Documentary film maker Brett Gaylor recently launched a new documentary series titled The Internet of Everything. Brett describes it like this: “The future will either be a surveillance nightmare or an eco-utopia, the outcome determined by startups in Silicon Valley and Shenzen. The Internet of Everything captures our present moment, when both futures are in […]
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Moving to a more-than-human design practise
Twice speaker at ThingsCon Elisa Giaccardi published an article together with Johan Redstrom on Technology and more than human design: “we need to conceptually equip our design theory and methodologies for new alignments, move past the blind spots of human- centered design, and address the expanding universe of algorithms, forms of intelligence, and forms of life […]
New studio from Simone Rebaudengo
Simone Rebaudengo, another ThingsCon alumni, launched a new type of studio at Interaction20: “we research new scenarios and imaginary products — writing stories, building artifacts and immersive experiences, testing new ways to make the future more tangible and less dark.”https://oio.studio/
Dutch court stops use of automated surveillance by welfare authorities
A Dutch court has ordered the immediate halt of an automated surveillance system for detecting welfare fraud because it violates human rights, in a judgment likely to resonate well beyond the Netherlands.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/welfare-surveillance-system-violates-human-rights-dutch-court-rules
Open data on repairs made available to inform policy
Members of the Open Repair Alliance have recently updated their Open Repair Data Standard and combined nearly 30,000 records from their community events. It is available as open data for anyone to access.“By mapping this data to a common format, we can pool our repair data together and look for patterns and trends to help inform policy.”https://openrepair.org/repair-data/open-repair-data-30000-records-together-at-last/
Voice controlled metronome app a shows great use of on-device voice recognition
Musicians can get hands-free metronome features while they practice and play – without worrying about privacy or needing signal. Hands-free music makes sense. If you’re an instrumentalist, it means the ability to use your music gadgets along with your instrument, without taking your hands off the keys, string, bow, and so on. https://cdm.link/2019/12/voice-controlled-metronome/
Final prototype of the Ethical Stack by Virt-EU released
We have had Virt-EU involved in ThingsCon in multiple occasions and we were happy to contribute to the process of making this Ethical Stack. The final prototype is ready, “a series of tools to support creators of new connected technology to reflect on the ethical and social impacts of their products.” Check it out here:https://www.virteuproject.eu/servicepackage/ethical-stack/
Sonos + Snips + IKEA = responsible smart speakers for the masses?
With the news of Sonos buying Snips and the positive track record of their partner IKEA in smart home products, everything seems to be in place for seeing the first responsible speakers for the masses in 2020/2021. We at ThingsCon hope to welcome them back to one of our events when that happens, but will be following […]
The Low Carbon Design Institute launches in pilot form
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino is launching a pilot design programme based on mitigation of climate change – and is looking for applications. [via Imperica]http://designswarm.com/blog/2019/12/low-carbon-design-institute-ideas-for-a-net-zero-compliant-design-education/
The Nabaztag is alive again!
At the time of last year’s ThingsCon Salon on resurrecting IoT darlings, Olivier Mével and team had just announced their crowdfunding campaign. With the funding done, they have now released a kit to breathe new life into an IoT classic. A strong sign which shows that an IoT product does not need to be bricked by default when the […]