Affiliated with: DLX Design Lab University of Tokyo, 2024

Publications: ACM DIS 2023, IASDR 2023

Role: Design research, Workshop facilitation, 6G Mockup UX Design and Prototyping, Academic paper writing, Exhibitions

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A study sponsored by the Government of Japan on how 6G will influence mid-2030’s mobility.

The outcomes included four provocative futures displaying the intersection of Japanese socioeconomic trends and technology capabilities. These were communicated through a series of prototypes, props, and satirical videos which featured in two exhibitions and academic pictorials. These sparked enthusiastic conversations with the public which will be used for future technology development.

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Research

To research the proposed capabilities of 6G, I read whitepapers from the major telecommunication giants and interviewed experts at the University of Tokyo. However to learn more about the socio-economic trends of the Japanese population, we ran a workshop with over 30 participants who were mainly Japanese and from varying ages and professional backgrounds.

The workshop stimulated participants to generate thought-provoking visions of the future, therefore allowing us to extrapolate the key hopes and fears of the Japanese population.

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Outcomes

We refined the outcomes from the workshop and proposed speculative futures. Our outcomes took the form of prototypes and props which were all designed to communicate to the public and scientific audiences about the projected possibilities and consequences of ubiquitous 6G. I personally developed the following:

Future supermarket shelves

The workshop showed a demand for ultra-personalised experiences. In conjunction with the indoor positioning mentioned above, we speculated that physical infrastructure like supermarket shelves could detect your presence and give you personalised recommendations.

To communicate this to the public, I made a set of supermarket shelves alongside an android app with a shopping list. When an item on the shopping list was tapped, the consequent shelf label would light up.

Trophy for remote drivers

Japan’s aging population is leading to sparsely populated areas with no public transportation, leading to a reliance on cars even by those who are not fit to drive. With 6G’s fast speed and low-latency, we speculated that personal cars could be controlled remotely by services.

To communicate the possible dangers of such a service, I made this trophy which is awarded to a remote driver who had driven a concerning number of hours.

Future transport card

Once again tackling rural mobility, we speculated that conventional public transport could be replaced by on-demand shuttles with no set route or timetable.

I made a prop future-transport card which is based on the Japanese SUICA (their Oyster card). When pressed, a shuttle would be summoned to the location of the card.

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Delivery

Our goal was to show our outcomes to a wider audience in order to start conversations in Japan about how they want to develop applications for 6G. We achieved this through the following media:

Videos

We made satirical videos which utilised our designed futures alongside our props, such as this one about ‘remote drivers’

Exhibitions

We delivered two exhibitions in which I designed the floor plan and made many of the show pieces.

Research papers