Sci Fab 2019 ~ Science Fiction-Inspired Envisioneering & Futurecrafting

MAS.S60

Instructors ~ Joost Bonsen and Dan Novy

Faculty Advisor ~ Joe Paradiso

Meeting Time ~ Mondays 7-10pm in E15-341

Fall 2019 ~ 12 Mondays, September 09, through Monday, December 09; Final Project; No Final Exam

Class Description & Motivation ~ In Sci Fab, we read and watch science fiction, and use the inspiration it provides to envisioneer and futurecraft something epic. First, we explore worldbuilding -- imagining science fictional universes across domains and scales. Second, we focus on exemplar artifacts that iconify those worlds, without violating the laws of physics, and iterate towards functional prototypes.

Towards these goals, we start the semester with Envisioneering which combines multiple techniques -- including critiques of classic and modern science fiction, data-science extrapolation, digital and experiential simulation, evocative design imagination, and holistic integration of select elements of a fully developed science fiction universe. In the second half of the semester we shift to Futurecrafting which combines the analysis of classic and modern science fiction with imagining and ultimately instantiating -- via physical fabrication or code-based interpretation -- at least one compelling technology and/or artifact they depict.

Guest lecturers and representatives from member companies working in these areas will contribute to select project critiques. Past projects have led to compelling prototypes, compelling additions to personal work portfolios, published articles, and even Masters & PhD thesis topics.

Schedule of Homeworks and Specific Class Topics ~ The timing of each week’s theme, and details assigned homework readings and viewings, and projects is in the full Calendar below. Students have great flexibility to pick potential topics to explore in-depth but are expected to both spread this work over time as well as integrate it all together into the cumulative Final Project

Potential Topics for Student In-depth Explorations Include ~ Future of matter, energy, medicine, food, cities, brains, emerging nations, sex/gender, commerce, politics, transport, aging, entertainment, design, religion, and more. Students will be exposed to concepts of digital fabrication, machine vision, speculative design, blockchain technology, mobility, learning, sociotech, smartwears, interface design, machine learning, neuroscience, and synthetic biology to explore how tales of the future can inform technology today.

Class Expectations ~ We require students to commit to regular readings and/or viewings, actively participate in class discussions, have an open mind, work on both in- and beyond-class design and other exploratory exercises, develop & iterate project prototypes during the first and second month, and produce an integrative, cumulative final worldbuilding project.

Grading ~ There is no forced curve so everyone can do well. But we expect serious commitment and substantive work from everyone, including each individual member of teams. We account as follows:

• Attendance & Participation including on-time presence in class, thoughtful contributions to discussions, being attentive and engaged, joining in design exercises, offering constructive project critiques of classmates work. = 30%

• Readings & Homeworks for each of the five Techniques (two weeks per Technique), and how successfully class projects incorporate concepts addressed in the readings, each week is a cumulative addition to the Future Matrix, including written prose, graphs & charts, and drawings, renderings, and/or other visuals = 10 x 3% each = 30%.

• Final Project integrating everything together (including documentation) = 40%

• Each unexcused absence will result in losing one letter grade. Each failure to do the assigned readings or activity will result in a 5% loss of total points.

Projects may be done alone or in collaboration. Collaborations must document the full extent of each participant’s contribution and equal effort is expected per collaborator. The final project should build upon or in some way complement earlier class exercises or earlier prototypes.

Collaborative Reading List ~ Works in the realm of Science Fiction literature number in the hundreds of thousands. No single reading list can cover its entirety. The topics are as numeral and variable as their authors. To this end, we will introduce a dynamic “Collaborative Reading List.” There will be a few common readings to promote discussion but the reading list will be individualized toward the student’s passion, skillset, and area of interest. Students are encouraged to suggest works in addition to those assigned.

Fall 2019 Calendar

(Subject to change, modification, etc)

Appendix 1

Connecting Science Fiction, Fabrication-inspired SF, and Speculative Futures ~ Far more than escapist fantasy or Saturday morning ray gun serials, Science Fiction has become the ambient ideaspace of our time. An author’s words or a director’s vision can inspire a generation of designers and engineers to work on the “Big Problems” of an age or to tread lightly as they wield the great power of science and discovery. From Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to synthetic biology’s programmed life-forms, from Star Trek’s Communicator to the StarTAC Flip Phone, from William Gibson’s Cyberspace to the Internet of today, Science Fiction is a powerful medium for exploring ideas and prototyping futures.

At the same time, the design and inventive work happening in the research lab today will most likely only lead to widespread technological adoption and societal change 5, 10, 20 or more years from now. Examples of this from the MIT Media Lab alone include:

• Andy Lippman’s 1978 Aspen Movie Map -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Movie_Map -- which we recognize today as Streetview;

• Chris Schmandt’s 1984 Conversational Interfaces which is akin to Siri or Alexa;

• Thad Starner et al’s 1990’s vintage Wearable Computers -- http://www.media.mit.edu/wearables/history.html -- which prefigured Glass and various apps on smartphones;

• Pascal Chenais’ 1995 Project Canard which exposed a dorm full of undergrads to mobile email and IM only seen by Blackberry and later smartphone users a decade later;

• Finally John Underkoffler’s I/O Bulb & Luminous Room which imagined Smartbulbs in the mid-1990’s, devices which are only now becoming commercially available.

Underkoffler is particularly interesting in that he went on to advise the makers of the 2002 movie Minority Report based on Philip K Dick’s book -- http://ndagallery.cooperhewitt.org/gallery/25892015/minority-report-spatio-gestural-ui The resulting movie set in a nominal 2054 includes gestural interfaces, tracking & personalization capabilities, and user experiences which Kinect-enabled videogames and Nielsen audience metrics are already deploying.