Week 02: Choosing what to research

from Inspiration to Questions

So, I feel like many of what I find “inspiring” still falls into a technology category, which makes it vague rather than specific. So I’m going to do even more research to find concrete examples of projects or companies that fit these categories. (note: I explored the websites mentioned, but found most of the examples as works of art , and not representing the type of outcome that I have in mind…)

Here’s a list of the main categories that I find inspiring so far and why:

Sustainability

  • Food production & distribution:

    • Urban Farming

    • vertical farming

    • Green roofs

    • Decentralized food production and local food distribution

    • Singapore airport (Singapore in general)

WHY: I care about this topic because I believe that the current food production and system is not efficient and results in the destruction of our environment and natural resources. The lack of a circular system also results in large scale food waste in some areas while there’s shortage in others.

  • Alternative economic systems:

    • Circular economy

    • Social democracy

    • Blockchain

    WHY: Current economic models are failing and we need to adapt and create new models that can address population growth, globalization and exponential growth in technology.

  • Veganism:

    • plant-based food production

    • vegan material

    • transition from animal farming

WHY: Veganism is one of the most effective ways to combat climate change. I’m specifically interested in ways to make transitioning to a vegan lifestyle easier, convenient and more sustainable for people.

Future machine-human interfaces

  • Bio, Neuro and Nano technologies:

    • Neuralink

    • David Eagleman Vest

    • DNA

    • psychedelics: DMT

  • Deep Learning:

    • AI generated content

  • Immersive experiences:

    • Multi-sensory interfaces

    • Extended reality: AR/VR/MR

    • Atelier Lumieres

WHY: I’m interested in exploring new ways that humans can interact with machines and the digital world. I find that current interfaces are not designed to facilitate the most natural and user-friendly experience, and I believe that the key to solving this problem may lie in creating bio-mechanic interfaces.

Questions:

  1. How can we create urban/local food production and distribution systems that are more efficient and executable than the current commercial system?

  2. Can blockchain and deep learning help us create an alternative economic system?

  3. How can we make veganism more appealing? (through developing high quality vegan products)

  4. How can we utilize deep learning to create personalized user interface and content?

  5. Can we create a bio HCI, by encoding information in DNA, inspired by how information is stored and transmitted via DNA in psychedelics such as mushrooms and DMT?

Mapping my topic

Sustainability

Topic 1:

My area is sustainability

My topic is urban farming technologies

If I could condense my thinking into one word it would be restructuring.

Topic 2:

My area is future interfaces
My topic is …
If I could condense my thinking into one word it would be …

Reflection on the Craft of Research

I found the book extremely helpful, and the biggest takeaway for me was that the research problem should be one that my readers find is worth answering. At first I was critical of this, because I believed that I needed to choose a research topic and problem that I was passionate about, but I see why the problem I choose needs to be seen as a problem by my audience, and I believe framing the problem is key to achieving that objective.

I applied the process of choosing what to research to my areas of interest:

1.Interests: sustainability, future interfaces

2.Topics: urban farming systems, local food production and distribution, vegan material design, bio-mechanical interfaces, information encoding and decoding in DNA, communication through psychedelics

Sara Nejad