Science fiction prototyping

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Futures studies
Concepts
Techniques
Technology assessment and forecasting

Science fiction prototyping (SFP) refers to the idea of using science fiction to describe and explore the implications of futuristic technologies and the social structures enabled by them.[1][2] Similar terms are design fiction, speculative design, and critical design.[3]

History and progress

The idea was introduced by Brian David Johnson in 2010 who, at the time, was a

Creation Science), held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 19 July 2010. This event was also significant as it included the Science Fiction Prototype Tales From a Pod[11] which became the first Science Fiction Prototype to be commercialised (by Immersive Displays Ltd, ImmersaVU[12]). In 2011, a second Science Fiction Prototyping workshop was held in Nottingham (UK), Creative Science 2011,[13] in which Intel made the first documentary about this methodology. Shortly afterwards the Creative Science Foundation was formed as an umbrella organisation to manage Science Fiction Prototyping activity, leading to a proliferation of events and publications; a more detailed account is provided on the Science Fiction Prototyping History web pages.[14]

Methodology

The core methodology is the use of creative arts as a means to introduce innovations into science, engineering, business and socio-political systems. It doesn't aim to

science-fiction stories, grounded in existing practice which are written for the explicit purpose of acting as prototypes for people to explore a wide variety of futures. These 'science fiction prototypes' (SFPs) can be created by scientists, engineers, business or socio-political professionals to stretch their work or, for example, by writers, film/stage directors, school children and members of the public to influence the work of professionals. In this way these stories act as a way of involving the widest section of the population to help set the research agenda. Johnson advocates the following five step process for writing Science Fiction Prototypes:[4]

  1. Pick Your Science and Build Your World
  2. Identify the Scientific Inflection Point
  3. Consider ramifications of the Science on People
  4. Identify the Human Inflection Point
  5. Reflect on what Did We Learn?

Full Science Fiction Prototypes are about 6–12 pages long, with a popular structure being: an introduction, background work, the fictional story (the bulk of the SFP), a short summary and a summary (reflection). Most often science fiction prototypes extrapolate current science forward and, therefore, include a set of references at the end. Such prototypes can take several days to write and for situations where ideas need to be generated faster (e.g. meetings), the concept of micro science fiction prototypes (µSFP) is used.[11] Generally, µSFP are the size of a Twitter or Text message, being around 25–30 words (140–160 characters in standard English).

Applications

Science fiction prototyping has a number of applications. The most obvious is for

creative thinking in support of entrepreneurship courses. In the National Taiwan University (Taiwan), it is used to increase business school students' interests in science and technology for business innovation.[18] Elsewhere the Business Schools of the universities of Leeds and Manchester (UK) are exploring its use in community development projects.[19] Finally, it is being applied to Education. For example, in San-Diego State University (USA) Department of Learning Design and Technology they have explored it as a means for motivating pre-university students to take up STEM studies and careers.[20] Further afield, in China, they have identified a novel use for the methodology to address the mandatory requirement for all science and engineering students to take a course in English language. In particular Shijiazhuang University (China) are exploring the potential for Science Fiction Prototyping to overcome the dullness that some science students experience in language learning by using it as an integrated platform for teaching Computer English, combining language and science learning.[21]
China is also concerned to improve the creative and innovation capabilities of their graduate which this approach supports.

See also

References

  1. ^ Johnson, Brian David. "Science Fiction Prototypes Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about the Future and Love Science Fiction" (PDF). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Science Fiction Prototyping at the Creative Science Foundation". Intel. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. PMID 32461354
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1608456550
    .
  5. IEEE Computer Society
    . Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  6. ^ Callaghan V, Clarke G, Chin J “Pervasive Computing and Urban Development: Issues for the individual and Society”, United Nations World Urban Forum (Habitat) ‘Cities: Crossroads of Cultures, Inclusiveness and Integration?’ within the IRFD Theme: “The Role of Cities in an Information Age” on 13–17 September 2004, Barcelona, Spain (later reproduced in V. Callaghan, G. Clarke, J. Chin, “Some Socio-Technical Aspects Of Intelligent Buildings and Pervasive Computing Research“.Intelligent Buildings International Journal, Earthscan Journals, Vol 1 No 1, Jan 2009, ISSN 1750-8975)
  7. ISBN 978-0-86341-894-5
  8. ^ B.D.Johnson, "Nebulous Mechanisms", Omedia, 2011
  9. ^ 21st Century Robot Project
  10. ^ Creative Science 2010 (CS'10), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 19 July 2010
  11. ^ a b Victor Callaghan Tales From a Pod, Creative Science 2010 (CS'10), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 19th of July 2010.
  12. ^ Immersive Displays Ltd, ImmersaVU
  13. ^ Creative Science 2011, Nottingham, UK,, 25–26 July 2011
  14. ^ Creative Science Foundation History
  15. ^ Anasol PEÑA-RIOS et-al "Using mixed-reality to develop smart environments", Intelligent Environments 2014, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China, 2–4 July 2014
  16. ^ Kohno, Tadayoshi; Johnson, Brian David (9–12 March 2011). "Science Fiction Prototyping and Security Education: Cultivating Contextual and Societal Thinking in Computer Security Education and Beyond" (PDF). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  17. ^ "Drones, smart hydrants considered by experts looking at future of firefighting". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  18. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2013.03.009
    .
  19. ^ Future Cities Innovation Workshop
  20. ^ Mary de Lepe et-al "Using Science Fiction Prototyping to Decrease the Decline of Interest in STEM Topics at the High School Level", Transactions of Future Educational Environments (European Alliance for Innovation Endorsed Transactions), Fall 2015
  21. ^ Shumei Zhang "Using Science-fiction Prototyping as a Means to Motivate Learning of STEM Topics and Foreign Languages", Intelligent Environments 2014, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China, 2–4 July 2014

Further reading

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