Immersive Future Scenarios for Strategic Decision-Making

Futures research: Abstraction as a Central Problem

Futures research faces a fundamental challenge: the future does not yet exist as a fixed reality for inquiry that can be objectively analyzed. Engaging with the future therefore always takes place within a spectrum of possibilities. Future scenarios, development paths, and the consequences of potential decisions remain at an abstract level—their implications are difficult to grasp and often appear disconnected from present-day decision-making contexts or immediate concerns.

The Foresight Cube: Experiencing the Future Through Multiple Senses

The Foresight Cube aims to make possible futures tangible by transforming them into a multisensory experience. This approach is based on insights from media ecology, which suggest that the way information is conveyed influences how it is received and interpreted. Furthermore, research in psychology suggests that information processing is not purely cognitive but instead can be supported by sensory perceptions and physical interactions with the environment.

The focus is therefore on an immersive exploration of possible future scenarios: trends are materialized through tangible, interactive, or physically traversable future artifacts, such as a body scanner for instantly assessing one’s health status (see Figure 1) or a Hyperloop capsule for transporting people and goods (see Figure 2) in a possible future. Abstract ideas about the potential implications of future trends are thus not only discussed and analyzed theoretically but can also be explored through multiple senses. Furthermore, to account for the variability of the future, virtual reality (VR) components offer insights into flexibly adaptable future scenarios and enable them to be transferred across different contexts. For example, the same artifact could take on different forms in various scenarios due to changing scenario conditions, which are then projected onto existing physical objects using mixed reality (MR). This creates a space for active interaction with the future.

The aim is to foster an understanding that the future is not a fixed parameter. The Foresight Cube demonstrates how the future can be actively shaped—by promoting an understanding of the key factors affecting different development pathways.

Creativity, Discourse, and Future Readiness

Futures research requires an environment that fosters creativity, offers space for discourse, and challenges established ways of thinking. Dealing appropriately with uncertainties and considering alternative scenarios are central foundations for well-founded recommendations for action. This reflects the understanding that that the future does not yet exist as an observable reality, but is socially and medially constructed through visions of the future.

The approach draws on the scientific concept of futures literacy, which describes the ability to explore, analyze, reflect on, and use insights from alternative futures. This requires openness to different perspectives and outcomes. Engaging with these alternative futures fosters a readiness to adapt to a range of plausible developments—a concept known as “future readiness.”

To meet these requirements, the Foresight Cube creates an innovative, experimental space for envisioning the future that equally supports interaction, reflection, and creative thinking.

Practical Implementation

The Foresight Cube combines theoretical insights from various scientific disciplines with the practical experience of seasoned futurists in a concrete spatial concept consisting of four interconnected areas.

An Overview of the Four Spatial Areas

Area 1 – Mental Introduction and Shift in Perspective

A physical lock (see Figure 3) serves as a deliberately designed bridge between the present and the future, intended to help participants disrupt familiar routines and patterns of thought. The “future” area is strikingly different and therefore resists immediate categorization through familiar frames. By blocking out distractions and physically separating participants from their everyday lives, attention is focused on the subsequent work process. The exploration process is deliberately ritualized to facilitate the transition toward new ways of working, while also creating space to challenge and reflect on established patterns through framebreaking and reframing. The inherent uncertainty of the unfamiliar context is intended to break down hierarchies, thereby fostering an open approach to alternative visions of the future and enabling scenario work with an open-ended exploration. The goal is to achieve a new perspective, less constrained by habitual assumptions and cognitive biases—as a foundation for creative and open thinking.

Area 2 – Exploring the Meaning of the Future

The future is made tangible in the form of a domestic environment/living environment. The context of housing was deliberately chosen because it is familiar to all participants from their everyday lives, thereby creating an accessible entry point into abstract future-oriented issues. The familiar reality of housing is translated into an unfamiliar, future-oriented context, making the potential impacts of social and technological developments immediately tangible from a personal and potentially more memorable perspective. Furthermore, living spaces can be understood as condensed reflections of societal developments. They enable the illustration of technological, social, economic, and ecological transformation processes within a familiar context. Trends are embodied by the aforementioned future artifacts and allow for an exploratory examination of alternative futures beyond purely theoretical representations. This approach is based on insights from situated learning, according to which understanding is generated in a context-dependent and interactive manner.

Area 3 – Discussion Forum and Scenario Development

An open-space concept fosters dialogue among participants as equals and facilitates the exchange of different perspectives. Presentation areas and workshop materials help translate gathered impressions into concrete results. This area translates the idea that visions of the future and technological development emerge through processes of social negotiation into an inclusive spatial design. Participants jointly develop future scenarios, discuss alternative development paths, and formulate well-founded recommendations for action.

Area 4 – Immersive Visualization via VR

Here, scenarios developed in the workshop can be brought to life using virtual reality (VR) (see Figure 4). Beyond mere illustration, the immersive presentation facilitates a deeper reflection on the potential implications and consequences of the scenarios. By directly experiencing the implications of the scenarios, they become more emotionally salient and more memorable than in a theoretical discussion. The ability to quickly revise the scenarios during the workshop underscores a central principle: the future can be shaped.

Conclusion

The Foresight Cube thus creates a cohesive, holistic environment for workshops on strategic planning and foresight—from initial framing and discussion to the immersive visualization of results.

The Foresight Cube is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2026. Subsequently, the effectiveness of the concept will be empirically tested—based on findings from the specialist research fields such as sociology of technology, information science, learning psychology, and media ecology.

Supported by an ongoing doctoral research project, the Foresight Cube is being continuously refined and adapted to meet specific needs—with the goal of establishing a lasting and effective tool for strategic futures research and the promotion of future readiness.