Flavia Sparacino is an MIT Media Lab PhD, a prolific inventor, and founder and CEO of Sensing Places LLC, a creative technology agency based in Santa Monica. We had the chance to visit Sparacino and her staff recently to learn about what they’re doing in the digital user experience space and experience the energy of the team's hacking/making/start-up culture. Join Sparacino at Xlab 2015 and you can experience it too!

Retail is great theater for digital technology in physical spaces, but the jury is still out on what it can and can’t do to drive sales and engage customers. At Xlab2015, a rock-star retail panel will tackle personalization, smart technologies, the omni-channel world of shopping, and how digital technology can make it more fun (for shoppers) and rewarding (for retailers)!

The Internet of Things is a growing network of objects–from home appliances to industrial machines and from signs to cars—that are connected to each other and the Internet. Through an infinite web of sensors and devices that generate constant streams of data, objects will communicate with each other to make everyday tasks more efficient. Yes, it all sounds very Minority Report. But what does it mean for you and your future in designing experiences and connecting people to place? At Xlab 2015, we’re putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Be there to see how it all relates to YOUR practice!

Perhaps the tipping point was in 2004, when artist Jaume Plensa created the giant pixelated portraits of Chicagoans spouting water from Crown Fountain in Millennium Park. Today, new digital technologies and connected data are making cities more open, efficient, and engaging--and changing the way we act and interact in public spaces. We’ll cover the cityscape and digital technology at Xlab 2015—Nov. 5-6 in NYC; you'll want to be there!

Technically, the Apple Watch, Jawbone UP, and Google Glass are nothing new. Wearable technology has been around since the early 17th century, when Chinese mathematicians adapted the abacus as a ring. Soon after, the pocket watch caught on in Europe—offering humans the first wearable, mobile technology that augmented their awareness of time, space, and environmental conditions.