Time-Capsule: Anticipated Futures

This time-capsule project is part of the reading sessions Science Fiction minus Fiction Futures, curated by Lilian de Jong.

Creating a time capsule is a form of time travel. Imagine a future where the world is blooming and blossoming, what does it look like, feel like, smell like, sound like? We invite you to shape the future history of the world with us.

It’s easy to see how current world problems might lead to collapse, it’s more daring and difficult to imagine a scenario where it might all turn out for the better. A possible future that can inspire us through times ahead and open us up to opportunities. Change is inevitable, it is the strongest force in the universe. It is up to us to use it for good, to accept it and adapt to it. With the time capsule we imagine a world that might look like science fiction, but who knows, looking back after 10 years, it might have been science fiction without fictional futures.

Can you read the future? Join our Time Capsule Project:

Imagine a future where the world is flourishing, where society is thriving. How do we live, work, eat, love? What technological advancements have greatly improved our life? How did we take on climate change? What role do arts and culture have? What do our laws, education system, government look like? Are we traveling in space? How does the Future smell? What color does the Future have? Pick one or all of these aspects, or choose a different one of your own preference. Next, write down, record a voice memo, a video, draw something, create a scrapbook, or anything how you think it will evolve into the future. It doesn’t have to be very big, or very long. Maybe the future is just one word.

Submit your scenario to timecapsule@futurebased.org. Or send it in via the form below.

Rules:

When you send us an entry, we will get in touch with you to confirm your participation.

You can cancel your entry at any time -during those ten years ;) – by sending us an email.

We continue to fill the time capsule online,. When we have collected enough evidence for bright futures, we will publish selected works in a zine. We will always contact you for permission.

Future Based collects your scenarios and share your futures online. We will save it for 10 years and after 10 years we’ll reach out to you again and see, to what extent, we created the future history of the world.

Join our project! : )

Selection of entries:

The internet in 2050: a day in the future

By Rudy van Belkom, The Netherlands Study Centre for Technology Trends (STT)
5 April, 2022

“I walk out of the virtual meeting room and say goodbye to my Japanese colleagues. My workday is done. Cool that we could walk through the hydrogen park and see with our own eyes that the production is now completely sustainable. Before I take off my VR glasses, I decide to pay a visit to the tailor because I want to be fitted for a suit for the wedding of two good friends. It’s already in one month. I’m glad that I can see all options without having to put on twenty suits. I look for a local entrepreneur so I can pick up my suit with my bike when it’s printed. Before I step into the virtual shop, I’m asked if the tailor could see my body measurements. I give permission, knowing that these anonymized data don’t leave my account and cannot be stored by others. Organisations cannot collect user data anymore because of the ‘data visiting’ legislation, but they can only temporarily view them after they’ve been given permission. Exceptions are only made for research purposes of organisations that serve a general purpose, such as hospitals, NGOs and universities. For instance, I donated my anonymized cardiac rhythm data to an academic hospital for research on heart arrhythmia. Meanwhile, I’ve made my decision: a beautiful soft brown suit of organic cotton. As a thank you for my purchase, the tailor gives me a digital copy of the suit for my digital wardrobe. As I step outside the shop, I see a big crowd in the community space just ahead. I follow my curiosity and head towards it to see what’s going on. It appears to be a sit-in to draw attention to the climate goals, that were not achieved, again. I decide to take part in this silent protest and search for a spot to sit.

I start talking to a boy from Brazil who tells me about the Climate Lab. Thanks to the integration of new translation techniques we can communicate to each other in our own language. The Climate Lab is a place where people can experience the consequences of global warming. When I ask him if that approach isn’t too negative (after all, if we’re on the verge of disaster, there’s nothing we can do about it), he describes that you can also experience positive scenarios and discover sustainable innovations. I decide to give up my seat in the sit-in to visit the Climate Lab. After signing the climate manifesto, I ask my son if he will join me. I expect that it would make him enthusiastic too. I meet him at the Lab and turn off my virtual location data and avatar. Now my contacts cannot see or talk to me. An additional advantage is that style or status does not matter and all people in the lab are equal.

One of the involved climate researchers explains to us that we’ll go through various immersive experiences. She says that it can be shocking, but…. (Read more)

A New Node – Time Capsule contribution by Marjolein Pijnappels

 

 

A slow, bellowing roar broke the early morning in half. Birds dispersed agitated from the glass domed greenhouse where agri-robots dutifully continued to water, cut, plant and harvest the crops as if this was just another day. But it wasn’t. Something was about to happen that hadn’t happened for years.

 

Awakened to the primal sound Seph, Bästa Community’s teacher and designated genetic engineer, rolled over to his side in the sleep pod he shared with his partners Lure and Kwame and whispered excitedly: ‘A new Node is being added to the network.’ Kwame didn’t stir and Lure yawned and huddled deeper under the covers. The winters here remained cold as ever. To save the sparse sun-generated energy every community member (or ‘Node’ as they preferred to call themselves) slept under layers of woollen duvets sourced from a local population of cold-adapted alpaca-llama hybrids. ‘Would you ever consider…?’ Seph mused aloud but Lure was already fast asleep, their black braids scarcely visible from under the blankets. But Seph already knew what Lure would’ve said. ‘The children of the community belong with us all and I don’t feel the need to inject my own DNA into the network, thank you very much.’…Read more.

 

Submitted by James Soane – architect (Project Orange) and

Founding Faculty of the LSA (London School of Architecture).

Deep Adaption – Kissing the Void Retreat

Writing / James Soane

The Void Is

A gap, a space, a loss

Frightening and frightful

Lost and found, I am lost

I am love

Read more…….

We would love to contribute to the time capsule with The Algorithmof Donated Dreams, an artifact (a piece of computational poetry)created during two time travels we organized. It was later picked up byTaper / Bad Quarto at MIT and it depicts an imagined time full of I and We scenarios of optimistic futures. –The Time Travel Agency

This short story was submitted to our Time Capsule by biohacker and futurist Peter Joosten. Peter Joosten M.Sc. (1984) is a biohacker and futures scenarist. He investigates the impact of human enhancement, human augmentation and transhumanism in his keynotes, on his blog Superhuman Talks and YouTube channel.

The FeelS

Kofi hears her voice: ‘This was what humanity needed. Nor can you discover it with pure rationality, with numbers or algorithms. All I did was materialize my vision.’ Kofi adds the modality of feeling to sound. Phew, that hits hard every time. He feels in his gut and chest what Professor Obiku means. The impact is huge, especially with the Stems of animals such as the hippopotamus or whale, and the Stems of natural areas such as the Amazon and the Great Barrier Reef. It was the first time that Homo sapiens could feel what animals experienced, or what it is like to feel the complexity of an ancient rainforest. It was as if an essential link in the collective consciousness of humanity was being turned. Read the story.

Patricia Nagtzaam (she/they) is currently studying Communication and Multimedia Design at Avans University in Breda (NL) and is working as a design & research intern at studio Laura A Dima.

Patricia Nagtzaam is an interdisciplinary designer working at the intersections of design, academic research, technology and art. Their work envisions our future (kinships) and questions our hierarchies, systems and ethics. Topics they work with include, but are not excluded to, (non) human behaviour, psychology, social problems and own experiences or observations. In addition to their studies, they are exploring the worlds of philosophy and esoterism.

My contribution ties in with my recent research project called Roombamancy, where I explore two shifting relationships in this world, the one with robots and the one with the Universe, through divination. Roombamancy is part of the research group of Mark Meeuwenoord, Expressive Robotics, Avans Expertise Centre of Technical Innovation.

Our way of thinking goes back in time, when (in)animate beings were praised and treated equally. In this new world, we live in complete harmony with non-human entities, the ones visible and the ones invisible to our human senses. Our domestic robots become omniscient beings who absorb and analyse our human behaviour while giving us prophecies and guidance about life. Do humans view this as an invasion of their privacy? And if so, how would this change our behaviour? One thing is certain, it is the kind of invasion you can not escape. Everything and everyone in this world radiates energy, the kind of energy that is not limited to time or space and thus can not be hidden.

To accompany this scenario, I will read our next 10 years together with a Roomba robot. You are invited to watch the reading yourself, it shows the visions as they are being drawn. Read more and watch the visuals.

Nicole Spit is a designer and the owner of Design Studio Dáárheen. Nicole provides strategic trend advice and companies to determine an adequate design direction (form, material, color and concept) for their new products. She is inspired by developments that can have a far-reaching influence on the future and aims to develop a well-founded vision of the future, combining art, technology and design.

For the Future Based’s Time Capsule, Studio Dáárheen presents three visions of the future, in (animated) images. The visions are based on value shifts in our society, with a focus on: Talent vision, Nature vision, Intuition vision. Read more.

A scenario, submitted by Karolina Thakker Happyfutureslab.com Karoina is a multidisciplinary designer and illustrator. She uses the combination of storytelling, research and imagination to inspire the out-of-box solutions to current day challenges. Her mission is to help innovation-driven companies to succeed by supporting their design process along the way.

PREVENTIVE CARE FUTURES.

Presenting THRIVE, an app for not only surviving but thriving.

A new notification from Thrive appears on the screen. It’s a reminder

that Anja should finish her monthly checkups in the upcoming week. Laterthat day, she receives a small package by mail that includes a fewpaper-strip tests.

She goes to sleep hungry. In the morning, the alarm rings one hour

earlier. Anja makes sure to perform all three tests before work. Drawingblood is not her favourite, so she needs extra time to prepare herselfmentally. Usually, what helps her is to watch some video fordistraction. She pricks the skin of her finger while watching babyotters swim around in the pond. The worst part is over.Last month Anja upgraded to a premium subscription model and received anew lab-on-a-chip dongle with multiple spaces for testing as a gift. Shecan now perform all the tests at the same time. She connects it to herphone and waits for results while taking a shower. It should not takelonger than 15 minutes to complete the examination and send the resultsto her health coach and doctor.

It’s Done was submitted by Amanda Reeves founder of Wabi Sabi Futures . 

Submitted by Sebastian Campos Möller | Industrial Designer & Foresight Strategist |www.sebastiancampos.com

A flourishing future starting in 2030

Education:

Education shifts from industrial binary thinking to include additive thinking.

The spectrum of possibility is learnt to be considered.

Imagination is valued. Ideas can be entertained without rejecting or accepting them immediately.

Education is FREE for everyone. We are taught survival information: Cooking, Growing, Creating, Building, Repairing, Collaborating.

Media and Advertising:

Media and advertising are on a humble retreat. They understand the damage they have created with the psychic assault they have laid on the human…...read more.