102 COSMOPOLITAN | JANUARY 2018 COSMOPOLITAN.CO.ZA
Thesefoodiefortune-tellers
research food mags, blogs,
social media and TV shows
to advise restaurants and
companiesinthefood
industry about key trends.
Youreadright:youcan
getpaidtodiscoverand
eatfoodthat’snext-level.5
VIRTUAL REALITY
DESIGNER
When you hear that Google,
Facebook, Microsoft and
Applehaveallinvested
billions in the development
of virtual reality (VR) tech,
youknowsomething’sup.
VR and augmented reality
(AR) are still an emerging
field–butthey’reexpected
to become one of the largest
tech sectors. Thought
VRandARwerepurely
for gaming? Think again:
there’sbeenexpansioninto
media, marketing, education,
architecture and healthcare.
TobeaVRdesigner,you’re
required to have a profound
understandingofphysical
and spatial matters such as
architecture, sound design,
lightingandphysics.Because
it’s so new and niche, if you
start learning now, you’ll
likely be in the top one
percentofVRdesigners
inafewyears’time.That’s
just straight-up badass.6
URBAN FARMER
When you hear ‘farm’,
you probably picture a field
filledwithcows.Butwiththe
world’s population expected
to reach 9,7-billion by 2050andashortageoflandspace,
newwaysoffarmingneed
to be found. Behold, the
urban farm: the practice
of cultivating, processing
and distributing food within
atownorcity.Forexample,
the world’s largest rooftop
farm opened in 2010 in New
York.Asimilarcareerpath
is vertical urban farming:
here,farmersgrowcrops
usingUVlight(sobasically,
the sun is shining all day,
errday) inside old, disused
warehouses and factories
stacked on top of each
other to create agricultural
buildings in a small (often
city)space.Gotagreen
thumb? This might just
be for you.7
NARROWCASTER
It’s the opposite of
broadcaster – instead
of information being
transmittedtoamass
audience, narrowcasting
provides information to
a small group of people.
Thejobofanarrowcaster
involves working with
content providers and
advertiserstocreatecontent
tailored to people’s specific
needs and interests. We’ve
alreadyseenthishappening
onFacebookwithtargeted
ads–like,howdidthey
know you were planning
atriptoBali?It’sbelieved
that broadcasting will soon
become a thing of the past
as more brands reap the
rewards of targeting
a smaller number of
interested consumers
versusamajorityof
largely disinterested
ones. Imagine ads on
your TV that are aimeddirectly at you (meaning
you won’t see the same ads
as your friend during breaks),
or only hearing about deals
on the radio or podcasts on
thethingsthatyoulove–
such as beauty products,
doughnuts and unicorn lilos.8
VIRTUAL
CLUTTER
ORGANISER
Remember when 16GB
seemed like a mad amount
of storage space? Today
we have enough storage
availabletokeepyears
worth of music, documents,
photos and videos. And now
that our electronic lives are
likely more cluttered than
our physical ones, we need
someone to clean things up
–includingoure-mails,hard
drivesanduseraccounts.
How ah-mazing would
it be if someone came
in,Hoarders-style, and
simplifiedyourvirtual
life?Thejobrequiresskill:
virtual clutter organisers
lookafteryoure-mail,make
sure your data is stored
properly, and manage your
electronic passwords and
profiles, so knowledge of
data management and
networking is a must.9
LIMB DESIGNER
We’veallheardofa
prosthetist: someone who
designs and fits prosthetics
to replace an arm or a leg.
Now things are moving a
step into the future with
‘limbdesigners’,andit’s
predicted that in the next20 years, this will be one of
the most sought-after skills
sets.That’sbecause,with
the invention of bioprinting
combined with 3D printing
(used to print parts such
as ribs and kneecaps),
limb designers will be
able to make customised
body parts. Today, we
useprostheticsandhave
machinery replacing body
parts–butalimbdesigner
will combine design with
bio-engineering to create
human limbs that can
match your skin tone
andbodysize.Pretty
damn cool.10
3D FASHION
DESIGNER
You’ll already have
seen 3D designs on the
runways at Chanel and
Iris van Herpen, and Project
Runway winner Seth Aaron
has just launched a 3D shoe
collection. Even Adidas has
started using 3D printing
by launching Futurecraft
3D: a unique 3D-printed
running-shoe midsole
tailored to an individual’s
foot. And how about Danit
Peleg, the Tel Aviv-based
fashion designer who
created a full line of 3D-
printed clothing in her
living room for a college
project? Peleg says it’s
only a matter of time
until we can download
our own clothes. Think
about it: as a designer
in 2030, you could have
your designs displayed
online, and consumers
could purchase, download
and print them in the
comfort of their home.
100% SHOOK. ■ PHOTOGRAPHYTRUNKARCHIVE/STEPHANIE RAUSSERCAREER