Futuristic Theory in Designs - Essay Example

Futuristic Theory in Designs Recently, designers have posed questions that entertain and provoke thought through the language of design. They have used their design language mostly to transport their audience’s imagination to parallel and probable worlds. They have mostly done their predictions through futurology; the science and art of postulating the possible, the probable, and the preferable future and world view as well as underlying myths. In this paper, futuristic theory will be used to analyse designs done by Dunne and Raby. The Foragers, Stop and Scan, Afterlife and EM Listeners will be the designs that will be analysed in the paper. The four designs are a representative of four significant concerns: the state of food security when the globe is overpopulated as represented by Foragers, dilemma of insecurity posed by terrorism as represented by Stop and Scan and EM Listeners. Finally, Afterlife is meant to be used domestically when euthanasia will become so common that it will be allowed in private homes for personal use (Regine 1). The designers in these projects are concerned with the expressive, functional, and communicative possibilities of the emerging technologies as well as the ethical consequences of the technology in social and cultural milieu. The designs, which are presented in photographic forms, are not predictive. They are meant to pose the question, “what if?” The designs create, imagine, dream and speculate on the technology that can mediate the world preferred by the people. As it will be seen, Dunne and Raby designs classified under the banner “between reality and the impossible” are a reflection of the complex and troubled people who are ready to explore solutions to the future challenges. The essay will argue that these designs are worth critical consideration and are a wake call by the designers to the concerned stakeholders to see the possibility and or impossibility of the projects and act before it is too late. The essay will propose that more critical designs are supposed to be created considering the technological future of the world. One such design is the one that could predict the future when the resources are completely depleted and the people turn to the unimaginable polythene materials for food. The theory about the future Between Reality and Impossible is a series of designs that Dunne and Raby made and were exhibited at the international design biennial in Saint Etienne (Regine 1). The designers also produced three dimensional designs that have been used to comment on the pressing issues about the development and growth of mankind. As speculative designs, the selected pieces heighten the experiences of the viewers to understand future themes. They depict four different scenarios that speculate on four pressing issues in the globalised society.The future is said to be unpredictable time period after the present, but is can be foreseen based on the present situations (Gaddis 56). The occurrence of the future is inevitable because time and other laws of physics exist. The resulting inevitability of the future has prompted the present to classify existence into permanent, temporary, and eternity (Gaddis 56). Permanence refers to that existence that will see the whole of the future while temporary is designated to the existence that will come to an end. The study of future or futurology has been stressed by modern practitioners, especially the emphasis of the prediction of an alternative future that is probable and preferable. Future has been explored through art, cultural practices, designs and other ways. For example, there was a futurism movement during the early 20th century that explored most media of art such as sculptures, theatre, music, architecture, and painting among others for their predictability. During this time, futurists were highly interested in the ideas of the future and were not held captive by the issues of past. The creators of these media were interested in the nature of the life’s speed, violence, and technological growth. For example, futuristic music was engaged in homage, inclusion, and imitation of machines that were beyond the present. The futurists later encompassed other domains and later captured the industrial design, textiles and architecture. Futuristic designers create critical designs that challenge the narrow assumptions and preconceptions on the role of entities in the world (Dunne & Raby 1). Critical designs present attitudes and position rather than method. The designers hold that although many designers do the same work, they describe their products differently. They further argue that calling the technique critical design enables the products to be more visible and discursive than when described otherwise. Critique and analyse the selected image using one or more theoretical texts provided Foragers: The foragers is a design inspired by the question; what if human beings could extract nutritional value from non-human foods using a synthetic biology and new digestive devices that are modeled in the form of digestive systems of other mammals, birds, fish and insects (Dunne and Raby 1). This design takes the statistical data and prediction by the United Nations that the world population will escalate to 9 billion by the year 2050. At this level, the world will be overpopulate and may not produce enough food for the people. Therefore, if this prediction comes true the most pressing challenge will be to feed the population. Food production is a concern considering that the land is diminishing each day, and there is less and less factors of production. Dunne and Raby did not belabor the question of how we can produce more food to feed the population, but what other alternative can be there. They imagined the way human bodies would be modified so as to extract nutrition from the surrounding. The future of survival is, therefore, predicted as a time when synthetic biology will be used to create microbial stomach bacteria combined with mechanical and electronic devices to ensure maximum food security in urban areas. The design shows this as a way that the problem of food shortage would be solved. Below is a photograph of a person using the digestive system designed to convert non-human food to human food; the Foragers. The Foragers has presented a critical approach to the problem of food in an overpopulated world. The society today is aware of the enormous consequences of overpopulation but continues to overpopulate the world. This design enables the society to see how impossible it will be for members to survive under the mercies of technology. The impossibility of the technological combination is a depiction of the extent to which humans will go in vain to secure survival. Failure of such designs will mean inability to live in the world, extreme poverty, and increased social evils. In expounding this point, Dunne and Raby argue that their main goal in designing Foragers was the future of food. They propound that when the planet population bursts and becomes a burden, small groups of people such as hackers, armature horticulturalists, gorilla gardeners and synthetic biologists will team up to find a solution for their food security. The rest of the population will completely rely on the government to provide for them. This is already a red flag because only a small portion of the population will have the surviving technique leaving the larger population to wallow in poverty. The prediction of the future is amorphously divided into probable, plausible, preferable and possible futures (Gaddis 57). The foragers design is a part of the design that focuses on the area of preferable. In their attempt to predict the future, the designers of Foragers are able to show the world what can be desirable and what can not. Stop and Scan In the design called Stop and Scan, the future of the surveillance in the society is predicted. With the rise of terrorism, surveillance has become an inevitable exercise in many social halls and entries. The conveniences of “CCTV cameras, loyalty cards, travel cards and big brother style of surveillance” have become part of the society, and with this transparency the only parts that are left private are our minds (Regine 1). Today, scientists are working hard to design technologies that could decode thoughts of human beings. Futurologists have predicted through their various media on the possibility of decoding people’s thoughts at a particular time. It is predicted that if this is possible, then the technology will not only decode the thinking process, but also affect and influence it. In the scenario by Dunne and Raby, the mind is the new site of interest for the state, and it carries “new protocols of ownership, access, protection, and transparency” (Regine 1). Stop and Scan design is a design of security personnel carrying out random stop and search scans near crime scenes. The special scanner employed in the exercise show images that criminals are familiar with. Below is a photograph of security people using stop and scan gadget. Stop and Scan is a gadget that relies on brain fingerprint technology that is meant to detect when people respond to a certain stimulus (Dunne & Raby 1). When using the scanner, people are detected as ‘positive’ when a scanner’s light glows. The glowing means that a person has recognized an image and he or she is secluded for further investigation. The designers of Stop and Scan preferred this design to be versioned for domestic use by children, parents, and people in the work places. The design critically examines the state of security and terrorism in the world today. The fact that the designers show the world a preferable future is enough to conclude the way the situation is today (Heinlein 42). The society is being alerted to keep ahead of the insecurity situation if it has to solve the problem once and for all. The government should, therefore, put all measures to ensure the available technology is used for their advantage. In cases where this technological advantage is not harnessed, it means that the design goal becomes impossibility, hence making the future pessimistic. Therefore, Dunne and Raby have used their designs to challenge the minds of the viewers and prompt them to think beyond the ordinary. This is because as the days pass by, the society is ever changing in all spheres, and this change can only be appreciated if it is for social good and safety. EM Listeners This is the third design that Dunne and Raby exhibited as part of the theme “between reality and impossible” (Regine 1). The EM listeners are meant to be used by people who move in public spaces and places. The gadgets are able to scan any electronic communication signals such as emails and phone calls. Below is the photograph of EM Listener already in use. The scanners have protruding antennae that are a warning to those who might be thinking of any subversive act in public places. As can be seen in the above photo, the public is not scared of those who are wearing the Listeners because they are aware and assured of their safety. However, not all people will be subjected to scanning. For example, children will be spared because they are innocent while government officials will be licensed to avoid the scanning because of the secrets they hold which should not be made public. Just like the Stop and Scan designs, EM Listeners are preferred gadgets that could solve a myriad of security issues that are becoming a challenge to the society today. Afterlife The last design by Dunne and Raby is the Afterlife, a device that is meant to be useful in future in place of euthanasia. Asked why they decided to design the afterlife, the designers analysed that they were inspired by the state of today’s medical technology (Dunne & Raby 1). The technology has tried to prolong people’s lives, but has failed to assure quality of such lives in most cases. The design, therefore, predicts a future when euthanasia will be common and people will require a gadget to assist then terminate their lives (Heinlein 42). The preferred gadget in this case is Afterlife. This will enable people to terminate their lives while taking care of the psychological and emotional situations. Below is a photograph of the afterlife design. This prediction could be a preferred future prospect given that in the past, no one would imagine doctors colluding with technologists to design new and humane ways of killing or dying. The design is a critical assessment for the medical technology that extends life without considering the quality of life. Therefore, the designers predict that there is no need of living quantity life and more suffering. To them, what matters is quality life but not quantity life as medical profession emphasizes. At one particular time, it will be easy for persons to weigh their lives and determine whether it is worth living or not. The designers suppose if there was a humane way of terminating one’s life through Afterlife gadget. It is a design that lies, just like the other three discussed above, between reality and impossibility. This is so given the religious and ethical concerns of the issues of life termination. It also challenges the mind of the viewer to ponder a situation when personal rights will grow over existing ethical situations, and life will be determined by the individual and governments and society will support mercy killing and suicide devices. Proposed design The design I would want to create is a continuation of the Foragers. The Foragers by Dunne and Raby predicted the future where humans will design a complex digestive system that will solve the problem of food through the conversion of nonhuman food to human food. Most of the food that the designs propose is grass and leaves. Considering that the land will be a problem, by the year 2050, all parts of the worlds will have been converted to cities and so grass and leaves will not be enough to feed the world (Jordan and Lubick 42). Therefore, I propose a design which could be used to convert plastic materials into organic digestible food, and thus playing a part in ecological restoration (Jordan and Lubick 42). Through such a gadget, humans will be able to derive food from plastic materials for sustenance. Considering that overpopulation will come with global warming, the gadgets will help create food for the people as well as conserving the environment, which is highly polluted by the non-biodegradable plastic materials. This design will be similar in theme with the designs created by Dunne and Raby and will be futuristic. It will solve the problem of food security in an overpopulated world. If Dunne and Raby were to assess my design, they would call it strange and thought provoking given that it extends on their work and also caters for the environmental concern. The question would be what if the design becomes a reality today; this will change the state of our cities and streets, which are chocked by polythene and other plastic material. In conclusion, the future of technology is still promising. Futurologists have used designs to predict today’s impossibility that may become a reality tomorrow. The challenges and problems are many and require people to think beyond the current situation. Given that the problems can be predicted, designs can be used to predict the preferable solutions and alternatives for future problems. Works Cited Dunne, Anthony, and Fiona Raby. In Saint-Etienne Exhibition. 2010. Web. . Gaddis, John L. The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print. Heinlein, Robert et al. Science Fiction: Its Nature, Faults and Virtues. The Science Fiction Novel: Imagination and Social Criticism. University of Chicago: Advent Publishers, 1959. Print. Jordan, William, and George Lubick. Making Nature Whole: A History of Ecological Restoration. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2012. Print. Regine, Debatty. Between Reality and the Impossible, We make money not art. 27 Dec. 2010. Web. . Read More