Near Future Laboratory Blog
Near Future Laboratory Blog
Thoughts, Reflections, Updates & Week Notes
Oct 4, 2024 – Nov 14, 2024
w40/w41/w42/w43/w44/w46/
Julian Bleecker's Conference Badget
<p class='font-[InputMonoNarrow] font-light text-center text-balance text-[1.4em] sm:text-[2em] !mt-[-0.5em] mb-20 leading-none'>Plenary Keynote</p>
Nov 14, 2024
A Plenary Address at the IEEE MetroCon 2024 for the nations' largest IEEE regional conference covering nine parallel technical tracks covering emerging developments in engineering disciplines including: Autonomous and Vehicle Systems, Internet of Things, Computational Intelligence, Photonics and more.
engineeringdesigntechnologykeynoteaielectrical engineering
Future Feelings Podcast with Radha Mistry and Anab Jain
Future Feelings with Anab Jain + Radha Mistry
Nov 14, 2024 (ref Nov 05, 2024)
In this new podcast series from Deem Journal, Radha Mistry, a designer with a background that spans architecture, narrative environments, and strategic foresight, unpacks the purpose and practice of futuring, and introduces us to six venerable practitioners who approach this work in myriad ways.
podcastfutures
Julian Bleecker and Ian Chalmers at the RGD Design Fiction Fireside Chat
What Is Design Fiction...And Why Does It Matter?
Nov 10, 2024
Ian Chalmers and I did a kind of fireside chat at the RGD's 2024 annual conference in Toronto.
design fictiontalkbook event
Cover image of its time to imagine harder
<div class='font-[Generation1970] text-[1.4em] sm:text-[2em] text-center text-balance !leading-[1] mt-2 !mb-12'>The Reader's Guide to<br/>The Manual of Design Fiction</div>
Oct 28, 2024
An exploration of the why of Design Fiction, arguing that Design Fiction can be a powerful tool for sense-making in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. By creating fictional artifacts, such as brand books for imaginary products or services, Design Fiction allows us to explore the implications and possibilities of emerging technologies and societal trends in a tangible, engaging way.
booktheorycreative practiceprofessional developmentdesign fiction
Near Future Laboratory Global HQ
<div class='font-[Calibre] mt-3 sm:mt-[0.3em] sm:mb-8 text-center text-balance leading-[0.8] text-[1.8em] sm:text-[3em]'>Quarterly of the Industrial Designers Society of America</div>
Oct 22, 2024
An issue of IDSA Innovation on the ‘Supernatural’ as in...Super Nature. What is our relationship with nature? Is it humanity versus nature, nature teaching humanity, or nature and humanity existing as separate entities? Let's explore humanity's relationship with nature through the lens of design.
more than human designdesign fictionjournaladvertisement
Students in a seminar room at SCI-Arc
A Talk at Radha Mistry's Seminar
Oct 21, 2024
A talk to Radha Mistry's students at SCI-Arc that traverses the intricate relationship between engineering, imagination, and the speculative visions I've been inspired by through science fiction. The talk and discussion rambled into and through my somewhat transformative journey which, after college, I went straight into a traditional engineering role, which wasn't super engaging but a learning experience, and then wandered around the country and wound up in the virtual reality racket and this was the beginning of my dip into speculative engineering and fictional futures. I was also trying out some material highlighting how prolific science fiction authors influence societal norms and technological advancements, maybe more so than 'certified futurists and foresight' types. I also got into the contrasts between structured, rational disciplines with creative expressions like art and storytelling.
design fictionforesightlectureacademic
Cover image description
<div class='mb-[2em] font-[Haffer] text-center text-balance sm:text-[2em] text-[1.4em]'>Imagination is the Coolest Tool</div>
Oct 12, 2024
What's the Coolest Tool? Imagination! I was on Kevin Kelly's ‘Cool Tools Show and Tell’! A fun chat even as I had to limit myself to just four or five 'cool tools' — but the coolests is 'Imagination'. So now I can check this off the list. Kevin and I first met a zillion years ago at FOO Camp, for those who remember that and have been in touch over the years. This was a fun chat even as I had to limit myself to just four or five 'cool tools' — but I found some curious things that I've been making great use of over the last couple of years. Super fun chat!
podcasttools
A Design Fiction Workshop
<p class="font-[InputMono] text-center text-balance text-[1.5em] sm:text-[2.5em]">At Chapman University</p>
Oct 06, 2024 (ref Oct 01, 2024)
A 3 hour Design Fiction 101 talk and hands-on workshop utilizing the 2023 Work Kit of Design Fiction as an ideation aid.
design fictioncreative practicescreative consciousnessfutures designacademia
Animated gif flipping through images taken by Carlos Gonzalez aka @the1point8 at the Eno screening event at Brain Dead Studios Fairfax
<p class="font-[WarblerDeck] bold text-center text-balance text-[1.5em] sm:text-[2em] leading-none">What happens when futures work intersects the grounded circuits of meaning-making and material culture and not just other futures workers or foresight ‘experts’?</p>
Oct 04, 2024
What happens when futures work intersects the grounded circuits of meaning and material culture and not just other futures workers or foresight ‘experts’? Gary, his generative documentary ‘Eno’, and Brian (Eno) are a kind of futurist of the best sort — they make the worlds they imagine and do so materially — and shape culture far more than the futurists who think getting a certificate in Foresight is good enough to call yourself one.
filmart+technologyeventscreeningcollaborationfuturesvisual storytelling