Task #11
This week looked at the value of speculation about possible futures, taking previous or current trends as a base. We were asked to imagine what the future may look like when it comes to technology; then to create two speculative narratives about our potential relationship with technology.
Speculative Futures
As with every week...
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Initially, I thought it would be easy, I could just stick with what I know medicine and nursing. My first would be Star Trek Hospital bed that all nurses dream and even make memes about. The patient lies there all clean and tidy, a scanning wand does all the diagnosing and treating, no one ever gets sick or messes the bed in any way. Sadly, with a bit of research, there already is an early version of one.
No problem, then I want an imbedded chip and scanner to go with my personal in-home doctor. You guessed it, we’re well on our way. Patients with chronic conditions can already be monitored by Wi-Fi enabled BP machines, scales, glucose monitors and connected with their physician. My sister in law has an ECG sensor attached to her phone that sends a recording to her physician. They are now coming out with contact lenses that can sense a person’s blood sugar and other parameters.
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Back to the speculative drawing board...
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My take away from the readings, Speculative Everything…, was to imagine and extrapolate from the Current Future to the
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Plausible Future – what could happen
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to the Possible Future – making links from today’s world to the suggested one
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on to the Zone of Fantasy – very few links to the world we live in
After some searching around the Web, I found this China uses Emotion Recognition to Predict Crimes in its new Surveillance Tech Expo. So I went further.
What if we could not only use technology to recognize emotions; but we could actually alter and control our emotions?
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And we’re off...
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@tMOsphere
Part 1: Nala's Learning Journey
@tMOsphere
Part 2: Nala's Triumphant Return
OK, that was fun,
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Thank goodness, and many thanks to the generation of science fiction writers work that I have consumed for the past 40+ years.
I've stolen bits and pieces of their ideas.
Piers Anthony, Guy Gavriel Kay, Anne McCaffery, Frank Herbert, and many more.
Also, I decided to try the comic stript/graphic novel format for my narratives as the plan is to use this for my Final Project.
It was fun, slightly time-consuming, and sometimes frustrating. When you can't find the desired picture/character/object, or when the words won't fit int the speech balloon. There's a lot of on the spot improvisation, still, the gist of the story remains, and I have learned to cut down the number of words I use. No small feat!
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The free cartoon program I used is: Make Beliefs Comix
Completely free site, with many ideas and tips on how to use in the classroom/home as an active learning experience
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Further Resources for Speculative
Scientists reveal the 13 dark technology scenarios that keep them up at night
Speculative design: 3 examples of design fiction
Hello, Robot: V&A Dundee’s new exhibition studies the relationship between humans and robots
References:
Dunne, A. & Raby, F. (2013). Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Retrieved August 30, 2019, from Project MUSE database