Keynote speech at the Junior Research Day - Swiss Design Network Basel, October 28th, 2010. This talk was intended to give students an overall perspective of the relationships between Sci-Fi and design.

1. From Neuromancer to the Internet:
the Role of Science Fiction Culture
in Design
nicolas nova ¦ lift + HEAD-Geneva
SDN, October 28, 2010

2. SF/design = create + share a vision of the future
1902: La sortie de l Opéra (Albert Robida)

3. Sci-fi artifact porn/craziness
1985: Appleseed/アップルシード (Masamune Shirow)

4. Sci-fi artifact porn/craziness + humor
1999: Futurama (Matt Groenig et al.)

5. Sci-fi artifact porn/craziness
2008: Iron Man (Jon Favreau + Stan Lee, 1963)

6. Sci-fi artifact porn/craziness
2010: Resonance of Fate/エンド オブ エタニティ (Takayuki Suguro)

7. Sci-fi artifact porn/craziness : RPG catalogue
1988: Chromebook (Cyberpunk 2020)

8. Sci-fi artifact porn/craziness : RPG catalogue
1988: Chromebook (Cyberpunk 2020)

9. Within SciFI: recurring themes over time
2009: Stephanie Schwartz: the evolution of Science-Fiction themes

10. Terminology and idioms
The vocabulary that describes the Internet stemmed partly from
Science-Fiction from the 1980s-1990s

11. The Minority Report effect
... or how pop culture influences people s expectations, tastes and
cultural baggage about future s artifacts and/or technologies

12. The Minority Report effect
A tendency from people to take it as a reference point "Ah, it s like
Minority Report"

13. The Minority Report effect
A tendency from people to take it as a reference point "Ah, it s like
Minority Report"

14. The Minority Report effect
A tendency from people to take it as a reference point "Ah, it s like
Minority Report"

15. Real product or science-fiction prop?
1968: 2001 A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)

16. Real product or science-fiction prop?
1999: A modified Nokia 8110, The Matrix

17. Real product or science-fiction prop?
1999: eXistenZ pod (David Cronenberg)

18. Real product or science-fiction prop?
2010: some odd Japanese iPhone charger

19. Beyond SciFi: the circulation of cultural elements
2010: Basile Zimmermann. Redesigning Culture: Chinese Characters in
Alphabet-Encoded Networks , Design and Culture, 2-1, 27-43.
R&D Movie- toys Business

20. Engineering-design / Sci-Fi mutual influence
2008: Human Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies by
Schmitz, Endres & Butz

21. Engineering-design / Sci-Fi mutual influence
Things also work the other way around - SciFi as a reference in
scientific research

22. Futures always delayed
2007: Bell, G & Dourish, P. Yesterday's Tomorrows: Notes on
ubiquitous computing's dominant vision

23. Props: decoration/objects staged in films
Things also work the other way around - designers participate in
production of Science-Fiction items

24. Speculative Design/Design Fiction as the new SciFi?
2009: The Mouse Trap Coffee-table Robot (Auger-Loizeau)

25. Speculative Design/Design Fiction as the new SciFi?
2009: Magnetic movie (Semi-Conductor)

26. Beyond objects and product ideas
3 lessons from Sci-Fi: design tactics

27. 1. Implications not just applications Antony Dunne
"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the
automobile but the traffic jam" Frederik Pohl

28. The door refused to open. It said, Five cents, please.
(...)
payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a
mandatory fee.
Not a tip.
You discover I m right, the door said. It sounded smug.
From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife;
with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his
apt s money-gulping door.
I ll sue you, the door said as the first screw fell out.
Joe Chip said, I ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live
through it.
Philip K. Dick: Ubik

29. 2. Process: play with constraints
2006: Idiocracy (Mike Judge)

31. 2. Process: the past from the future
2009: Constellations (Daryl & Popcube): looking at present objects
from a distant future: Rubik s cube seen as a calculating device

32. 3. Recombine metaphors
Steampunk: devices modification with materials such and design
elements consistent with the Victorian era/19th Century

33. 3. Recombine metaphors
Steampunk: devices modification with materials (such and design
elements consistent with the Victorian era

34. 3. Recombine metaphors
Use existing codes to create probes: Newspaper clipping app to craft
fake news from the future

35. Conclusion
Why should designer care about this?
A cultural
baggage
(understand people s
expectations)
A testbed for
visions (evaluate
product ideas +
implications)
Science Fiction
production tricks as
design tactics

36. References
Bell, Genevieve, Dourish, Paul, 2007. Yesterday's Tomorrows: Notes on ubiquitous
computing's dominant vision. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 11 (2), pp. 133-143
Bleecker, Julian, 2009, "Design fiction: A short essay on design, science, fact and
fiction", Near Future Laboratory, Los Angeles, CA,
Dourish, Paul, Bell, Genevieve, 2008, "'Resistence is Futile': Reading Science Fiction
alongside ubiquitous computing" Personal and Ubiquitous Computing,
Gyger, P. Les voitures volantes. Souvenirs d'un futur rêvé (Favre, 2005)
Schmitz, M., Endres, C., & Butz, A. 2008. A Survey of Human-ComputerInteraction
Design in Science Fiction Movies. Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on
INtelligent TEchnologies for interactive enterTAINment
Shedroff, N, Noessel, C, 2008, "Make It So: What Interaction Designers can Learn
from Science Fiction", in SXSW Conference, Austin, Texas,
Zimmermann. B. 2010. Redesigning Culture: Chinese Characters in Alphabet-
Encoded Networks , Design and Culture, 2-1, 27-43.

37. thanks!
nicolas@liftlab.com
@nicolasnova