Tobias Revell https://www.tobiasrevell.com Tobias Revell Thu, 02 Nov 2023 08:52:54 +0000 https://www.tobiasrevell.com en Broadcast From Later 50 — 10.2023 https://tobiasrevell.com/Broadcast-From-Later-50-10-2023 Thu, 02 Nov 2023 08:52:54 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/Broadcast-From-Later-50-10-2023 <img width="0" height="0" width_o="0" height_o="0" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i//IMG_5674.png" data-mid="195633631" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/0/i//IMG_5674.png" /> Broadcast From Later 50&nbsp;Back again with From Later to talk about recent energy and carbon capture solutions that have been celebrated for using ‘ancient’ materials and processes. Why is this particualr narrative so favourable to these new and quite advanced technologies? &nbsp; Rise of the Robots — Crafts Magazine — 10.2023 https://tobiasrevell.com/Rise-of-the-Robots-Crafts-Magazine-10-2023 Thu, 19 Oct 2023 07:03:16 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/Rise-of-the-Robots-Crafts-Magazine-10-2023 <img width="0" height="0" width_o="0" height_o="0" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i//IMG_5674.png" data-mid="194175810" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/0/i//IMG_5674.png" /> <img width="3535" height="2862" width_o="3535" height_o="2862" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9d514b3cf284cdc7ed6d29061b02113aacd02e16f66d8165a44de315c2e042e/Spread.jpg" data-mid="194175835" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e9d514b3cf284cdc7ed6d29061b02113aacd02e16f66d8165a44de315c2e042e/Spread.jpg" /> Rise of the Robots - Crafts Magazine Fall/Winter 2023 Short article on so-called Artificial Intelligence and creativity for Crafts magazine. &nbsp; In his 1994 article The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of Technology, social anthropologist Alfred Gell suggests that the power of great objects of human art, craft and ingenuity lies in their technical accomplishment. The profound spiritual resonance of great religious artworks, for example, is a result of them being incredible human achievements that the viewer might struggle to comprehend and so attribute to divine forces, just as the astonishing skill of a glassmaker, woodcarver, a potter or embroiderer might appear to be supernatural. A similar process has been well documented when it comes to artificial intelligence and predictive systems: the apparently superhuman virtuosity of machines when playing ‘complex’ games such as chess or ‘Go’, or when recognising images and interacting with humans, imbues them with seemingly superhuman prowess. This is often exploited by tech companies, which draw on magical or mystical terminology in describing how they work. This is, perhaps, why engineers and tech companies are attracted to art: it allows them to activate enchantment as a way of demonstrating the power of AI. As Gell identified: if machines can make great art or craft they must surely meet, if not exceed, the human.&nbsp; &nbsp; #NextBilionUsers, Comuzi — 08.2023 https://tobiasrevell.com/NextBilionUsers-Comuzi-08-2023 Sat, 14 Oct 2023 09:15:35 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/NextBilionUsers-Comuzi-08-2023 #NextBillionUser, ComuziJoining Lex Fefegha from Comuzi to discuss AI, design, research and futures.&nbsp; Design Futures Seminar, CIFS — 05.2023 https://tobiasrevell.com/Design-Futures-Seminar-CIFS-05-2023 Sat, 14 Oct 2023 09:04:48 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/Design-Futures-Seminar-CIFS-05-2023 Design Futures Seminar, The Copenhagen Institute of Futures StudiesIt might come as a surprise for some, but designers and futurists have a great deal in common. The understanding that the respective fields have much to offer in bringing about much-needed change in the world is emerging across the disciplines. Even more so together. In this Futures Seminar, we explore how design plays a role in imagining and creating extraordinary images of tomorrow and urgent examinations of our present. Design Futures and Speculative Design are exciting and constantly evolving disciplines within the broader field of futures. A practice where we move from imagining and designing for how the world is to how the world could be. To dive into the concept of Design Futures and how we through futures and design can explore new imaginaries and alternatives for the 21st century, our own Lovisa Volmarsson, Advisor &amp; Futurist, will be joined by two exciting experts: Tobias Revell, Design Futures Lead, ArupPhil Balagtas, Design Director, Habitat Join us for an exploration into the world of design futures and speculative design and imaginations of everyday life to speculative worlds of tomorrow. The Future Prompt / The Peten Pioticurt Peatean Lend — 04.2023 https://tobiasrevell.com/The-Future-Prompt-The-Peten-Pioticurt-Peatean-Lend-04-2023 Tue, 30 May 2023 05:36:15 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/The-Future-Prompt-The-Peten-Pioticurt-Peatean-Lend-04-2023 <img width="0" height="0" width_o="0" height_o="0" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i//IMG_5674.png" data-mid="180370190" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/0/i//IMG_5674.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e7b8474601970ead0be9ef8bb2c9521b6fd427e2773aa14b21a42f53c1ccdcf8/2.png" data-mid="180370346" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e7b8474601970ead0be9ef8bb2c9521b6fd427e2773aa14b21a42f53c1ccdcf8/2.png" /> The Future Prompt / The Peten Pioticurt Peatean LendPanel hosted by Speculative Futures Milan and Domus Academy for Milan Ddesign Week 2023 on the future of design and AI. Featuring Alexandra Mihai, Viraj Joshi, Simone Rebaudengo and myself. We were each asked to prepare a scenario instead of doing a presentation. Mine involved a fictional future critical design movement that emerges in response to generative AI tools and their manifesto. Text below. A full writeup from Speculative Futures Milan is here.&nbsp;Opening remarks at the 14th Annual AutonoDesign Conference, 2036 Milan, Italy Thank you, it’s fantastic to be here with my esteemed colleagues you celebrating and reflecting on the tenth anniversary of the The Peten Pioticurt Peatean Lend. From where we are now, a decade on, we are afforded the privilege to more fully understand what it was and how it (or they) mark a break between the instrumental design practices of the pre-2030s and the current landscape. Before we begin with the panel’s presentation, I feel a critical retrospective of that history is important. The late 2020s saw the continued encroachment of so-called AI systems — broken, janky, fractious things — representative of the state of industry and capital; intentionally hobbling and fragmenting the design ecology to drive competition and profitability. A world of competing systems and governance structures, universities and representative bodies unable, or unwilling, to tackle the fire across industry and academia. The lack of regulation meant output data was re-fed into models and, like a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy, the human aesthetic world flattened as it became more targeted. For instance, the claim to serve bespoke, individual websites to users based on their browser history seemed like a great opportunity but when the profit motive acted to drive down choice and force behaviours they became variations of peronsalised traps — not serving the needs of users but the desires of exploitative business who could build the personal torture chambers of millions of people: When you know the preferences and needs of users in such detail and can craft the ideal, personal experience for them using so-called AI it was naive to assume this would make the Internet better rather than driving even more bespoke targeted advertising and exploitation. In response, a proto-synthetic aesthetic style emerges; embracing flatness and uniformity. A ‘post-normcore blandcore’; attempting to remove all design or creative input at all as a critique of the very end of design. This ‘Cagian’ approach stood in opposition to the so-called ‘democratisation’ of design as monopolisation. After all, though ‘democratisation’ rhymes with ‘democracy’ it was an excuse for AI companies, touting accessibility and inclusivity to reap enormous profits by ‘enabling the creativity’ of everyone. The world flooded with insubstantial, unverifiable, authorless, contextless media and design. As a result, the nihilism towards the creative and critical practice of Silicon Valley — long evidenced through the obsession with automating art, writing, poetry and film — came to a head. People claiming to be ‘designers’ were ridiculed with the same hysteria as people who referred to ‘the digital’ in the early 2020s The Jevons paradox of design — the complexity of hyper-personalisation increased to a rate where no-one could anymore decipher how anything was built or redesign or control it. A full acclerationism of aesthetics, production, engineering and technology interaction beyond human meaning. Late in 2034 is when we can trace the last patent to. It was accepted by the US Patent Office on November 11 2034 and to many, marks the end of intellectual property as a concept. After year in which design bots and nefarious state actors paired up with IP trolls to bombard parent office systems with automated designs, the pseudo-industry and regulation system itself collapsed. The last one: The Peten Pioticurt Peatean Lend was probably ignored by the frustrated parent officers in the same way as all the other generated synthetic content dripping the design economy but we can now look back and recognise its significance. Taking inspiration from this, and (we assume) in despair at the state of design, the eponymously named The Peten Pioticurt Peatean Lend appears. Scholars debate whether it is a person, a group, even a bot and as we now know that was never the question. And so to our present day, this conference and the presentations we are about to hear. Before we begin, let’s recall the manifesto: <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e118698b2057621f0dae28fd145fbe8895765f1fda57b75162af060c76068d48/3.png" data-mid="180370347" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e118698b2057621f0dae28fd145fbe8895765f1fda57b75162af060c76068d48/3.png" /> &nbsp; Service Design Network YAP - 05.2023 https://tobiasrevell.com/Service-Design-Network-YAP-05-2023 Wed, 10 May 2023 02:38:37 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/Service-Design-Network-YAP-05-2023 <img width="0" height="0" width_o="0" height_o="0" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i//IMG_5674.png" data-mid="178274893" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/0/i//IMG_5674.png" /> Service Design Network YAP&nbsp;Guest on the innaugural Service Desin Network YAP podcast, talking about design, futures and becoming a designer in industry.&nbsp; &nbsp; Broadcast From Later 43 — 04.2023 https://tobiasrevell.com/Broadcast-From-Later-43-04-2023 Sat, 22 Apr 2023 14:16:12 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/Broadcast-From-Later-43-04-2023 <img width="0" height="0" width_o="0" height_o="0" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i//IMG_5674.png" data-mid="176249808" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/0/i//IMG_5674.png" /> Broadcast From Later 43&nbsp;Back again with From Later to talk about using generative AI models in the name of ‘diversity.’ Alongside Viraj Joshi, Sydney Allen Ash and Rob Bolton hosting as always. I didn’t have much time to find this one. &nbsp; &nbsp; Foreword — Computer Generated — 02.2023 https://tobiasrevell.com/Foreword-Computer-Generated-02-2023 Tue, 21 Feb 2023 08:52:37 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/Foreword-Computer-Generated-02-2023 <img width="0" height="0" width_o="0" height_o="0" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i//IMG_5674.png" data-mid="169141707" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/0/i//IMG_5674.png" /><img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ffe038204ee821ebc5a10c82d9d9346abb6f3459ea62fbb8b9350224567771f8/IMG_4889.jpeg" data-mid="169141868" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ffe038204ee821ebc5a10c82d9d9346abb6f3459ea62fbb8b9350224567771f8/IMG_4889.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4f5f7baef4f017b8a2d315acb5f0eb4ff420c108e4d6749cb0ce66952247aa62/IMG_4887.jpeg" data-mid="169141870" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4f5f7baef4f017b8a2d315acb5f0eb4ff420c108e4d6749cb0ce66952247aa62/IMG_4887.jpeg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/55c17b26126d177ec2da8ac0e656bdd0d47042a21c4aaca75a4eb752a668b323/IMG_4888.jpeg" data-mid="169141869" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/55c17b26126d177ec2da8ac0e656bdd0d47042a21c4aaca75a4eb752a668b323/IMG_4888.jpeg" /> Foreword for Computer Generated Foreword for Computer Generated on Gingko Press, edited by Kyle Goodrich, a compendium of CGI art. I wrote about the history and current context of computer graphics art.&nbsp; Computers were never intended to have a visual output. After all, why would a calculating machine need to show us anything that it couldn’t print? The first computer graphics were developed as a storage medium rather than as a display or interface. In 1947, Tom Kilburn and Frederic Williams demonstrated the ‘Williams-Kilburn tube,’ an early Cathode Ray Tube which was intended as a form of computer memory. Electrons fired from the CRT’s electron gun would stick to the phosphor coating of the tube, causing charge to build up – a side effect of this was that when charged, the phosphor glowed. When arranged in a grid, charged and non-charged spots could be used as a form of binary memory; 1 for charged and 0 for uncharged. The side-effect of this interaction is that areas where charge had developed would emit light.&nbsp; Scientists would playfully demonstrate the potential of CRT memory storage system by spelling out words and names in the grid of memory blocks and although it was many years before the concept of computer visualisation was pursued with any significant funding, the CRT went on to be the first popular monitor for computers. Importantly, we can take from this a basic concept; computer graphics exist first as data and are only secondarily transposed into images. Computer graphics are visualisations of data: At their most basic, the systems of coordinates, vectors and faces that describe geometry, shaped by the sculpting of the artist or input data and the physical interactions that might be simulated. Then ray tracing algorithms activate shader data to dictate the hue, saturation and value of pixels displayed to the artist or viewer: A quiet sequence of algorithms turning the omnipotent data-space of the CGI world into a flattened image for humans. &nbsp; &nbsp; Speculations on The Future Design School Structure — Introduction to Design Education — 12.2022 https://tobiasrevell.com/Speculations-on-The-Future-Design-School-Structure-Introduction-to Sat, 03 Dec 2022 14:49:40 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/Speculations-on-The-Future-Design-School-Structure-Introduction-to <img width="0" height="0" width_o="0" height_o="0" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i//IMG_5674.png" data-mid="160897533" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/0/i//IMG_5674.png" /><img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/020d596afbaeb82e111ee617fbea0e8219d29bb66e2cb232064c15166335e2de/IMG_3636.jpeg" data-mid="160897642" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/020d596afbaeb82e111ee617fbea0e8219d29bb66e2cb232064c15166335e2de/IMG_3636.jpeg" /><img width="3862" height="2896" width_o="3862" height_o="2896" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2bdecb0cc316e4f74c2199b63ad1280b66c26c92ca45d7199c5eb5cfcd3faeb9/IMG_3637.jpeg" data-mid="160897641" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2bdecb0cc316e4f74c2199b63ad1280b66c26c92ca45d7199c5eb5cfcd3faeb9/IMG_3637.jpeg" /> Speculations on the Future Design School Structure Chapter written with Ben Stopher exploring four potential future scenarios for the design school of the future and the studio. The pieces explore contemporary thinking on automation and data-driven processes in education, immersive environments and radical alternative modles including pop-up schools and decentralisation. The chapter is part of Stephen Faerm’s Introduction to Design Education; Theory, Research, and Practical Applications for Educators.&nbsp; &nbsp; Broadcast From Later 38 — 11.2022 https://tobiasrevell.com/Broadcast-From-Later-38-11-2022 Wed, 09 Nov 2022 11:07:40 +0000 Tobias Revell https://tobiasrevell.com/Broadcast-From-Later-38-11-2022 <img width="0" height="0" width_o="0" height_o="0" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i//IMG_5674.png" data-mid="158468547" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/0/i//IMG_5674.png" /> Broadcast From Later 38 - Project Shasta, Breeze Punk, NPC RoleplayInvited to join friends Radha Mistry and Rob Bolton along with Valdis Silins to talk about future trends and signals where I talked about what minituarised wind turbines might mean for the future of green energy and the city: #breezepunk.&nbsp; &nbsp;