The Age Of Technology (Blog 6)

Unfortunately, I missed week 6’s class. I read over the material and decided to write a blog on it. Here are some technological advancements and predictions that baffle me.

1. Autonomous Vehicles (Driverless Cars)

Heathrow airport has already completely computer automated vehicles that carry people. This is the beginning of a crazy era. Jobs will be lost, and jobs will be created. The ratio of jobs lost to jobs created however might not be the same causing many to lose jobs. Maybe we will start to work 10-12 hours a week instead 30-40 hours. Maybe everyone’s life will be easier. However, It could cause an even bigger divide between the rich and the poor. It is difficult to predict, but it is still a massively impressive innovation. It will have similar sized effects on the world as Henry Ford’s mass-produced car did.

2. Hyperloop

This is a proposed mode of passenger and freight transportation. It is a sealed tube with low air pressure, which a pod can travel with zero air resistance. This reminds me of the cartoon Futurama. We are living in the future; this is the age of technology. It is a mind-blowing time to be alive, and relatively scary.

3. 3D printing could be used to construct houses in 20 years

This is a crazy. I know the development of 3D printers has came on hugely in the last few years, but can you imagine 3D printing your house. It would be convenient for me, giving Ireland has huge housing crisis. However, the cost of this would have to be phenomenal.

4. Space Tourism

It has always been a dream of mine to go to space. I ruled it out at age 15. I thought if I am not heading down the route of being an astronaut yet, my chances are low. But to think space travel and tourism could be possible by 2050 is truly baffling, to think I could actually go to space. It is exciting.

(Codrington, 2020)

Design fiction: dreaming, imagining, forging the future we would like. Sometimes it is difficult to imagine things that are not there. But once something is there its hard to imagine a world without it there. I must try and see the future how I want it to be.

Speculative Design is a very creative way to design, it is designing while pretending there are no limits. No limits of current technology, culture, and politics. I hope to incorporate to this idea into my design process.

I feel as if we lost track of what is important in the world. I think we are designing to solve problems that do not needed to be solved. We still have world hunger, overconsumption, biodiversity loss, climate change and many other social, economic, and environmental issues in the world. We need to put our efforts towards these issues. I believe our generation is lost. It’s up to us designers to bring our world back to sanity.

(Bryant, 2020)

Bibliography:

Codrington, G., 2020. Technology That Will Change Our Lives In The Next 20 Years - Tomorrow Trends. [online] Tomorrow Trends. Available at: <http://www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com/2016/07/25/technology-will-change-lives-next-20-years/> [Accessed 5 May 2020].

Bryant, R., 2020. Luxury Autonomous Cars Could Offer Faster Routes Through Cities Says Bentley. [online] Dezeen. Available at: <https://www.dezeen.com/2016/03/17/bentley-design-chief-stephan-sielaff-luxury-autonomous-driverless-cars-could-offer-faster-routes-crowded-cities/> [Accessed 5 May 2020].