.png)
Humans are hard-wired for connection.
A recent study by a team at Harvard suggests that our brains may process loneliness and isolation in much the same way as basic longings for food and water. The researchers discovered that two previously unstudied groups of neurons within the hypothalamus essentially treat lack of social interaction like a thirst that needs to be quenched.
Ever since the development of electrical telegraphy in the early 19th century, technology has been helping us to sate this need. Today, the internet has given us a world of people, devices and systems that are seamlessly, endlessly interconnected.
But what comes next? Will developing technologies enmesh us even further? Or will we revert to more human, real-life experiences?
Looking for answers, WIRED joined forces with the global brand experience agency Sparks to bring together leading individuals from the worlds of events, wearables, telecoms and art for a panel at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Forming the second installment in the Connection Code series, it threw up some thought-provoking predictions about how humans might interact in the decade ahead. Here are four:
Prediction 1: Biometrics will make us more empathetic
Empathy is a crucial aspect of human connection. By understanding how others are feeling, we are able to see things from their perspective and to communicate on a deeper level. So, what if technology could help us to better register the feelings of those we are interacting with, so we can adjust accordingly?
Oura Health's Oura Ring is a wearable that not only measures a wide range of physical biometrics but also allows users to share high-level data (readiness, sleep, and activity scores) with friends and family in a secure way. Oura Health's CEO Tom Hale imagines a world in which we might also one day share our moods—in real time.
“Assuming they granted you permission, you would be able to understand the emotional state of the people around you,” he says. “Imagine two people in a relationship where one is having a bad day. Maybe they've been stressed out at work or they haven't slept or whatever. If the other person can immediately get insight into their mood, they might modify their behaviour because they have that situational awareness.”
The ability for machines to recognise and interpret human emotions through speech, expressions and gestures is already well developed. But there are also hidden factors, such as heart rate, breathing and even the electrical conductivity of our skin, which can offer valuable clues as to how we are feeling. One day, these could be measured and transmitted using a wearable device, giving a more accurate picture of mood.
That mood data might mean you change how you talk to someone, or you might adapt how you act towards them. “We see this in couples where if one person is aware of the physiological state of another, they might come home from work early. They might offer to pick up dinner. They might offer to pick up the kid from school,” says Hale. “That sort of sharing of labour without having to do work to understand your counterparty's situation—that's a power that I think could increase human connection.”
Prediction 2: AI will upgrade live networking
In a world where digital noise is constant, in-person interaction is becoming increasingly important. “When you share an experience together, that bond becomes stronger,” says Adam Charles, Chief Growth Officer at Sparks.
Organized events like conferences cater to that need—helping businesses connect with clients, helping individuals connect with likeminded others—but come with a challenge. It can be hard to find the “right” people to talk to. Charles believes that AI may help solve that problem, and not just through better search filters. Rather than meeting people based on blunt metrics like job titles alone, it could also incorporate subtler signals.
Charles points out that there are a range of tools that can theoretically measure how people respond to live events, such as sweat and heart-rate monitors in wearables, or in-room facial recognition and eye-tracking technology. In the years ahead, says Charles, individuals may opt-in to let AI use this data. If a particular demo spikes our heart rate, or a speaker’s provocations elicit a visceral emotional response, it could detect this spark in real time. Combined with more traditional data, this could let brands identify the people who would be most interested in talking to them. It would also help attendees have conversations with others with whom they share non-obvious but potentially important commonalities.
“Think of it like a curated playlist,” says Charles, imagining how this could work in practice. “There could be thousands of people at a congress, but the technology will help you to filter out the people you actually need to meet.”
But there’s a catch. A purely algorithm-based experience risks taking away the serendipity of an event. “We’ve got to be careful not to make it too premeditated,” Charles warns. “We have to also create opportunities for surprise and excitement to happen, and for people to meet other people by chance and make connections. There’s something about meeting people that you didn’t expect that opens up whole new worlds.”
Prediction 3: We will be telepathic. No, really
Until very recently, the idea of exchanging thoughts telepathically was the stuff of science fiction. But that’s changing. Developments in AI together with advances in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology are opening up the possibility that our brains’ inner workings could one day be transferable.
“If we can somehow create and process a digital representation of a thought, we can then transfer that and maybe recreate it in another head,” says Elena Fersman, Head of AI Innovation and Incubation at Ericsson.
The idea is no longer far-fetched. BCIs have been getting steadily more capable, now allowing people to handle tasks such as playing complex video games by thought alone. At the same time, there have been breakthroughs in reconstructing images from brain data, and also in silently communicating verbal messages. One key startup in the BCI space has applied for a trademark of the product name “Telepathy”.
The possibility of making brainwave connections with others raises many questions. For one: unless absolutely necessary, would we really be willing to undergo a brain implant as the price of transferring our thoughts? Fersman suggests that wearable sensors could eventually become a feasible alternative. And although there are clear security issues (how do you ensure someone can’t tap into your private brain data?), Fersman believes this technology could also unlock extraordinary opportunities.
She is most excited by the collaborative aspect of two very different minds being melded. “Imagine if you have, say, one extremely artistic person and another who is a mathematician, and there is a semantic gap they struggle to overcome with regular interaction,” she says. “Using this technology as a bridge, they could create something fantastic together.”
Prediction 4: We will connect slightly less
For Otto Plesner, founder of the immersive art studio RenaiXance, connection is at the core of everything he does—whether that’s presenting an artistic creation or cultivating the sense of communion that happens between members of an audience during a performance. “It becomes a place where there is no judgment and no conflict, it's just a pure synchronisation between people giving energy into the same kind of moment,” he says. “It’s something very close to love.”
His studio works at the cutting edge of art and technology to create these magical moments. Its 2025 immersive show Echoes of Eternity, for example, produced in collaboration with DECOL studio, captured the brainwaves of two Steinway pianists, and visualised them on giant screens during the performance. “It was a very overwhelming, powerful moment,” he says.
It may seem strange, then, that Plesner believes the future of connection may be about switching off—and actually connecting a little less. But he says that creativity—in all walks of life, whether artistic or commercial—might depend on it. “David Lynch once said that the most important thing when it comes to creativity is to be able to daydream,” he says. “And I believe that daydreaming doesn’t happen without a little boredom. Go out and leave your phone and watch at home, take in the sun and allow yourself to stay long enough in it that you get so bored that your mind starts drifting.” The rise in dumbphones, and tools that help people break tech addictions, suggest he’s onto something.
Turning inwards in this way, he argues, helps us to strengthen the most important connection of all—with ourselves. “We need those moments of inner reflection and just being in our thoughts,” he says. “In the future we’re going to learn how to be bored again.”
The Connection Code is a series of conversations co-created by WIRED and Sparks, exploring how brands can move beyond surface-level engagement to design connection that lasts—across digital products, physical experiences and everything in between.
