Futures: Up Late 2024, was a coming together of the Centre for Sociodigital Futures (CenSoF), MyWorld and the Bristol Vision Institute (BVI) on the SS Great Britain. We demonstrated at the event lots of different types of technologies to stimulate an open conversation about the future use of them, from Virtual Reality to real-time emotion detection technology. With this latter technology Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer vision can be used to not only identify faces but claims to read your emotions too. But how reliable is it? And what ethical issues arise when AI is used to detect our feelings?
How is the Port of Dover preparing for the EU’s Entry/Exit System on a road network serving the UK’s busiest port?
By CenSoF’s Moving Domain Team and Nicholas Ward, Funding and Partnership Development Executive, Port of Dover
In October 2024 the European Union (EU) plans to implement its Entry/Exit System (EES). The world’s richest countries are moving away from physical passports and visas, and towards a fully digital record of immigration status and history. EES is part of this strategy but, without an upstream technological solution, challenges have been raised as to how this will be carried out in practice by the EU in a way that does not impede the vital flow of people and goods on Kent’s motorways? And how is the Port managing the traffic already flowing into Dover? (more…)
Neptune Frost – futures speculations for community technology
By Matt Dowse
Here at the Centre for Sociodigital Futures we’ve convened a speculative fiction reading group about Community Technology with friends outside the university that we know are practicing Community Technology and co-creators from the Centre for Creative Technology. We’ve worked in various ways to come together to experiment with ideas about community/technology/and community technology. All of these ideas are feeding into the research that we are doing and are planning to do in the future. Through the reading group we have engaged with Octavia Butler Octavia E Butler: Visionary black sci-fi writer – BBC World Service, Witness History (youtube.com), Adrienne Maree Brown adrienne maree brown – awe. liberation. pleasure. , and Mother Cyborg About — MOTHER CYBORG so far. Watching Neptune Frost was the group’s first exploration in to film.
Why do a research visit?
By Judith Nyfeler
Between February and April 2024 I spent time as a visitor to the Centre for Sociodigital Futures at the University of Bristol. I had visited Bristol before and also one of my co-authors was based within the Centre. I was glad to have this opportunity to live and work in this colourful city in southwest England. And also, to have the privilege to take my family with me for a certain time. During my stay, I learned a lot about the benefits of such a trip. I will now share eight reasons why working abroad can be fruitful and beneficial.
Virtual reality requires body and consciousness
By Priscila Gonsales
One of the challenges for those who research education based on the perspective of post-humanism is to disseminate the idea that digital technology, increasingly embedded in social life, cannot be deemed a mere tool-object to be appropriated by the human being-subject. Katherine Hayles’ post-humanist perspective focuses on the interactions between human beings and technologies (between body and information). These make it possible to understand tangled networks in constant construction and reconstruction in the sociodigital context. (more…)
Exploring river futures
It’s a cold day in February and we’re here on the banks of the river Avon in Bristol thinking about all the different ways it’s possible to know a river.
With us is a group of interdisciplinary academics, artists, environmental professionals and community organisations. We’ve come together through a project exploring river futures. Over the next few hours we’ll be experimenting with different methods to understand the river in new ways.
Speculative fiction for researching the future
By Ash Watson
How we imagine the future has impacts on our everyday lives and societies. To research these impacts, we need to grapple with speculation, uncertainty and multiple possibilities. How can we study people’s imaginations and the effects of things that haven’t happened yet? One avenue involves taking seriously speculative fiction. (more…)
Exploring the sociodigital dimensions of automated decision-making
By Francesco Amato
Have you ever wondered about the social implications of automated decision-making systems?
In recent years, automated decision-making systems powered by artificial intelligence have become increasingly widespread. These systems have the power to make choices that affect various aspects of our lives, from job applications to loan approvals. It is therefore essential to examine and evaluate their social impact to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability. (more…)
The benefits of joining a reading group
by Aline Stehrenberger
Inspiration comes in many forms, but few things are as motivating and heartening as taking time to discuss a text with colleagues. In academic life, where we often find ourselves working alone, reading groups are an easy way to join a community.
Participatory Futuring: Why futures matter in times of uncertainty
by Helen Manchester
In early November I had the pleasure of presenting at the national Locality Convention. Locality, one of the Centre’s strategic partners, is a member organisation with over 1500 members, many of them community anchor organisations who work with minoritised communities across the UK.
I had the pleasure of presenting alongside inspiring speakers LaKisha Williams, David Nugent, Afka Ray and Makala Cheung.
Through my research I come in to contact with many community-sector leaders. When I ask them about how they feel about the future they tell me they work in the immediate present, reactive to the communities that they serve in real time, dealing with complex issues immediately – not 6 or even 3 months down the line.
So why do we, in the Centre for Sociodigital Futures, think futures matter? (more…)