Guy Pieters Gallery in the coastal town of Knokke-Heist, Belgium, is currently (May 11th until June 2nd) host to a fascinating exhibition by the artist Jacques Charlier, entitled ‘Art in Another Way’.
Charlier, born in Liège (B) in 1939, masters a wide range of media, yet turned to good ol’ painting for this specific exhibition, which projects developments in current day culture and society into the future. Scenes in vivid colours against the night’s sky and with stars and planets as main actors, picture worlds many years ahead. The present and the future meet in clever ways on Charlier’s canvas, in what some might dub a retrofuturistic style.
Gene therapy, RFID, human cloning, climate change, teleportation, space travel, the year 4958, black holes, Planck’s wall, android love affairs, … they all play a part in Charlier’s artistic future(s) explorations.
For those of you in the neighbourhood, go check it out, it’s worth it!
PS. Don’t be fooled by the fact that all works are signed 2007. The artist envisioned and has been working on the exhibition as a whole for many years. He added the final touch to all the works in 2007, hence the signature date.
In an age of ubiquitous social networking tools, the way people connect and build relationships whether businesswise or on a more personal level is changing. A broader look at technologies on the horizon is about to disrupt the world as we know it according to SocialTechnologies. They describe 10 forecasts for cupid:
location-based datingor any possible love candidates nearby your smartphone?
the new infidelityor are online crushes acceptable or not?
together apart or (r)emo(te)-sensing your loved one
virtual therapyor second life group therapy
scientific pairingsor do our genes promise a happy future together?
remote intimacy or ‘the real thing’ even when 20.000 miles apart
love potionsor love chemistry in a bottle
pleasure botsor AI sex dolls
brain sex or who cares about the ‘packaging’ if we can plug directly into each other’s brain?
people will be peopleor why bother about the above 9?
Design consultancy Frog design showcases their concept for the future of personal healthcare entitled Aura. The concept breathes core values such as simplicity, tranquillity, lightness, calmness, poetry etc.
Aura was modelled against a backdrop shaped by trends such as an ageing population, the shift from remediation to prevention, a multidisciplinary (mind-body) but also more holistic approach to healthcare(Western & alternative) etc.
“Much of life is composed of daily routine: brushing your teeth, washing your face, preparing your meals. Once learned, such routines can offer more than the practical benefits; they can help people center their lives, providing a small assurance of simplicity within a rapidly changing world. Many cultures have traditional, repetition-based tools with which to meet the uncertainties of the world at large: Zen gardens, calligraphy, yoga massage. All treat the body and soul as one, using physical motion or non-motion to focus the mind. The Aura taps into this tradition in a new way, focusing the mind while examining the body to promote a holistic model of individual health.”
Aura combines monitoring, therapeutic and security modes of personal health care.
The monitoring ritual consists of looking into a bowl and humming. In the meantime Aura performs facial, saliva and voice scans to monitor mood, health, tension levels/fatigue etc. Through the touching of a semi-soft sculptural form the user’s skin, blood, heartrate, temperature etc. are monitored. Colour, sound, scent and vibrations give feedback to the senses: informative, yet also therapeutic, since they influence physical and psychological health. Moving a white chime mallet across the edge of the bowl makes images, forms, colours, etc. appear in the vessel. The user can control what appears, yet the device also learns which items aid in positively influencing a person’s mood, physical or psychological state. Repeated usage over longer periods of time allow Aura to provide security, by learning about and keeping an eye on the user’s personal health and advert him/her of problems or warn medical professional straight away when necessary.
The whole february issue of their design mind blog/zine is focussed on health, btw. Sit back and enjoy a fascinating read!
In the recently released scifi movie Jumper, a young man is able to teleport himself from one place to another in the blink of an eye. Hollywood publicist Warren Betts organized an evening putting on stage director Doug Liman and actor Hayden Christensen to meet & discuss with MIT physics professors Dr. Max Tegmark and Dr. Edward Fahri.
In physics teleportation stands for the transfer of quantum states from one atom to another. No Star Trek ‘Beam me up, Scotty’ yet, though progress is being made at the atomic level.
“Dr. Tegmark said that even inaccurate science fiction movies could inspire scientists to think. You could see something that you think is impossible, he said, but that might start you thinking. “Why is that impossible? It can trigger a train of thought,” he said.”
This resonates somehow with Nicolas‘ line ‘I do really prefer reading sci-fi, instead of so-called “futurists”.’ a while ago. The element of plot, narrative, the immersion & the engagement factor etc. are all elements central to the different way in which people deal with information differently when presented as an experience vs. as a rational series of info/data to process. Different kinds of triggers and carrier waves lie at the basis of different trains of thought.
Part two of our 2057 coverage. This time: 2057, the city. We bathe in datastreams as we walk through our city. Cars, streets & clothing exchange data around the clock and act intelligently to support us in whatever we do.
We already signaled you the BBC documentary Visions of the future. Now, physicist and futurologist Michio Kaku takes us on another voyage into the fascinating world of possible tomorrows. This time, in a coproduction between Gruppe 5 ZDF and Discovery Channel (visual effects by 422 South), three stories are told set in the year 2057, each addressing a different scale level: the world, the city, the body. The videos combine a tech-inspired, integrated view of the future by means of a storyline, with documentary style lab-visits with scientists & engineers and their inventions.
It is probably because the series is aimed at a broad audience, that the storyline appears to serve as a binding element between the flashes about technological developments, rather than as a deeper, more integrated rendering of a future scenario. Storyline and acting clearly take a secondary position compared to the technological developments themselves.
We saw the episode, filtered out and put together the links to most of the science and tech projects mentioned (and added some of our own). Stay tuned for more news from 2057. (more…)
City of Sound‘s Dan Hill – former head of interactive technology and design at the BBC and currently director of web and broadcast at Tyler Brûlé’s Monocle – reflects on the street of the future and sees the Street as a platform.
The author projects himself into a street of the future and describes what he sees and experiences. Visibly the street is still much recognizable, yet some of the biggest changes are invisible. The air is thick with the manifold of data streams & clouds logging and interacting with human behaviour (individual & group). Current-day mostly off-the-shelf technologies have entered the mainstream, they have become incorporated into the lives of people and society’s ubiquitous systems.
“This somewhat banal sketch of an average high street is very deliberately based on the here and now; none of the technology lurking in the background behind this passage is R&D. Most of it is in use in our streets, one way or another, and the technology that isn’t could be deployed tomorrow. As such, given the time from lab to street, it represents the research thinking of over a decade ago.”
Dan’s view is interestingly lifelike as it also hints at system failures, rough-around-the-edges technologies, wear and tear, friction as old and more recent tech mixes etc.
Be sure to read not just the storyline but also Dan’s remarks, explanations and open-ended questions at the end of the article. They add a deeper, critical & knowledgeable dimension to his storyline. For example, Dan also adds a bifurcation to his story, two directions in which systems could shape the future street : locked down street, open source street.
The story reads a bit like a near-future (meets today), walk-by, narrative version of Tom & Irene’s map, yet for the smarttech-assisted common men and women on the streets.
Lack of space? Go down underground (see also here). With the AMFORA project – Dutch acronym for Alternative Multifunctional Underground Space Amsterdam – Strukton and architectural office Zwarts & Jansmaenvisions a second cityspace below Amsterdam’s canals. Pricetag: around 10bn €.
“Through a system of underground spaces with entry and exit points along Amsterdam’s A10 ring road, a range of underground facilities can be created at various levels below the city. To name but a few of the many options, these could include parking garages, sports facilities, cinemas, cables and ducts, and supply facilities. The plan devotes a great deal of attention to the underground experience and architecture. Space, safety and sound orientation are central elements. [...] It is both feasible and sustainable. Creating a city beneath the city is not futuristic, it is a necessity in this day and age.”
A while ago, we highlightedTom Klinkowstein and Irene Pereyra‘s fascinating project depicting a day in the life of a networked designer’s smart things or a day in a designer’s networked smart things, 2030. The future, design, technology, a fascinating approach … more than enough good ingredients for an even better interview with both designers.
A few months ago, we blogged about Craig Venter’s team’s first step in the creation of an artificial life or rather a ‘synthetic lifeform’, i.e. the transplantation and kickstarting the genome of one species of bacterium into another. In the meantime, step two has been taken, i.e. the creation of the first synthetic genome by stringing several DNA strands together using yeast, and step three – putting 1 and 2 together + inserting the synthetic genome in a standard bacterium, in other words: man-made life – is around the corner. A synthetic human genome is estimated to be in reach by 2014.
“With the new ability to sequence a genome, scientists can begin to custom-design organisms, essentially creating biological robots that can produce from scratch chemicals humans can use. Biofuels like ethanol, for example.”
“The J. Craig Venter Institute will be able to take a file stored on a computer and using synthetic chemistry, turn that information into life,” said Chris Voigt, a University of California at San Francisco synthetic biologist. “I would be shocked if it doesn’t come out in six months. I think they’ve done it.”
The discourse concerning this scientific and technological breakthrough is heated to say the least. While the opportunities are huge, the threats unfortunately are more top of mind for many people. Management, scaling and speeding up of the societal debate concerning such technologies is crucial for a smooth and reasonable future. Sociologists sometimes refer to a ‘timebomb‘ metaphor when discussing the inability of societal debate to keep up with the speed and acceleration of new developments, re: the huge problems to which this could lead. Reason is a precious balance.
Image is a fragment of Gerhard Richter‘s amazing code-of-life-based stained glass window in the Dom in Cologne, Germany
Alex and Dominic Michaelis and several researchers from the University of Southampton are working on a proof of concept prototype of their energy island.
The structure is an all-in-one solution featuring (open cycle) Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, i.e. making use of the temperature difference of water at different depths in the ocean to generate electricity via a turbine. The process desalinates water, providing drinkable water as well. But there is more, the modular energy islands would also feature energytech to generate power from sun, wind, waves and underwater currents. Furthermore, vegetable farms could grow food.
“Each energy island would operate in a similar way to an oil rig, with about 25 people living there to operate the energy systems and food farms,” said Alex Michaelis. ‘Teams of workers would spend six weeks on the island and six weeks off. The islands can be linked together so if you wanted a bigger power output you could simply build a bigger settlement. In the future these energy islands could be linked together to become eco-tourism attractions.’”
The energy island is also in the running for Branson’s Virgin Earth Prize. Especially the way in which the concept tackles several challenges (food production, energy, drinkable water) in a combined fashion, is fascinating.
From February 1st until March 30th, FACT – the Foundation for Art & Creative Technology in Liverpool – is organising the exhibition ‘sk-interfaces’.
“A groundbreaking exhibition on the uncertain limits between art and science, sk-interfaces explores, materially and metaphorically, the concept of skin as a technological interface. This multi-disciplinary exhibition launches FACT’s Human Futures programme.”
The Human Futures programme is divided into 4 main themes myBody (the biological environment and our relationship to the body), myMind (the digital environment and our relationship to artificial life), myWorld (the physical world and our relationship to the natural and built environment). The MyBody programme to be kickstarted with sk-interfaces, also includes film evenings (e.g. Peter Greenaway’s “The Pillow Book“ on Feb 6, “ORLAN, Carnal Art“ on Feb 27, “Strange culture“ on March 19).
Among the work on showcase at sk-interfaces are “designer hymens by medical artist Julia Reodica [vivolabs], a coat made of blended skin cultures by legendary French artist ORLAN, Jun Takita‘s model brain infused with glowing moss, and biotechnological ‘leather’ growing in the galleries by the Tissue Culture & Art Project“. The exhibition is curated by bio-art specialist Jens Hauser, tapping into science, politics, philosophy and architecture.
On February 8th and 9th, a conference will provide the forum for a more in depth discussion of aesthetic, philosophical, scientific and medical.
The notions of technology moving from 3rd (building, e.g. ambient intelligence) to 2nd (clothing, e.g. smart textiles) to first skin (e.g. dermal interfaces) to within (e.g. implants) is a powerful stimulant for future-oriented thought dealing not only with issues of new patterns of interaction etc. but also of notions of identity, humanity etc.
In line with some of the fictional design concepts some of the students in our futurelab/designatelier came up with, Philips preps to bring a tricorder-like future one step closer according to a NewScientist article. As lab-on-a-chip technology comes of age, we could soon be able to personally check the contents and quality of the food we intend to buy.
Imagine the consequences in terms of the way business is done, quality control and quality management procedures, etc. in a prosumer-culture, a reputation economy etc. What purpose will the label still serve? Which other, perhaps more subjective value sets, might we wish to equip our tricorder with? How will it affect scale of production? Will the number of target consumer groups explode?
Increasingly, many wonder and ponder about the application of the p2p paradigm in the physical world, e.g. to enable p2p production, to create more sustainable resource usage etc. The P2P Foundation recently published a few interesting thoughts on the matter by the Austrian new media sociologist Franz Nahrada.
”[...] it is imagineable that cooperatives work out arrangements that lead to a circulation of material goods and therefore enable mutual supply in a circular process, to some degree eliminating the need for monetary income. This economy would work in a biomorphical way, the surplus on one point being the input on others.
I think this is not a mere utopian vision, but the tendency of automation is that production is becoming increasingly biomorphical [...]. Increasingly material goods can be produced wherever they are needed, with miniaturized production equipment.”
Another example of nature serving as (more than) a ground metaphor for the organization of the physical world and processes surrounding us (cf. biomimicry). The combination of the p2p and peer production philosophies with community dynamics and design intelligence opens up a manifold of possibilities to deal with production, hence also consumption and management in new, innovative (and also more sustainable) ways.
Rather than the final vision, it is the transition from today’s models to a peer production model that many people have difficulty in seeing. As Michel (Bauwens) notes: “if we want a ‘peer to peer society’, then clearly we have to find a systemic answer.”
The New York Times runs a fascinating article on how people in 1908 imagined New York in 2008, how they were not afraid to think big.
“The point of such predictions was not necessarily that they were accurate but that people cared enough about the future to bother thinking about it. ”
They now rerun the ‘experiment’ and invite ten New Yorkers to reflect upon possible 2108′s.
Guy Pieters Gallery in the coastal town of Knokke-Heist, Belgium, is currently (May 11th until June 2nd) host to a fascinating exhibition by the artist Jacques Charlier, entitled ‘Art in Another Way’.
In an age of ubiquitous social networking tools, the way people connect and build relationships whether businesswise or on a more personal level is changing. A broader look at technologies on the horizon is about to disrupt the world as we know it according to SocialTechnologies. They describe 
Design consultancy 
In the recently released scifi movie 
Part two of our 2057 coverage. This time: 2057, the city. We bathe in datastreams as we walk through our city. Cars, streets & clothing exchange data around the clock and act intelligently to support us in whatever we do.
We already signaled you the BBC documentary 
Lack of space? Go down underground (see also 
A while ago, we 
A few months ago, we blogged about Craig Venter’s team’s 
Alex and Dominic Michaelis and several researchers from the University of Southampton are working on a proof of concept prototype of their 
From February 1st until March 30th, 
In line with some of the fictional design concepts some of the students in our 
Increasingly, many wonder and ponder about the application of the p2p paradigm in the physical world, e.g. to enable p2p production, to create more sustainable resource usage etc. The P2P Foundation recently 
The New York Times runs a fascinating 