Let me tell you a story…

I was in the innovation department of a Fortune 100 company and had spent 3 years researching Autonomous Vehicle technology and Mobility as a Service. We were trying to explain that, as an insurance company, this technology would affect the company’s future and, therefore, needed to be addressed in the strategy and roadmaps. We tried for years but never could break through to the C-Suite.

Then one day, the CEO shared, in an all employee meeting, that he had experience an ride in an autonomous vehicle for the first time and that he and the C-Suite were addressing how it affects the company and build it into the long term strategy.

And that’s what was missing! Making technology feelable and thinkable is vital to long-term visioning. 3 years of data and research couldn't do what that one experience did for top leadership: not just connect with the concept, but create a shared understanding between the leadership team of what was coming.

That is the POWER of creating experiential futures!

The future hasn’t happened yet...to anyone.

Making the POSSIBLE Futures tangible allows us to make better decisions/discussions today.

This is like time traveling and discovering artifacts from the future that you are able to interact with today. Experiential Futures is a way of exploring possible futures through tangible experiences instead of abstract discussion. Rather than only talking about trends, scenarios, or predictions, we create artifacts, environments, and interactive moments that help people see and feel how the future might unfold.

These experiences can take many forms:

• Physical future artifacts or speculative products

• Immersive installations or exhibits

• Interactive storytelling environments

• Futurist video concepts

• Hybrid physical and digital experiences

• Workshops built around tangible future scenarios

The goal is not prediction. It’s shifting perspective. When people experience a future, even briefly, conversations shift. Strategy becomes clearer. Innovation becomes more grounded. And teams often move from uncertainty to curiosity.

Experiential Futures helps organizations turn emerging signals into lived insight so decisions today are shaped with greater imagination, clarity, and intention.

Why Experiential Futures Works

Organizations rarely struggle with information about the future. They struggle with alignment, clarity, and momentum. Experiential futures bridges that gap by turning emerging possibilities into something people can see, feel, and engage with together.

When teams experience potential futures firsthand, several things tend to happen:

• Strategic alignment improves. Abstract trends become shared reference points, helping leaders and teams move in the same direction.

• Change becomes emotionally understandable. People connect more deeply when the future is experienced rather than explained.

• Innovation culture strengthens. Tangible future artifacts and environments spark curiosity, conversation, and new ideas.

• Ideas become more actionable. Instead of theoretical discussions, organizations gain prototypes, narratives, and insights they can build from.

Experiential futures doesn’t predict what will happen. It helps organizations prepare, imagine, and intentionally shape what could happen next.

These aren’t speculative fantasies. They’re grounded in signals, research, and real innovation work.

About Mark Warnick

Futurist, artist, and inventor on 36 U.S. patents focused on next-generation interactions.

Mark helps organizations translate signals of change into immersive experiences, keynotes, and future artifacts that make emerging possibilities tangible.