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Research – predictive behaviors of vacuum robots

Last 2nd of August Peicheng Guo graduated with his master research project “Towards an active predictive relation by reconceptualizing a vacuum robot”.

Peicheng not only used the proposed method for designing things that predict, but he also added a couple of valuable models both on the level of relations with domestic products as with autonomous objects in general. Via a Research through Design approach, he developed new insights and brings the knowledge on predictive relations a step further. To illustrate possible future collaborations with objects we use he redesigned the user manual in a guidebook for learning to understand each other’s (human owner and object) intentions.

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Exploring urban farming futures

Introduction 

There is no place left on earth that has remained untouched by humans. We are living in the Anthropocene; an unofficial geologic epoch, yet commonly used term to describe the time wherein the impact of humankind on the planet is substantial. We have become the single, most dominant species on the planet, causing global environmental and ecological changes. One of these changes (though not the only one) is global warming. Ecological theorist Timothy Morton deems global warming to be what he calls a hyperobject: an object that exists on too large of a scale for human perception. As a result, we can only observe the effects of the problems such as extreme weather, melting glaciers, a reduction in crop yield, etc. but never grasp and “prove” the object as such [1]. 

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Designing Connected Experiences of intelligent citythings

Last couple of months 8 teams of bachelor students of IDE have been working on a design for things that predict in the cities of things. The Delft Design Lab Cities of Things commissioned the assignment to explore design experiences with the use of predictive knowledge as design material. The 8 teams did a great job in coming up with very different concepts. In this report I will introduce the projects, you can find the project videos and I will give a short reflection per project.

The kick-off of the project was 10 February with a kick-off presentation for the teams explaining the Cities of Things paradigm and the concept of predictive knowledge. See the slides below.

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Designing predictive relations in more-than-human partnerships

This article is also available as PDF.

Introduction

With the rise of the Internet of Things and the shift from single products to decentralized systems, the functional working of artifacts will be defined for a great part in the digital layer. With the addition of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities, predictive relations are added to the mechanics of designing connected products, with implications for the agency users have in an algorithmic society. 

The potential impact on the design space is explored through a design case of an intelligent object becoming a networked object with added predictive knowledge. This chapter introduces what will be the change that predictions will make to the relation of users and contemporary things[1] on a conceptual level and proposes an approach to how to translate this to new activities in designing networked objects.

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The alienating consequences of things that predict

A specific research topic that I have been looking into the last year is the design for predictive relations. What happens when predictive knowledge is emerging from networked objects and does this influence the design practice of the future designer of intelligent things and services. In 2019 he gave a couple of presentations (at IoT Rotterdam, Digital Society School Amsterdam, Sensemakers AMS, Behavior Design AMS) and published a chapter in the ThingsCon RIOT-publication December 2019. The latter gives a good overview of the research topic.

Things become networks, autonomous things with their own agency as result of the developments in artificial intelligence. The character of things is changing into things that predict, that have more knowledge than the human where it interacts with. Things are building a new kind of relations with humans, predictive relations. What is the consequence of these predictive relations on the interaction with humans? Will the things that know more than we humans do, help us understand the complex world, or will the things start to prescribe behavior to us without we even know? What is the role of predictive relations in the design practice of the future designer?

from ‘The Alienated Consequences of Things that Predict’

Read the whole chapter online or download the PDF.

Work in progress model for predictive relations