(@mmonaa)

If ubicomp ever came into play in a prototypical form, it would in the Minority Report, specifically the scene in the video above and in which Tom Cruise’s character Inspector John Anderton manipulates a database of sound and images that are from the near future.

In the above mentioned scenes the audience witnesses the marriage of science fiction and science fact in the context of technology. The notion that science fiction is implicated in the production of things like science fact is introduced by Julian Bleeker in his “Design Fiction” essay. Bleeker’s explanation of how science fiction meets science fact is embedded in a practice he dubs “Design Fiction”. Bleeker describes how design fiction is making things that tell stories. Its a mix between science fiction and fact. Its about linking the imaginative to its material form.

Earlier today I witnessed an attempt from Nokia to probe my imagination on a possible future, by way of linking science fiction and ubicomp. It was very Minority Report-esque, only their future was not based in 2054, but in 2015. Needless to say, I imagined the possibilities outlined by Nokia, save the cyber sex scenario.

The experiences of Jean Francois, Maria and Amr, like the Minority Report, shows how science fiction is shaped and informed by science fact. It also shows how science fact learns from and finds inspiration through the science of fiction. The intersection of the two is demonstrated in Nokia’s claims in designing an intelligent system that is continuously learning and adapting to the way people use it.