Tech Talk: How Lowe’s Uses Sci-Fi Narratives to Reimagine Home Improvement

Change is exponential, creating an imperative for organizations to set their own narrative for the future and be proactive about building a long-term competitive advantage. In this talk, Josh Shabtai will cover how Lowe’s Innovation Labs leverages the power of story to explore how technology will change the future lives of customers and employees, to build an innovation roadmap, and to rapidly prototype new technology applications in real-world, living labs.

Josh is the Director at Lowe’s Innovation Labs. Drawing on past lives as videogame designer, start-up founder and advertising creative director, Josh leads a global team whose mission is to make the future real today: developing, testing and ultimately scaling LIL’s narrative-driven productions across the Lowe’s network. Through real-world applications, his team explores the outer edge of various technologies and use cases, including virtual reality-based education, retail computer vision; in-store robotics programs; assistive robotic exoskeletons; real-time manufacturing; and mixed reality design.

Josh has always been obsessed with fusing the digital and physical worlds in novel ways. Prior to joining Lowe’s Innovation Labs, he co-founded an augmented reality videogame studio, lm/nl, where he directed the best-selling AR title Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner for iOS; co-created the $100m+ selling toys-to-life platform Telepods; and transformed Band-Aid brand bandages into augmented reality Muppet shows with Band-Aid Magic Vision. He has previously served as creative director at IPG’s Media Lab and ad agency, JWT, and holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Boston University.

If you’re in the Charlotte area, check out our schedule of upcoming talks to see one in person.