Growing Together
Pathways to Green Personalisation: Thinking, Learning, and Doing
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Iryna Kuksa
Personalisation is essentially concerned with individual rather than community life. It is an emancipatory response to the standardisation imposed by the industrial revolution and, particularly in western culture, is understood to be the central route to a good life. Nowadays, digital personalisation is purposefully designed to influence consumer choices and is a key contributor to driving consumption to the point of destroying our environment and creating extreme inequalities across society. Even as many citizens are beginning to recognise the collective damage caused by overconsumption, as individuals, consumers find it difficult to resist the lure of personalisation and, as a result, consume more. In this paper, I discuss what transformations in education, design practice and economic management would be helpful to move away from current pervasive throwaway culture. This culture is facilitated by digital personalisation, therefore we urgently need to dissect this phenomenon to understand the technological and social structures behind its success in influencing unsustainable consumer behaviour. Designers need to think about reversing the machine of personalisation, so it serves the society and not only individual businesses.
Design for Social and Public Sector Innovation View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kunica Khosla
Indian society is pluralistic, characterised by a complex social structure with numerous ethnic, linguistic, religious, and caste divisions. It encompasses people living in rural, urban, and tribal areas, all reflecting the essence of Indianness. The recreation and customisation initiatives transform lives through education and livelihood programs. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative research. It explores how innovations in social and public transformation impact communities and stakeholders, identifying trends and patterns in these impacts. Effective application of design thinking principles leads to more user-centric innovation. Customization further enhances innovations by incorporating learning and implementing the final outcomes. The study aims to understand the diverse impacts of social and public transformation initiatives on communities and stakeholders. It examines how these initiatives address the needs and challenges faced by different segments of society, contributing to inclusive development and empowerment. By analyzing trends and patterns, the study identifies best practices and strategies for driving impactful and sustainable transformations in Indian society.
Artificial Intelligence and Hyperreality: Redefining Spatial Perception in Cinematic Dystopias
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Meltem Eranıl
This research investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are reshaping our perception of space, both in the real world and in the hyperreal environments that blur the lines between reality and simulation. As AI advances, concepts like simulations, virtual realities, and hyperreality are becoming more integral to how we experience and interact with our surroundings. By examining these ideas through the lens of Baudrillard’s theory of "Simulacra and Simulation," the study looks at how AI-driven technologies create new, hyperreal environments that challenge our traditional understanding of physical space. To explore these ideas in a more tangible way, the research analyzes the dystopian film "The Divergent" (2014), focusing on how it portrays both real and hyperreal spaces and how these spaces relate to the film’s social structures and faction identities. Using Baudrillard’s theory alongside Montgomery’s "Sense of Place Model," the study investigates how the environments of the two main factions, Dauntless and Abnegation, shape the experiences of the characters within those spaces. By focusing on this cinematic example, the research highlights how AI and hyperreality are not just theoretical concepts but are actively transforming how we perceive space and, ultimately, ourselves.
