Press release

Method’s Vision for Future Tech-driven Food Systems Showcased During the Barbican’s Life Rewired Series

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Strategic design firm Method Inc. formally announced today its participation in the Life Rewired season at the Barbican, London’s world-class arts and learning center. The company’s three-part involvement—an ongoing technical display, a temporary interactive installation, and a thought-provoking panel discussion—addresses future food systems.

Method’s involvement in the Barbican’s latest series aligns with its mission to help organizations stay relevant in the complexity and uncertainty of the digital age. The firm creates value and impact for businesses through the design of meaningful brands, digital products, and service experiences. As part of GlobalLogic, it serves clients globally from San Jose, New York City, Zurich and London.

The Intersection of Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Sustainable Agriculture

Method uses data systems and design to solve challenges across markets such as Healthcare, Logistics, Retail, Technology, Media, etc. Recently, the company pulled from its cross-industry experience to launch an exploratory Connected Food project. This project explores digitized food systems and their impact on business, people, and the planet. It is largely inspired by growing concerns posed by climate change including the threat of water shortages, rising temperatures, declining land fertility, and food resources for a growing population.

“Our current food systems are from a bygone age of uninhibited consumption,” stated Steve Teruggi, Vice President and General Manager, Method. “As climate change threatens the planet, we are seeing dramatic impact on everything from insect populations to our soil. Questions about the resilience of our food sources open up critical areas of innovative exploration. Method is asking, ‘Is technology the solution?’ We’re honored that the Barbican is providing a forum to further our work through the Life Rewired experience.”

At the heart of this project sits Method’s Personal Food Computer (PFC) based on MIT OpenAg’s™ research. The PFC is a tabletop agriculture technology platform that monitors climate, energy, and plant growth inside of a specialized growing chamber. It can network with other PFCs to analyze and learn from effective “climate recipes” that generate the best environmental conditions for crop production.

Method operates with the belief that the right solution only comes from finding a real human need and then identifying the technology to solve that need. Never the other way around. For the Connected Food project, Method’s targeted human problem centers on how climate change and technological progress can impact food systems. The company is uniquely positioned to contribute to this issue’s solution as a food system’s value constellation includes elements Method regularly works with; e.g., transportation, product development, logistics, data management, machine learning, innovation, and human factors.

Method’s PFC is currently on display through the end of August as part of the AI: More than Human exhibit, described as an unprecedented survey of creative and scientific developments in artificial intelligence.

Method’s second Barbican initiative is a pop-up event hosted July 11 through 13. For this interactive display, the studio will present three potential Food Futures. These Futures are hypothetical solutions to feeding the global population designed to provoke the audience to consider the future they want to live in, the wider consequences of food choices, and how we might design a better food system.

Programmed to coincide with the other two activations, Method will host its third Barbican initiative on July 11: The Future of Food Panel. The Panel brings together cross-industry experts ranging from private equity to robotics, data and farmers to explore how we might reimagine the systems by which we grow, harvest and distribute food; who will drive its redefinition; and what role will food, people and the planet play in this future. The panelists include:

All three initiatives are open to the public. Visit www.barbican.org.uk for details.

Useful Links

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About Method

Method, a GlobalLogic company, is a strategic design firm. We create value and impact through the design of meaningful brands, digital products, and service experiences. As businesses need to navigate uncharted territories, we use design as a strategic tool to understand customer needs, discover new opportunities, make the right decisions, accelerate time to market, and drive the digital transformation process. Together with GlobalLogic, Method’s parent company, we provide design and engineering services at scale from over 30 locations across 12 countries.