Future Mind Extension – Ars Electronica 2019

An exhibition was conceptualized at the Ars Electronica Festival in 2019 in an attempt to address the research question: To what extent can the possible effects of a future design process driven by artificial intelligence be experienced? This exhibition included a cinematic design fiction scenario; a map toolkit, including game instructions; and a VR application that visitors experienced using Oculus Quest glasses.

 

The practical element of this work contained a theoretical basis of design fiction, aimed to identify a new method to emphasize future design processes in connection with new technologies in scientific and social discussions. In this work, the term “new technologies” encompassed the area of machine learning, which is presented in the scientific treatise of technology assessment as an area of ambivalence, complexity, and uncertainty. Distant future realities can never be predicted exactly and are therefore uncertain and ambiguous. Data werecollected through an extensive review of the literature and expert interviews, and these data served as the basis for the design fiction scenarios. The dramaturgical plot and narratives of the fictional worlds were built based on the collected data. The resulting design fiction scenario was subsequently materialized using a virtual reality application experienced by recipients in the exhibition.