technology will be prevalentat a given point in time. Then, he thinksabout how that technology relates orintertwines into human experiences.

Five Stories

In the case of YVR, Badminton’s finishedproduct came in the form of five shortscience fiction-type stories describing theexperiences of various people in a futureversion of YVR. Each is paired with an

illustration displaying what’s described inthe story.

For example, the first story in the seriesdescribes a man named Pascal’s experiencearriving at the airport. The integration ofgenuine human experiences and technologyis apparent immediately: “As [Pascal]wanders inside, his augmented reality glassesalert him to watch the Welcome to YVRAirport story.”

And the stories aren’t short on detail. Thesame story about Pascal goes on to describea vision of the future airport terminal: “YVRstrives to be fully sustainable andenvironmentally efficient. We’re achievingthis through the harnessing of rainwater andsolar energy. Our revolutionary vertical farmdelivers fresh vegetables daily, while ouraward-winning ground operations carefullymanage the environment to reduce noise,

YVR’s futurist created “stories” to helpillustrate what the future airport might looklike. One story follows the experience of aman named Pascal as he arrives at YVR.

Another future “story” envisionsa vertical farm within the terminalthat would produce freshvegetables throughout the year.

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taxiing times, queues and greenhouse gases.”“They’re very human stories,” says

Badminton on the narratives he’s created.“But then you weave in the technology toreally say, ‘Ok, this is how it’s going to beslightly different in the future.’”

The finished campaign was displayed onbillboards at the airport, as wraps on trains,in printed material and on the website forthe master planning process, YVR2037.ca.

Public Input

Richmond says the use of Badminton’sexpertise and creativity to “jazz up” theplanning process was successful. The airporthosted multiple workshops where citizenscould come and meet with various experts.Those events were widely attended, accordingto Badminton.

The airport wasn’t concerned with publicinput from a technical aspect, but it wantedto know people’s reactions to changes thatmight affect them. Questions Richmond sayswere important to ask of the public included:“What do you think about how this willaffect you? What would you like to see? Howwould you like to see the terminal unfold?”

And the public spoke. Many took to theplanning website to make comments, askquestions and provide ideas throughout theprocess.

The campaign has worked out so well thatRichmond says YVR would “absolutely”consider bringing in a futurist again. Beyondgarnering the public’s attention, Richmondsays that it has been good for boosting thecreativity of the process. The idea offarming food in the terminal was neverthought of until Badminton included it in

one of his stories. People have already started inquiring

about the floating robots featured in anotherone of the stories, according to Richmond.He says the airport has to manageexpectations, but the plan is to use somethingderivative of Badminton’s vision.

Overall, the process has sparked muchconversation about what the future ofYVR – and other airports – looks like.Badminton believes it’s a topic of interest tomany, not just futurists like him.

“I think that everyone’s sort of inspiredby a question of what’s going to happentomorrow, and I just very actively do that inmy life.”

The final story in the series features a“travel assistant robot.” The robot would

theoretically lead passengers through theairport and assist with customs processing.