It’s been a heck of a week. At a 5 to 6 sessions a day, you get gradually emerged in the relentless beating drum of this years trends. Slowly but surely patterns appear, storylines pop up. My neurons are frenzying, making connections, straining to patch together, and to see a shape of the future forming. Madame Soleil has nothing on me. I do not need a crystal ball; I plug directly into the firehose of the thousands of sessions and activation at this super volcano of ideas and disruption.
On top of the tech sessions, braided with AI, quantum, agents and more sci-fi jargon than in a Buck Rogers movie, there was a very human centric and human centered undertone at this years edition. The impact of tech, climate, fake news, dystopian politics, and the potential annexation of a big part of the planet by the Orange one, the weird Doge one and their Kremlin buddy leaves its traces, even at a normally upbeat and optimistic festival.
Technology connects us more than ever, yet we feel lonelier than ever. SXSW 2025 seemed determined to fix that – with an arsenal of apps, AI buddies, and AR goggles all aimed at making us feel more connected (finger quotes implied). I found myself in the middle of a surreal experiment: could a tech conference actually cure our modern loneliness and anxiety? From the get-go, the buzzwords flying around were all about “social health” and human connection. SXSW Co-President Hugh Forrest even opened by urging us that “it is more important than ever to find common ground”. Soon after, keynote speaker Kasley Killam proclaimed social connectedness as “the missing pillar” of holistic wellbeing – essentially crowning social health the third pillar of wellness (right alongside good old diet and exercise). It was clear that this year, human bonds were the star of the show – even if it took a lot of tech to get us there.
The Connection Economy (Now with more humans)
The result of this focus was a delightful and bizarre mix of sincerity and high-tech showmanship. Everywhere I went, companies were pitching gadgets and platforms to boost our “social health.” One speaker warned that if your company isn’t investing in making people feel less lonely, it’ll fall behind the times. (Yes, apparently even brands now worry about our friend counts – the connection economy is real.) Statistics were thrown around like party confetti: one in four people report feeling lonely on a regular basis, and the U.S. Surgeon General has equated being socially disconnected with the health risks of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. With loneliness dubbed “the greatest threat in America” for some (especially young men retreating into digital spaces), the conference took this “loneliness epidemic” seriously – albeit with a touch of SXSW flair.
On one hand, it was heartening to see genuine concern for mental and social wellbeing. Panelists talked about creating spaces that foster authentic connection instead of just chasing engagement metrics. On the other hand, the irony was as thick as Texas BBQ sauce. Picture a ballroom full of marketers nodding earnestly about empathy and togetherness, while half the crowd live-tweeted “human connection remains the ultimate prize in a digitally fragmented world” to thousands of strangers. In the SXSW 2025 universe, connection was both a heartfelt human need and the hottest new business commodity – a surreal sight that left me both amused and oddly hopeful.
SXSW wouldn’t be SXSW without mind-bending tech showcases, and 2025 did not disappoint. I wandered into an “immersive journey through the space–time continuum,” which, in non-marketing terms, was a wild off-site showcase blending augmented reality, VR, and AI-enhanced historical footage. I slapped on a pair of AR glasses and promptly watched ancient history and sci-fi futures swirl together in front of me. At one point, I was sniffing the air like a curious dog – because the demo featured “OVR Digital Scent Technology,” essentially scratch-and-sniff 2.0 for the metaverse. (If you’ve ever wondered what the future smells like, SXSW 2025 had you covered. For the record, it was something like burnt ozone mixed with hope and popcorn.)
These augmented experiences were all about eliciting real human emotions. A VR experience had me chasing the spirit of 90s rave culture, complete with throbbing bass and flashing lights, in an attempt to spark nostalgia and FOMO simultaneously. Over at the Niantic AR Garden, I joined other attendees in running around a patch of grass trying to feed virtual creatures that only we could see through our phone screens – a scene equal parts hilarious and telling. It was as if the festival said, “Go outside and touch grass, but make it techy.” I have to admit, the AR Garden did get strangers talking to each other (“Hey, do you see that armadillo on the rainbow over there, or is it just me?”), proving that a shared hallucination can be a bonding experience. Augmented reality gave us some authentically awkward human moments: bumping into actual people while distracted by digital pixies, apologizing, then laughing together at the absurdity. In its weird way, the high-tech funhouse succeeded in reminding us of our humanity – if only by causing a few friendly collisions.
Fighting loneliness and anxiety: there’s tech for that
Beyond the glitz of XR, SXSW 2025 rolled up its sleeves to tackle loneliness and anxiety head-on. There was an “Anti-Loneliness Meet Up” (yes, that’s a thing) inviting us to “simply join us for a good old fashioned hang” and encouraging attendees to “make a friend and ring the bell!”. It felt like adult summer camp meets startup mixer – awkward at first, but strangely wholesome. We were a self-selecting crew of people willing to admit we’d forgotten how to just hang out. With name tags and nervous smiles, we participated in “intentional interactives designed to build closeness”. Imagine a room full of grown professionals playing ice-breaker games about our favorite childhood cartoons and high-fiving over shared introvert tendencies. It was endearing, a little corny, and absolutely effective at getting us out of our shells. I left that meetup with three new contacts in my phone and the distinct feeling that I had just witnessed social engineering for good.
Technology, of course, was right in the mix. A panel on AI companions discussed how digital friends and chatbots are stepping in as confidants – like imaginary friends with actual code. The promise is that these AI buddies can help address loneliness, offering non-judgmental support at 3 AM when no human is around. I saw demos of apps where a soothing AI avatar checks on your mental health each morning, and even a robot puppy that nuzzles your hand when it senses you’re sad. Cute, yes, but also a bit eerie. The experts didn’t shy away from the downsides: over-reliance on your friendly neighborhood AI, privacy issues (does my robot dog secretly sell my tears to Google?), and the unsettling idea that tech companies might effectively mediate all our relationships. The takeaway: AI can lend a hand (or paw) in combating loneliness, but it won’t replace the magic of a real human hug or a heart-to-heart chat over coffee.
Anxiety got its share of tech TLC too. Wellness apps and gadgets were everywhere. I tested a smart wearable that buzzes when my stress levels rise – essentially an anxiety Fitbit that ended up making me anxious about being anxious. There was even a VR meditation booth promising to transport us to a tranquil beach to calm our nerves. I gave it a go, and for ten minutes I was indeed chilling on a virtual Maui… until someone outside shouted, “Free tacos at the next booth!” and poof, zen time was over. SXSW 2025 offered a high-tech answer to every modern malaise, but it also served up gentle reminders that sometimes the best cure is to unplug and share a moment of commiseration with the person next to you.
Michelle Obama’s Human Touch
After days of ping-ponging between utopian tech fixes and tongue-in-cheek social experiments, the most “human” moment of SXSW 2025 arrived courtesy of Michelle Obama. On the festival’s final day, the former First Lady took the stage with her brother, Craig Robinson, for a featured session – and it felt like the whole conference collectively exhaled. The line to see Michelle wrapped around the inside and outside of the Austin Convention Center; thousands of us were willing to wait hours for a dose of wisdom and warmth (no AR headset required). When she walked onstage, the energy in the room shifted from hyper-tech hype to something undeniably heartfelt. This wasn’t a hologram or a TED Talk by an algorithm; it was a real person sharing real experiences. And we were here for it.
Michelle and Craig’s live podcast taping centered on “transforming despair into hope and action”, a theme that couldn’t have been more timely. She spoke about the uncertainties we’re all facing and acknowledged that even she feels the weight of these tough times. “We know people are going through some tough times… I don’t think Craig and I are feeling any different than anyone out there,” she said, relating that everyone – including herself – grapples with anxiety and doubt. What cut through all the noise for me was her simple advice: “I find in those moments that it is better not to try to figure that stuff out alone.”
In a week dominated by futuristic solutions for connection, here was a gentle reminder of an age-old truth: we need each other, plain and simple. The audience nodded, a bit emotional, or at least forgetting to check phones. It was as if Michelle Obama had performed an exorcism on the festival’s irony – stripping away the satire and leaving us with genuine human connection. Her intervention was a turning point, a reality check that felt like a warm embrace after a long, chilly venture through virtual realms.
Human After All
As I left SXSW 2025 today, my bag was filled with smart gadgets, AR swag, and promo cards for apps promising to enrich my social life. But the thing that stuck with me most wasn’t a piece of tech at all – it was that very human experience of sharing laughter, ideas, and even vulnerabilities in person. The grand experiment of SXSW 2025 was to see if technology could make us feel more connected, more human. The answer, ironically, is yes… but not in the way one might think. It wasn’t the digital scent VR or the AI companion that did it (though they were good for a laugh and a moment of “whoa, cool”). It was the conversations those things started, the strangers they turned into friends, and the collective realization that, hey, we’re all in this together – fumbling through the weirdness of 21st-century life.
In the end, the festival that set out to humanize technology wound up reminding us to technology-ize our humanity a little less. Sometimes a room full of people needs is not another app, but permission to have a “good old fashioned hang” with one another. In a world where social connection is suddenly a hot commodity, SXSW 2025 served up a healthy dose of connection with a wink and a nudge. It was heartfelt, it was humorous, and above all, it was human – the kind of human that no augmented reality can improve upon.
Who knew that the ultimate SXSW gadget this year would turn out to be something as simple as each other?
