science fiction

“You and CO2” is an innovative, interdisciplinary project combining research and public engagement activities to encourage young people, aged 12-15, to engage with the global problem of climate change on a local scale and to commit to behaviour changes that will reduce their carbon footprints.

Through three workshops delivered in class, we educate the students about the role of carbon dioxide in climate change and the carbon dioxide emissions associated with everyday activities. The students read/play No World 4 Tomorrow, a custom-built interactive digital fiction on climate change, and then create their own interactive stories on the topic.

Through discussing and creating their own works of fiction, we encourage the students to explore their ideas about climate change and the role that individual citizens play in shaping the world’s climate. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of these workshops on young people’s engagement with climate change, and to assess whether their personal feelings about their own responsibilities for their carbon dioxide emissions change over the course of the workshops.

(description from Youandco2.org)

"Hologram Will" is an interactive science fiction game. Businessman and millionaire David Mann has passed away, but before his death he recorded a hologram that acts as his will and testament. The hologram has been given to one of his heirs who has become the will's executor. The player can choose between three different heirs who each has their own unique message recorded for them. The inheritance consists of several rare and valuable items collected by Mann, in addition to company shares. As the executor, the player can also increase their inheritance by claiming the other heir's shares. However, legal and other fees will be incurred during this process and can exceed the net benefits of the will, making this a costly affair. (Source: Author's description)

"Beyond Tomorrow" is an interactive text-based science fiction game made in Twine. The player assumes control of a wealthy business empire whose goal is to lead a successful expansion into space. The story revolves around the different choices and consequences one must face when encountering new planets and worlds. The game includes four unique planets that each has its different expansion possibilities and conflicts. The style of play is entirely up to the player and allows for either a violent or peaceful playthrough, as well as a combination of the two. Some of the themes explored in the game are power, imperialism, law and order, and warfare. (Source: Author's description)

Sabotage Retroexistencial is a digital poem generator produced by an algorithmic sequence that pertains to the blog novel series of "Kublai Moon", specifically the blog novel "La tierra nunca comprenderá". This algorithmic poetry generator gives the reader access to an unlimited combination of poems and to an infinite text. In the fictional world of Kublai Moon where the story is set, the generator is the creation of the robot Al-Halim, an artificial intelligence engine who searches for the meaning and limits of poetry. 

Organized in the format of numerous blog entries, the text follows Belén Gache, the protagonist, and her journey in a fictitious world taken over by semiotic dictatorships. In this environment overrun by lingüistic oppression, Gache rebels through her quest to understand poetry, its meaning, and its relationship with technology. Through Gache’s alliance with other semiotic rebels, her struggles against word forgers, and her desire to uncover the truth behind the poetry of the semi-autonomous robot, AI-Halim, the author conveys an analysis of the relationship between human intelligence, artificial intelligence, and poetry.

Vicente Luis Mora is a literary critic and Spanish author of Alba Cromm, a book that takes place in a sinister dystopian future. It tells the events that lead to the capture of the infamous pederast, highly wanted by the National Police, NEMO, through a dossier. Utilizing the print form, Alba Cromm adopts the review structure through a variety of stylistic resources, such as diary entries, publicity announcements, and interviews. The obvious theme elapsed through most of the work is the fight with the embodied passions in the human institution, such as the protection fo the most vulnerable, like children.

Cyborgs in the Mist is an enquiry which takes the form of a movie, a soundinstallation, photo prints, and a book. The film presents the LOPH research laband its utopian proposals to struggle against the planned obsolescence ofhumankind. Taking into account the development of robotics and artificial formsof intelligence, the LOPH research lab experiments with ways to help humansadapt to their new environment, and to put them in a position to fight against their planned obsolescence. How can we anticipate this shift in the logic of evolution?How can we adapt to this change with a minimum of violence? Academic teams,science-fiction writers, and new forms of artificial intelligence work together toanticipate the most disastrous scenarios.

(source: description from the schedule)