What to think of future-concept-videos ??

March 4 2009
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There is some discussions going on here in class about this Mircosoft Office Labs Vision video. I was wondering how useful these future concept videos are… sometimes I have the feeling they are to slick and actually I don’t see a lot of really revolutionary ideas in these videos. It’s mostly ideas that were around for years put into a nice looking video with rich and beautiful people in it.

I think companies did this kind of videos since the 50s or 40s. It’s always intersting to look at these past future concepts and see how much they are driven by technology of that time, and not technology of the future.

Paelo Future is a great blog about these past futures. “A look into the future that never was“

Here is an interesting video from 1988 “The Electronic Home” its mostly about internet on your TV… though they don’t call it “internet” yet.

from: Interaction Design

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March 4 2009
rc permalink

I think they are nice time capsules – despite the glossiness in style; what were humans thinking then and now. I too don’t think there is much new to us in many of these, but there probably is a lot more new in these to non-interaction designers.

I do appreciate that each use case shown is part of some larger story (believable or not) and with care, rather than a more static scenario of a future interface with narrated voiceover, the way the Adaptive Path Aurora video did some time ago.

Look at these adverts from Sony for their Walkman brand:
One, Two. They are visions of the future in a different way, more approproate to their target audience.

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