I don’t know what that title has to do with anything except for the fact that the sci-fi writer from this weeks reading is Bruce Sterling. In this reading he explains design fiction.

Being the huge fan of sci-fi and adventure movies that I am, I really enjoyed this reading.

What is design fiction? You may ask.

Well this is how I respond…

It is the designing of concepts, objects and services that have the potential to exist in our world. Rather than telling a story, it tells of worlds.

 

It’s fascinating. It reminds me of the world of Star Trek from the 60’s where the characters were using technology far beyond their time, such as iPad looking devices, that now have come true. They also used communicating devices (their badges) that now has the same basic functions as a mobile phone.

 

I believe that any good science fiction film consists of a well thought out and creative design fiction. In my eyes it enhances the narrative by making the viewer want to live in the world that the writer has created, and that is what I have always loved about movies. I love it when a movie presents a world full of objects and services that are not quite existent in real life however have the potential to be, and make me want to become a part of it.

 

 

EXAMPLES OF DESIGN FICTION THAT I ADMIRE –

Did anyone watch Terra Nova? The sci-fi TV show from 2011 that was set in the future and the past at the same time? (Please post a comment if you did because I could not find anyone who did except my family).

Well, that show presented a design fiction that convinced me to keep watching the show throughout its one and only season (sad face). The one thing I remember that made me literally stand up and yell OH MY GOD I WANT THAT was a piece of glass a little girl was holding in the beginning of the scene. She clicked on an electronic pen choosing a colour and then drew on the glass. To clear the glass she just shook it and the squiggle she had drawn disappeared and she went on to drawing something else. It was awesome and I am patiently waiting for it to be invented.

 

 

At the moment my iPhone is stuffed. The screen is shattered (it was in my hand when I fractured my wrist falling UP a step), the speakers and mic don’t work because I got melted chocolate in all the cracks of the phone, and the aperture of the camera forces it to never focus.

SO, I am very excited for the release of the new iPhone.

I really hope that it is something like this…

 

 

Also, how could I not put this in here… Back to the Future II in 2015, just all the technology that Zemeckis and Spielberg created from self tying shoes to hover boards and keyless doors.