Wonderworld
One of four scenarios attempting to answer the question: How can projects combining creativity and technology become transformative experiences for our users?
Axes: Technological innovation for radical transformation of users
Awareness and connectedness prompted Wonderworld to emerge. Around 2014 its inhabitants took the warnings of climate change, economic collapse and social isolation seriously. They became aware of their personal impact on the world, and decided to take this world into their own hands and transform it into a place they would want to call home for a very long time. They got some of their brightest minds and most dexterous hands to work together towards socially and environmentally engaged, whole systems solutions to many complex problems. They began to tackle social isolation by discrediting Facebook and encouraging new communities to emerge from likeminded but geographically dispersed individuals. They developed low-cost, easy to use presencing technologies and tactile feedback, to then move to tangible programming, boosting algorithmic literacy among the general population. Literacy became widespread through digitisation of all knowledge and appropriation of copyleft principles. Every child received an electronic book reader at the age of three, with access to worldwide libraries of written and audiovisual material. Wonderworld's technology became so intuitive, adaptive and aware that it began taking on lifelike characteristics. Thalience began to be taught instead of science, acknowledging the existence of non-human sentience. Thalience allowed research into HPI (human-plant interaction) to be legitimised, which led to a better understanding of plants as organisational principles for human society, including allowing humans to produce clean energy. Synthetic biology trials were undertaken that would allow machines to photosynthesize, bringing Wonderworld's existence to produce zero carbon emissions. New, clean and renewable energy sources and biosensors gave a boost to explorations of extreme environments - deep ocean, deep space, toxic dumps and other places previously out of reach. Potentials of plant communication inspired a new upsurge in linguistic research and cross-species (distance) learning. Mass production of objects has ceased. Community and personal fabrication has taken its place, democratising design and manufacturing. Objects that had been made in the past now became media rich Spimes, infusing inert materials with a touch of magic. As a result of these steps, the lives of Wonderworlders and their habitats were longer and healthier than they had ever been.
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