Week Four : Further Research People & Lifestyles

To build upon our model we each took one of the four concepts to research and develop further; I sought to explore the notion of co-creation. Co-creation is already an emerging idea, it is a natural continuation of the maker movement and it expands upon collaborative markets. It is manifested in spaces in which people can create content as well as consume it - an incubator of ideas and invention.

Reading an article entitled What Google Gets that OthersDon't: Innovation Evolves Customers I was poised to consider that society is in effect shaped and moulded by the goods and services with which they interact. The writers suggested that successful innovators ask users to embrace - or at least tolerate - new values, skills, behaviours, vocabularies, ideas, expectations and aspirations. They transform their customers. Successful innovators reinvent their customers as well as their businesses. So what then if society reinvented or empowered everyday people rather than just customers. What if the idea of co-creation became the innovator asking users to embrace new practises. What would this look like, how would it feel and what would it produce?

I would imagine that an existence of this nature would incite much change in the practises of people. Likewise it would entail a set of entirely unique activities and experiences underpinned by new values and behavioural characteristics. Below I have attempted to elaborate some of these possibilities.

In spite of how physical we imagine the world, experience is not simply a physical construct. It also entails mental, emotional, social and temporal dimensions and it makes imagining the future infinite. Thus in an effort to simplify my thoughts about how co-creation could manifest I am going to suggest that this aspect of our future scenario will be underpinned by four elements;

Immersion: delving into new practises and systems that offer real sensory experience.

Associated activities: virtual communication via digital interface, ideas generation in an immersive reality - digital or projected surfaces

Interactivity, allowing users to become part of a local living economy and influence the outcome of ideas, innovations and plans.

Associated activities: rapid prototyping - self innovation/trialling ideas, manufacturing - physical construction, test groups - trialling hardware/ software

Integration, having a seamless connection between different people and platforms being used, going beyond input-output to networking and cross-collaboration.

Associated activities: self learning, education/ workshop sessions - community learning, virtual collaboration - meeting foreign innovators/ establishing community partnerships.

Impact: inspiring people to take action and become motivated to shape their own reality.

Associated activities: Update and review of online database, contributions to and from public forum, showcase/workshops in a public arena - pop-up ventures

To unite all these ideas then the following recount is how I would imagine a moment in time for the co-creation centre; Entering our Paddington studio I took my place at the virtual interface and greeted my fellow collaborative team. The charette today was to centre upon ideas generation for an upcoming streetscape initiative. Several scripts for community courseware had already been established however we were still refining specifications for shared hardware. Following a review of models established in neighbouring precincts we agreed on a handful of portable designs to rapid prototype in trial. Following the meeting close I set about updating our case model in the online database and perused several feedback comments on the public forum. After receiving a message from David and noting it was lunch I decided to then log out of my station and set off into the centre to meet my family.