Enchanted Objects: Designing the Smart Future
David Rose begins Enchanted Objects by describing a personal nightmare depicting a technologically flawed future in which humans have designed for themselves. This nightmare future carries one major theme- a black, glass screen that controls all of our lives. Everyday objects have been enveloped and eaten up by a touch-screen that shows empty gray space when turned off, and when turned on takes on the forms and shapes of the objects that we rely on everyday for typical projects and tasks through digital impersonations. Digital, impersonal, and un-magical. This is the antithesis to Rose’s idea of where technology should and needs to take humanity in order to compliment rather than ignore our humanness.
Rose delves into perhaps the most important philosophical question of the current time. How are we going to design technology for us and how are these strategies/technologies going to impact ourselves, our cultures, and our world? In terms of where technology was and where it is going, this current period of time is the cusp, the turning point. Each tomorrow brings a new idea, a new mode, medium, screen, resolution, etc. Exciting? Absolutely. Moral obligations? Well, our fate relies upon such ethical analyzing. To me, these questions are in need of urgent attention.
In my mind, our time right now is the “bridge”. At this time in human history, we can see the other side- the land, trees, rocks, mountains, animals. Never before has that land been recognized. And than we saw it, out of the clouds it appeared. A new land, a glorious and modern manifest destiny for humankind. But how do we get there? This is the question that I believe Rose is investigating, dreaming up designs for, and asking us to ask ourselves. How do we bridge this land we’ve grown up in, keep it safe, all while accessing and cultivating that new land on the other side?
This is where Rose assures humanity has not lost it’s authenticity and has hope of keeping it while in this confusing and dazzling cusp of extreme technological advancement. His solution being enchanted objects. In short, the idea of enchanted objects is using the same model of interaction between humans and everyday tools that we love and simply adding magic to them. Rose further describes this idea by using the fictional objects that have captivated the minds and imaginations of audiences through the stories we love. For example, Aladdin’s magic carpet, J.K Rowling’s Weasley Clock in Harry Potter that displays where each member of the family is rather than tells time, Tolkien’s creation of Bilbo’s sword that glows blue upon sensing the presence of Orcs, Pullman’s Golden Compass that reveals the truth, this fictional list goes on.
Rose dreams of a future in which we capitalize on enchanting our everyday objects by using there current charm and sentiment while inviting them into the fantastical by using technology and the Internet of things. For example, how about a “magic mirror”. One that can identify the person in the mirror upon recognition, display body mass index, take and keep past photos of certain outfits, hairstyles, or physical states, and can display them back to you on demand. Record and display video for dancers allowing them to re-watch their choreography instantly and without a computer. It can Facetime with other mirrors, call throughout the house, answer the doorbell, the ideas can continue to snowball. This is a re-imagining and enchantment of an already amazing object. It does not corrupt it’s nature or current way of interaction with a human, all it does is further that interaction and potentials that the object can do for the human. This is Rose’s idea of enchantment, and his suggestion into a technologically infused future rather than a technologically dominated future.
Rose lays out six human motivators that product designer and technological strategists need to be attentive to in creating products of the future. The six motivators are: omniscience, telepathy, safekeeping, immortality, teleportation, and expression. Upon satisfying one or more of these key motivators, an enchanted object is able to begin adding magic to everyday life.
“Omniscience being the desire to have great knowledge beyond facts and information such as future-telling.”
“Telepathy being the easy and rich mode of communication between people, even separated by distance.”
“Safekeeping being the desire to be protected from harm.” (Think Bilbo’s light-up sword)
“Immortality being the desire to stay healthy, strong, and sustaining vital capability.”
“Teleportation being ease of great transportation, unconstrained by physical boundaries.”
“Expression being the ability to fully express ourselves through all of our forms and media.”
(Rose, 66–67)
Currently, technology interacts with us primarily through screens. To Rose, this is a cheap solution for creative strategies that utilize technology and the Internet for everyday interactions and problems. This conviction is true in many ways, objects lose their character and charm in digital form, screens demand our attention and pull us away from physical interactions spewing mostly worthless and distracting information. Halfway through the book, I can notice a change in the way I think about technology, everyday problems and the possibilities for so much more. What it all comes down to is the question that I believe Rose is inviting us to ask ourselves and each other, where do we want technology to take us and how do we want it to impact our world?
Rose, D. (2014). Enchanted objects: Design, Human Desire, and the Internet of things. (pgs. 66–67) New York, NY: Scribner.
