Summary
I have read the following article: “Speculative Design: crafting the speculation” by James Auger. This article is an excerpt from his publication named “Digital Creativity,” which was published online in 2013 by the Royal College of Art’s Design Interactions Department.
The article focuses on describing the concept of speculative design. What is speculative design? According to Auger, it is the “careful management of speculation, specifically what informs the use of technology, aesthetics, behavior, interaction and function of the designed artefact” although it is “open to several interpretations.”
Auger illustrates some of the methods and strategies used in the practice of speculative design to show how the usage of technology and borrowed techniques extracted from “film, literature, ecology, comedy and psychology” can be utilized to “present plausible futures.” Throughout his article, he presents some examples of speculative design that are highly intriguing.
The most interesting example that he presents is “Audio Tooth,” which is his first speculative design project that aims to blend “truth and reality.” The “Audio Tooth” is a small telephone that is the shape of a tooth that can be implanted within the mouth of a person. Through this concept, he wished the general public to note the following three aspects: first is the “perceived lifestyle benefit” of having a revolutionary product for the contemporary society, the second is that a tooth implant would be easier to adjust to in terms of cost and benefit, and third is technological believability as they aimed to convince the public audience by presenting a concept that could evoke the feeling of familiarity.
Here is an image of the "Audio Tooth":
Critique
I believe that speculative design is a concept that is needed in order to design revolutionary products that will better our society. I am personally concerned with environmental issues as the costs of imprudently using natural resources during the industrial revolution has taken its toll on the ecosystem of the planet. The fine dust rate of South Korea is known to be on a level that is critical to the health of the general public, and other countries are deeply concerned with the issue of rising sea levels along with the shortage and contamination of natural resources. Hence, I welcome the introduction of technology that would better our lives so that we can revolutionize the current system of our society to make our usage of the world more sustainable. In order to achieve this, I believe that speculative design would help as it helps us to “think not only about what (we) do want for (our) future selves but also what (we) do not want.” Speculative design could help us imagine and construct alternative futures where we could improve social and environmental issues that are rampant in the contemporary society. I am fascinated by the “Audio Tooth” in a sense that it could help us save resources since the cost of creating a telephone the size of a tooth would be more cost-efficient and use less material. I believe that such speculative design could inspire others to think on a larger scale to design products that could help humanity make this world a more habitable and convenient place to live on.
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