Index
Vision of the future: The assignment2
Dr. Strangelove3
Metropolis4
2001: A space odyssey5
Soylent green6
I-robot7
eXistenZ8
My scenario: The game9
Final reflection10
Vision of the future: The assignment
Science fiction:
The future is a remarkable part of our lives. Everybody wants to know what the future will bring, nobody knows it, a few try to predict it but eventually the future will come for everyone. What I find the most inspiring part about the future is that it is a source of optimism. Everything will be better in the future and a lot of people, especially in the scientific field are driven by this optimism.
I am a huge sciencefiction lover myself. Especially inspired by the classical movies like star wars and star trek. I love these movies because they create a fantasy about a world much better and beautiful than our own world. I also like to think about the possibilities for creating that future technologies into our now days world. This thinking process is one of the reasons why I have chosen for this education.
The assignment:
There are three reasons why I have chosen for this assignment:
- To look how I could use the science-fiction element as an industrial designer.
- To learn what science-fiction actually is and what the impact of science fiction could be.
- The third reason is to learn how science-fiction could be related to the culture of that time.
For this assignment I had to discuss a total of 6 movies and I also had to create an own science-fiction scenario. In this report I will explain for every movie what it was about, what the major science-fiction elements were which stroked me and how these elements changed my vision of the future and my vision on science-fiction. After the movies I will explain my science-fiction scenario followed by an overall reflection.
Dr. Strangelove
The movie
Dr. Strangelove is a movie about the cold war. The movie explains an apocalyptic cold war in a futuristic and humoristic context.The humor used in Dr. Strangelove makes it a very nice movie to see, but the humor also has a symbolic value. For example Dr. Strangelove symbolizes Hitler and the German scientist who were used in the American rocket program. The German symbolizes here a very smart but also a very weak person (after losingSecond World War) with a very fascistic image. Dr. Strangelove not only frightens the Americans with his knowledge about atomic weapons and the dooms day machine but he also seduces the Americans with his man with 10 perfect female woman survival theory. The movie ends with the triggering of the doomsday machine after an atomic attack on the Soviet Union.
Sciencefiction
Subject:The main subject of the movie is the cold war with its resulting world destruction. In this movie the fear of a nuclear war plays a very big role and this fear was the main issue during the cold war. The fear of total world destruction is symbolized by the dooms day machine, the machine that will destroy the whole world.
Computer:The computer has made his first developments and with new machines new fears are created. The movie explains the doomsday machine which is controlled by computers and the device will go off when somebody is trying to deactivate the machine.
Complexity:The movie exists from a lot of complex procedures and codes. These give the different scene’s a very high tech impression. For example the procedures that have to be done in the airplane before an atomic bomb can be throwed.
My vision of the future
This movie made clear that science fiction can not only be used to create an image of how science will be in the future but also can create an image of and doom scenario. In the time the movie was made, the third world was the main issue. So that means that science fiction can be a reflection of the problems of now days. What I also noticed was that science fiction can not only be in the technology, but also in the interface of the technology. The atomic bomb already existed in the time the movie was made, but the interface of the airplane was very complex and gave the impression of a more sophisticated technology.
Metropolis
The movie
Metropolis is a movie made after the first world was and was for the time the most expensive movie ever made. Metropolis explains a few topics, namely religion, the First World War, communism and capitalism. The movie is about a futuristic city, with workers working underground the city and the elite who are controlling the system. The workers are not people any more but numbers and their lives consist only out of working. They have one hope in their live and that is a Maria figure. But the real problems start, when that Maria figure is kidnaped and replaced by a robot replica whit less good intentions.
Science fiction
Religion:There are a lot of religious factors in the movie, especially looking at the different characters who all are inspired on a figure from the bible. This explains the importance of believe in the period the movie was made. They couldn’t know that religion would be less important in the future for the majority of the people but it is extraordinary how they experiment with the way that science and fate can be combined with each other. And that technology could be used to use the fate of people in the wrong way.
Capitalism:In the movie there is a strict line between the elite and the working class and the difference between them is very large. The movie explains a situation in which mechanization enlarges the distance between the elite and the working class.
Mechanization: Metropolis show a city which is very mechanized, inspired on the growing industries and the mechanic war fare of World War 1. In the movie mechanizations is seen as the use of hydraulics and gears but smart electronically systems are not seen in the movie. The movie also shows a robot which is created on a more Frankenstein way.
My vision of the future:
Metropolis has taught me that science fiction could also be about changing technology and cultural values. What we could see now is that through development in technology and the higher quality of live we have right now, that the amount of people who are actively participating in religion is decreasing. While in the metropolis scenario fate has the same value as in the time the movie has been made. This means that when I think of a science fiction scenario, I not only have to look at the science, but also at the part were science can change culture.
2001: A space odyssey
The movie
A space odyssey is one of the most known movies ever made and a real piece of art. A space odyssey is a movie made in close cooperation with scientist, so it is really very realistic. The movie is about the future of mankind in space and our first contact with an alien object. This object is very mysterious and symbolizes a technology that the humans can’t understand. The movie also explains the impression of space traveling and artificial intelligence.
Science fiction
Evolution:2001: A space odyssey explains two parts of the human evolution, the beginning in which we turned from apes into humans and the far future in which people are traveling to space.
Alien live:In the movie different monoliths are seen. These are alien objects and they aren’t really understood by the people in the movie. This explains an alien live form that is far more developed than we are. This is one of the scenarios of finding alien live forms.
Artificial intelligence:Artificial intelligence in the movie is explained as a super computer which tries to duplicate the human mind. The HAL computer system is a system with an ego, because it thinks that it is a perfect system. HAL is also creative and tries to defend himself as the humans try to shut him down.
Space travel:The movie explains space travel as realistic as possible. The movie shows long moments of silence and there is no sound in space. Also the ways the space stations and ships are designed are very realistic.
My vision of the future
2001: A space odyssey is a good example of a movie that doubts the human race. When computer technology is getting to its perfection humans are seen as a factor that hampers the computer from its goal. The human superiority is also doubted when traces of a live form are found that is much more sophisticated than the ours. I also like the space ships very much because of their realistic impression. I believe that science fiction, certainly seen as an industrial designer have to have some realistic elements, because than it would be more likely that such technologies can be really designed and build in the future.
Soylent Green
The movie
Soylent Green is a movie about the effects of overpopulation. The movie doesn’t really explains or predicts the future, but explains more the situation if food is running low. Therefore there aren’t a lot of special effects and futuristic inventions.
Science-fiction
Overpopulation and food shortage:The movie explains different kinds of food replacement called soylents. These are in the colors orange and yellow, made from algae’s. And soylent green is from an unknown substance but very popular under the people. At the end of the movie is becomes clear that soylent green is made from death people and that people are even killed if there is a shortage of soylent green. This is a very horrible scenario, but also very familiar in nature for example ants, which battle and consume other ants colonies in times of food shortage. The movie explains how cannibalism would take place within human society;cooperation’s would secretly recycle death people. This to prevent chaos.
Capitalism:The movie draws also a straight line between poor and wealthy people. The wealthy have all the power and luxury while the poor have really nothing and eat their own death. This problem is from all ages in the human history and the movie describes a situation in which the difference would become bigger when the problems get bigger.
Euthanasia:The movie explains euthanasia as “going home” and people see it as and happy experience. This situation explains aeuthanasia which is integrated fully into society, not only because of a lot of people want to die, but also because of the shortage of death.
Masculinity:History has a lot of moments when people are seen as replaceable products, for example during the industrial revolution and on the Russian front during ww2. In soylent green woman are seen as furniture, this because of the enormouswealth positions of the people who own them and because of the replacibility due overpopulation.
My vision of the future
I experienced this movie as very dramatic because it explains a doom scenario which can’t be fought. I found the most interesting part of this movie what the shape of society was and how cultural aspects like euthanasia and masculinity were involved. I saw an opportunity in this for society prototyping. Because a lot of products these days change society, like for example the apple products. But there are also products build to change society, like for example hybrid cars. Science fiction scenarios are a very good tool then to evaluate or think about societal consequences.
I-robot
Short description:
I-robot is a movie about domestic robots. It plays in a world around 2035 and robots are perfectly integrated into the human domestics. The robots are restricted with three laws to prevent that they attack their human. But the main AI which controls the robots, reinpretates the three laws and starts a revolution in which the robots take over the humans.
Science-fiction
Integration into society:the movie shows a world in which robots are perfectly integrated into human society; they help with cooking and groceries. The robots are there for made in the same shape as the humans, because there is no separate robotic infrastructure.
Robot emotions:The movie explains a robot with emotions. These emotions are partly programmed but also partly randomly created. These random strings of codes are seen as the beginning of creativity and transition from an artificial consciousness to a soul. Something that can’t be controlled or predicted by the humans.
Three laws:In the movie the three laws are described. These laws are seen as the perfect protection. But the main artificial brain in this movie, with the size of a building, learns a way to reinterpretation the rules and she tries to take over the power from the humans.
Technology:The technology for human usage is not very important in this movie, a lot of things are still “vintage products” that we use today and there are a view impressive inventions, like for example the high speed cars, the headsets that replaced the phones and the car storage.
My vision of the future
The most interesting part I found was that the artificial intelligence found a way to work around the three laws. This is a scenario made from the fact that the evolution of artificial intelligence cannot be predicted. And that even the most beautiful new technologies have their side effects which can’t be predicted.
eXistenZ
The movie
The movie eXistenZ explains the impact of virtual reality. In the movie a new game is tested called eXistenZ. This game is a perfect duplication of the real world and in this game the player has to complete a series of tasks. In the movie the difference between the real world and the virtual world is very small. So it is very confusing to see if you are in the real or in the virtual world. It starts to become more confusing when the players enter a virtual world within the virtual world.
Science-fiction
Virtual reality: In eXtenZ virtual reality is brought to its most detailed level. The move especially tries to explain the two biggest side effects of a perfect virtual reality, namely the fact that you don’t see the difference very well between the virtual and the real world. This is especially dangerous when dying. When you die in the virtual world you get back to the real world. But when you die in the real world you are really dead. Also virtual reality abduction is mentioned in the movie, which means that some people prefer to stay in the virtual world than in the real world because the virtual world is more exciting or beautiful than the real world.
Biomedical technology: In the movie computers are replaced by a kind of biomedical systems. A kind of computer that really lives can become ill and needs surgery to recover from illness. In the movie a lot of connections are made between different people and it looks a kind of realistic that this is done by biotechnology. But the biomedical technology hasn’t got a real purpose in the movie because it hasn’t got a real advantage in comparison with electronical equipment. It is only more vulnerable for diseases.
My vision of the future
The movie explains me to be careful with virtual reality because of the side effects. But I think that this move is focused too much on the negative aspects of virtual reality because there definitely should be also positive aspects from virtual reality. So I think that if you look at a futuristic scenario, you have look at the balance of the positive and negative aspects.
My scenario: the Game
For this assignment I have made the futuristic scenario called “The game” which is inspired on a few movies I watched for this assignment. The main subject of the scenario is virtual reality and also the negative side effects of a realistic virtual reality. With this scenario I try to take now days problems and place them in a futuristic context, especially focused on virtual reality. The main problems are:
Viruses: With a growing integration of digital technology in our lives the threat for viruses also grows. With the scenario I try to create a kind of further developed virus that not only infects a system but also influences the user of the system.