exploring the futures by design: open lecture at fontys university

Exploring the futures by design:

Past, present, and possible futures

Fontys UniversitySeptember 17, 2010

Real cases, real lessons

World Expo 1958, Brussels

Philips Pavilion

Back to the future: Le Poème électronique

Luis Kallf, Le Corbusier, Edgar Varèse

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Ideas and sketches

Development and testing

Yean Xenakis

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Construction and installation

Making new (electronic) music

Story: Reflection of the past, vision of the future

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQKyYmU2tPg

Opening and experience

FUTURE: A complex metaphorical message, reflection of the the past and an optimistic scenario of the future for human kind, expressed through the blend of art and technology

DESIGN: An active facilitator between the world of art, and the one of business.

BUSINESS: Ticket to history - and a profitable business too! (*)

(*) - soon after Brussels Expo Philips established a special division to develop and sell the solutions similar to Poeme electronique, to illuminate various historical monuments all over the world.

To sum up:

Syd Mead: Wild-Cat Future Dreaming (1970s)

Domestic futures visualized

Future kitchen (~ 1972) Future living room (~ 1973)

Futures of business spaces

Future of office (~ 1974)

Future of education

Future of university (~ 1975)

FUTURE: Visual scenarios illustrating possible futures of various domains and institutions (e.g., home, office, university).

DESIGN: Mediator and increasingly a participant of the future

scenario development, in dialogue with business.

BUSINESS: Beautiful and convincing illustrations of the possible

strategic developments of business (relatively quick

and cheap to make).

To sum up:

Vision of the Future (1995)

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Jan Timmer, then CEO Philips

Design as an integrator

A Renaissance model of design

Stefano Marzano

‘High Design’ is

human-focused

research-based

multi-disciplinary

business integrated

Workshop (1993)

+ =

Workshop: Concepts

Workshop: Concepts

Workshop: Exhibition

FUTURE: The future of office and office technologies.

DESIGN: Facilitator of the dialogue between different companies

and a co-creator of the concepts, creator of the communication strategy (use of 3D mock-ups and an exhibition as carriers).

BUSINESS: Exploration and visualization of the possibilities of business

collaboration, together with a rapid development of new

product concepts.

To sum up:

Vision of the Future - Process

Socio-Cultural Horizons: Future Concept Lab

Six Sociodynamic Forces

• Subjectivity

• Sociability

• Exploration

• Connectivity

• Ethics

• HolismFrancesco Morace

Josephine Green

Creative Sessions

Sketches and Storyboards

Model making

Photography, films, exhibition design…

…even a web-site!

Concepts: Shiva, personal communicator

Concepts: Future living room

Interactive Family Tree

Concepts: Kids’ room

Hybrid Playground(analogue + digital)

Concepts: Multimedia kiosk

FUTURE: A broad range, not only of the possible future devices and

gadgets, but more importantly, new types of human activities and practices. All scenarios are grounded in the dedicated study of the social developments and trends.

DESIGN: Design acted as an integrator of the different disciplines and practices, a creative agent both producing new concepts and demonstrating their possible usage, using diverse formats of communication.

BUSINESS: Business powerfully demonstrated its capacity to create

new conceptual solutions, based not only on the new technologies, but also taking into account new emerging

social and personal needs.

To sum up:

Strategic Future Design

contextual people research

latest cultural manifestations

new societal developments

changes of world-views

And another project…

Vision of the Future revisited (2005)

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85%

15% (of those 85%)

of the concepts are on market, in one form or another

are produced by Philips

Source:

Only one case

Tony Fadell, ???, Jonathan Ive, Steve Jobs, ???

LiMe (Living Memory) 1997

Joint research project, supported

by EU/ Cordis Programme.

• Philips Design• Queen Margaret University College• Domus Academy• Imperial College of Science• Universite Rene Descartes

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LiMe: Ethnographic study of the ‘now’

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LiMe: Understanding collective memory

LiMe: Table in a café

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LiMe: Metaphors of a memory

Link: http://tinyurl.com/3xd556o

FUTURE:    Ground-breaking scenarios of how new digital, networked technologies can impact multiple aspects of our lives

(e.g., new possibilities for ‘collective memory’).

DESIGN: Leading participant of a research consortium, partner in research and development of the concepts, the interfaces,

and a working prototype.

BUSINESS: Hmm.. (*)(*) I often say that if Philips would endorse the LiMe concept and didn’t react with such a disbelief and resistance, the world now wouldn’t know the word ‘blogging’; we would all ‘lime’ these days.

To sum up:

Experience Design: Case of internal design research

Nebula: Rethinking a waking-up experience

© Jeremy Hall

Nebula: Sensorial experience

Nebula: Multimedia experience

Nebula: Personal and emotional experience

Is Wake-up Light a ‘Nebula Now’?

What is Nebula now?

Ambient Experience Hospital

Future horizons

FUTURE:    Exploration of new possible scenarios of an activity,

guided by a novel design framework (experience design).

DESIGN: New method of design explored, leading to a few new concepts…

BUSINESS: … that were not immediately applied in business, but impacted other business developments over

time and eventually resulted in a very original product/solution.

To sum up:

Next Simplicity (2006/08)

Next Simplicity anno 2006

Chameleon

Next Simplicity: Innovation in interfaces

Next Simplicity

HerbArium

Next Simplicity

SoftTherapy

Next Simplicity

Momento

Next Simplicity: Event 2006

Next Simplicity: Concepts enacted

Next Simplicity: Lifestyle change assistance

Next Simplicity: Medical diagnostics humanized

Next Simplicity anno 2008

FUTURE: A range of scenarios and concepts endorsing one desirable, preferable future, based on research data and a system of brand-driven beliefs (e.g., Sense and Simplicity).

DESIGN: Creative design and development of the concepts, in close cooperation with business, supervised by the brand and management boards.

BUSINESS: Large-scale communication program to support both

strategic brand goals and current business targets, stimulating R&D and innovation.

To sum up:

Critical Design: Design Probes

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Wearables (2003): Aim to develop business

Multimedia jacket Connected jacket

Wearables: Toward provocative design

Toward provocative design

Design Probes: Electronic Dresses

Expressing your own emotions

Design Probes: Electronic Dresses

Sensing emotions of others

Toward provocative design

Design Probes: Electronic Jewelry

Design Probes: Electronic Tattoo

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW0BZsOcZZE

FUTURE:    Diverse scenarios of how new technologies can be used in the near-body, on-body and in-body ranges, and how

they can impact many human activities.

DESIGN: Development and communication of the highly provocative concepts, dialogues with, and feedback from from the multiple

audiences.

BUSINESS: Provocation it was!

To sum up:

More Design Probes: Food Biosphere

More Design Probes: Food Printer

More Design Probes: Printed Food

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Futures are not all high-tech and fancy

Chulha: Futures for the developing worlds

businessbusiness

design

?

?

?

?

Exploration of possible futures

is non-stop

Future tools: Crowdcasting

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Future tools: Market Predictions

Future tools: Serious games

Superstruct Jane McGonigal & Institute for the Future

Evoke Jane McGonigal & The World Bank

Future tools: Expo 2010

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Happy Street Dutch pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010,by John Körmeling (Eindhoven)

Design Probes: Habitat: Living off the Grid

slava.kozlov@summn.com

www.summn.com

The end