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What exactly is a futurist? According to Wikipedia.... Futurists (not in the sense of the art movement futurism) or futurologists are scientists and social scientists whose specialty is futurology, or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities about the future and how they can emerge from the present, whether that of human society in particular or of life on Earth in general.
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Design. Start. Code.
The Futurist
The Future of Austin Is a Smart City
an interview with
Christine Freundl page 43
Welcome to 2015!
As we come down from the high of the holidays, a logical question becomes: “What’s next?” Most tech-
nology predictors report the same list of trends to watch out for in the year ahead. We’re told to look
forward to new innovations in 3-D printing, med tech, wearable tech, transportation, digital wallets, and
even greater use of our spare capacity through disruptive services.
I can’t help but reflect back to a scene ten years ago when I was watching the nightly news with my
grandmother (who passed only a few short months later). As the anchor wished us a good night, my
grandmother turned to me and asked, “What’s Google?” I had to smile that she’d waited until the end of
the program to ask me, but then it occurred to me that she’d probably been waiting for the reporter to
explain. As I started to tell her what Google was, I realized that the world we were living in must have
seemed beyond reach to her.
Paradoxically, my grandmother was one of few women to work directly with computers during World
War II. She had been a costume jewelry designer, but during the war she put her drawing skills to work
as a draftswoman. My grandmother drew the blueprints for radioactive bombs for Emerson Radio in
NYC. After the war, she continued as a draftswoman, but no longer designed weapons.
My grandmother’s conception of a “computer” was a system the size of a large conference room. I’m
sure you’ve seen photos of those early-era machines with rudimentary controls. She could never have
imagined that one day a computer might sit on her desk at home. She certainly never imagined such a
thing as Google.
2015 is particularly significant for me because I’m becoming a mother. My daughter arrives in a month
or so and I can’t help but wonder what she’ll witness during her lifetime. Surely there will be a day when
I turn to her daughter and ask about whatever replaces Google.
In this issue, Velma invites you to jump into the future. Let’s go beyond 2015 and instead look into our
predictions for 2025 and beyond. What will Austin look like in ten or twenty years? What types of ser-
vices and technologies might we use?
Let’s go back to the future!
JessJessica Lowry
Founder, Velma Magazine
Page 3
Meet the Velma
Staff
danielle selbyDesign team & Cover ArtistDanielle is a recent transplant to Austin and is originally
from Abilene. She’s an artist and designer at Pasadya, where
she creates illustrations, abstract fine artwork, murals, and
logos; she brings these skills to Velma as well and is to credit
for the staff sketches featured here. She’s also a photog-
rapher, specializing in photos of “loving families, beautiful
people, and simplistic scenery.” Danielle is a proud owner of
a socially awkward Boston terrier and an accomplished bak-
er of lemon meringue pies. Danielle finds Velma a refreshing
addition to her life and enjoys being surrounded “by bright,
supportive individuals who are both generous and coura-
geous to share their skills and experiences with others who
are excited to learn.”@DanieSelby
Jessica Lowryfounder
Jessica Lowry grew up in Toronto, Canada and is founder
of Clave, LLC, the force behind Key to the Street, SheHack-
sATX, SheDesignsATX, and now, Velma Magazine. Her knack
for thinking outside the box and passion for broadening the
perspective of others by creating communities that help con-
quer fear has inspired these creations and powers Jessica’s
collaborative aspirations. She has lived on three different
continents but settled in Austin two years ago and can often
be found unwinding at barre3, walking around Town Lake,
or at Barton Springs Pool. She believes that Velma “will show
women (and men) a world devoid of fear and enriched by
courage,” believing in the spirit of the magazine because “ev-
eryone deserves the chance to live their best lives possible.”@jeslowry
Page 4
virginia honigDesign teamVirginia Honig is an aspiring service designer who grew up
in South Carolina and spent her summers swimming in the
Texas Hill Country. Virginia recently moved back to Austin
to set up shop within the greater design community, as she
finishes her thesis for the graduate service design program
at SCAD. She has a knack for working with her hands and
listening to other people. She finds joy in conducting hu-
man-centered research, building prototypes out of ideas,
and making sure user experiences are full of delight. Virginia
has a weakness for fine wine, spanish olives, and a block of
salty cheese. Even though she has to stick to a tight budget
as a grad student, she won't deny that she will splurge, and
when that happens it tends to be food related. @DesignObserve
jennifer aldorettaDesign team
Jennifer has one of the best job titles ever, and as Co-
Groover and CEO of Groove, she makes tools that educate
and empower women to take control of their reproductive
health and fertility. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Jenni-
fer has lived in Austin for a little more than a year and can be
found riding her bike all around town, often in search of kale
and/or dark chocolate. Jennifer is featured in the first issue
of Velma and believes in the mission of the magazine be-
cause, in her own words, “I think it will help inspire the next
generation of change-makers.”@JAldoretta
Velma Staff
Page 5
kelly hitchcockeditorial team
Kelly, a technical writer at CSID specializing in APIs and
SDKs, hails from Kansas City but has called Austin home for
more than three years. She is an accomplished writer cur-
rently working on her third fiction novel. When not word-
smithing technical documentation, short stories, and poetry,
Kelly heads to the gym to stay sane. Her indulgences include
watching mass amounts of football on the weekends and
ordering the house wine at Winebelly. She believes in Velma
because “the women in tech scene in Austin needs more light
and less heat. I know too many local female developers and
other tech professionals that it’s silly for them to feel alone.”@KellyHitchcock
Velma Staff
valle hanseneditorial teamValle is a Senior UX Researcher who asks people questions
about the Internet and then tries to figure out how to make
it a better experience for them. Valle grew up in New Jersey
but has called Austin home for more than four years. She
has a knack for controlling her face, a weakness for pretzels,
and a guilty pleasure in watching Tommy Lee Jones. Valle
believes in Velma because “Women in tech are few. There
should be spaces for women in tech (and everywhere) to feel
heard / empowered / supported / proud / nervous / scared /
frustrated / humble / hilarious / awesome without having to
scream too loud or look too hard. Thanks, Velma.”@ValleTown
Page 6
nicholle shaverCommunications teamNicholle is from Orange County, CA, and has called Austin home
for two years. As Event Manager at Capital Factory, Austin’s en-
trepreneurial center of gravity, Nicholle coordinates the pre-plan-
ning and on-site execution of 40+ events a month, including
hackathons, meetups, VIP receptions, and, most notably, a visit
from the President and White House staff in 2013. Nicholle has
a prolific sweet tooth, indulges in all things Star Wars– and Harry Potter–related, and aspires to be able to do a cartwheel someday.
For Nicholle, Velma is about “breaking down barriers, providing a
community to spark positive conversation, and helping make big
things happen. Velma provides a platform for women to voice their
opinion, offer resources that might otherwise not be available,
pursue an idea, ask for tips or help, and so much more.”@NicholleJ
Velma Staff
claire jordan dunneditorial team
Claire, a native Austinite who returned after spending a
year in London, is a Digital Producer helping organizations
build meaningful relationships with their audiences through
engaging social media experiences. Claire is an academical-
ly inclined teen media junkie, having previously composed
extensive research on Gossip Girl and is currently conduct-
ing a close read of Pretty Little Liars without a shred of guilt.
She’s also an aspiring mixologist and the loving caretaker of
a scruffy little shelter mutt. Claire’s involvement with Velma
stems from her belief that “the techie female Austinite’s
voice is clear and strong—it’s just needed the perfect avenue
for amplification.”@ClaireJordanATX Communications
Internship
Page 6
Are you a student looking for real-world experience?
Each internship runs for six months and requires a time commitment of 10–15 hours per month. If you’d like to apply, please send an email with cover letter, portfolio, and
resume to [email protected].
Join Velma’s internship program!
Design Internship
Do you love creating original designs using Photoshop, Illustrator, and
InDesign? If so, you’ll be able to assist Velma’s design team in layout
and design of our magazine. Candidates must have a strong portfolio of
previous layout work and must be able to prove proficiency in InDe-
sign to do quick, accurate styles. We’re looking for talented, creative,
inspiring individuals!
Velma is looking for a smart, fast-thinking intern well versed in current
tech trends and eager to learn the ways of Velma’s editorial team. You’ll
be reporting to Velma’s lead editor, who shepherds our monthly arti-
cle production strategy. Most of your time will be spent assisting the
editors and following up with writers. You’ll be expected to perform at
a high level with short turnarounds—and love it!
Journalism Internship
Support Velma’s communications team by researching inquiries and
responding to comments from fans via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest,
YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, and emails, assisting with special events,
and working with the Velma editorial team. Duties will also include
administration for the communications team lead, in addition to main-
taining contact lists and behavior analytics tracking.
CommunicationsInternship
Nancy GiordanoPhotos by: Danie Selby
RIFFing on the Future
About Nancy Giordano, Founder of Play Big, Inc.
& TedxAustin Lead Curator
@nancygiordano
Nancy has spent her career building,
shaping, and reviving many of the coun-
try’s most prestigious brands. As a brand
futurist, she sees the powerful possibilities
that exist at the intersection of cultural, de-
mographic, and values trends.
Page 8
RIFFing on the Future
Page 10
Written by: Nancy Giordano
January is always filled with an “applied futurist’s” favorite
things: blank Moleskines waiting for new mind maps, optimis-
tic plans ready to be executed with early determination, and
lots and lots of forecasts about how it’s gonna go. It all makes
me unusually happy.
But then, as the weeks progress, I find a new grumpiness seep
in. Why aren’t we making more progress? I worry. Why can’t
others see what I see? I bluster. Why are we talking more
than doing?
While I’m curious to read every one of these lists and fore-
casts, I’m drawn these days beyond what we see and am
paying more attention to how we look ahead. What are our
sources of insight? Are we taking the time to synthesize all
this information, and can we see how it’s all increasingly
interconnected? Are we able to hold new information with
both wonder and healthy doses of concern or skepticism?
Most important, are we able to apply these insights and
awarenesses with conviction and purpose?
Most of my work as a brand futurist deals with helping execs
at large enterprises and industry groups manage complexity,
ambiguity, and fast-moving shifts. As such, we are always
looking for ways to better share what we see and feel. We
really want business and civic leaders to more readily accept
the new as normal…and therefore find the motivation (read:
courage) to build new, fresh, truly innovative solutions on top
of these pretty clear shifts. If these folks want to survive—
and thrive—they need to play bigger.
That was the motivation behind the unique blog Play Big, Inc.,
launched last fall.
“It’s become clear that updating one’s understanding of the future takes more than simple exposure to a new idea.”
Page 9
RIFFing on the Future
Page 11
Our new undertaking, CulturalAcupuncture.com, is intentionally designed to accelerate understanding.
We figured if we shared what we see in daily “slow drip” observations, thematically linked each week
then synthesized and shared each Sunday, we would be better able to infiltrate current resistance and
the dismissal of shifts as outlier trendiness—I mean, could we have imagined that Airbnb would become
valued at $10 billion and larger than Wyndham? Or that gluten-free options would end up on practical-
ly every single restaurant menu in the country?
It’s become clear that updating one’s understanding of the future takes more than simple exposure to a
new idea. It often requires the capacity to hold two or more (often competitive) narratives about what
this all means—and an ability to see the drivers behind what’s happening. Are “flipped classrooms” and
personal computing improving education? Is drinking juice good for you or bad? Will artificial intelli-
gence help us see what we had no idea was possible or take over our choices someday?
To help us wade through these kinds of broad and often conflicting debates, the team at Play Big, Inc.,
has started playing with a simple tool that helps us make distinctions and actively invites us to hold
more than one black-versus-white feeling on an issue. We also want a way to be able to see how topics
are interrelated and to help us get clearer about what we believe and where we want to put our ener-
gies. We call this a RIFF Model, and it closely parallels the classic strategic SWOT (Strengths, Weak-
nesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis.
In the RIFF map, each quadrant captures how we feel when introduced to new information about the
future—specifically:
Page 10
RIFFing on the Future
Nearly every audience we speak to or exec team we work
with feels overwhelmed and generally concerned by the pace
of change and the impact these shifts are having on their
long-standing business models and strategic frameworks.
They want to protect what they believe they’ve built into a
success story, and are subsequently less able to see all the
brand-new opportunities being presented to them.
Encouragingly, most technologists and entrepreneurs feel
the opposite. They are flooded with opportunities and ideas.
(Small plea: please tell me someone is working on “the Pando-
ra of restaurants”? I so want this…and more!)
Can using this kind of model bridge the gap between fear and
possibility? Can it help us make sense of a society in which
education and poverty levels overall continue to improve
while middle-class salaries and our physical health contin-
ue to erode? What are we each uniquely drawn to see…and
therefore hopefully address? I haven’t spent much time with
this just yet, but here are some concepts I’ve started to pay
more attention to:
I’m relieved that:• poverty levels around the world are dropping
• technology is becoming more and more accessible to all
• the web is making education more open across boundaries
• we can now easily find others any- and everywhere who
share our ideas, can help us solve a problem, and join us in
getting things done
I’m inspired that:• increasing amounts of data and algorithmic science will un-
lock all kinds of new insights and improve our understanding
of how the world really works
• new forms of community and collaborative support are
being created each day—from co-working and cohousing to
platforms that help us dine, learn, discover, and grow together
• we are beginning to better see the connections between
things and think “systemically”
• new tools are being created that allow us each to be agents
of change and creation, which will change the structures of all
institutions
Nancy GiordanoPhoto by: Danie Selby
Riffing on the Future
I’m frustrated that:• we expect someone else to take care of “it”
• we often think tactically and rush to solutions, as opposed to considering long-term strategy
• we aren’t better at sharing what we know
• we keep Kim Kardashian on magazine covers (really?!!)
I’m frightened that:• the new economy will require very new tools and approaches and that most institutions—in education,
business, and government—are moving really slowly
• we are depleting resources so thoughtlessly
• loneliness and depression are becoming invisible epidemics among all ages in our society
• most individuals don’t recognize their own potential and power to impact all around them in meaningful
ways
As this new year opens, I invite you to consider your own RIFF on the future. I believe it will help you see
what uniquely motivates and inspires you—and hopefully help you balance optimism with a burning drive to
act.
The world needs us all to play as big as possible. Thank you for all you’re already doing! I wish you a bright,
beautiful, and truly happy 2015!
Page 12
OUR DESIRED FUTURE
It’s never too early to get excited about and start planning for ÆtherFest, Texas’ premier three-day Retro-Futurist convention held annually in San Antonio. Covering a wide range of topics, from literature to film, from steampunk to cyberpunk, the fes-tival is jam-packed with panels, workshops, live music, and fun. Don’t miss out on the 2015 event! Visit http://www.aetherfest.org/ to learn more.
Revved up thinking about technology and life in the not-too-distant future?
OUR DESIRED FUTURE
Sharlene LeurigPhoto by: Danie Selby
Linking to the Past and Connecting with Water
Written by: Sharlene Leurig
Page 14
It was swimming with my dad that hooked me.
At eighty-two, he was finally showing me the
town where he grew up, a little border town
called Del Rio right on the Rio Grande. Those
waters baptized my father, welcoming him to
the great congregation of Texas. He came to Del
Rio in 1940, packed alongside his sister and par-
ents, with only his father’s ambitions to make
something of himself.
Del Rio was still a new city, the stonework of
the church and the courthouse still a declared
intention of civility. It was what Texas always
remained in my dad’s heart, even after years
of living within its placeless suburbs: a place
where bridge parties and Bible classes could
easily be shed for sorties into the wild and old
land. That was how my dad learned to be Texan:
by climbing Mustang grapevines and searching
for crawfish in the irrigation canals fed by San
Felipe Springs.
By the time he took me there, the cantinas were
long closed, and the Rio Grande announced
About Sharlene Leurig
@sleurig
Sharlene directs the Sustainable Water
Infrastructure Program at Ceres, a national
nonprofit helping institutional investors to
integrate sustainability into the capital mar-
kets. With Ceres, she works with water service
providers to build business models that are
resilient to weather extremes, climate change, and
resource depletion.Sharlene LeurigPhoto by: Danie Selby
Our Desired Future
itself with the green and white blockades
of the Border Patrol. But the waters of San
Felipe Springs were still there, 40 million
gallons a day flowing out from the edge of
the Chihuahuan Desert. Like all springs and
all rivers in Texas, their source is the water
belowground, replenished by rain that may
have fallen anytime from a few days ago to
thousands of years ago. Most of the water
in Texas is hidden belowground—some 400
times the amount that flows through our
rivers and lakes. In an era of drought and
population explosion, that groundwater has
become the next big commodity.
Texas, like most states west of the Missis-
sippi, pumps water faster than nature can
replenish it. Yes, oil tycoons like T. Boone
Pickens have accelerated this through big
water export deals designed to bring water
from rural well fields to Texas cities. How-
ever, the planned depletion of our aquifers
ticks along, driven by thousands of new
wells drilled each year for homes, ranches,
and farms. With the exception of the Ed-
wards Aquifer (the source of the springs in
Austin, San Marcos, and New Braunfels),
every major aquifer in Texas faces long-term
depletion.
We mine our aquifers in the way a wealthy
family might mine its trust fund, thinking
only of today and nothing of the future.
The end result is that the rivers of Texas,
which for thousands of years have been fed
by the accumulated rains of millennia, may
stop flowing altogether. The horror of it is
that this outcome of degraded rivers and
depleted aquifers is what we Texans say
we want, in the form of bottom-up water
management targets called “Desired Future
Conditions.”
“We mine our aquifers in the way a wealthy family might mine its trust fund, thinking only of today and nothing of the future.”
Sharlene LeurigPhoto by: Danie Selby
Our Desired Future
As I swam in San Felipe Springs with my dad, I
thought of the waters that have stopped flow-
ing since my dad was a child, and of the small
Texas farming towns that have already turned
to dust bowls. How many people know these
stories? How many of us understand the future
we are designing?
Since that swim, I’ve been fixated on the idea
of becoming a “ghost of Christmas future” for
Texans. I want to help them see the dry holes
in the ground where water once flowed, and
understand that the water belowground is the
same as the water above, that the more straws
we stick into the ground to suck out the water
below, the less there will be for tubing and mid-
night swims, power generation, plastic manu-
facturing, orange crops, cattle ranching, fishing,
kayaking, drinking—all the things flowing rivers
give us.
What grew from that fixation is Our Desired
Future, a multimedia project meant to inspire
Texans to keep water flowing for future gen-
erations. The series tells the stories of Texans
and their experiences with water through
essays, photography, audio clips, and videos. I
wanted this project to be democratic and truly
representative of Texans. It was critical that
it be web-based, so it could be immediately
accessible by anyone with a web connection,
something that a kid in a border town finds on
her school’s computer as easily as a rancher in
West Texas finds on his iPad.
The story carries people through the beauty
of the imagery, but is totally rooted in science
and policy. I’ve been fortunate to work with
Sarah Wilson (an unbelievably talented pho-
tographer), female hackers at SheHacksATX,
hydrogeology students at UT Austin, profes-
sional hydrologists, water lawyers, groundwa-
Photo by: Danie SelbyPage 16
Water renewal is just one of the ways futurists consider long-term environmental change.
Jae Rhim Lee’s remarkable work in sustainable burial is nothing short of innovative.
Check out her TED talk on the future of sustainable burial.
Page 17
Our Desired Future
Page 18
ter regulators, animators, and editors
to construct a multidimensional story.
As a result, our narrative is wonderfully
diverse—we’ve talked to farmers who
are pumping 35 million gallons of water
a day to grow crops in West Texas,
people living on only the rainwater they
can catch on their roof, sport fishers
and shrimpers in the Gulf, a guy travel-
ing the entire 1,900-mile course of the
Rio Grande. There are so many people
whose lives are connected by water.
Our Desired Future is just one of the
media projects on water in Texas that
have emerged in the past few years.
Last year South by Southwest pre-
miered Yakona, an impressionistic
feature-length film about San Marcos
Springs. Written on Water: An Ogalla-la Chronicle, a short documentary on
the impending demise of the Ogallala
Aquifer in the Texas Panhandle, will be
released next year. I’m inspired by the
people I’ve met who are able to look
beyond their projects and their brands
to collaborate in the name of the waters
that remain, and the people who de-
pend on them.
If I’ve learned anything in the last two
years of working on this project, it’s
that if there is any way for us to solve
this, it is through people realizing how
much we depend on one another for our
water. Some of the water we use here in
Austin starts hundreds of miles west on
ranches near San Angelo—for Texans to
have sustainable water, we have to re-
ward sustainable practices across entire
groundwater basins and watersheds, lit-
erally thousands of square miles. It’s an
overwhelming proposition, and one that
many people think is impossible. The
people who don’t believe we can work
on this together would say that we don’t
need rivers, that we can just build de-
salination plants and pipelines to bring
water to where it’s needed. But I know
after swimming with my dad that there
are some things that only a flowing river
can give us—a deep connection to one
another, to our past, and to our future.
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The Internet of Things:The Future of Wearable Tech
About Jen Quinlan,Vice President of Marketing
at Rithmio, Inc.
@QuirkyInsider
Jen brings a decade of interactive and software
experience serving Fortune 500 brands across
startup and agency roles. Prior to working at Rith-
mio, Jen served as the Vice President of Marketing
and Innovation at Mutual Mobile, an emerging tech
agency, where she was responsible for marketing, in-
novation, and new business programs. Jen is passion-
ate about wearable technology and strives to facilitate
dialogue about building better wearable tech products
that are useful and usable for people.
Jen QuinlanPhoto by: Danie Selby
Written by: Jen Quinlan
I have a confession to make. Despite my
specialization in wearable technology, I
haven’t worn my FitBit in months. I’m not
the only one.
Many people found the first wave of
wearables came up short. Entry-level price
points were high, form factors were clunky,
and accuracy left a lot to be desired. It’s no
wonder there was a 30 percent return rate
and high product abandonment after six
months.
Companies have found that getting wear-
ables right is a tall order. To be truly useful,
usable, and desirable for people, wearable
tech products will see vast improvements
in the coming years. Here are a few ways
they’ll get better:
The Internet of Things
Jen QuinlanPhoto by: Danie Selby
“Between conductive fabrics and sensor-clad smart garments, wearables will intertwine so closely with fashion we won’t be able to distinguish them.”
The Internet of Things
InvisibleMoore’s Law contends that as compo-
nents get smaller, products gain effi-
ciency and become more powerful. In
other words, you can think of current
wearables as a boombox on your wrist.
Between conductive fabrics and sen-
sor-clad smart garments, wearables will
intertwine so closely with fashion we
won’t be able to distinguish them.
Companies like AiQ Clothing and Hexo-
skin are already paving the way with
biometric garments that measure your
body’s vitals. Future wearables could
be more hidden by adding a thin film
inside your favorite jewelry to measure
vitals and activity levels, and even let
you know when you’ve been typing at a
keyboard too long.
PersonalizedFrom wedding bands to Invisalign, ob-
jects worn on the body 24/7 are highly
personal. Unless the product addresses
a critical medical need—like using a
hearing aid for hearing problems—it
is unlikely that a single wearable will
be desirable enough to be worn all the
time.
Take a note from companies like Cuff
or Misfit that employ a personalized
approach to wearable tech. Their tech-
nology nestles inside an array of jewelry
you can choose from and wear each day.
Wearables are now a part of the jewelry
legacy, and should be thought of as both
tech gadget and fashion statement.
EfficientAlternative forms of energy to power
wearables are on the rise. In December
2014, Tommy Hilfiger launched clothing
with solar cells to charge devices. We’ve
seen kinetic energy–powered gadgets
from AMPY to Austin’s own Every-
where Energy. A personal favorite is
the Peltier Ring by Sean Hodgins, which
leverages body heat to power small LED
lights on a ring. While energy advance-
ments require more polish to achieve
commercial viability, they’ll be on your
wrist sooner than you think.
AccurateFrom your kids’ GPA to your own body’s
BMI, our culture is getting more da-
ta-oriented across many aspects of life.
Approximations of how many steps you
walked will no longer suffice as people
demand accurate data from their devic-
es—including wearables.
Page 22
We have yet to see industry standards
emerge to set wearable tech manufactur-
er guidelines and advocate on consumers’
behalf. I anticipate advocacy boards will
be formed to evaluate devices and require
brands to deliver accuracy percentage guar-
antees. Imagine a label on a Jawbone UP24
box with a “99.5% accurate gesture tracking”
guarantee.
SecureMarketers salivate at the prospect of push-
ing wearables that advertise to you around
the clock. As ad revenues dwindle in tradi-
tional media formats, next-generation devic-
es offer brands a new opportunity to target
people like we’ve never seen before.
Savvy consumers will demand the ability
to set specific permission settings on their
devices to structure who, what, where, and
when they can be found and disturbed.
Picture smartwatch settings that configure
push notifications from only your partner,
child’s school, and mother between nine to
five Monday through Friday.
Consumers will also need to play an active
role in keeping their body’s data private.
Optimal experiences for wearables will be
contingent consumers being well-informed
and demanding certain settings or privacy.
SentientIn Spike Jonze’s movie Her, Samantha ex-
plains how she works as: “Intuition...What
makes me me is my ability to grow through
my experiences. Basically, in every moment
I’m evolving, just like you.”
Even Furbies back in 1998 could learn new
things, so why is it that $150 activity trackers
can’t currently learn new activities like jump-
ing rope, lifting a kettlebell, or salsa dancing?
Our interests evolve. Our wearables need to
be able to evolve, too. The single-feature pe-
The Internet of Things
Jen QuinlanPhoto by: Danie Selby
Page 23
The Internet of Things
dometers of today’s activity-tracking market
won’t sustain for much longer.
MultipointThe wearable tech conversation will quickly
shift from discussion of your one, sole wear-
able to the intricate system of sensors on
your body at any point in time. Already we are
wearing an activity tracker and have a smart-
phone in our purses; both of these devices are
gathering motion-sensing data through the
accelerometer and gyroscope inside. Technol-
ogists are working on ways to derive meaning
from multiple sensors on the body at one time,
to give us a holistic view of how our bodies are
moving or performing across multiple devices
and sensors.
SeamlessI’m excited to see what happens when wear-
ables converge with connected homes to drive
efficiencies without having to tap a button on
a screen. Imagine approaching your home’s
door with groceries in hand, and the heartbeat
signature via your wearable signals the door’s
smart lock to unlock. Then, while crossing your
living room, a sensor in your wrist wearable
notices your core body temperature is above
average and automatically interacts with your
Nest thermostat to trigger the air-condition-
ing. Your wearable might also include a sensor
to detect hydration levels, and trigger your
smart refrigerator to pour a glass of water for
you as you enter the kitchen to unload your
groceries.
While it is premature to predict specific fea-
tures or form factors that will prevail in the
future, wearable tech presents a fascinating
field to study. Opportunities abound not only
for highly personalized wearable experiences
but also for breakthrough medical advance-
ments and—unfortunately—unsurmounted
marketing nuisances. One thing’s for sure:
Innovations like these are only in their infancy,
and like the technologies before them, they’ll
evolve with user adoption to make products
that are useful, usable, and desirable for every-
one.
Want to watch the future of wearable tech unfold?Check out some of these leading edge companies making wearable tech fashionable and useful:
AiQ Clothing Hexoskin Cuff Misfit
And don’t miss out on the Central Texas World Future Society meetups on the third Tuesday of every month!
Page 24
Arduino Wearables: Customize Your Clothing with Colored Lights!
ASK VELMA
Kassandra is a developer, crafter, and gamer
living in Austin, TX. Her days are spent at
RetailMeNot, where she slings JavaScript
and tries to make developer processes
easier. Her nights and weekends are spent
slinging more JavaScript, teaching for Girl
Develop It!, and re-learning how to roller
skate. She’s an unrepentant JS addict, and
is especially interested in JS robotics/hard-
ware.
About Kassandra Perch
@nodebotanist
Photos courtesy of Kassandra Perch
Page 25Page 24
Arduino Wearables
Written by: Kassandra Perch
Everyone has their own personal fashion
style—colors they like, their favorite cloth,
and so on. Thanks to the Maker move-
ment and the availability and ease-of-use
of microcontrollers today, we can now
sew electronics into clothing that we can
change at will. In this tutorial, I’m going to
show you how to sew individually address-
able RGB (Red, Green, Blue) LEDs into
cloth and teach you the basics of program-
ming them.
You can use this skill in many ways. For
instance, I have a skirt, shoes, and a bean-
ie that contain RGB LEDs that react to
both environmental data, such as light
and movement, and Internet data, such as
favorites from Twitter.
Supplies You’ll Need
You’ll need a few things to get started. You
can get all of these items online at Adafruit
or SparkFun.
Individually addressable RGB LEDs:
These aren’t just normal RGB LEDs. Unlike
their regular RGB counterparts, individu-
ally addressable LEDs only use three pins
for as many LEDs as you would like to use.
Normal RGB LEDs use three analog pins
and one ground or power pin for each in-
dividual LED. Adafruit has their own brand
of these called the NeoPixel. My favorite
kind to use for sewing are the Flora RGB
Smart NeoPixel version 2. I’ll use four
in this project, and if you’re going to use
more than that, you’re going to need to
take power into consideration.
Arduino board: I’m going to use the Ardu-
ino Micro, but almost any Arduino-com-
patible board should do. However, be
careful when picking a board: While size
is definitely a consideration, some small
Arduinos do not possess the processing
speed or RAM needed to control multiple
NeoPixels. With a quick Google search,
you can usually find out more about using
individually addressable LEDs with any
specific Arduino model. If you can get a
board without headers, we can sew into
the pins and not have to worry about
soldering onto headers or incorporating a
breadboard into our design.
“Thanks to the Maker movement and the availability and ease-of-use of microcontrollers today, we can now sew electronics into clothing that we can change at will.”
Page 26
Page 28
Arduino Wearables
Conductive thread: This special thread
conducts electricity and is a great way
to incorporate circuits into fabric. I like
two-ply (I find three-ply stiffer and more
difficult to sew with) but use what’s right
for you. One bobbin of thread should be
more than enough for a small wearables
project like this.
3.7V Coin Cell battery holder with on/off
switch: This is my preferred way to power
my wearables projects: It’s small and fairly
cheap, and works well. You could also
invest in a rechargeable lithium polymer
battery if you’re willing to spend a little
more.
Sewing needle: One with a long eye is
nice, as conductive thread is a little thick-
er than normal sewing thread.
Garment to enhance with LEDs: I like
skirts for these because movement makes
the lights look amazing, but work with
what suits you. Just be thoughtful: If you
pick something like shoes, you’ll need to
consider additional aspects like water-
proofing. You don’t necessarily need to
use a garment of clothing, either. Back-
packs, purses, and scarves work well, or
you could even make yourself a pin or
bracelet.
Small piece of fabric and regular thread:
This is to sew a pocket for the battery
pack. If you’re using an Arduino board
with headers on a breadboard, make sure
the pocket is large enough for that, too.
Skills You’ll Need
Very basic sewing: The basic through
stitch works just fine for this project.
No need to get too fancy, as conductive
thread can be fragile.
Through-hole soldering: We’ll attach the
battery pack to the Arduino by soldering.
However, if your Arduino has headers, a
barrel connector, or even a JST connec-
tor, you could use these instead to avoid
soldering. Just be sure to buy a battery
holder with your connector on it.
Some C programming: Arduinos are pro-
grammed in C, a very low-level language.
If you’ve programmed before, you should
be able to grasp the programming we’ll
use in this project by following along.
Getting Started
Gather all your supplies and think about
your design, taking the following into
consideration: Can I sew in my microcon-
troller, or does it need a breadboard or
soldering? Where will the batteries go?
Can I put a pocket there? Can I access the
battery pack easily from the pocket, so I
can turn this project off and on? Will the
LEDs on the outside be visible? Where do
I want my LEDs?
This is important because while conduc-
tive thread can conduct electricity, it
doesn’t work so great over large distanc-
es. If you have large distances (more than
a few inches) between your LEDs, consid-
er doubling up on thread.
When placing your LEDs, you want to ar-
range them in a specific way; you want the
OUT pin of the first to point toward the
Page 27
Arduino Wearables
IN pin of the next. You should also put the
+ and - pins on the same side of each LED
relative to each other. This is crucial to
allowing you to sew your circuits without
crossing threads.
Once I’ve decided on a design, what I like
to do next is assemble a “rough draft”:
I pin the microcontroller, battery pack
pocket, and LEDs to the garment, then
pick it up and move it around. Does it
stretch a bunch? That might be an issue
for the not-so-stretchy thread. Does it
fail to move like you think it should? Try
adjusting your arrangement early on, as it
will be much harder to do so later.
Another consideration is your thread sew-
ing paths. You’ll need to provide power,
ground, and signal to the LEDs, and they
absolutely must not cross. Keep this in
mind while positioning your components.
The diagram below shows what our circuit
will look like to a degree to assist in your
planning.
Start Sewing
There are usually large holes on micro-
controllers intended to be used to mount
the microcontroller to a surface. I like to
take normal sewing thread and use these
to place my microcontroller before sew-
ing my circuit. If your controller doesn’t
have these holes, you can use a piece of
double-sided tape on the back to hold it in
place while you sew your circuit.
Next we’ll sew the ground. I usually tie a
knot through the GND pinhole of the mi-
crocontroller, then sew it the fabric three
Page 28
to four times. Make sure your stitches are
tight, as contact is important. Then start
working your way through the fabric to
the pinhole of the first addressable LED in
the chain. Loop through the pinhole three
to four times, making sure it’ll stay in con-
tact. Then, without tying off, start working
toward the GND pin in the next LED in the
chain. Repeat these steps until you reach
the end, then tie off and cut your thread. I
like to use clear nail polish on the knot, as
you need to cut the tail as short as possi-
ble in order to prevent it from wandering
and touching another thread, and nail
polish works kind of like glue.
The 5V/power side is done the same way,
starting at the 5V pin of your Arduino
(3.3v is fine if you lack a 5V pin) and work-
ing toward the + pin of each RGB LED in
the chain. Just like the GND side, do not
tie off and cut the thread between each
LED; they should be connected by one
continuous chain of thread.
The signal is done slightly differently—
you’ll notice the last two pins on each LED
are marked IN and OUT. Start by sewing
into any digital or analog output pin on
your Arduino (I use pin 3 in this example),
then sew to the IN pin of the first LED.
Loop through these three to four times
as usual, then tie off and cut the thread.
Next, restart at the OUT pin of the first
LED, and work your way to the IN pin of
the next LED. Repeat to the end of the
chain, leaving the OUT pin of the last LED
unsewn.
Programming Your LEDs
First, if you haven’t already, download and
install the Arduino IDE from http://www.
arduino.cc/en/Main/Software. You’ll also
want to check out the FastLED library at
fastled.io. It’s a great way to get started
with addressable RGB LEDs.
Download the library using their link, and
place the folder in your Arduino Libraries
folder. On OS X, this is in your home folder
under Documents / Arduino / Libraries;
on Windows it’s under “My Documents”
in Arduino / Libraries. Then, if Arduino is
open, close it out and and reopen.
When you go to the file menu in the IDE,
click on “Examples” and a submenu should
pop up. In it will be an option for “Fas-
tLED.” Click there, and under the many
examples that pop up, select “Cylon.”
We’re going to need to make a few chang-
es to this to work with our LEDs. First, on
line 4, change NUM_LEDS to reflect the
number of LEDs you have sewn in. Then,
Arduino Wearables
Page 29
Arduino Wearables
on line 9, change the DATA_PIN from 6 to
3.
Next open the “Tools” menu, choose
“Board,” and make sure you’ve chosen
your model of Arduino. Then, under
“Tools,” choose “Serial Port.” Look at the
list, and remember what’s in it. Close the
menu and use a USB connection to con-
nect your Arduino to the computer. Now
go back to the Serial Port list and you’ll
see a new entry. Go ahead and select it. (If
there are two, one starting with cu. and
one starting with tty., select either.)
Hit “Upload,” and your lights should start
animating!
What’s Next?
There are lots of great examples and doc-
umentation for FastLED—your next steps
will be to start digging around and trying
out new functions!
You can also try making new garments
with other microcontrollers: The Spark
Core/Photon and Electric Imp are particu-
larly interesting, WiFi-connected choices
you can explore.
And finally—enjoy your new wardrobe!
Page 30 Page 30
Visit Adafruit’s NeoPixel Uberguide to learn more about the products and process outlined in Kassandra’s tutorial.
Also be sure to check out local Maker groups to learn more about the Maker movement in Austin and get inspired! (We’ve got a list of ones Velma recommends on page 56.)
Want to dive deeper into the world of wearable LEDs that you can build yourself?
Page 3
Jessica LowryPhoto by: Michael Mallard
Imagine Designing the Future of Austin Streets Using Your Phone
About Jessica Lowry, CEO & founder of Clave, LLC
@jeslowry
Founder & CEO of Clave, LLC
Jess has worked in software for over ten
years and specialises in UX design and re-
search. Her passion for service design and
civic tech led her to start her own company in
2012.
Written by: Jessica Lowry
Every summer when I was a kid, my dad packed us into
the car and drove my older sister and me from Toron-
to, Canada, to Long Island, New York. Our 542-mile
road trip was the highlight of my entire year. My sister
always wanted the front seat, and I was blissful in the
back taking up the entire row with my pillows, Game
Boy, Walkman, and easy access to the cooler stored
behind my dad in the driver’s seat. It was heaven.
I think what I liked the most about our annual road
trip was observing what was new and what remained
untouched. Small towns throughout southern Ontario
and New York State were these quaint places of per-
manence. Every year we stopped in Elmira, NY, which
was roughly our halfway point. We’d eat at the same
Pizza Hut and get ice cream at the same mom-and-pop
shop. But once we neared New York City, everything
changed. As a really small kid I knew we were entering
the city limits because my dad made a point of check-
ing that the car doors were locked. In Queens we’d
pass abandoned cars that had been stripped for parts
and set on fire. It was like witnessing scenes from an
apocalyptic movie as we rolled through each borough.
And then, like the sky clearing from a storm, we’d enter
Long Island and all of its sprawling suburbs. Everything
lacked charm and character. There was so much space
and so little imagination. And then, finally, we’d make it
all the way to the end of Long Island where we’d stay at
the beach and every day I’d imagine myself in a Calvin
Klein perfume commercial.
Leaving Toronto was almost as fun as returning to it.
I was your typical city kid, knowing each and every
street in my neighborhood. My friends and I rode our
bikes like warriors hunting for new places to explore.
By the time we were teenagers we ran out of new plac-
The Future of Austin Streets
Image courtesy of: CLAVE, LLC Page 33
Page 35
The Future of Austin Streets
Jessica LowryPhoto by: Michael Mallard
es and headed downtown.
In my career working in software and online services
I have been able to use these early honed anthropo-
logical skills. I fell into user experience (UX) like you
might stumble upon a good book. I’d been working in
a supportive role on software projects for nearly five
years when I found myself asking questions about
why certain design decisions were being made and
how design affects the users’ ability to enjoy an ex-
perience. These days I observe people just like way
back when I watched the world unfold in the back-
seat of my dad’s car, but now I’m no longer satisfied
being a bystander.
One of my favorite UX research tools is rapid pa-
per-prototyping. When I first start working with
clients, I like to form a mental model of their ex-
pectations. Before we get into technology, I need
to understand what image they imagine. Sketching
allows us to collaborate on ideas without getting
stuck on terminology, technology, or financial con-
straints. We use pictures to guide us to a shared
understanding. And it’s at that point I can start to
conceptualize a software solution that matches
my client’s needs and expectations. I used this
technique as the inspiration for Key to the Street,
a service that capitalizes on the power of images
to collect city planning research data. My theory is
that if you can get over language and focus instead
on imagining an ideal future for city streets, it’s
possible to implement change in the right way.
When I moved to Austin in 2012, I experienced a
culture shock. I’ve never lived in a place where I
needed a car; I’ve always explored on foot. Walk-
ing gives me a tactile relationship to a place. I’m
The Future of Austin Streets
able to develop connections and form a
map in my head. It’s how I learn to navigate
on instinct and make sense of my sur-
roundings. For me, the places I live become
characters with distinct personalities.
Highways are not places, but rather routes
that connect places. A highway cutting
through a city is like a moat encircling a
castle. The barriers created by car-centric
urban design interrupt the natural flow
of daily life. Highways within cities create
more congestion than they solve because
the purpose of a highway is to connect vast
distances (not short commutes). Public
transportation, on the other hand, provides
“My theory is that if you can get over language and focus instead on imag-ining an ideal future for city streets, it’s possible to implement change in the right way. “
Jessica LowryPhoto by: Michael Mallard
Check out this product demo of Jess’s app, Key to the Street, to find out how to come up with new ideas to redesign our streets!
Want to help Jess bring the streets of Austin back to the people?
adequate speed and service for local commuting.
When I look around Austin, all I see are opportunities for better flow. A more human-centered ap-
proach will transform Austin into a place to explore and know intimately. When you travel on I-35,
you could be anywhere, but when you’re walking on 6th Street, you know you’re in Austin.
I designed Key to the Street as a tool for unlocking Austin’s distinct personality. As a web-based
prototyping service, it provides everyone with the ability to sketch and share their improvement
ideas. The reporting and data collected by Key to the Street allows city planners to make incremental
decisions that they can validate in real time. This is a radical departure from the traditional model
that takes six months or more and costs tens of thousand of dollars to execute.
Anyone can participate at any stage of the idea generation process. Users take photos of a street or
Page 36
space they think needs to be redesigned and collaborate online in order to build upon ideas. The
ability to collaborate is one of the major differences between a service like Key to the Street and
311. Text-based services require all users to use the same language to participate; however, too
often, industry lingo and acronyms confuse non-specialists and create a barrier for participation.
Currently, if you want to share your ideas for the future of Austin, you need to look up a meeting
time with an appropriate group at the City of Austin and hope for an opportunity to address the
room. Or perhaps you’re given Post-it notes to share feedback of proposed solutions presented on
a bristol board. But what about all the people outside that room? How can ideas flourish if they’re
restricted to a particular community planning meeting? What about all the people who can’t afford
the luxury of attending an Imagine Austin workshop because they have to work, take care of their
families, or both?
For me, the future of Austin is a walkable place that is continually striving to improve and innovate
every street to welcome everybody. And I think tools like Key to the Street are the way we’ll collab-
orate on the future of Austin together.
The Future of Austin Streets
Jessica LowryPhotos by: Michael Mallard
Try barre3 barre3, a global network of studios and the innovative leader of the white-hot, ballet barre fitness movement, is taking over central Texas!
Early fall 2014, the Circle C location joins thriving Downtown and Hill Country Galleria studios, pro-
viding Austinites with even more options for accessing the company’s beloved combination of yoga,
Pilates, and ballet barre work that famously builds muscle, burns fat, and creates long, lean lines in the
body. Clearly barre3’s bright, bold, and boundless workout style and whole-health approach to fitness
are a great match for Austin’s creative energy!
Based on the importance of a balanced lifestyle, barre3 classes are designed to be accessible and trans-
form the body through a focus on strength, grace, and whole-body wellness. Founded by renowned
fitness and wellness expert Sadie Lincoln in 2008, barre3 signature workouts balance strength training
through isometric holds and small, one-inch movements with seamless recovery stretches. Unlike other
barre-inspired workouts, barre3 incorporates larger, functional movements with low-impact cardio to
jump-start the metabolism and re-oxygenate the body. Also unique to the brand, an array of modifica-
tions is offered for every posture, allowing all fitness levels to maximize the workout while remaining
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ing, lasting results—a strong, lean physique and a happy, balanced mind-set.
The new Circle C location is conveniently located in South Austin (5700 W. Slaughter Lane). barre3
Austin Downtown is located in the heart of the city steps from the infamous Hike and Bike trail. For
those living in west Austin, the barre3 Hill Country Galleria studio is across from Iron Cactus in the
outdoor shopping center. The three Austin studios are locally owned by passionate health and well-
ness advocates, striving to make fitness accessible to all. barre3 clients can take classes at any of the
three Austin locations using a single account. Each location proudly offers an on-site play lounge for
little ones of all ages to enjoy while their parents attend class.
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(at Lady Bird Lake)
phone: 512-391-6200
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phone: 512-243-5233
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Enter promo code upon checkout: VELMA
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Try a barre3 class for free!
General questions? Send an email to [email protected] or call the studio of choice directly. For class schedule,
locations, and/or to make a reservation for class and play lounge, visit www.barre3.com.
Spring Awakening: Emerging from America’s Winter with Smart City Planning
Rebecca Ryan
Part futurist, part economist, and
always engaging, Rebecca is one of
America’s most influential thought
leaders, helping cities and com-
panies think around the corner to
what’s next.
@ngcrebeccaPhoto courtesy of Rebecca Ryan
Page 39
Page 40
Written by: Rebecca Ryan
As we look to our own futures and those of
the coming generations, we’ve got to keep
in mind that our actions and decisions now
shape the course our community takes
down the road. To gain some insight into
what lies ahead for us, and to understand
more behind the concept of the “smart city”
(see Velma’s feature interview with city
planner Christine Freundl), Velma spoke
with economist and futurist Rebecca Ryan,
founder of Next Generation Consulting and
author of some truly insightful books on the
future of our country and our communities.
Rebecca describes America as seasonal;
we go through cycles of winters, springs,
summers, and falls each with their own
unique and consistent qualities. Each season
lasts about twenty years, and winter is the
hardest part of the cycle. In her latest book,
ReGENERATION: A Manifesto for America’s Next Leaders, she writes, “Seasons are na-
ture’s cycle of regeneration, a reminder that
there’s an order to things, there are things
that are larger than me. Larger than you.”
Rebecca says, not surprisingly, that even
though technology advancements have ex-
ceeded anyone’s expectations, America has
been suffering through a period of winter—
one of survival and a bit of fear—for more
than ten years now. And in order to get to
spring—a period of promise and hope—we
as a community need to confront some
harsh realities and make decisions for the
future. “Americans alive during this winter
have a noble task: to think and work and act
not for ourselves (because many of us may
not be alive when spring comes again). We
must act with the wisdom and grace to do
our best for our children, and theirs.”
While this sentiment rings true, it’s often
difficult to look beyond our own circum-
stances and situations and put future gener-
ations’ welfare before our own comfort and
consistency. Rebecca, though, is confident
that with we have what it takes to make it to
Spring Awakening
“Americans alive during this winter have a noble task: to think and work and act not for ourselves...”
Page 40
a spring filled with warmth, promise, and
community.
One of the most important ways we can
begin to emerge from this dark, cold
winter, Rebecca suggests, starts at the city
level: by electing local leaders and policy-
makers who will work for the future, lever-
age new technologies to help with problem
solving, and make our cities smarter and
more adaptable.
So what makes a smart city? According to
Rebecca, there are three key components
to successful urban planning of the future.
1. Interdisciplinary
The best cities are going to be those that
don’t consider city-planning departments
to be discrete units operating separately
in the same building. Rather, they’ll be the
ones who take a multifaceted, interdis-
ciplinary approach to solving repetitive
problems. Combining the resources, brains,
and perspectives of a multitude of depart-
ments and skill sets will prevent narrow-fo-
cused, one-sided patterns and decisions.
2. Data-Driven
Smart cities will take the planning out of
the hands of interest groups and opin-
ion-based propositions, and instead look
to Big Data and new technologies for real
answers to solve the real problems. Using
facts and statistics to make decisions rath-
er than the interests of a small but loud and
powerful subset means a smarter, more
sustainable city.
3. Collective (Impact)
Complex social problems need to be
solved, and the way they’re being ap-
proached by
our leaders has historically been much
too isolated and fragmented to make any
real progress. By combining resources in
government, business, and community, and
leveraging technological advancements,
lasting change to social problems is possi-
ble.
When asked where our own Austin stands
within this concept of a “smart city” work-
ing toward interdisciplinary, data-driven,
collective problem solving, Rebecca is
eager to praise some of our community’s
leaders for their forward-thinking, innova-
tive practices and processes—leaders like
Christine Freundl, who, rather than being
caught in a cycle of making the same wrong
decisions for the same wrong reasons, look
to new ways of solving complex problems
leveraging technological and human re-
sources.
While there’s still room for improvement,
with time, Austin will likely emerge as a
leader in smart cities and help America
thaw into the hopefulness and promise of
our next spring.
Spring Awakening
Page 41
Pick up her latest book, ReGENERATION: A Manifesto for America’s Next Leaders (2013), and find out what’s next for America.
Want to hear more from Rebecca?
Page 42
The Future of Austin Is a Smart CityChristine Freundl
Photo by: Danie Selby
Technology providers aren’t the only ones thinking about the future; cities
have to constantly think about future growth and how human interactions
with the city will evolve. Velma sat down with city planner Christine Freundl
to chat about Austin’s future as a smart city.
CHRISTINE: I got out of architec-
ture school and I ran down my really
awesome unpaid internship for as
long [as] I could be there because I
was doing awesome stuff. I took a
job at a firm where the principal was
a developer and [then] an architect,
so he really pushed the developer
side of it. So we were making some
really inferior buildings—7-Elevens,
Starbucks (which are not necessarily
always bad buildings, but we were
doing it in the worst way possible)—
land jumping, leapfrogging, just per-
petuating sprawl. I would go in and
try to have conversations with him
about how [we] could be more con-
servative about what we were doing,
with more conservation and sustain-
ability, and I would just hit a brick
wall every time. I ended up quitting
that job, and that experience pushed
me into urban design as opposed to
architecture because I knew whatev-
er we were doing, we could be doing
it a lot better.
I went back to graduate school and
really enjoyed urban design; I was
in this really cool graduate program
in downtown Detroit. Our senior
year we worked directly with under-
served communities in Detroit to
provide urban design services, and
my thesis project was on this really
underserved poor community in
Detroit that was trying to create a
tourist economy through crafts and
urban gardening and urban farming.
We worked with them to create a
master plan for how we could take all
these handmade crafts—this dying
VELMA: Tell us a little about what you’ve done throughout your career to bring cities into the future.
Smart City
Christine Freundl, Project Coordinator at City of AustinSpecialties: Architecture, Urban Design, Community Planning, Community WorkshopsConnect on LinkedIn
Page 44
Smart City
industry, something that people
could do and [already] had in De-
troit—and turn it into an economy
full of craft-natured tourism for their
community so it could help teach
people skills and at the same time
bring some revenue into the com-
munity. Shortly after that, I decided
that I didn’t want to work in Detroit
anymore because I didn’t think peo-
ple were really on track yet for doing
what needed to get done, so I started
looking around the United States,
and Austin was one of the few places
that was actually doing urban design
and had resources dedicated to it.
“Smart cities are smart because they realize that there isn’t just one discipline that goes into building a city and that there has to be a conversation between all of them.”
Christine FreundlPhoto by Danie Selby
VELMA: How did you get your start with the city?
CHRISTINE: I came to work for the
city in the urban design division,
which Austin is very lucky to have.
There are very few cities in the Unit-
ed States that even have a division
like this that is design professionals
devoted to just city building. I took
over the transit-oriented develop-
ment program, so I helped oversee all
of the development that was going in
along the Red Line stations for Cap-
ital Metro. Once I finished there, I—
actually recently—moved over to the
economic development department
and I’m now a project coordinator on
the Mueller redevelopment.
Page 44 Page 45
Smart City
CHRISTINE: As project coordinator for Mueller,
we have a public-private partnership between the
city of Austin and Catellus. The city owns the land
and they hold it for Catellus, and as the market
allows, Catellus takes the land down, and then the
city builds it for them tax free. As the land devel-
ops out, we collect the increased revenue off of
the land so it comes back to the city. Long story
short, there’s an entire master-plan design guide-
book that makes Mueller different from the rest
of the city. In that design book, we had to make
almost 120 deviations from city code because you
just couldn’t build that type of development per
what’s existing in the city right now. So the city
has its own design book and it essentially has its
own code. Departmentally, we work directly with
Catellus, the private development community...to
implement that plan.
VELMA: What are you doing in your current role in the Austin city government?
Austin was one of the few
places
that was actually
doing urban
design and had resources
dedicated
to it.
VELMA: What do you mean when you say “smart city”? What does that term mean to you?
CHRISTINE: Smart cities are smart because they
realize that there isn’t just one discipline that
goes into building a city and that there has to be
a conversation between all of them. For instance,
Mueller can’t exist unless there is some sort of
coordination and discussion going on interdepart-
mentally by the development community. If it was
just one department—our department—trying to
implement this, it would never work. Smart cities
understand that it’s [a] multidisciplinary effort.
Smart City
Page 47
CHRISTINE: Austin has made leaps and bounds forward, but I think it’s still a fact that cities
move slow. They’re big. They’re large. They’re not nimble or quick. In being big and large it
takes a long time for change because it’s the difference between trying to get a squirrel to
move in a different direction and an elephant; the elephant takes a lot more effort to move but
when it does, it’s usually a very big change. I think Austin’s still suffering a little bit from the
mistakes we made twenty to thirty years ago, and it takes a long time to make those changes
for the future. We’re just now benefiting from changes that happened ten years ago. Mueller’s
design book and master plan was written twelve years ago, so…
VELMA: Where does Austin fall short of that “smart city” mark, in your opinion?
VELMA: What types of existing technology will transform Austin into a smart city?
CHRISTINE: One of the projects that I used to work on for the city was the Downtown Way-
finding project. It hasn’t been implemented yet, but it’s a really fascinating project, and one
of the things that I discovered is that there are vast amounts of information out there being
collected on all these different things, but there’s not a good way to share them. You have the
county collecting information on crime, ped[estrian] crashes, bicycle crashes. You have the
city collecting data on how many people are using an intersection, but when it comes down to
the county getting with the city to improve the intersection, there’s not a good way for them
to share that information because it’s all being collected by different sources. I think a smart
city of the future will understand, will try and figure out a way to make that more accessible,
not just interagency but also to the public.
VELMA: What technology do we need that doesn’t exist yet to become a smart city?
CHRISTINE: People are so fascinated with city building now, not like they used to be. I think it
really has moved into the tech age with apps that you can start looking [at] a street differently
and start collecting information. There are concierge apps, so when you get to a city, you don’t
need to have a tour guide to get around. There are historical tours. What would be great in
the future is more of the consolidation of information I talked about before. If there’s a com-
prehensive way to explore the city that brings all these different resources together, I think
that would be fascinating.
CHRISTINE: It’s been around forev-
er, but GIS (geographic information
system) is so fascinating with what
it can do now and the breadth of the
many people who are using it. When
it first came out, you could do topog-
raphy, have some political boundar-
ies and rivers, and that was all great
geodata. But now, in that Downtown
Wayfinding program we were figur-
ing out that transportation could ac-
tually use geospatial data to pinpoint
where the [street] signs are, and that
connects with 311, and 311 could
tell them to send a crew out, just
from the geospatial data of someone
looking at a pole and seeing that the
light on the pole is out. It just makes
the city more usable for people.
Page 48
VELMA: What technology excites you most as a city plan-ner?
Like Christine, Velma’s readers also dream of Austin’s future as a smart,sustainable, forward-thinking city that
leads the West in long-term, strategic urban planning.
Look into Imagine Austin’s events and programs,
so you can help our community build toward a more connected, more sustainable, more creative, and more affordable Austin.
Stop dreaming and start acting! Make getting involved your New Year’s resolution.
Page 48
Smart City
CHRISTINE: Hopefully a lot denser and with a lot better transportation—I
mean public transit. I hope [for] that for Austin. It’s only going to keep grow-
ing and in twenty years I hope to see a city that grew responsibly and under-
stood where it was going early on, accepted that change, and tried to steer it
in a good direction.
Christine FreundlPhoto by Danie Selby
“I think Austin’s still suffering a little bit from the mistakes we made twenty to thirty years ago, and it takes a long time to make those changes for the future.”
VELMA: When you envision Austin twenty years from now, what does it look like to you?
Being a storyteller at heart, I think one of the greatest things about
photography is the way it freezes a single moment in time that will never
occur again.
I seek to capture the beauty that lies just beneath the surface of those
distinctive moments in life. Live life to the fullest, let the moments happen,
and the stories will tell themselves.
Michael Mallard – www.mallardshots.com
Velma’s Featured ContributorMichael Mallard, Photographer
Velma’sBack Pages
Velma features stories about women in Austin working within the tech/startup industry. Velma embodies smart, talented women who aren’t afraid of saying the wrong thing, and our readers are too busy getting things done to notice they’re breaking through barriers.
Since our readers are so busy, Velma provides resources for the following
activities:
connectdiscover
eat & drinkspend
Velma Jobs Board
Velma Magazine helps students on the professional track practice tech-
niques, broaden skills, and advance their job qualifications as a part of the
required coursework. Each internship runs for six months and requires a
time commitment of ten to fifteen hours per month. If you’d like to apply,
please send an email with cover letter, portfolio, and resume to [email protected]
Journalism InternshipVelma is looking for a smart, fast-thinking intern well versed in current
tech trends and eager to learn the ways of Velma’s editorial team. You’ll
be reporting to Velma’s lead editor, who shepherds our monthly article
production strategy. Most of your time will be spent assisting the editors
and following up with writers. You’ll be expected to perform at a high
level with short turnarounds—and love it!
Design InternshipDo you love creating original designs using Photoshop, Illustrator, and
InDesign? If so, you’ll be able to assist Velma’s design team in layout
and design of our magazine. Candidates must have a strong portfolio of
previous layout work and must be able to prove proficiency in InDesign
to do quick, accurate styles. We’re looking for talented, creative, inspiring
individuals!
Communications InternshipSupport Velma’s communications team by researching inquiries and
responding to comments from fans via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest,
YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, and emails; assisting with special events; and
working with the Velma editorial team. Duties will also include admin-
istration for the communications team lead, in addition to maintaining
contact lists and behavior analytics tracking.
Resources - Connect
Page 54
Page 54
Imagine Austin Meetup
Imagine living in a complete community. Imagine Austin envisions that
for all Austinites. This comprehensive plan helps address Austin’s most
pressing issues and guides how our city transforms in the future. The
plan, adopted in 2012, was co-created to reflect Austin’s values and
aspirations. Today, Imagine Austin is being “co-implemented” with contri-
butions throughout the city.
More info: http://www.meetup.com/Imagine-Austin/
The Maker Co-Op
A group of Austin Artists and Makers who find it much more helpful (and
fun) when we team up. Collectively, we craft our high-quality handmade
goods from paintbrushes, pencils, silk screens, sewing machines, hand
tools, and lasers—yes, lasers. Mostly, we’re passionate about our work
and we’re delighted to be sharing it with you.
More info: http://themakercoop.com/
Austin Futurist Meetup
The next three to forty years will undoubtedly bring unprecedented
changes to all aspects of humanity. This group seeks to engage in serious
analysis of what the future might hold.
More info: http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Futurists/
Resources - Discover
Page 56
Central Texas World Future Society
The Central Texas World Future Society is a nonprofit educational and
networking organization. Our members come from all walks of life,
professions, ages, and experiences. We are drawn together by a common
desire to learn how emerging issues, disruptive technologies, ongoing
trends, and current events interact to shape our collective future.
More info: http://www.meetup.com/CentralTexasWorldFutureSociety/
Resources - Discover
Page 56 Page 57
The Silo on 7th
A perfect spot to spend a Sunday afternoon or an evening after work, Silo
on 7th is a relaxed, friendly local spot with a massive bar that can accom-
modate any drink order. Plus, they have the best burgers on the East Side.
Where: 1300 East 7th Street, Austin, TX
More info: http://www.siloonseventh.com/
School House Pub
“The theme is carried out from start to finish creating a really great envi-
ronment!”—Yelp Reviewer
Where: 2207 Manor Road, Austin, TX
More info: http://www.schoolhousepub.com/
Nomad Bar
Geeks Who Drink Trivia every Thursday night!
Where: 1213 Corona Drive, Austin, TX
More info: http://nomadbar.com/
Resources - Eat & Drink
Page 59
Golden Bones Boutique and Salon
Owners Bijou Finney and Kassi have known each other since high school
and started Golden Bones Boutique and Salon in 2012. The shop is your
one-stop for wardrobe styling, hair, and makeup.
Where: 1601 W. Koenig Lane
More info: http://www.goldenbonesatx.com/
Support Velma!
Velma is raising funds to cover the cost of producing monthly issues of
the magazine for distribution via the Apple Store and Google Play. Every
dollar helps us reach our goal of engaging readers on any type of device.
Visit http://www.gofundme.com/velmamagapp to make a donation.
Reading Recommendation
Thinking: The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Predic-tion by John Brockman (Paperback Price: $11.12)
Do you believe you’re a good forecaster? This fine compilation of essays
written by some of today’s leading thinkers will cause you to reflect
upon—and improve—some of your flawed assumptions.
Buy it on Amazon
Resources - Spend
Soma Vida
Get the mind-body connection where you work. Our coworking commu-
nity has been designed to meet the needs of entrepreneurs and organiza-
tions, offering the best opportunity for workspace, wellness, community,
and business support. We provide the space you need to do what you
love!
More info: http://www.somavida.net/workspace/
Cost: $20 drop-in, $25–$65/month
Page 61
Maker Square
Start a new career in 2015! We focus on teaching proper software
development. As a result, graduates have found jobs writing JavaScript
using Angular, Backbone, and Ember, PHP, Java, Python and Django, as
well as Ruby on Rails. In the first few weeks, you’ll practice test-driven
development and learn how to structure an app. We also teach a heavy
algorithms component and how programming languages work under the
hood.
More info: http://www.makersquare.com/
Cost: $13,880
Falling for Money: 6 Weeks 2 Financial Freedom
A good life means freedom to enjoy little luxuries, freedom from debt,
and the freedom to enjoy retirement. Do you have the wealth you need to
live your good life? In only 6 weeks, Krisstina Wise can teach you a proven
system for achieving financial freedom.
Save big when you use promo code VELMA.
More info: www.krisstina.com/fallingformoneycourse/
Resources - Spend
Page 62
Reading Recommendation
ReGENERATION: A Manifesto for America’s Future Leaders by Rebecca Ryan
(Kindle price: $9.95)
“I wrote ReGeneration because I felt an obligation to explore America’s
previous winters, to draw lessons forward to today, and to lay out some
ideas on how we—Gen Xers and Boomers, Millennials, and Traditional-
ists—can work together to make sure that America comes through this
winter better, stronger.”—Rebecca Ryan
Buy it on Amazon