FringeHog Tags the World is a collaborative media project designed to build a comprehensive interactive database of photographs and images that illustrate emerging ideas about the future. Using three of our favorite tools (social book-marking technology, user-generated content and the wisdom-of-crowds principle) we’re using the pictures to create a visual map of trends and emerging issues from around the world.

Here’s how it works:

1) Set your sights on the people, places, things and activities that hint at what the future might look like in 10, 20 or even 50 years. Then snap a photo and email it, along with a title, brief description, and where the picture was taken to future@fringehog.com. Photos will be accepted now through June 15, 2007.

2) The theme and location of each photograph will be geo-tagged, credited and displayed on the FringeHog Tags the World Map.

3) In mid-June we’ll cull through the photographs looking for over-arching themes and particularly unique or nascent ideas. The entire map and the emergent themes will be discussed in a special session at the World Future Society Conference in July. Select photographs and contributors will be featured in a book describing the project (also to be published in July).

A Few FAQs

What kind of pictures are you looking for?

We’re looking for images of objects, activities, media, and people that give you that “aha” feeling - like the future is whispering in your ear.

How do I submit a photo?

Email your digital photo, along with a title, brief description and where the picture was taken to: future@fringehog.com. The deadline for submission is June 15, 2007.

Can I submit pictures of things I find online, such as screenshots?

Absolutely - cyberspace is a place too! Just include the URL of picture in your email.

Is there a limit to the amount of photos I can submit?

No!

Will I receive attribution for my photo(s)?

Of course! Each photo on the map will be credited and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Why should I do this?

This is a great opportunity to collaborate in an “open source” fashion with colleagues from around the world.

Why are you doing this?

Two quick reasons: 1) The future is too often expressed in words; we want to create a shared vocabulary of the future based on images. 2) The visual expression of ideas creates a fundamental sensory connection - we want people to experience the future in a new way.