What the Future Sounds Like

How American cities will sound 30 years from now

Imagine the sounds of London, 1800. Maybe you hear hooves clomping on cobblestone, vendors yelling their wares, newspaper boys singing out hoarse and high. Now take your ears to Woodstock, 1969; you hear the raucous laughter, off-key singing from hundreds of voices, the guitar feedback cutting humid air. Let’s go forward — what does 2050 sound like?

It’s a strange question, what does the future sound like. But more and more, as I rest my eyes riding the metro home, listening to the chatter and viral videos blaring unencumbered by headphones, I start to wonder. I’m a cultural and consumer strategist by trade, and much of my time is taken up wondering about how we live, and paying attention to what trends are coming next. It’s no secret we’re on a rapid ascent of scientific and technological innovation. We can easily imagine a world with robot workers and 3D printed organs in our lifetimes. Yet, for how prominent and ever-present sound is in our lives, few of us can imagine the score that accompany this advanced future. Assuming that the Earth isn’t destroyed by then, what noises will greet you as you walk down a street in New York or Los Angeles in the year 2050?

When standing on our futuristic street corner 30 years from now, the first thing you’ll notice is the eerie silence.