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Research / Blog

Thinking
in public.

Ideas behind the lab. Questions we are working through. A place to explain how we think about data, design and life in the city.

From the lab / Perspectives

Notes on a city
that learns.

These are working perspectives on Vibe’s approach, rather than reports of completed studies.

04 / Founder perspective / Technology

Post AI Hype, What’s Next?

Josh Tewksbury · Founder and CEO of Vibe
05 / Founder perspective / Connection

The Asymmetry of Modern Dating

Josh Tewksbury · Founder and CEO of Vibe
01 / Perspective / The city

A city is more than a map.

02 / Perspective / Evidence

A pattern is a starting point.

03 / Perspective / Purpose

The value should return.

A city is more than a map.

A map can tell us where a place is. Understanding a city also means asking when it comes alive, what brings people there and how it fits into the lives around it.

Place has a rhythm.

The same street can serve very different purposes over a day. A morning commute, a lunchtime meeting and an evening out leave different patterns. A useful view of the city needs time as well as space.

Context changes the question.

A signal becomes useful when we know what it relates to. More activity may reflect an event, a change in access or simply a usual Friday evening. The interesting work begins with comparison.

Understanding should lead somewhere.

For Vibe, the purpose of a clearer picture is practical: helping people explore, helping places respond and helping communities ask better questions about their city.

A pattern is a starting point.

A compelling visual can make a pattern easy to see. It does not make the explanation certain.

Ask what is missing.

Every source has a particular view. The people, places and moments that are not represented can matter as much as those that are. A responsible interpretation makes those gaps visible.

Separate observation from explanation.

Two things moving together invite a question. They do not establish that one caused the other. Timing, comparison and other possible explanations belong beside any claim.

Design uncertainty into the picture.

An interface should distinguish observed information, estimates and illustrations. In the Atlas prototype, the geography is mapped and the signal overlays are illustrative. Keeping that difference visible is part of the design.

The value should return.

The people who make a city interesting should benefit from a better understanding of it.

Begin with usefulness.

A more comprehensive dataset is not an outcome on its own. A useful outcome might be an easier decision, a place discovered or a better question for local research.

Keep the exchange understandable.

People need clear explanations of what a feature uses and what it gives them. Personal app features and collective research insights have different purposes, and should be explained accordingly.

Keep learning from the city.

A tool changes how people act. That means the work does not end when an insight becomes a feature. We need to keep asking whether it helps, whom it reaches and what should change next.

Post AI Hype, What’s Next?

AI is being commoditised — and the next wave of startups will barely mention it.

The current startup landscape is saturated with B2B AI SaaS companies, but that era is drawing to a close. As investment strategies begin to shift, a new kind of opportunity is emerging for founders willing to think differently.

Every major innovation follows a predictable arc known as the Gartner Hype Cycle. A trigger ignites excitement, visibility builds rapidly, and the technology eventually peaks — often overshooting reality by a significant margin. Then comes the correction: disillusionment sets in as the promises outpace the results. But over time, the technology quietly embeds itself into the fabric of everyday life and becomes normal.

Because of its continued novelty, AI currently sits at the peak of this arc.

THE HYPE CYCLE / FROM NOVELTY TO NORMAL
A conceptual technology hype cycleVisibility rises steeply to a peak, falls through a correction, then recovers into quiet adoption and a plateau. Josh places AI at the peak in this perspective; opinions vary. This is an illustration, not measured data.VisibilityTime →AI is here*Author’s perspective

The peak. Excitement runs ahead of reality. This is where Josh places AI in this perspective.

Conceptual curve · no numeric scale.
*AI’s position reflects the author’s perspective; opinions vary.

To understand what comes next, it helps to look at an industry where trends are everything. Like fashion, technology moves in cycles. What was once revolutionary eventually becomes ordinary — and that's exactly when the counter-movement begins. The styles that defined a generation rarely survive to define the next one.

Now there’s an opportunity to take a contrarian approach. This will most likely be minimalist technology, consumer-centric platforms (like Vibe), and seamless wearables — products that put the human experience front and centre. These companies should absolutely be powered by AI under the hood, but AI shouldn't be their unique selling point. The goal should be to make people forget they're using technology.

The Asymmetry of Modern Dating

For the vast majority of young single men, finding, connecting with, and eventually dating someone they're genuinely attracted to through a dating app feels nearly impossible. This isn't a coincidence or a personal failing — it's the predictable result of human nature, deeply ingrained social dynamics, and a fundamental power imbalance between men and women that current apps were never designed to address.

This is the problem Vibe was built to solve.

Rather than forcing connection through the high-friction, effort-heavy process that defines traditional dating apps — endless swiping, crafting the perfect opener, waiting days for a response — Vibe takes a fundamentally different approach. It connects people who are already physically close to each other in the real world, using incentives that make the first move feel natural rather than forced.

At its core, Vibe uses sophisticated AI and machine learning to predict, time, and coordinate moments of connection between compatible individuals. The result feels less like an algorithm and more like fate — the kind of serendipitous encounter that people tell stories about for years. That feeling of synchronicity is powerful, and it's intentional.

When connection feels organic, the experience becomes genuinely enjoyable for both people involved. That enjoyment drives retention, deepens perceived value, and turns the app into something users don't just download — they come back to, rely on, and tell their friends about.

Vibe doesn't gamify loneliness. It engineers chemistry.