Southern Europe Tomorrow: computers, decorating and religion

What’s awaiting us tomorrow is a mystery. But, if you want to catch a glimpse of the future, Southern Europe’s vibrant start-up and innovation scene might be the place to look. French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese visionaries are coming up with life-altering ideas daily and managing to turn them into reality in no-time. Welcome to Southern Europe’s future.

TOMORROW’S RELIGON
Digital deity

Vatican City, the world’s smallest nation, has a reputation for being a tad old-fashioned. But don’t let the traditional vestments and dusty Bibles trick you: even on this sacred square kilometre, there is room for innovation. With the eRosary, the team of Pope Francis has rediscovered the century-old praying staple by developing a digital one. Besides it providing you with audio-visual praying aids, the modern, chrome cross also tracks your health. This rosary saves both body and soul.

TOMORROW’S COMPUTING
Europe’s strongest

From 2021, Southern Europe will be the epicentre of European supercomputing. Attempting to compete with digital giants like the United States and Japan, the European Union has invested in three new super computers, which will rank in the global top five. They will be able to do a staggering 150 million billion calculations per second. Alongside Finland, the Union chose Barcelona and Bologna as the locations for the state-of-the-art centres, making the Mediterranean one of the greatest supercomputing hubs in the world.

TOMORROW’S DECORATION
Everchanging wallpaper

Turin start-up Scribit defends the Southern European honour in the prestigious Best Inventions 2019 ranking of Time Magazine. The company invented an adorable, small apparatus that can make the most beautiful drawings on your wall and windows. You don’t have to be a Michelangelo for it. Just download or create a design you like and the little robot does the rest, with its CMYK-coloured markers. Don’t worry about getting tired of the drawing, either. The robot also acts as an eraser and lets the patented Scribit ink disappear in no time. So, experiment away.