My first foray into taking a term and adding the current year to it yields some interesting results, although it seems NotebookLM focused on the term “umwelt” instead. Still then, it’s worth looking at what it found for me.

The sources it found revolve around an exploration of “the evolving role of the organism as a central, active agent in both biological science and digital transformation.” I was hoping to find some connection between Merkwelt and AI, and I think I somehow ended up on a parallel track as the scientific texts it found examine Umwelt, with an emphasis on how “living beings must be understood through their unique sensory perceptions and interactions with their surroundings.” Not quite what I was looking for, but intriguing enough for me to explore further.

I do like this summary it gave me: “This biological perspective highlights a shift away from gene-centered models toward organism-centered biology, where individuals are recognized as creative forces that shape their own development and environments.” I’m a fan of this idea.

Yet another parallel track: “Parallel to these scientific themes, the business materials discuss digital transformation trends for 2026, focusing on behavior-first design and human-centric technology. Both domains prioritize emotional intelligence and the complex relationship between an entity—whether a biological organism or a human customer—and its external context.” This is sort of more what I was expecting. 

NotebookLM’s take on the sources it found (including one it couldn’t parse so I ditched it); “Ultimately, the sources suggest that the future of both biology and technology lies in understanding human behavior and the integrated systems that support it.”

Digging into the Wikipedia article on Merkwelt, it makes sense that it steered me toward Umwelt because they are directly related. I may as well save what NotebookLM summarized from Wikipedia for reference:

“The merkwelt is a specialized concept in biology and robotics that describes the unique perceptual universe through which an organism or machine interprets its surroundings. Originally developed by Jakob von Uexküll, the term suggests that every being possesses a distinct consciousness shaped by its specific sensory organs, such as a shark’s focus on smell or a bat’s reliance on ultrasound. This internal “way of viewing” allows an observer to process information and create meaning from the broader environment, bridging the gap between physical sensors and subjective experience. While it remains a niche term, it has been instrumental for influential thinkers in understanding how individual sensory capacities dictate the way diverse entities navigate and understand the world.”

As for those Digital Transformation Trends in 2026, there’s this source from Renascence, which is “a consultancy specializing in the intersection of behavioral economics and technological innovation.” 

A couple main points: One is about how “future business success depends on moving beyond simple digitization toward behavior-first design and human-machine collaboration.” The other is “how AI-driven personalization and real-time friction mapping can be used to improve both customer and employee experiences.”

Real time friction mapping? That’s quite a term. 

Another source is a Press Release which talks about a “comprehensive study involving over two hundred species to demonstrate how an animal’s ecological niche determines its temporal perception. Researchers discovered that creatures with high-energy lifestyles, such as aerial hunters and active predators, possess a faster visual processing speed that allows them to experience the world as if it were in slow motion. Using a metric known as critical flicker fusion, the study proves that this rapid sight is an evolutionary adaptation tailored to specific needs like navigation and hunting, though it requires significant metabolic energy. Ultimately, the text illustrates that while various animals may inhabit the same physical space, their sensory realities and experiences of time differ fundamentally based on their survival requirements.”

This gets me thinking about my own “ecological niche” and how much I absolutely love the term “critical flicker fusion.” I’ve been thinking a lot about how I need to slow down so much to try and better appreciate life more generally and not get stuck so much inside my own head. So it’s sort of a bit ironic to me that a faster visual processing speed actually leads to things appearing to be more so in slow motion. I’ve been sort of in a slow motion lately but more of a dragging sort of experience, thanks to my lack of proper rest. If I don’t rein in my racing brain I’m going to end up in the emergency room with extreme exhaustion…

The other sources go in some very different directions and a few of them notebookLM can’t parse (AI is being blocked by a lot of domains and while I can appreciate the many possible causes it actually makes deep dives like this a bit frustrating sometimes.) I’ll have to come back to them later. 

Link to notebook: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/d2728f43-759c-4612-bf65-e48c462befda