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Future of Technology Conference

September 23, 2010
Wifi camera lg
Wifi Camera Obscura by Adam Somlai-Fischer, Bengt Sjölén & Usman Haque 

Assistant Professor John Marshall is presenting at the Future of Technology Conference on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. with opening remarks on Smart Technology. This segment of the conference explores the future of smart technology from infrastructure to applications and the implications of our dependence on them.

Future of Technology
Friday, September 24, 2010 1:30 PM — 6:00 PM
Saturday, September 25, 2010 10:00 AM — 4:00 PM
Rackham Auditorium
915 East Washington Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 

The conference is organized into four sets of presentations, followed by conversations between the speakers.
Full conference information and presenter bios can be found at: http://​taub​man​col​lege​.umich​.edu/​n​e​w​s​_​a​n​d​_​e​v​e​n​t​s​/​e​v​e​n​t​s​/​s​p​e​c​i​a​l​_​e​v​e​n​t​s​/​f​u​t​u​r​e​o​f​t​e​c​h​n​o​logy/

Friday, 1:30pm

1. Digital Publics
Sheila Kennedy
Ashley Schafer
Mark Burry
Robert Middlebrooks
Jeffrey MacKie-Mason
Usman Haque
Heather Roberge

2. Technology of Empowerment
Leah Buechley
Michael Cadwell
Walter Hood
Liat Margolis
Eric Sheppard
Amos Winter

Saturday 10:00 am

Opening Remarks: John Marshall (A&D, Taubman College)

3. Smart Technology
A summary of the issues: For decades science fiction has explored scenarios in which computers become smart, or too smart, and attempt to take over the world. Early examples are portrayed with a central and singularly intelligent object driven by ominous ambitions. More contemporary fictions seem to favor an emergent, pack mentality where numerous, semi-intelligent agents are able to pool their collective consciousness. This shift from singular to ubiquitous is affecting emerging practices in interactive spatial design and as a result transforming the built environment. The proliferation of distributed sensing, computation, actuation and related wireless technologies have enabled new forms of public space, social interaction and cultural expression. As more networked computing gets embedded into physical objects around us, public spaces are beginning to respond, slowly gaining consciousness. This condition breaks all conceptions of the static built environment and replaces it with notions of reflexive structures able to evolve and respond intelligently to their particular circumstances. At the same time it can be argued that this produces a world run by systems that know us as purely statistical patterns and use simple rules to manage us. This segment of the conference explores the future of smart technology from infrastructure to applications and the implications of our dependence on them.

Bruce Sterling
MIchelle Addington — SmartSurfaces guest last year — video: http://​www​.smart​sur​faces​.net/​f​a​l​l​2​0​0​9​_​t​ask6b
Keith Besserud
Julian Bleecker — SmartSurfaces guest last year — video: http://​www​.smart​sur​faces​.net/​f​a​l​l​2​0​0​9​_​task6
Andrew Borgart
Anna Dyson
Craig Scott

Conversation Moderated by Karl Daubmann (Taubman College, A&D).

4. Nature of Technology
Michael Batty
Hernan Diaz-Alonso
Evan Douglis
Marc Fornes
Axel Kilian
Sean Lally
Vernon Mays