Video Archive – The Conference by Media Evolution

Anab Jain – Rewilding Our Imaginations

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:42:33 GMT

“We need an infrastructure that deepens our spiritual connection to the world – a spiritual infrastructure.”

Filmmaker, designer and futurist Anab Jain (she/her) wants us to keep asking ”what if”. How might we flourish by living in a different way than today? You might know her work with the foresight and design studio Superflux from the Venice Biennale, where they created a banquet for 12 different species in 2021. That’s just one example of how we can imagine the future through storytelling. And not just one future but many different possible futures.

Anab introduces two ideas for rewilding our minds and the planet: Expanding the self through interconnectedness, and intergenerational ecological time. A great example of the latter is the ”seven generation stewardship” employed by some indigenous peoples in America. It’s a way of safe-guarding the planet for use at the same (or an even better) rate than now.

Dive into Anab’s inspirational talk that takes us from Bhutan, to London and back again.

Matt Candy – Successful approaches with Generative AI

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

The Conference's main partner IBM hosted a talk during Wednesday’s Getting Grounded session focusing on approaches on AI, its uses and adaptations and our relation with it.

Matt Candy presents the numerous opportunities that generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) offers, and provides insight into IBM’s human-centred approach to leveraging new technologies in their business.

Gen AI has an immense potential to grow GDP when used in smart and efficient ways. By learning how to integrate AI in all sorts of daily tasks, organisations can improve their business and, among other things, provide better customer experiences. How enterprises adopt and execute will define whether they unlock the larger scale of AI, according to Candy.

He emphasises the need for a human-centred approach, which is the fundament of IBM’s model for integrating Gen AI in their own organisation. This means using people’s actual tasks as the starting point for where to add value with Gen AI, as well as letting technology shape how we recruit in terms of desired skill sets.

According to Candy, people are only able to use Gen AI successfully when becoming an AI creator rather than a user. He provides us with what he considers to be the equation for Gen AI success in his talk.

Q&A Late-Stage Digitalization

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

The Q&A from the session Late-Stage Digitalization with Somya Joshi and Trudy Painter

Anna Granath and Maria Törn – Why Play is Serious Stuff

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

The Conference's partner IKEA hosted a talk during Wednesday’s Getting Grounded session focusing on IKEA most recent findings on play, design and why it all matters more than we think.

Why is play important? And why is IKEA so obsessed with playfulness? Anna Granath and Maria Törn are ready to answer those questions, freshly armed with insight from IKEA’s recent children’s play report.

Simplicity, Inclusivity, and Playfulness. Those three words guide IKEA’s design philosophy.
Play is seen as the ticket to learn better, to improve psychological safety, and subconsciously acquire maths, physics, and social skills. But the clearest answer is the one we hear from children. It’s fun to play. We get to imagine. It makes us happy.

Adult concerns affect children’s play. Global worries about the pandemic, war, climate, and economy have created stress for children. And play is not fun anymore. Struggles with money, space, and even playful capacity, mean that not all children have the same kind of play. Reassuringly, the best cure is play itself. IKEA’s report reveals that families are prioritising play and spending more time playing together.

“There’s a little bit of a play revolution out there”

What can we do? Embrace the diversity of play, from imagination to exploring outside, playing sport and being creative. Adopt play as a mindset. Imbue everyday situations with the possibility of playfulness.

So, maybe we should all be obsessed with playfulness and for good reason.

Joshua Idehen – Stretch for The Stars

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

Mary Wallace – The AI-Enhanced Consumer

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

The Conference's main partner IBM hosted a talk during Wednesday’s Getting Grounded session focusing on approaches on AI, its uses and adaptations and our relation with it.

Artificial intelligence provides us with new ways to communicate through products. In her talk, Mary Wallace portrays how AI can be used to improve consumers’ retail experiences within various industries, such as the beverage and fashion industry. For example AI can be implemented to bring life to inanimate objects like clothes, drinks and beds.

For brands, integrating AI into products serves as a gateway to other services. By collecting and analysing consumer data, brands can get to know their consumers on a deeper level. This allows brands to further personalise the consumer experience through their products. Thereby adding value to consumers as well as allowing brands to stay in the forefront of AI development, and differentiate themselves on the market. Consequently, Wallace states that “the product is no longer a product”.

Somya Joshi – Resource Frontiers of AI

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

“Could AI ever be a common pool of resources?”

Researcher Somya Joshi makes a compelling observation: the same extractive narratives of 19th century industrialisation are being reproduced today in our venture to conquer the AI ecosystem. Somya highlights how major technological shifts such as the Green Revolution relied on the premise that automation would always lead to progress, and the myth around this pattern persists in the case of AI.

Somya reminds us that following the major revolutions seen in history, power eventually remained in the hands of the elites. In parallel, other authors have discussed the “unequal geographies and distributive effects” in the extraction and manufacturing stages involved with progress and technology. The footprint of labour has traditionally been made invisible in the process, and the same now applies to the footprint of materials such as water, copper and silicon, mainly sourced in the Global South.

Somya calls for the normative act of imagining equity to ensure a sustainable and more just future by seeing AI as a common resource for global use.

Trudy Painter – Algorithms behind AI - A case for technical literacy in AI

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

“It’s very fun to make AI tools magical. [...] But when you make AI feel airy, you remove the possibility for people to ask questions. So it’s better to make it approachable.”

Trudy is an active technology enthusiast who is convinced that AI tools can be as useful as electricity. By providing real-life examples and related metaphors of ceramic mugs and paper cups, the recent MIT graduate firmly believes that everyone can - and perhaps should - be able to understand AI tools and how the algorithm works “under the hood” in order to be better informed when making decisions around its usage and implementation in organisations.

Trudy conveys a clear and easy-to-follow explanation of how AI generation differs from the everyday search on our internet browsers. While search engines retrieve information from existing websites that the algorithm judges relevant, AI generation patches up an artifact which replicates human speech and predicts “the most likely next word” based on patterns observed in human interaction. AI literacy is hence of utmost relevance now that AI tools have reached their most capable and accessible stage yet.

Laura Feinstein from Manufacturing Materiality

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

Kickstarter helps bring projects to life and as the first crowdfunding platform with $7 billion pledged and 239,000 projects funded, so what new concepts have emerge with this aid? In the session Laura Feinstein, Senior Design and Tech Editor at Kickstarter, dives into how fashion and textile creators are breaking out of labs and turning cutting-edge materials research and circular products into must-see showstoppers—both online and in real-world showrooms.

Imagine walking in shoes made from coffee grounds, or accessorizing cactus leather bags, or your home lit by lamps manufactured from orange peels. What if I tell you that it’s for real? Kickstarter helped turn these ideas into products.

Laura talks of Kickstarter as a way to provide a platform for creators to redefine innovation. The financial support allows them to produce small runs, fund product development, and real-world R&D, demonstrate market needs, and tell their stories in their own words. From transforming sustainability research into the thriving Nutshell Coolers to transforming a family-run Paris fashion house into the digital era with vegan materials, Kickstarter shows a system where creativity meets opportunity.

Q&A Manufacturing Materiality

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

The Q&A from the session Manufacturing Materiality with Rosa Whitely and Laura Feinstein

Rosa Whiteley - CLIMAVORE

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

What does a climavore eat? More than a diet, it’s a call to address the manmade seasons created by pollution, soil exhaustion, and fertiliser runoff. How we structure our food systems in turn structures the environment, directly impacting the climate.

Rosa Whiteley is Director of Material Research at CLIMAVORE, a research platform and agency who ask the question of how to eat in the anthropocene. She describes their activities on the Isle of Skye, where the cascading effects of intensive salmon farming are felt along the coastline. They advocate divestment from salmon farming and explore alternative ingredients such as seaweeds, sea vegetables, and bivalve shellfish.

Through their rebuilding practice, CLIMAVORE investigate historical ties between food systems and architectural typologies. Rosa mentions how in 15th century Edinburgh oyster shells were used to pack a hole in the Royal Mile. This symbiotic connection has been severed by carbon intensive building practices and food production which wipe out local knowledge. Using lime, mortar, and tabby cement made from shells, CLIMAVORE create materials for building and art installations.

Moving beyond materiality, CLIMAVORE sow the seeds for societal change through community managed growing areas and meeting spaces, reinvestment of funds within Skye, and collective ownership of goods. They point the way towards new ways of living in coastal regions and beyond.

Giulia Testa – Rewilding

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

“Do we want species to exist only at the bare minimum, just above the threshold of being considered endangered, or do we want a thriving nature?”

Giulia Testa’s (she/her) talk dives deep into the concept of shifting baseline syndrome—a gradual change in accepted norms that has led us to unknowingly accept the decline of wildlife populations as "normal." She challenges us to recognize how our reference points shape our understanding of the natural world and influence our conservation ambitions.

Gulia advocates for a progressive approach to conservation: rewilding. By bringing back wildlife and restoring ecosystems to a state where they can take care of themselves, she argues that we can create a more balanced and sustainable environment. This includes acknowledging the crucial role of scavengers in keeping ecosystems clean, as well as the unique impact predators have on biotic systems—an influence we can't replicate through human management. Her talk is a powerful reminder that in order to truly conserve nature, we must learn to let go of control and allow the natural world the space to recover and flourish on its own terms.

Q&A from Learning How to Learn

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

The Q&A from session Learning How to Learn with Ella Fitzsimmons, James Taylor-Foster and Lore Oxford

Lore Oxford – Ask me Anything: Social Learning in an Antisocial World

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

“Through others we become ourselves, we learn, we grow and acquire knowledge”.

As society becomes increasingly digital, people become more socially awkward. But, learning through interactions with other human beings is an essential part of life. So how can we learn from each other when there are less opportunities to meet in person?

According to Lore Oxford, the answer lies in community building. Reddit provides a platform for people to come together and discuss topics of common interest. Whether it’s taking advice from other dog owners or discussing personal finance with people who have the same level of knowledge, the platform offers a safe space to share and learn.

Drawing from her experience in community management at Reddit, she offers three main strategies that brands and employers can adopt to enable social learning: normalising openness, defining boundaries, and integrating perspectives. Listen and learn!

James Taylor-Foster - Worldglimpsing

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

“Sometimes one has to travel to another planet in order to understand what is going on in one’s own”. —Trojan Horse

James Taylor-Foster explores the meaning and power of design through concepts such as ASMR and LARP-ing. He introduces the audience to the concept of "world glimpsing," where we learn about our own world by experiencing the worlds of others. Using live action role-play (LARP) as an example, he affirms that temporarily becoming a different character helps us, among other things, to become more empathetic toward others. Through role-play, we can adopt someone else’s perspective and view of the world, leading to improved understanding and connection.

Additionally, the concept of play offers significant opportunities to connect and communicate not only about pleasant topics but also more serious matters in life. Engaging with other realities helps us push our own limits and expand our experiential understanding of the world. This, he claims, is the power of design.

Ella Fitzsimmons – What can Magic Teach Us about AI?

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

“By adding AI to software we can create something magical.”

Ella Fitzsimmons cleverly draws parallels between AI and how magic has been used, portrayed and worked in medieval courts and beyond. It is something that we are fascinated by – a great power that allows us to create something from “thin air” with minimum work. She suggests that we as a collective need to deepen our understanding of AI. This allows us to no longer see the magic, that is AI, as a threat to humanity. Similarly she compares it to the knowledgeable people who were mistreated in the past because of their special “magical” abilities.

But, how can we harness the potential of AI, and how should we manage the changes it brings to our world? Fitzsimmons underlines the need to learn from the past and reflect on where we want to be in the future. System designers need to consider the users first to be able to leverage that power to create a magical experience for them.

Michael Kibedi – Human Decentered Design

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

“We should look inwards and consider who gets to be called a designer and think of the cultural exclusion that’s happening there.”

In this insightful talk, Michael Kibedi (he/him) challenges us to rethink our impact on the earth, ourselves, and our future. He explores how a human-centered economy and isolating technology contribute to environmental harm and social disconnect. Kibedi encourages us to reflect on who is recognized as a designer and the cultural exclusions shaping these recognitions. By examining the origins of our design ideals, he calls for a broader, more inclusive view of creativity and personhood.

Looking ahead, Kibedi urges us to imagine diverse, equitable futures, questioning narrow, Western-centric technological perspectives. He emphasizes the need for reparative work and engagement with varied knowledge traditions to avoid repeating the erasure of marginalized communities.

Through his talk, Michael inspires a more inclusive and harmonious approach to design and technology. By rewilding our perspectives, we can strive towards inclusive futures that honor multiple ways of knowing and being.

Seowoo Nam – Rewilding (through) Data

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

”Climate change is hard to sense but we can try to rewild ourselves by reconnecting our senses to the planet.”

Data definitely feels more hard than soft and it’s not something you generally associate with nature. But in her contribution to the session ”Rewilding Us”, Seowoo Nam (she/her) shows how useful it can be for green infrastructures. Currently doing design and research for award-winning Dutch agency C°F, Seowoo employs digital simulations to find ways of sensing through data.

Because changes to the climate happen so slowly, they’re hard for the human mind to sense. Perhaps we should rather craft interfaces and tools to tell us meaningful narratives from data? Once you sense something you immediately know that it is really happening, Seowoo says, and you can determine actions to take. So, no, musicians aren’t the only ones who have created digital twins of themselves. Seowoo’s twin forests run as simulations to get a sense of what might happen in future scenarios.

Q&A from Rewilding Us

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

The Q&A from session Rewilding Us with Giulia Testa, Michael Kibedi and Seowoo Nam

Johanna Koljonen – Closing Remarks from The Conference 2024

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

Moderator Johanna Koljonen speaks to a packed Theatre stage before the closing keynote on Wednesday. She talks of the collective dreams that have been manifested through Jemma Foster's Geomantra app and helps us to land in the space of hopefulness and melancholy that is present in them before introducing Nipun Mehta and his keynote on Who Must We Be.

Nipun Mehta – Who Must We Be?

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:18:16 GMT

”We need to move from transaction to relationship.” Nipun Mehta brings us on a transcendental journey to find our compassionate selves. Through the transforming story of his walking pilgrimage across India, Nipun kicks off by sharing his three key values: success, service and stillness. Further life snippets trigger us to ask ourselves fundamental questions such as “Where did you learn to be good?” or “Who must we be to walk towards futures we cannot imagine?” For one thing is certain, Nipun loves life and the humans that constitute it. He generously shares with the audience the guiding statements shaping his daily life, work and service, as they are all intertwined. By taking inspiration from figures of compassion and wisdom such as Mother Teresa, Gandhi or Desmond Tutu, he insists that creating a “we-to-we” community centred around our relationship to the other rather than the value involved in the transaction process will make us all more complete humans. As he concludes, “we are not merely what we do but we become who we are by what we do”. A true lesson of community, service and humility to help us navigate the unknown of tomorrow.