The Role of Fiction in Experiments Within Design, Art & Architecture

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Role of Fiction in Experiments Within Design, Art & Architecture 2014 | Volume III, Issue 2 | Pages 8.1-8.13 The Role of Fiction in Experiments within Design, Art & Architecture - Towards a New Typology of Design Fiction Eva Knutz, Thomas Markussen, Poul Rind Christensen, Design School Kolding ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue that in order to establish de- This paper offers a typology for understanding sign fiction as a promising new approach to design design fiction as a new approach in design research, there is a need to develop a more detailed research. The typology allows design research- understanding of the role of fiction in design exper- ers to explain design fictions according to 5 iments. Some attempts have already been made. criteria: (1) “What if scenarios” as the basic DiSalvo (2012) thus accounts for two forms of design constructional principle of design fiction; (2) fiction in terms of what he calls ‘spectacle’ and the manifestation of critique; (3) design aims; ‘trope’. While DiSalvo makes a valuable contribution, (4) materializations and forms; and (5) the his treatment is too limited for understanding other aesthetic of design fictions. The typology is forms of design fiction. Grand & Wiedmer (2010) pro- premised on the idea that fiction may integrate pose a method toolbox for practicing design fiction with reality in many different ways in design in design research, but in fact they say very little experiments. The explanatory power of the about the particularities of this approach. Only that typology is exemplified through the analyses of it may take the form of ‘criticizing existing technol- six case projects. ogies’ as in critical design, ‘asking unanswerable questions’ or ‘reinterpreting the past’ by transform- Keywords: design fiction, design experiments, fictional prac- ing what is into what could be. Such explanations tices, utopianism, prototyping futures do not provide any systematic understanding of the relation between fiction and design experiments. What is required is more knowledge of how fiction INTRODUCTION features in the designer’s speculation, experimenta- Within the last couple of years there has been an in- tion and materialization of possible futures. creased interest in Design Fiction as a new practice or approach within design research (Auger, 2013; Bleecker, 2009; DiSalvo, 2012; Grand & Wiedmer, The purpose of this article is to shed light on this 2010; Markussen & Knutz, 2013; Morrison, Tronstad, question by critically examining the role of fiction & Martinussen, 2013). Ever since the advent of in a number of utopian projects within design, art modern design, designers have used fiction as a and architecture. On the basis of this study, we technique for experimenting with alternative models have been able to construct a typology, which for society or for criticizing existing ones. The allows us to characterize the role of fiction in design imaginary urban projects of the Futurists proposed experiments according to 5 criteria. The typology a city where machines enabled radically new forms is premised on the idea that fiction may integrate of architecture and infrastructure, and in the 1920s with reality in many different ways in design exper- Norman Bel Geddes envisioned what at that time iments. Since design fictions can take many forms must have looked like an utopian idea: gargantuan and variations, it is simply impossible to cover them airliners transporting people across the Atlantic. all in the stroke of one paper. Our typology is built The ability to use design fictions for speculating up from six case projects, all of which use fiction about alternative presences or possible futures is in design experiments offering alternative models at the core of design practice. What is new is that it for designing the urban environment. This typology is now claimed also to be a viable road for produc- should be thought of as an initial first step towards ing valid knowledge in design research (Grand & building a more exhaustive framework. Wiedmer, 2010). 8.1 We start out by defining design fiction and discuss- into an alternate presence by downloading human ing the role of fiction in relation to experiments in consciousness into a computer (Avatar, 2009)? What design research. Next, we account for how design if everything in our world is information (Matrix, fiction is manifested in the six case projects. On 1999)? What if women loose the ability to give birth the basis of our case analyses we then present the (Children of Men, 2006)? What if next generation ro- typology offering an overview. Finally, we critically bots took command on planet Earth (The Terminator, discuss our typology in relation to related work. 1984)? What if robots will look exactly like humans – so much that we can fall in love with them (Blade Runner, 1982)? What if the Earth will get too pollut- DEFINING ‘DESIGN FICTION’ ed to live on – and we will have to build new cities It is the sci-fi author Bruce Sterling who originally elsewhere in the universe (WallE, 2008)? coined the term Design Fiction. In Shaping Things Sterling (2005) makes the observation that de- Design fiction raises the question of how what-if signers share many interests with science fiction scenarios set up conditions for experimenting with writers, most importantly a deep engagement and prototyping of possible futures in design prac- with imaginary objects and speculations about the tice as well as in design research. To answer that future to come. But there is a core distinction as question it seems fruitful to inquire into the relation well between design and science fiction: “Science between fiction and experiments. How to prototype fiction wants to invoke the grandeur and credibility the future through experimentation? of science for its own hand-waving hocus-pocus”, while design fictions are typically more practical, more hands-on. More precisely, Sterling defines PROTOTYPING THE FUTURE THROUGH design fiction as EXPERIMENTS Experimentation is an essential human skill useful the deliberate use of diegetic prototypes to for understanding our images of reality and the suspend disbelief about change…It means validity of scientific theories about the constitution you’re thinking very seriously about potential of the world. Experiments played a crucial role objects and services and trying to get people to concentrate on those - rather than en- in Galileo’s rejection of Aristotle’s law of gravity. tire worlds or political trends or geopolitical Also the works by for example Leonardo da Vinci, strategies. It’s not a kind of fiction. It’s a kind Newton, or Einstein were based on experimental of design. It tells worlds rather than stories approaches. Experiments are central for many (Sterling, 2009) sciences, yet, we know very little about the role of fiction in these experiments. Typically the term ‘fic- Examples of such diegetic objects would be Auger tion’ is associated with something being untrue or & Loizeau’s proposal for a battery laden with energy unreal, conceived of as some whimsical ideas of an made up from acid left in the stomach of deceased author’s mind. But fiction and imaginary constructs family members from their last supper, which rela- such as metaphors play a central role in scientif- tives are given instead of a urn. Or Eduardo Kac’s ic experiments. A “wormhole”, which is a highly gene manipulated rabbit Alba that glows up in a speculative concept found in Einstein’s theory of green fluorescent color, because it has been cloned relativity (the correct scientific label is the ‘Einstein- with the GFP gene from deep-sea jellyfish. In the Rosen Bridge’), is, in a sense, as fictitious as the first instance, design fiction speculates on energy notion of “cyberspace” in William Gibson’s novel being a hollow force and suggests changes to our Neuromancer. Wormholes presuppose the imagi- culturally entrenched rituals. In the second, design nary what-if scenario of space and time being folded fiction is used to question the limits and conse- into one another in outer space (as ‘space-time’), quences of gene modification and biotechnology. while cyberspace presupposes the idea that electri- cal circuits and data transmission can be conceived Common for all design fictions is that they can usu- of as an information space through which humans ally be described according to a basic rule of fiction, are able to travel at different speeds. an imaginary, sometimes even impossible “what if”-scenario. These scenarios are fictitious worlds However, the purpose of using fiction in experi- that give utopian or dystopian images of a possible ments in natural science is obviously different from future that we as humans could end up in – or be design, art, and architecture. Here, experiments are challenged by. Consider for instance sci-fi films and carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or the ”what if”-scenarios”, they play out: What if we establishing the validity of a hypothesis (Koskinen, were able to predict crime before they are commit- Zimmerman, Binder, Redström, & Wensveen, 2011; ted? (Minority Report, 2002) What if we can travel Artifact | 2014 | Volume III, Issue 2 | Pages 8.1-8.13 8.2 Steffen, forthcoming). The experiment can thus find it more meaningful to understand fiction ac- be seen as a method of testing – with the goal of cording to two opposite aims of constructing them: explaining – a scientific view of how the world is. utopia and dystopia. In design, art and architecture the experiments take on a different role (Steffen, forthcoming). In UTOPIAN AND DYSTOPIAN EXPERIMENTS IN these practices the experiment is used primarily to ARCHITECTURE, ART AND DESIGN construct images of future realities or opportunities Utopias have existed since the beginning of hu- in contrast to present realities. manity. The first writing known is Plato’s bookThe Republic dating back to 380 B.C., and much later Thomas Moore’s from 1516 (Sargent, 2010).
Recommended publications
  • Advanced Design Practices for Sharing Futures: a Focus on Design Fiction
    ADVANCED DESIGN PRACTICES FOR SHARING FUTURES: A FOCUS ON DESIGN FICTION Manuela Celi Dipartimento di Design – Politecnico diMilano,[email protected] Elena Formia Dipartimento di Architettura – Alma Mater Università di Bologna [email protected] ABSTRACT Holding different languages and planning tomorrow products, designers occupy a dialectical space between the world of today and the one that could be. Advanced design practices are oriented to define new innovation paths with a long time perspective that calls for a cooperation with the Future studies’ discipline. Advanced design and Anticipation have frequently parallel objectives, but face them from a different point of view. Design is often limited to the manipulation of visual or tangible aspects of a project, while future studies are seen as an activity oriented to policy that occurs in advance of actual outcomes and that is very distant from a concrete realization. Even with these distinctions they are both involved with future scenarios building and the necessity to make informed decisions about the common future. Taking into account this cultural framework, the main objective of the study is to understand, and improve, the role of Advanced design as facilitator in the dynamics of shaping, but mostly sharing possible visions of the future. In order to explore this value, the paper identifies the specific area of Design fiction as an illustrative field of this approach. Emerged in the last decade as “a discursive space within which new forms of cultural artefact (futures) might emerge”, Design fiction is attracting multi-disciplinary attention for its ability to inform the creation of a fictional world.
    [Show full text]
  • Design Fiction Is Not Necessarily About the Future 80—81 Swiss Design Network Conference 2010 and the Fictional Element Seems to Be Reduced the Future and the New
    without being exploited for future speculation Björn Franke Royal College of Art, bjorn.franke @ rca.ac.uk or future studies. In understanding fictional design as poetic design, we may also think of design as a Design Fiction is Not form of philosophical inquiry. Necessarily About the Future Keywords: Design Theory, Aesthetics, Fiction, Philosophy, Epistemology Design is an activity that is fundamentally concerned with something that does not, but could exist. It is an inventive activity, which deals with imagining alternative worlds rather than investigating the existing one. Therefore, it is concerned with the possible rather than the real. The investigation of the real and the possible are fundamentally different activities of inquiry, a distinction famously been by Aristotle. He distinguishes between the historian, who is concerned with what has happened (the real and particular) and the poet, who is concerned with what could happen (the possible and universal). Because it deals with universals, for Aristotle, poetry is an activity similar to philosophy.1 The distinction between the possible and the real, or fiction and reality, is one of the most common ways to classify something as fictional. Common design activity is not only concerned with possibilities but also with realising these possibilities. In other words, it is concerned with making the possible real. Design as a fictional activity would therefore need to remain in the realm of Discussions about fictional approaches in design are the possible without entering the realm of the real (although it can, of course, often centred on the Future or the New. These influence the realm of the real as fictional literature does).
    [Show full text]
  • Fictionation Idea Generation Tool for Product Design Education Utilizing What-If Scenarios of Design Fiction: a Mixed Method Study
    FICTIONATION IDEA GENERATION TOOL FOR PRODUCT DESIGN EDUCATION UTILIZING WHAT-IF SCENARIOS OF DESIGN FICTION: A MIXED METHOD STUDY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ÜMİT BAYIRLI IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN SEPTEMBER 2020 Approval of the thesis: FICTIONATION IDEA GENERATION TOOL FOR PRODUCT DESIGN EDUCATION UTILIZING WHAT-IF SCENARIOS OF DESIGN FICTION: A MIXED METHOD STUDY submitted by ÜMİT BAYIRLI in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Department of Industrial Design, Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Halil Kalıpçılar Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences Prof. Dr. Gülay Hasdoğan Head of the Department, Industrial Design Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi Supervisor, Department of Industrial Design, METU Examining Committee Members: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Kaygan Department of Industrial Design, METU Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi Department of Industrial Design, METU Prof. Dr. Hanife Akar Department of Educational Sciences, METU Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilek Akbulut Department of Industrial Design, Gazi University Assist. Prof. Dr. Canan E. Ünlü Department of Industrial Design, TED University Date: 18.09.2020 I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Ümit Bayırlı Signature: iv ABSTRACT FICTIONATION IDEA GENERATION TOOL FOR PRODUCT DESIGN EDUCATION UTILIZING WHAT-IF SCENARIOS OF DESIGN FICTION: A MIXED METHOD STUDY Bayırlı, Ümit Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Industrial Design Supervisor: Assoc.
    [Show full text]
  • Twelfth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices
    Twelfth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices “No Boundaries Design” ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering | Barcelona, Spain | 5–7 March 2018 www.designprinciplesandpractices.com www.facebook.com/DesignPrinciplesAndPractices @designpap | #DPP18 Twelfth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices www.designprinciplesandpractices.com First published in 2018 in Champaign, Illinois, USA by Common Ground Research Networks, NFP www.cgnetworks.org © 2018 Common Ground Research Networks All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of study, research, criticism, or review as permitted under the applicable copyright legislation, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact [email protected]. Common Ground Research Networks may at times take pictures of plenary sessions, presentation rooms, and conference activities which may be used on Common Ground’s various social media sites or websites. By attending this conference, you consent and hereby grant permission to Common Ground to use pictures which may contain your appearance at this event. Dear Conference Attendees, Welcome to Barcelona! We hope you will enjoy the coming three days of debate, presentations, and plenaries that will bring together academics, professionals, researchers, and practitioners to explore the present and the future of design around the world. With this, the Twelfth Conference on Design Principles and Practices, we wanted to prompt some reflection on the traditional boundaries collapsing between people, things, ideas, and places in the face of new forces of technological, political, social, and cultural evolution. Often it seems that we are losing our awareness of what could be our future and our role and responsibility to participate in its building.
    [Show full text]
  • Design Fiction a Short Essay on Design, Science, Fact and Fiction
    Design Fiction A short essay on design, science, fact and fiction. Julian Bleecker March 2009 Design allows you to use your imagination and creativity explicitly. Think as a designer thinks. Be different and think different. Make new, unexpect- ed things come to life. Tell new stories. Reveal new experiences, new social practices, or that reflect upon today to contemplate innovative, new, habit- able futures. Toss out the bland, routine, “proprietary” processes. Take some new assumptions for a walk. Try on a different set of specifications, goals and principles. (My hunch is that if design continues to be applied like bad fashion to more areas of human practice, it will become blanched of its meaning over time, much as the application of e- or i- or interactive- or digital- to any- thing and everything quickly becomes another “and also” type of redundan- 01 cy.) When something is “designed” it suggests that there is some thoughtful exploration going on. Assuming design is about linking the imagination to its material form, when design is attached to something, like business DESIGN FICTION or finance, we can take that to mean that there is some ambition to move beyond the existing ways of doing things, toward something that adheres to different principles and practices. Things get done differently somehow, Fiction is evolutionarily valuable because it allows low-cost experimenta- or with a spirit that means to transcend merely following pre-defined steps. tion compared to trying things for real Design seems to be a notice that says there is some purposeful reflection and Dennis Dutton, overheard on Twitter http://cli.gs/VvrmvQ consideration going on expressed as the thoughtful, imaginative and mate- rial craft work activities of a designer.
    [Show full text]
  • Bizarre Bio-Citizens and the Future of Medicine. the Works of Alexandra
    PRZEGLĄD KULTUROZNAWCZY NR 1 (43) 2020, s. 55–69 doi:10.4467/20843860PK.20.004.11932 www.ejournals.eu/Przeglad-Kulturoznawczy/ W KRĘGU IDEI http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4867-1105 Joanna Jeśman BIZARRE BIO-CITIZENS AND THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE.… THE WORKS OF ALEXANDRA DAISY GINSBERG AND AGI HAINES IN THE CONTEXT OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN AND BIOETHICS Abstract: The article concerns speculative design in the context of bioethics. The author analyzes and interprets projects by designer Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and Age Haines in relation to modern biotechnologies, future scenarios of medicine and machine ethics. Keywords: speculative design, bioethics, bio art, biotechnology One of the key features of the Speculative Turn is precisely that the move toward realism is not a move toward the stuffy limitations of common sense, but quite often a turn toward the downright bizarre.1 Speculative design, critical design, discursive design, these are just some of the names used to describe designing practices that very strongly resemble art & science. The three terms used here are not synonymous and will be defined further in the text but they do have certain things in common. The projects are mostly exhibited in art galleries and museums, their main purpose in not commercial, they refer to the future rather than the present and they are strongly embedded in science and technology. When we think about the mainstream design like industrial, fashion, software, in- terface, graphic or communication designs they share some features, they have to be useful, and that means practical, functional, utilitarian, pragmatic and applicable. Whereas the projects analyzed in this text are the exact opposite of practical, func- 1 L.
    [Show full text]
  • Judgment Call the Game
    Abilities DIS ’19, June 23–28, 2019, San Diego, CA, USA JUDGMENT CALL THE GAME USING VALUE SENSITIVE DESIGN AND DESIGN FICTION TO SURFACE ETHICAL CONCERNS RELATED TO TECHNOLOGY Stephanie Ballard Karen M. Chappell Kristin Kennedy University of Washington Information School Microsoft Ethics & Society Team Microsoft Ethics & Society Team Seattle, WA USA Redmond, WA USA Redmond, WA USA [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are complex socio- technical systems that, while holding much promise, have frequently caused societal harm. In response, corporations, non-profits, and academic researchers have mobilized to build responsible AI, yet how to do this is unclear. Toward this aim, we designed Judgment Call, a game for industry product teams to surface ethical concerns using value sensitive design and design fiction. Through two industry workshops, we foundJudgment Call to be effective for considering technology from multiple perspectives and identifying ethical concerns. This work extends value sensitive design and design fiction to ethical AI and demonstrates the game’s effective use in industry. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee.
    [Show full text]
  • A Pragmatics Framework for Design Fiction
    A PRAGMATICS FRAMEWORK FOR DESIGN FICTION Joseph Lindley HighWire Centre for Doctoral Training [email protected] (Lancaster University) ABSTRACT Design fiction, is often defined as the “deliberate use of diegetic prototypes to suspend disbelief about change” (Sterling 2012). Practically speaking design fictions can be seen as “a conflation of design, science fact, and science fiction” (Bleecker 2009, p. 6) where fiction is employed as a medium “not to show how things will be but to open up a space for discussion” (Dunne & Raby 2013, p.51). The concept has gained traction in recent years, with a marked increase in published research on both the meta-theory of the practice itself and also studies of using it in a variety of contexts. However, the field is in a formative period. Hales talks about the term 'design fiction as being “enticing and provocative, yet it still remains elusive” (2013, p.1) whereas Markussen & Knutz sum up this epoch in the history of design fiction by saying “It is obvious from the growing literature that design fiction is open to several different interpretations, ideologies and aims.” (2013, p.231) It seems, therefore, that design fiction currently occupies a liminal space between the excitement of possibility and the challenges of divergence. In this paper I will highlight sites of ambiguity and describe the disparate nature of design fiction theory and practice in order to illuminate the inherent complexities. Alongside I suggest elements of a ‘pragmatics framework’ for design fiction in order to strengthen foundations by facilitating a reduction in ambiguity, whilst being careful not to over specify and therefore constrain the ability to grow and adapt.
    [Show full text]
  • Ad Empathy: a Design Fiction
    Paper Session: Design Fictions GROUP 2018, Jan. 7–10, 2018, Sanibel Island, FL, USA Ad Empathy: A Design Fiction Michael Skirpan Casey Fiesler ACM Classification Keywords University of Colorado Boulder University of Colorado Boulder H.5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., Boulder, CO Boulder, CO HCI): Miscellaneous [email protected] [email protected] Product Introduction Abstract Today’s competitive attention economy requires brands Industry demand for novel forms of personalization and to reach customers in personal and affective ways. Years audience targeting, paired with research trends in affective of research and experience establish that personalization computing and emotion detection, puts us on a clear path is effective for ad targeting and affecting user and toward emotion-sensitive technologies. Written as API consumer attitudes [20]. However, personalization is documentation for an AI marketing solution that provides also a saturated approach. The relative ease of obtaining “emotion-sensitive marketing decisions,” this design fiction consumer preference data makes it common for online presents one possible future application of today’s advertisers to know what a customer wants. Companies research. Offering a demonstrable grey area in technology wanting the competitive edge now need to know when a ethics, Ad Empathy should help to ground debates around product is best advertised and how it should be framed. fair use of data, and the boundaries of ethical design. Knowing this demand, we are happy to launch Ad Empathy, an AI marketing solution supporting brands to Author Keywords make emotion-sensitive marketing decisions. advertising; API; design fiction; emotion; ethics; social computing; speculative fiction; neural networks; machine Our API Resources are designed to help our clients learning; target marketing generate content for ad impressions, catering to the dynamic needs of the diverse individuals in their Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for audience.
    [Show full text]
  • Tom Bieling Fact and Fiction – Design As a Search for Reality on The
    FLUSSER STUDIES 29 Tom Bieling Fact and Fiction – Design as a Search for Reality on the Circuit of Lies With the approach of "Speculative Design"1, a new variety was introduced into Design and related fields of Research a few years ago, which has been continuously discussed ever since. Speculative Design is a design practice aiming at exploring and criticising possible futures by creating specula- tive, often provocative, scenarios narrated through designed artifacts.2 Little attention3 has been paid here so far (although there are numerous overlaps) to Vilém Flusser's different approaches to the fictional, the fabulative, the speculative.4 What is Flusser’s relevance as a philosopher, media and communication theorist, as well as essayist and writer today, nearly thirty years after his death? And how can his reflections be opened up to the discourses and practices around Speculative Design? Design as an Epistemic Practice of the Speculative The epistemic potentials of Speculative Design are increasingly recognized within the wider aca- demic sphere, not least in the area of design research.5 Generally speaking Design wishes to develop (counter) narratives to demonstrate (alternative) proposals for the future and to furthermore pro- vide impetus for their implementation.6 This raises attention to the discursive, critical and fictional practices of design, as its tools and strategies often come along with a narrative, speculative and interrogative design methodology. In recent years, a growing number of research and knowledge fields from within and beyond design research have been devoting themselves to “questioning” 1 This also refers to equivalent terms listed below. 2 „This form of design thrives on imagination and aims to open up new perspectives on what are sometimes called wicked problems, to create spaces for discussion and debate about alternative ways of being, and to inspire and en- courage people’s imaginations to flow freely.
    [Show full text]
  • Immersive Design Fiction- Experiential Futures in the Classroom
    Immersive Design Fiction for Experiential Futures in the Classroom Joshua McVeigh-Schultz examples from recent student work, including: climate San Francisco State University futures, COVID-19 sanitization rituals, speculative San Francisco, CA 94132, USA automation services, familial relationships with robots, [email protected] and modular housing technologies. Author Keywords Abstract design fiction; immersive design fiction; virtual reality; Immersive design fictions (IDFs) extend methods of VR speculative design; experiential futures. prototyping by placing speculative interfaces and experiences within a virtual world. In particular, IDFs Introduction position participants as characters in a fictional Julian Bleecker’s canonical essay argued that any story storyworld with interactive elements. With this designers tell about a new technology or interface is approach, researchers and practitioners can reach also a story about the interaction rituals1—the beyond the diegetic object to explore a richer palette of protocols, routines, and social meanings—that we experiential phenomena—such as embodied imagine accompanying and evolving alongside an interactions with objects, environments, and other emerging technology or novel interface [2]. agents. In this way, IDFs enable participants and creators to think speculatively with the body. Likewise, Immersive design fictions (IDFs) use virtual reality (VR) IDFs are particularly fruitful as vehicles for critical to place speculative interaction rituals within an discussion in the design classroom, unlocking new kinds immersive storyworld [17]. By situating design fiction of inferential activity and new pathways for unpacking within VR, IDFs present a “slice of life” in a fictional the social implications of a design fiction scenario. world and offer a more embodied lens for grappling These points are demonstrated through a range of with the implications of design fiction scenarios.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Fiction and Thought Experiments in Design Full Text Available At
    Full text available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/1100000070 Research Fiction and Thought Experiments in Design Full text available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/1100000070 Other titles in Foundations and Trends R in Human-Computer Interaction HCI’s Making Agendas Jeffrey Bardzell, Shaowen Bardzell, Cindy Lin, Silvia Lindtner and Austin Toombs ISBN: 978-1-68083-372-0 A Survey of Value Sensitive Design Methods Batya Friedman, David G. Hendry and Alan Borning ISBN: 978-1-68083-290-7 Communicating Personal Genomic Information to Non-experts: A New Frontier for Human-Computer Interaction Orit Shaer, Oded Nov, Lauren Westendorf and Madeleine Ball ISBN: 978-1-68083-254-9 Personal Fabrication Patrick Baudisch and Stefanie Mueller ISBN: 978-1-68083-258-7 Canine-Centered Computing Larry Freil, Ceara Byrne, Giancarlo Valentin, Clint Zeagler, David Roberts, Thad Starner and Melody Jackson ISBN: 978-1-68083-244-0 Exertion Games Florian Mueller, Rohit Ashok Khot, Kathrin Gerling and Regan Mandryk ISBN: 978-1-68083-202-0 Full text available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/1100000070 Research Fiction and Thought Experiments in Design Mark Blythe School of Design, Northumbria University, UK, [email protected] Enrique Encinas School of Design, Northumbria University, UK, [email protected] Boston — Delft Full text available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/1100000070 Foundations and Trends R in Human-Computer Interaction Published, sold and distributed by: now Publishers Inc. PO Box 1024 Hanover, MA 02339 United States Tel. +1-781-985-4510 www.nowpublishers.com [email protected] Outside North America: now Publishers Inc.
    [Show full text]