Topic: Case study. Semiotics in the field of speculative design:
Reshaping future vision, use and behaviors for data-driven industrial innovation
Big Data, Open data, artificial intelligence, blockchain… With the accelerating connectivity between individuals, objects and machines, relationships are transformed. Gigantic masses of data are collected and used every day in the world leading to many tangible/intangible transformations of our economic, social, cultural and ecological environment.
From augmented human beings/experiences to the threat of domination/manipulation, from economic goals to the challenges of sustainable development, the power of data exploitation has aroused as much potential for action on the main issues as fear. Data representations are often anchored in a past future imaginary led by science-fiction productions. The challenge today is to understand how our visions of the future are shaped to better open up possibilities of emancipation and anticipation. This involves questioning representations and their genealogy so as to extract oneself from these continuous presents or clichés that limit our ability to stimulate human-centered innovation. Ultimately, it also necessitates the experimentation of collective methods and tools so as to design re-semiotized narratives of, and open debate on, an alternative tomorrow.