Design fiction, not science, hints at the future we actually want
The stories we tell ourselves about technology – typically, optimistic ones from would-be innovators, pessimistic ones from their critics – are usually too simple. Making them more complex can support a richer discussion about where a technology might be going, and the kind of futures it could open up. That calls for a kind of realism in the depiction of technical possibilities that is inspiring a new cadre of practitioners of design fiction, or critical design.
Science writer Jon Turney explores how we can get better answers to the questions about technological choices.
Since the article has no links to its many examples, here are the most important ones:
- The In Vitro Meat Cook Book (2014) by Koert van Mensvoort and Hendrik-Jan Grievink
- The TBD Catalog (2014) by the Near Future Laboratory
- Technology Matters (2006) by David Nye
- Lab Coats in Hollywood (2011) by David Kirby
- Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction and Social Dreaming (2014) by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby
- Synthetic Aesthetics (2014), a project run by the University of Edinburgh and Stanford University
