Lu The Biosensorist
GUIDING QUESTION ─
How should we govern our natural resources?
Through a protopian speculative system for government accountability and transparency run on the blockchain.
SKILLS ─
Foresight
Social Organization
Design Strategy
Design Research
Speculative Design
Systems Thinking
Brand Identity
Storytelling
Figma
Process
Understand
GLOBAL TRENDS
In our present day, we experience daily effects of converging issues from different silos. What if technology could help rebalance our social systems?
In our present day, we experience daily effects of converging issues from different silos. What if technology could help rebalance our social systems?
The Futures School - Wicked Opportunities Card Deck
Affinity Mapping
Contextual
Research
The investigation began with exhaustive research of blockchain, bitcoin and artificial intelligence. I interviewed cryptocurrency day trader and blockchain aficionado, Larry Zagorsky to find out the nuances of the blockchain system. I was interested in questions such as:
“Who created and funded it’s development?”
“Why does the creator remain anonymous?”
“Who will have access to blockchain?”
“How will blockchain change our societal values?”
“Who will benefit and who will be disadvantaged?”
“Who created and funded it’s development?”
“Why does the creator remain anonymous?”
“Who will have access to blockchain?”
“How will blockchain change our societal values?”
“Who will benefit and who will be disadvantaged?”
Define
SCENARIO GENERATION SKETCHING
As a protoyping activity, I generated a series of three short stories using the desk research, interviews, post-it note mapping. Some narratives are more hopeful, or utopic, some that begin doomful but striving for protopia.
“I think a better vision of where to aim our efforts is what I call Protopia, which is this idea that we’re just trying to progress, to move forward in incremental, tiny improvements. And that minor improvement every year, when it’s compounded over decades or centuries becomes civilizations.”
- Kevin Kelly
As a protoyping activity, I generated a series of three short stories using the desk research, interviews, post-it note mapping. Some narratives are more hopeful, or utopic, some that begin doomful but striving for protopia.
“I think a better vision of where to aim our efforts is what I call Protopia, which is this idea that we’re just trying to progress, to move forward in incremental, tiny improvements. And that minor improvement every year, when it’s compounded over decades or centuries becomes civilizations.”
- Kevin Kelly
Speculative Design Fiction
GUIDING QUESTION
How should we govern our natural resources?
How should we govern our natural resources?
Prototype + Test
SENSOR DEVELOPMENT
I began prototyping the physical device and collaging imagined installation locations from local and macro levels.
I began prototyping the physical device and collaging imagined installation locations from local and macro levels.
Refine
Below is a prototype of the environmental sensor in an adhensive flexible biosilicone. The final device would use a miniature Raspberry Pi electrical breadboard for tracking the data and AI integration.
Employee Archetype
Development
WORLDBUILDING
Lu is a Biosensorist gig worker at Sphere Solutions, a technology management corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. Sphere Solutions was developed throughout the social unrest in the year 2020. When the American ‘checks and balances’ system failed, natural resource depletion was at an all time high, and riots were common. At the peak of this social unrest on January 11, 2020 the US dollar collapsed as the World’s reserve currency, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Many foreign governments and corporations needed dollars to finance trade, and the pandemic fueled massive demand for US currency as investors exited markets and seek fixed assets. As a result, the global economy is effectively net short dollars. In response to that demand, the US over issued dollars. But once the crisis passed, and demand dropped, the value of the dollar was not sustained. This paradigm shift led to the rise of cryptocurrency becoming the reserve currency and extinguished fiat money.
This is where Sphere Solutions comes in. During a time when many saw a dismal future, they saw a business opportunity.
Sphere Solutions installs and manages the environmental sensors that are placed on public areas, such as trees. These sensors measure climate change indicators - carbon dioxide, temperature, and rainfall. The data collected is directly uploaded to the blockchain.
Lu is a Biosensorist gig worker at Sphere Solutions, a technology management corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. Sphere Solutions was developed throughout the social unrest in the year 2020. When the American ‘checks and balances’ system failed, natural resource depletion was at an all time high, and riots were common. At the peak of this social unrest on January 11, 2020 the US dollar collapsed as the World’s reserve currency, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Many foreign governments and corporations needed dollars to finance trade, and the pandemic fueled massive demand for US currency as investors exited markets and seek fixed assets. As a result, the global economy is effectively net short dollars. In response to that demand, the US over issued dollars. But once the crisis passed, and demand dropped, the value of the dollar was not sustained. This paradigm shift led to the rise of cryptocurrency becoming the reserve currency and extinguished fiat money.
This is where Sphere Solutions comes in. During a time when many saw a dismal future, they saw a business opportunity.
Sphere Solutions installs and manages the environmental sensors that are placed on public areas, such as trees. These sensors measure climate change indicators - carbon dioxide, temperature, and rainfall. The data collected is directly uploaded to the blockchain.
UIUX Mockup
The Sphere Solutions app was designed for the Biosensorist team to locate, install and track the sensors and data.
