Future prototypes – when the future visits the present

The project is about creating future prototypes. Future prototypes are objects from the future, visiting the present, which aim to create thoughts, feelings and discussion about what kind of society we want in the future and how we best get there.

The call for proposals closed in March 2022. The prototypes will be designed by creators and will be developed and placed in relevant environments - to experience, think about and discuss by autumn 2022.

The work with speculative design and future prototypes will become tools for making conscious decisions that contribute to a sustainable transition. We see the tools as an opportunity to find new ways to visualize and invite the public to shape the Sweden we want.

The road to a future prototype

A future prototype starts with understanding where we are going. By analyzing the environment, we try to understand what it can say about the future. This can be done, for example, through interviews, data analysis and/or workshops. By talking to people from different backgrounds, environments and who are active in different contexts, we get a broader and more objective picture of the future – and can pick up on so-called weak signals.

I Vinnovas effort also conducts interviews with leading thinkers in various fields to gain an understanding of their perspectives. Together with creators, physical prototypes are built that can visualize designed products from the future. The path to future prototype is called speculative design and is a way to help us think more long-term, include more perspectives, question our own truths and together shape new processes for decision-making.

During the work we are coached by Elliot Montogomery, a teacher at Parsons School of Design and also founder of Parsons School, one of the world's leading organizations in speculative design.