CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: INSIGHTS FROM OUR JULY 2017 INNOVATION SHOWCASE

Here at refine+focus, we thrive in spaces that encourage sharing and empathy. This July’s “Curiouser and Curiouser” event fostered exactly that.

THE EVENT

This month’s event brought together political theorists, startup developers, social impact investors, and more to share ideas that were all driven by our presenters’ passions. With presentations in realms ranging from technology to social justice, the evening was marked by a list of outstanding ideas we were eager to share.

HOW IT WORKS

This month’s event followed the same format as May and June’s evenings, with each attendee bringing an idea that excited them and sharing it with the rest of the group in three minutes or less.

1. Eduardo Pujol – A voice-powered ring that harnesses the power of bone conduction to turn your finger into a smartphone

2. Daniel Goez – Science writer Ed Yong’s TedTalk reveals there may be bacteria that dictate what we eat, what we desire, and how we behave

3. Aaron Hatley – Design thinking distilled into a toolkit with The Historical Thinking Project

4. Aishwarya Nataraj – A San-Francisco startup protecting rainforests by allowing trees to talk
   

1. Taylor Wilson – The rise of influencer marketing in the Arab world

2. Zach Braiker – How do we use technology to recreate sacred spaces?

3. Ethan Kopit – Machine learning and artificial intelligence combine to assist with sales

4. Yousof Naderi – Extracting meaningful interactions through deep learning and personalized mentorship

1. Jorge Sanabria – As 3D Interfaces are becoming more natural, how do we interact with them?

2. Toria Rainey – Adobe’s “Playful Palette” blends together the physical and digital arts of painting

3. Vilas Dhar – How do we empower individuals to overcome the disconnect between their needs and the services available to them?

4. Basel Fakhoury – Integration tools like Zapier and Ifttt allow innovation to be about connecting again

5. Eder Machado – What if there was an app that took away the frustration of grocery shopping by giving you layouts of popular grocery stores?

6. Rebecca Redelmeier – Using hints from the classic film to allow computers to understand language with the Wizard of Oz experiment

AN OPEN INVITATION

We’ll be announcing next month’s event in the near future, so keep an eye out if you’d like to be a part of these inspiring evenings.

Did any of the ideas you read spark a new one within you? Do you have ideas of your own you want to share? If you’re a curious person and interested in attending our future “Curiouser and Curiouser” events, feel free to send us a message at hello@refineandfocus.com.

Cover photo by Jonathan Simcoe