Each year, lanyard-strapped innovators in technology, media and culture descend on Austin, Texas for South by Southwest (SXSW), releasing ideas and concepts that redefine "normal" across industries. It wasn’t always this way.

What started in 1987 as a music festival in Austin, Texas, has since evolved into a powerhouse conference covering creativity in all its forms and attended by the likes of Michelle Obama and Idris Elba.

More recently, the event has increasingly focused on the future of mobility, hospitality, and destination experiences – making it a must-watch event for the travel industry’s most future-forward brands. From the hundreds of concepts and ideas that spilled across the festival, we’ve selected five that point to travel’s new normal, whether that’s new AI-powered personal safety devices or brain-altering wellness treatments.

The Halo

Neuroaesthetics is gaining ground, fast. Devices that can interpret a user’s brainwaves are already being used to better understand human responses to art, but how might that translate to wellness? Cue: The Halo. This gadget from Prophetic, a studio of engineers and scientists based in New York, uses various emerging technologies such as electroencephalogram (EEG) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activation to incite lucid dreams in the wearer.

Globetrender’s take: "Holistic" wellness offerings have long revolved around mind-body connection, but The Halo takes the pursuit of psychological or emotional wellbeing to exciting new frontiers.

Pathfinder: GPS-free geolocation

One strange dissonance of the modern world is that some technologies like The Halo can be uncannily advanced, while others (such as roaming internet coverage) remain woefully beset with problems. Pathfinder completely upends travellers’ reliance on internet data to get around, by using computer vision to provide a user’s geolocation to 1 meter of accuracy. Users upload a photo of their surroundings to the platform and it draws upon reference datasets to identify the location – no wifi needed.

Globetrender’s take: Global internet coverage remains patchy in less-frequented areas. Pathfinder promises to make the intrepid more approachable, while reframing the definition of "off-grid" travel.

Posha

Robot kitchens. It’s a little on the nose for a trend firm, we’ll admit, but no longer a sci-fi fantasy. In recent years we’ve seen companies like Goodbytz experience tremendous growth, with hotels and hospitals seduced by the robotic kitchens’ ability to provide healthy, fresh and affordable food at scale. Posha makes it personal, with small counter-top devices that can make customised meals on demand using fresh ingredients.

Globetrender’s take: A Posha partnership would be a big win for a player in the aparthotel sector where convenience, value and privacy are paramount.

Overheard on a Train

This experience, from the Austin-based travel company Cheerful Secrets, promises to make the mundane exciting. It’s a little like a murder mystery party, but one that takes place on local trains. Groups of participants can pick from a handful of scripts and storylines from The Bachelorette Party to the The Middle Schoolers, and then read the script as they venture from station to station – taking in the sights and sounds of the city, with refreshment pit-stops en route.

Globetrender’s take: Vibes-based travel that sees people mooch about neighbourhoods and blend (as best they can) into urban areas by mimicking local lifestyles is increasingly popular. This experience speaks to that – offering an affordable and more "authentic" experience than ticking off bucket-lists.

CrowdCompass

Designed with large-scale outdoor events (like music festivals) in mind, CrowdCompass uses a radio mesh network to connect users. It’s like a walkie-talkie, except it uses secure end-to-end encryption so messages can’t be intercepted; users can send text - as well as voice-based responses; and it can be synced with a mobile app for ease.

Globetrender’s take: Similarly to Pathfinder, here’s another connectivity device that doesn’t require the internet. What does this suggest about trust (or lack thereof) in Big Tech? Of course, solo tour providers could benefit. What if hotels offered these to solo guests anxious about venturing out alone?