Between proximity and relationship: the future "onlife" of Retail.

People often refer to real as opposed to virtual, to offline as opposed to online, event though it is difficult to draw a line between these two spheres. Onlife is a neologism coined by philosopher Luciano Floridi to indicate that in most industrialized societies there is a fusion of online and offline, digital and physical. These are not two separate worlds but two inextricably intertwined layers that inevitably have strong implications for experience design as well. Reality is changing and in order not to remain passive in the face of this change it is necessary, according to the philosopher, to adopt new languages and definitions, new approaches capable of conforming to a world in constant transformation. We are penetrated by the informational reality and being connected has become an integral part of our everyday life, so much so that the author speaks of lives we led onlife, in an increasingly synchronized, delocalized and correlated info-sphere. “What is real, is informational and what is informational, is real” states Floridi, taking up the famous Hegelian formula. This concept makes our experiences today extremely complex: a non-predictable, non-linear path, made of leaps and bounds. Onlife opens up new challenges and opportunities for design as experience design in all contexts. Onlife design is where digital technologies, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things, are integrated with design strategies that enable the interconnection of physical and digital spaces. The aim of this concept is to investigate how the boundaries between online and offline life tend to disappear as we seamlessly connect with one another, progressively becoming part of a global 'info-sphere'. The purpose of the Meta-retail is to allow us to interact with people, just as we do in everyday life. Will powerfully enter the shopping journey, enhancing the shopping experience and accelerating the conversion process. (McKinsey, 2022)