Science Fiction and Design - Aalto Media Lab March 2017

Black Mirror “Playtest” Dir. Dan TrachtenbergZeppotron, 2017

sciencefictiondesign

akseli anttila14.03.2017

why science fiction?

test the extreme implications of a new situation

Soylent Green. Dir. Richard Fleischer. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1973. Film.

overpopulationsituation


cannibalismimplication

Films with significant mainstream appeal and decent production value.

focusmainstream

Alien. Dir. Ridley Scott. Brandywine Productions, Twentieth Century-Fox Productions, 1979. Film.

noyes

scope

Ender’s Game. Dir. Gavin Hood. Summit Entertainment, OddLot Entertainment, 2013. Film.

The Thing. Dir. John Carpenter. Universal Pictures, Turman-Foster Company, 1982. Film.

Films that portray everyday environments and show examples of design solutions that are close to the questions encountered in normal design practice.

focusrealistic worlds

Star Trek. Desilu Productions, Norway Corporation, Paramount Television 1966-69. TV Series.

A Clockwork Orange. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Warner Bros., Hawk Films, 1971. Film.

Moments in the life of the protagonists that are every day occurences a normal viewer can identify with.

focusnear future mundane

Saturn 3. Dir. Stanley Donen, John Barry. Incorporated Television Company, 1980. Film.

three eras

modern utopiascience noirdigital intangible

modern utopiaera

2001: A Space Odyssey. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. MGM, Stanley Kubrick Producions , 1968. Film.

thememodern

Visiona I Joe Colombo, Inneneinrichtung des experimentellen Interieurs Visiona I auf der Kölner Möbelmesse für die Firma Bayer, Leverkusen, 1969 Ignazia Favata/Studio Joe Colombo, Milan

progress and evolution

star trek 1966-69

Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry. Desilu Productions, Norway Corporation, Paramount Television 1966-69. TV Series.

Star Trek is one of the most influential science fiction serials in the modern age. Running for four years, it inspired a generation of designers, engineers and scientists.

Space station Hilton hotel interior. Striking example of space age modern in the form of Djinn chairs by Olivier Mourgue.

2001 1968

2001: A Space Odyssey. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. MGM, Stanley Kubrick Producions , 1968. Film.

“Plastics.” “Exactly how do you mean?”“There is a great future in Plastics. Think about it.”

The Graduate. Dir. Mike Nichols. 1967

idiomspace age modern

Space 1999. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Group 3, Incorporated Television Company (ITC), Radiotelevisione Italiana. 1975-77. TV Series.

science noirera

Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. The Ladd Company, Shaw Brothers, Warner Bros., 1982. Film.

visionmodern hangover oil crisis

urban terrorism

ecology

themedystopia

Demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing estate St-Louis Missouri 1972-1976

“The modern mind reversed this perception, replacing the certainty of progress with the fear of the coming apocalypse... The nightmare of consciousness and science fiction were the central laboratories of this reversal.” Franco Berardi Bifo. After the Future 2011.

clockwork orange 1971

A Clockwork Orange. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Warner Bros., Hawk Films, 1971. Film.

(Top) Thamesmead housing estate. Photo by by Jon Bennet 2006.

A dysfunctional world as a candid look at brutalist architecture and pop art.

THX 1138 1971

THX 1138. Dir. George Lucas. American Zoetrope, Warner Bros., 1971. Film.

Clinical technology embodies the utter inhumanity and desolation of the world.

soylent green 1973


A world in the middle of an ecological disaster is divided between the affluent few and the destitute masses.

alien1979

Alien Dir. Ridley Scott.Brandywine Productions, Twentieth Century-Fox Productions., 1979. Film.

Lived-in modern environments and the biological other.

blade runner 1982

Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. The Ladd Company, Shaw Brothers, Warner Bros., 1982. Film.

Iconic masterpiece, post modern soup of multicultural ingredients.

idiomurban decay

Stalker. Dir. Andrey Tarkovsky. Mosfilm, 1979. Film.

idiomtechnology laid bare

Futureworld. Dir. Richard T. Heffron. American International, Aburey Company, 1976. Film.

idiomtechnologyvs.organic

Space 1999. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Group 3, ITC, RAI. 1975-77. TV Series.

Alien Dir. Ridley Scott.Brandywine, 20th Century-Fox, 1979. Film.

digital intangibleera

Minority Report. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Twentieth Century Fox, 2002. Film.

Design and production methods became increasingly digital. Computer created graphics replace the practical and optical effects used in the past. Digital services and products were the focus of new business and design opportunities.

breakpointphysical to digital

Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Dir. James Cameron.Carolco Pictures. 1991. Film

Designers and makers are no longer constrained by the limitations of what can be physically manufactured.

visionanything can be done

Silent Running (Making of). Dir. Douglas Trumbull.Universal Pictures, 1972. Film.

I, Robot. Dir. Alex Proyas.20th Century Fox, 2004. Film.

The world is overlaid with constant streams of digital information. Public and private space are filled with spectacles of data.

Children of Men. Dir. Alfonso Cuarón.Universal Pictures, Strike Entertainment, Hit and Run productions. 2006. Film

visioninformation everywhere

minority report2002


Designers and futurists team up to create a seminal Science Fiction production.

Oblivion. Dir. Joseph Kosinski.Universal Pictures. 2013. Film.

oblivion 2013A production that plays with audience expectations using the language of modern, nostalgia and dystopian futures.

idiom

info overlay

Iron Man 3. Dir. Shane Black.Marvel Studios. 2013. Film.

idiom

space age modern ...again

Oblivion. Dir. Joseph Kosinski.Universal Pictures. 2013. Film.

science fiction as inspiration

the modern utopia offers a set of idioms to portray positive progress

design idioms

design idiomsmodern utopia

Ericsson Intel Nokia

Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft

science fiction beyond styling

prototypescritique

inspiration

inspiration

“[Douglas Caldwell] was amazed to see a solution to a 2,000-year-old problem that he dealt with every day. In a scene near the climax, the X-Men are gat ed around a large display surface... the map changes

practice

shape, as if it was made of hundreds of tiny pins, each rising and falling to form the topography needed...The reason this speculative technology was so important to Douglas was that he worked for the US

Shedroff, Nathan; Christopher Noessel (2012-09-17). Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Science

Fiction (p. 11). Rosenfeld Media. Kindle Edition.

Army Topographic Engineering Center. Part of his job was to create 3D maps and ship them to generals in the field, so they could study the theater of battle and consider tactics.”

inspiration

Police issue taser gun

inspiration

1948 GE Master-Slave Manipulator

inspiration

Motorla StarTac phone

practicesf prototypes

“SF prototypes... endeavour to create science fiction developed specifically on science fact as a way to inspire a conversation about the future and ultimately explore the implications of that science on the everyday lives of people”

Brian David Johnson. Science Fiction Prototyping. 2011

lifeblogs

final cut2004

Final Cut Dir. Omar Naim.Lions Gate Entertainment, 2004. Film.

Examining the ethical and practical questions related torecording everything a person sees and hears.

case study

findingsPrivacy issues related to handling sensitive personal data: What are the responsibilities of the parties that have access to all the experiences of a person.

Relationship between data curation and creating narrative and meaning: The data snippets selected from the entirety can be used to create different narratives.

Interaction design issues when dealing with terabytes of audiovisual data: Lifelogging creates enormous amounts of data that need to be acted upon in order to create meaning.

Importance of thanatocentric design considerations when creating systems of long-term personal data storage: What will happen to personal data when the owner dies, who will inherit it or have access to it.

privacy

truth

really big data

ownership

critical design

“Critical Design uses speculative design proposals to challenge narrow assumptions, preconceptions and givens about the role products play in everyday life. It is more of an attitude than anything else, a position rather than a method... Its opposite is affirmative design: design that reinforces the status quo.”

Dunne and Raby, After Life Euthanasia Device, 2009.

practice

science fiction as innovation toolkit

scenariosexploration

critique

inspiration

different worlds

fiction and reality

however...

Movies are powered by dramatic conflict. Interfaces offer dramatic potential if the user has to struggle to use them. They should be especially difficult to use for critical tasks.

different worldsdramatic factors

Frau im Mond. Dir. Fritz Lang. Fritz Lang-Films, UFA, 1929. DVD.

Creating a real world space suit has a completely different set of design requirements than a movie prop. The audience wants to see the face of the actor, while the real world astronaut has to be protected from radiation and glaring sunlight.

different worldsspace suit

NASA photo. Apollo 13 suit. Star Trek Into Darkness. Dir. J. J. Abrams. Paramoount pictures, 2013. Film.

Transparent information walls are an excellent dramatic vehicle to show both exciting visuals and the actor at the same time. Real world ergonomics are ignored for maximum visual and dramatic impact.

info walls

U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class William L. Vandermate.


different worlds

abstracting the reflected

subject from its surroundings

black mirror

what is your agenda?

critical agenda

affirmative agendaprogress

design

drama

Science Fiction and Design - Aalto Media Lab March 2017

Design

Transcript of Science Fiction and Design - Aalto Media Lab March 2017