Human Drivers

‍

Innovation is not only pushed by technology; it is pulled by people. Human Drivers describe the demand side of innovation; the reasons why we create.

We structure them into four groups.

• Core Needs: Such as health, safety, freedom, connection, recognition, growth, joy, and purpose. These are the essential motivations of human life, drawn from thinkers like Max Neef and Maslow, and refined through our own research and expert input.They explain why innovation happens: to satisfy what people truly need.
• Human Perceptions: Our senses such as vision, hearing, and touch. They define how we experience and understand the world. Without them, there would be no interface between humans and technology, and no real intelligence.
• Experimental Perceptions: New senses enabled by technology, such as virtual-reality haptics or brain-computer interfaces. They expand human capability, showing how we can use innovation to extend what it means to sense and to think.
• Animal-Inspired Perceptions: Abilities that many living beings still have, but humans have largely lost: sonar, infrared, magnetoreception. Studying these perceptions helps us design smarter sensors, navigation systems, and adaptive machines.

Together, these four groups show that innovation is not only technical, it is deeply human. They reveal why people imagine, build, and adapt. 

Because these topics change only slowly, we review and update the Human Drivers dataset once per year to keep it current and consistent with new research.

‍