benjamin Mazoin's blog

And what about objects which live like us, objects which need to be fed in order to be operational? The idea is interesting when we remember all the studies done in robots. In Europe, robots are been meanly developed in order to execute tasks as car builder machine, mixer machine, or vacuum cleaner; In japan, robots look like being -human beings or pets- in order to bring to people social helps, or presences, like dogs robots.

We have seen with James Auger (Auger–Loizeau) et Anab Jain (Nokia Desing/Superflux) some experiment of object using animals into the process.

First, James Auger show us differents carnivorous robots using dead flies or mices as organic food. So, a clock with fly-papers on a rolling path, a lamp where spiders on it, create web, in order to attract flies. A Mecanic arm is use to take the insects caught, and to bring it on cells. Or even a table where dead trapped mice are used in order to produce electricity.
All these robots appear strange, and could even shock, but the concepts shown by Anab Jain, very close to the Auger-Loizeau's work, allow to understand how interesting is these experiments.
One of her concept is an autonomous-energy radio, fed by flies, food or organic rubbish, which is a very interesting way to both recycle and create energy.

The two first conference was about how the science fiction written in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s.., influence the society, today; and why a lot of products come from this imaginative production were commercial failure.

Except for the first examples, like Jules Verne, which use to imagine future stories context with contemporary technologies-or technologies studies(industrial materials and tools)- the SF provided a lot of ideas about future, very close to utopias. This future were optimistic, with very individual advanced consumption goods.

No collective utopia.

We saw that, even if these technologies would be totally possible, most of them would never be used in the reality, because there is not a real need. It is not really useful.
Moreover, People wouldn't be- and for many examples, like the videophone or the intelligent fridge, were not- adopt by anyone because of the rise price.

So, there were a lot of products from SF which were failures, and according to Nicolas Nova, it is very important to understand why, in order to be able to improve innovation.

Some SF provide other point of view; For example, a collective one: the anticipation.
This kind of SF show societies falling down, because of a political or social system in decadence: “1984”, a society where you even cannot think about a criticism, with “Telesceens” able to watch you all the time; “A brave new wold”, or “Gattaca” where children are created in vitro, and where their destiny are chosen before their birth, “Brazil”, which describe a system improbable, based on overinformation....

All these stories are Dystopias, and show how amazing could be a society with so many technologies. It is interesting to use all these criticisms in the same way than people used 30s/40s SF stories in order create flying car or fridge endowed with screen.

What could be a new way of traveling, for example, using our real context, and our technologies?