Four For Friday | Nov 24, 2023
Four For Friday | Nov 24, 2023
LF95 | Transformative Investment, Equinox's new wellness club, GenerativeAI social robot & meet up at CES?
Welcome to a Looking Forward’s Four For Friday. Four things that have piqued my interest this week. Enjoy!
Understanding ‘transformative investment’
Thoughtful academic paper (abstract only) about ways that capital investment can deliver lasting transformational change, not just more capital appreciation. I’m increasingly convinced this is the key to systems change - not just in the environmental space (the focus of this paper) but in aging and longevity too. The paper’s authors include the founder of the Deep Transitions Lab which is building a thesis, program and best practice community around transformative investment.
Equinox launches a new wellness service
Megagym Equinox is introducing a new concierge wellness service, with partnerships from the likes of Oura, Provenance meals and Thorne supplements. This is part of a rapid rise in wellness-focused clubs, including Nike Studios, Remedy and Heimat. More to come in future editions.
Generative AI powering social robot for aged care
Sydney-based robot company Andromeda is testing out a new social robot that’s powered by generative AI in a number of senior living providers across the country, with an explicit focus of reducing the need for caregivers. I’ve got mixed emotions about this one, as would much rather robots and tech be used to automate the boring, repetitive manual labor and admin tasks that take so much time, keeping social connection the preserve of real people. But am open to smarter takes on this.
CES: Who’s going?
It’s been quite a few years since I last went to CES, but the time has come, so will be going for the 2024 jamboree. So this is a callout for others who are going to be there - let me know. It looks like AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative will be out in force again this year and a natural gathering point for readers of this missive, but other options welcome too.
That’s all for this week. As always, feedback welcome. Feel free to share insights or links of interest.
- Stephen