The Future of Valentine’s Day

Picture the scene: Valentine’s Day 2035. A beaming girlfriend, wearing sensually responsive lingerie, is presented with a piece of emotional jewellery, whilst sipping a multimedia cocktail looking out on a Tahitian sunset via augmented reality. Fast forward 20 years and they may be sharing the restaurant with people dating androids or even androids dating androids – but will they be able to tell who is who?

Whilst the idea of Valentine’s Day is embedded in our society, the perception of Valentine’s Day and all it entails has changed greatly over time. From a sweet sonnet written to a lover, through to the embellished cards and gifts of today, Valentine’s Day is an ever-changing entity. With this in mind, lingerie company Sparkling Strawberry has commissioned a leading Futurologist, Dr Ian Pearson of Futurizon, to predict how Valentine’s Day will be celebrated in the decades to come. His detailed report is published today.

According to the report, these images are not scenes out of the next sci-fi blockbuster, but entirely possible in the near future. Increasingly rapid technology development could soon transform not only how we mark the year’s most romantic day, but also impact on how we conduct our romantic relationships into the future.

If you are interested in learning more about the Future of Valentine’s Day, read the full Futurizon report, or read on.

What could Valentine’s Day look like in the future?

Cards and Gifting:

• Intelligent Underwear: A romantic gift of lingerie could take on a whole new meaning with colour changing or light emitting clothing becoming commonplace. Built in life-sign monitoring would enable lingerie to change colour to reflect the wearer’s romantic mood and even record and playback sensations.
• Emotional Jewellery: Even tiny items such as accessories or jewellery could be large enough to hold considerable electronic capability. Something as small as a sequin, could act as a sensor or feedback device.
• Touch Sensitive Video Cards: Within the not too distant future, Valentine’s Cards will be fully networked into something about the size of playing card, with touch sensitive displays enabling the sender to create a fully personalised video card, directly linked to social media.

Valentine’s Dinner:

• Virtual Reality: VR could make a Valentine’s date extra-special, with musicians serenading the diners over a meal, or perhaps immersing them into one of a range of romantic settings, chosen specifically by them.
• Multimedia Cocktails: With augmented reality, even the little things can become a spectacle. A drink could include multimedia sparkles, or could emit flowing hearts or fireworks.
• Shrinking the World: Sitting together or across continents, Virtual Reality will enable two people to experience a shared fantasy, perhaps for an evening meal, or even to give romantic gifts, which might appear at first virtually, arriving later in reality.

Relationships:

• Virtual Gender Change: Virtual Reality will offer easy cyber-trans opportunities, allowing people to present themselves safely and anonymously as another gender.
• Valentine’s with Robots: Whist the technology is too expensive and immature at present, it is entirely possible people will buy androids for companionship. With advanced AI, people could form strong emotional bonds with robots, perhaps even dating them.
• Fully Networked Beings: By the 2050s, the human mind could be fully networked, enabling a wide range of possibilities, from going on a date with yourself, to transgender play, or even swapping bodies, all by linking into a cloud extension of the mind and the body’s sensory systems.

Today, Valentine’s Day offers a plethora of opportunities to declare and show adoration or love. Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day greatly increases that potential, using the full scope of the real and virtual worlds, with the two seamlessly interwoven via augmented reality. Technologies will enhance gift giving, and the user experience. The simplest piece of lingerie could become a sensory world of romance, displaying moods, enhancing sensuality or even allowing people to replay a sensual experience.

One thing seems certain, Valentine’s Day will continue as we head towards the 22nd Century. The question that remains is, just how far will we go?

About Sparkling Strawberry:

Sparkling Strawberry is a leading online lingerie retailer based in Cheshire. Their aim: fulfilling fantasies and having fun. The company prides itself on providing the best quality products with exceptional customer service for an enjoyable and intimate online retail experience.

Sparkling Strawberry, 15 Portal Business Park, Eaton Lane, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 9DL

www.sparklingstrawberry.com

Telephone number: 01829 730 267