Showing posts with label futurologist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label futurologist. Show all posts
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
3rd Generation Program of Stud
Title: The conventions of new technologies: An exploration into how new technologies will change the way we live and how the conventions generated by these new technologies will influence not only the technology itself but the culture that created and interacts with it.
Research: My research will encompass many mediums and topics.
A detailed look into the history of technology and how it can change a society and what kind of changes these can include.
I will also look at the evolution of a range of technology’s, and how it evolves and changes over time and the conventions (expected and un-expected) that these changes can generate.
I’ll look into a wider context of the effects of technology by looking how it has change today’s society. Looking at the economy, politics, globalisation and culture.
Ill also look into new and emerging technologies that are still in their infancy and or still in development.
I will investigate into a number of futurologist to better understand the techniques and foresight they implement to predict the future.
The collation of all the above research into a final report / dissertation.
Aims: Make a series of predictions that take into account past and present technological and social conventions to track the development of current and new technologies over the coming years.
Once a better understanding of potential future technologies has been reached, to develop a range of visuals that depict this new technologies and how it would be used. Strong emphasis will be centred on how retailers could use new technology to interact with consumers and how the technology and conventions that exist today will evolve over the coming years.
Finally, to present the final created media in an appropriate format.
Method: The broad scope of the research will require many hours of sifting through a range of different mediums and documents to find relevant and useful information.
The formulation of my own vision of the future will require a level of intellectual strategic foresight which can be accomplished by collating the relevant research .
Rather than simply coming up with a random outcome I’m going to take a certain type of technology(s) that are currently available, analysing what they are currently capable of at present, and then predicting how the technology could advance over the next ‘x’ amount of years. I’ll do this so an outside observer to my work has a good idea of what the technology is currently capable of and so have a context of which to view the technologies evolution.
At this stage, the potential and capabilities will be clear in my head which will aid me to accurately and better visualise the designs and concepts. It’s around this point that I will look at context, and how best these technologies could be implemented and where. Their location could greatly influence how they look and operate. Depending on the concepts, I may mock up a simple version that people could interact with so i can test my outcomes as I go along.
For this project I intend to look more at the visual aspect of the how retailers could use new technology to interact with consumers rather than the technical and electronic side to it. So my final outcomes and presentation will have to reflect this. Interaction is quite an integral part so many of the final images will have to show people interacting with my designs, be this 2D images or a short video or 3D animation clearly showing the interaction. Other aspects of the project which will include research, development, blog & multimedia will also have to represented in a very visual way. So perhaps a digital catalogue of all this information will have to be produced.
Research: My research will encompass many mediums and topics.
A detailed look into the history of technology and how it can change a society and what kind of changes these can include.
I will also look at the evolution of a range of technology’s, and how it evolves and changes over time and the conventions (expected and un-expected) that these changes can generate.
I’ll look into a wider context of the effects of technology by looking how it has change today’s society. Looking at the economy, politics, globalisation and culture.
Ill also look into new and emerging technologies that are still in their infancy and or still in development.
I will investigate into a number of futurologist to better understand the techniques and foresight they implement to predict the future.
The collation of all the above research into a final report / dissertation.
Aims: Make a series of predictions that take into account past and present technological and social conventions to track the development of current and new technologies over the coming years.
Once a better understanding of potential future technologies has been reached, to develop a range of visuals that depict this new technologies and how it would be used. Strong emphasis will be centred on how retailers could use new technology to interact with consumers and how the technology and conventions that exist today will evolve over the coming years.
Finally, to present the final created media in an appropriate format.
Method: The broad scope of the research will require many hours of sifting through a range of different mediums and documents to find relevant and useful information.
The formulation of my own vision of the future will require a level of intellectual strategic foresight which can be accomplished by collating the relevant research .
Rather than simply coming up with a random outcome I’m going to take a certain type of technology(s) that are currently available, analysing what they are currently capable of at present, and then predicting how the technology could advance over the next ‘x’ amount of years. I’ll do this so an outside observer to my work has a good idea of what the technology is currently capable of and so have a context of which to view the technologies evolution.
At this stage, the potential and capabilities will be clear in my head which will aid me to accurately and better visualise the designs and concepts. It’s around this point that I will look at context, and how best these technologies could be implemented and where. Their location could greatly influence how they look and operate. Depending on the concepts, I may mock up a simple version that people could interact with so i can test my outcomes as I go along.
For this project I intend to look more at the visual aspect of the how retailers could use new technology to interact with consumers rather than the technical and electronic side to it. So my final outcomes and presentation will have to reflect this. Interaction is quite an integral part so many of the final images will have to show people interacting with my designs, be this 2D images or a short video or 3D animation clearly showing the interaction. Other aspects of the project which will include research, development, blog & multimedia will also have to represented in a very visual way. So perhaps a digital catalogue of all this information will have to be produced.
Saturday, 3 November 2007
Does technology control society or does society control technolog?
Part 1
My ongoing research has found that development and creation of new technologies has, and continues to have a detrimental effect on our culture and society. I’ve also discovered that the two can also influence each other in a kind of symbiotic relationship.
I have also found that the conventions that culture and society place on these technologies evolve over time just as the societies and technologies evolve. Moreover, some of the effects new technology can have are often unanticipated ones but can often be as important as the intended effect of the technology.
Take the printing press for example. The news papers of 100 years ago are hugely different to those of today. The conventions we know today like the headline, front page story, advertising space etc have evolved over the intervening period from the first printing run till now.
A more recent example would be the internet. Originally developed for the military, the internet came into its own with the dot com boom in the 90’s. It’s developed from a few hundred basic pages displaying information and small images to today’s internet, which with the development of far greater internet speed, and innovative coding and new software, a highly multimedia and personal experience.
Looking back at history, it doesn’t take long to find examples of technologies changing cultures. We have historical ages that reflect technological development. E.g. the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, Iron Age and more recently the industrial revolution.
However the industrial revolution was wholly different to the others because it fundamentally changed society and culture. The mass explosion of new technologies, knowledge & understanding began to challenge traditional norms and values. The social fabrics began to change. While the unfavoured lower classes remained an undesirable part of society, they became an essential driving force behind the revolution as they became proverbial cogs in the mighty industrial machine.
It wasn’t long before both the upper and lower classes realised the potential and power of the lower classes. The upper classes realised that without the lower classes to work in their factories they couldn’t make any money. The lower classes in tern realised their potential power and that they could ask for more from their employers, thus unions where born.
We now live an age where everyone has realised the potential of technology and continued technological development, be it to make our lives easier, furthering the understanding of the universe, economic gain or national security.
It is the last 2 that are most prevalent in today’s culture. So it is no surprise the biggest financial backing for furthering technological development are governments. Entire government agencies have been specifically dedicated to research, like America's National Science Foundation or the UK’s scientific research institutes. Research and development into new technologies has become one the biggest investments both in government and large corporations.
But it is still the individual, the everyday consumer that continues to have a huge influence over technology. History has shown that many technologies have developed to make our lives easier. The ability to complete more tasks in less time. This is a notion that continues to appeal to society. The resulting effect is that a society that has the power to control the level and direction of technology through the consumer choices they make.
But what a society enjoys the most in choice. Choice has fuelled modern consumerism. You only have to go as far as your corner shop to discover this. At one time, you went down your local shop and you would buy a tin of soup because that was the only tin of soup being produced, now you go down the shop and you have a good half a dozen at least. With all this choice, would you still want to live in a world where you are essential told what you buy?
My ongoing research has found that development and creation of new technologies has, and continues to have a detrimental effect on our culture and society. I’ve also discovered that the two can also influence each other in a kind of symbiotic relationship.
I have also found that the conventions that culture and society place on these technologies evolve over time just as the societies and technologies evolve. Moreover, some of the effects new technology can have are often unanticipated ones but can often be as important as the intended effect of the technology.
Take the printing press for example. The news papers of 100 years ago are hugely different to those of today. The conventions we know today like the headline, front page story, advertising space etc have evolved over the intervening period from the first printing run till now.
A more recent example would be the internet. Originally developed for the military, the internet came into its own with the dot com boom in the 90’s. It’s developed from a few hundred basic pages displaying information and small images to today’s internet, which with the development of far greater internet speed, and innovative coding and new software, a highly multimedia and personal experience.
Looking back at history, it doesn’t take long to find examples of technologies changing cultures. We have historical ages that reflect technological development. E.g. the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, Iron Age and more recently the industrial revolution.
However the industrial revolution was wholly different to the others because it fundamentally changed society and culture. The mass explosion of new technologies, knowledge & understanding began to challenge traditional norms and values. The social fabrics began to change. While the unfavoured lower classes remained an undesirable part of society, they became an essential driving force behind the revolution as they became proverbial cogs in the mighty industrial machine.
It wasn’t long before both the upper and lower classes realised the potential and power of the lower classes. The upper classes realised that without the lower classes to work in their factories they couldn’t make any money. The lower classes in tern realised their potential power and that they could ask for more from their employers, thus unions where born.
We now live an age where everyone has realised the potential of technology and continued technological development, be it to make our lives easier, furthering the understanding of the universe, economic gain or national security.
It is the last 2 that are most prevalent in today’s culture. So it is no surprise the biggest financial backing for furthering technological development are governments. Entire government agencies have been specifically dedicated to research, like America's National Science Foundation or the UK’s scientific research institutes. Research and development into new technologies has become one the biggest investments both in government and large corporations.
But it is still the individual, the everyday consumer that continues to have a huge influence over technology. History has shown that many technologies have developed to make our lives easier. The ability to complete more tasks in less time. This is a notion that continues to appeal to society. The resulting effect is that a society that has the power to control the level and direction of technology through the consumer choices they make.
But what a society enjoys the most in choice. Choice has fuelled modern consumerism. You only have to go as far as your corner shop to discover this. At one time, you went down your local shop and you would buy a tin of soup because that was the only tin of soup being produced, now you go down the shop and you have a good half a dozen at least. With all this choice, would you still want to live in a world where you are essential told what you buy?
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
New Project Idea
(Above are some pages from my note book, these lead to the formation of the below idea. Click on the images to see a larger images)
Located Consumer Media: an investigation into how retailers could use new technology to interact with consumers as they go about their daily lives.
Breif Description of research:
My research will cover a wide range of themes & topic areas covering mainly secondary research to begin with before moving into some primary research as the work begins to develop.
Some of these research areas will include looking at:
• Research papers (on technology, predictions, human interaction, interactive displays, advertising etc)
• Futurologists
• Science fiction ( a look at various mediums and influences)
• Technology magazines and websites
• Discussions by academics (podcasts, interviews etc)
Aims:
By use of the above research, formulate a hypothetical prediction for the future.
Use the aforementioned hypothesis to formulate a range of technologies and techniques that could be implemented by future advertisers and retailers to communicate with consumers.
Develop a range of design ideas and concepts that show how the technologies and techniques would work & look.
Present this visual representation of the future in an appropriate format.
Methods:
The broad scope of the research will require many hours of sifting through a range of different mediums and documents to find relevant and useful information.
The formulation of my own vision of the future will require a level of intellectual strategic foresight which can be accomplished by collating the relevant research .
In the development of my ideas and concepts i will have to have a firm grasp of not only the basics of the technologies but also their potential and evolution.
At the same time I will have to keep a firm grounding in relation to the user involvement and experience of the potential concepts. It is a good idea to keep track and not loose site of the users.
At this stage the final presentation is hard to gage, however I can imagine that the outcomes will be predominantly digital and conceptual in nature so strong images and a possible all digital presentation might be needed.
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