What could 2050 look like?

[_J.G.M_]

The ONE DAY, 2050 / Sci-Fi Prototyping project brought Sony Creative Center designers together with science-fiction writers to spin speculative narratives on "Tokyo in 2050".

Central to the project was the “Sci-Fi prototyping” method, which involves imagining the future through a sci-fi lens and working backward to plot out roadmaps for how to get there.

Four key themes were explored: WELL-BEING, HABITAT, SENSE, and LIFE. In this article, we’ll take you through each one.

Theme 1: WELL-BEING, 2050

Creating an AI therapist who gets close to people and cares about their well-being.

In 2050, people are still going to be dealing with stress; there’s simply no way to completely avoid work frustrations, heartbreak, the death of a loved one, and all the other painful, stressful experiences that are part of life. However, the designers see a future in which we could leverage AI into helping people develop better resilience to cope with stress.

But how can a person feel comfortable opening up to an AI therapist? It must be relatable.

The designers conceptualised a shapeshifting AI therapist - one that would appear in the optimal form for the individual and deliver advice accordingly. The prototype utilises a wearable device that goes directly on the skin in a location with high concentrations of blood vessels to measure stress hormones and other information. When the sensor picks up an abnormal reading, it initiates a resilience program that allows the individual to invoke the AI therapist via contact lenses at his or her own discretion.

Theme 2: HABITAT, 2050

Imagining environmental and cultural coexistence in floating mobile houses.

Based on the scenario that in the future, groups of people could have lost their homes on land and made the switch to life at sea due to climate change and political struggles, a prototype for a dwelling that could move on the water was developed. This would be a living space that inhabitants could reconfigure and combine into communities, to adapt to different environments and live safer, more comfortable lives at sea.

In designing the ecosystem for supplying power between the individual dwelling units, researchers on the Open Energy System project at Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL) were consulted. The Sony engineers who work on inverted pendulums for robots like aibo were also interviewed, enabling the team to learn more about dealing with wave motion, an issue that would undoubtedly pose the biggest challenge to ocean-surface life.

One of the most essential aspects to address was interaction between the dwellings. That’s why each unit is shaped with hexagonal and triangular motifs, allowing them to connect and form floating villages, countries, and other communities in this new paradigm.

Theme 3: SENSE, 2050

Unlocking the entertainment dynamic of shared experiences through the power of scents.

Here, smell was the focus - a sense that Sony is exploring ways to integrate into its entertainment offerings.
Itsuki Tsukui wrote a story about a future where virtual restaurants serve scents for people to “dine” on amid a pervasive mask culture, which took root during the current pandemic. From there, a smell-driven service, and a mask-type tool to go with it, was prototyped.

There is an intensely close, interweaving relationship between smell, memory, and emotion. This prototype collects information from sensing devices in personal environments, and reproduces scents to help people relive past events, unlock new forms of communication, and create new experiences.

Beyond exploring the incredible potential for brand-new forms of entertainment, the designers see the potential this prototype has for exploring the importance of smells in preventing Alzheimer’s disease, the findings on smell and taste disorders in COVID-19 recoverees, and even insights into the power of smell in romantic contexts and personal relationships. It’s clear that smell can play a huge role in our overall well-being in the future.

Theme 4: LIFE, 2050

Imagining a tool to help people envision new possibilities for their own lives.

The story by sci-fi writer, Taiyo Fujii, paints a 2050 where there’s a clear, distinct separation between a person’s "job" (means of sustaining one’s life) and “work” (means of enjoyment and fulfilment) and a host of different social-security structures available. His characters had the ability to choose from different paths and live parallel lives.

When looking at the life-planning services we have today - in the real world - most are limited to personal finances and assets. In the future, there are going to be so many more factors to consider, and this prototype for an "inspiring life-planning service" would give users a broader palette of possibilities to pursue.

With it, the user can simulate a life path from a selection of several scenarios. This gives people autonomy by placing important decisions in their own hands whilst embracing the interdependence of humanity and technology to create better informed futures.

What do you think about the Sci-Fi Prototyping project and its vision for the future? Let us know in the comments section below!

This article has been adapted from a piece on Sony.net. The original can be found here: https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/design/stories/sci-fi_prototyping/