Reawakening of curiosity and the collective effort to envision and build more habitable worlds.
I appeared on an episode of Radha's podcast Future Feelings in which we converse and explore the vital importance of Imagination in designing futures, with me emphasizing the notion that it is helpful to think that the...

A podcast conversation recorded while I was at Innovation Land Summit in Bogotá Colombia. In it, we discuss the intersection of research, creativity, and practical implementation in driving innovation within organizations. There is a necessity to be explicit about the role of imagination, which I see as a kind...

A panel discussion on the evolving relationship between human agency and technology, exploring the implications of AI systems on society and the role of ethics, imagination, and policy in shaping viable futures. Held at The British Academy, London in collaboration with Google DeepMind, the Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab...

A Plenary Address at the IEEE MetroCon 2024 for the nations' largest IEEE regional conference covering nine parallel technical tracks covering emerging developments in engineering disciplines including: Autonomous and Vehicle Systems, Internet of Things, Computational Intelligence, Photonics and more.

A fireside chat with Ian Chalmers at the RGD's annual conference which was held in Toronto in 2024.

A talk to Radha Mistry's students at SCI-Arc that traverses the intricate relationship between engineering, imagination, and the speculative visions I've been inspired by through science fiction. The talk and discussion rambled into and through my somewhat transformative journey which, after college, I went straight into a traditional engineering role,...

What's the Coolest Tool? Imagination! I was on Kevin Kelly's ‘Cool Tools Show and Tell’! A fun chat even as I had to limit myself to just four or five 'cool tools' — but the coolests is 'Imagination'. Have a listen!

The discussion on the practical applications of Design Fiction in various industries, from software development to organizational insights to my friends at Vizient, emphasizing the need for creativity, iterative discussion, and fostering a culture of continuous exploration within industry.

An online talk at Domus Academy explored the role of imagination and speculative design in shaping the future. Key takeaway? Ambracing ambiguity and imagination is a vital way to anticipate the kinetics of change, as well as create valuable opportunities for the future.

A 3 hour Design Fiction 101 talk and hands-on workshop utilizing the 2023 Work Kit of Design Fiction as an ideation aid.

I facilitated a workshop for Hyper Island Vision Week in which the design brief (a 24 hour sprint) was to create a podcast from the future' — a Design Fiction conceit in which students imagine into a future world and represent the contours of that world through a humble podcast...

In this episode of the Gartner Futures Lab Podcast, host Marty Resnick sits down with Julian Bleecker, founder of Near Future Laboratory, to discuss the use of design fiction in communication and designing plausible future scenarios.

The podcast that talks about creativity, art, digital culture, music, new media, technology, business, but above all about the future. Creative Talks because we believe that creativity is the most important skill. This conversation goes into the evolving nature of work with the rise of artificial intelligence, exploring predictions of...

Design Meets is a Toronto-based and online event about people getting together and sharing their ideas. This presentation by Julian Bleecker will present Design Fiction, a design-led approach to augmenting analytic research by grounding the implications of research into tangible, relatable artifacts.

The second day of the Innovation Land Summit 2024, discussing the intertwined roles of imagination and innovation.

Causal Islands is about bringing together experts and enthusiasts from many different backgrounds and sharing and learning together. We are creative technologists, researchers, and builders, exploring what the future of computing can be. The LA community edition on Saturday, March 23rd, 2024 has themes of building and running networks together,...

North of Patient aims to paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers globally.

An online lecture and AMA for Dr. Delfina Fantini van Ditmar's `Designing the Future’ Elective

A panel organized for South By Southwest 2024 with Avi Bar-Zeev (XR Guild and Reality Prime), and Andreea Ion Cojocaru.

I visited Chapman University on February 28, 2024, to deliver the annual Bensussen Lecture in the Arts Series, invited by Professor Justin St. P. Walsh. The visit included engaging with students and faculty who have integrated Design Fiction into their curriculum, demonstrating the impact of Near Future Laboratory's work.

Imagination is often dismissed as childish, or a frill. But it also lets us picture alternative futures, and technologies that haven't been invented yet. So how do we harness our imagination? And in an age where Big Tech promises to solve our problems for us, how do we use our...

The Art of the Possible is the art of orienting yourself in the present, imagining the future that you want to live in, and finding the best next step that you can take toward that future. No matter who you are or where you are, there is a best next...

Julian Bleecker explains the development of Design Fiction, a method he pioneered for imagining future scenarios through the creation of tangible artifacts. Julian discusses some of the ways the practice can help guide decision-making and its uses in strategy and communication. Julian invites listeners to explore this interdisciplinary approach through...

Julian Bleecker explains the development of Design Fiction, a method he pioneered for imagining future scenarios through the creation of tangible artifacts. Julian discusses some of the ways the practice can help guide decision-making and its uses in strategy and communication. Julian invites listeners to explore this interdisciplinary approach through...

I was asked to do an expert interview with Electrolux. In it I discussed future kitchen concepts, ‘appliance intelligences’, applications, and explored how Design Fiction can foster deeper exploratory considerations for insight, inspiration, and innovation. We explored how connections between people and their homes creates domestic ontologies. We examined evolving...

Broadcast from Later 46: Dad Band Futures, exploring ways by which creativity can be reinvigorated as we work to ignite a creative renaissance. The creation of a scene, pre-festival, when things unexpectedly start to happen.

This podcast episode with Julian Bleecker discusses design fiction, emphasizing speculative design's role in projecting future possibilities and its influence on current design practices, highlighting the relevance of visual creativity and the intersection with technology.

A closing keynote presentation and helped facilitate a breakout group for a day long immersive seminar & conference on the intersections of virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligene and neuroscience.

In this episode of 'The Futurists,' co-hosts Brett King and Rob Tercek discuss with Julian Bleecker, co-founder of Near Future Laboratory, his unique approach called 'Design Fiction.'

A lecture I gave that underscores the importance of Imagination in collaboration with Structure and includes examples of projects and the practical methodology used to envision and action future design concepts.

Design Fiction entangles design and fiction to create evocative artifacts that express the contexts and outcomes of change. It integrates design with the principles of narrative, speculation, and fiction.

An online lecture that gets deep into the concept, motivation, and origins of Design Fiction. I get into the ways Design Fiction is a kind of prototyping that helps both speculate and materialize possible futures. It is very much an integral part of design work as well as the...

I was asked to deliver a Keynote presentation at the 2022 AIGA National Conference. The presentation was a discussion of Design Fiction and it's 'Why?'. Key takeaways from the presentation were: Design fiction uses prototypes and imaginary objects to spark curiosity and conversations about possible futures; Examples like the Star...

A roundtable about blending science fiction with design concepts; an exploration of how science-fiction can materially and tangibly influence the future, with Bruce Sterling, Julian Bleeker, Anab Jain, Brian David Johnson, Alex McDowell, and Radha Mistry. Hosted by Kevin Bankston.

A Six-Part Docuseries from The Franklin Institute: A thrilling journey into the future with The Road to 2050! A closer look at what the next three decades could bring, using science as our guide.

'Netflix Future Of..' is a fun, light, entertaining show asking about the future of everything from gaming and dating, to life after death. I participated as a talking head futures expert. They did spring the dating topic on me though, for which I cannot claim much notable expertise. Pure...

What if you were sent ten years into the future with the specific mission to bring back something to show how life has changed? A discussion about the approach and value of Design Fiction with IFTF Research Affiliate Jorge Camacho.

A presentation I gave to the Google UX Design Council & Community. User experience (UX) design is all about crafting interactions that feel intuitive, satisfying, and seamless today. But how do we anticipate and design for the UX of near future, when behaviors, norms, devices, experiences therein have evolved? How...

Primer is (was?) the organization developed to establish Speculative Design as a formal practice. Their annual conference and community has been (was?) a thriving locus of conversation and discussion. I help organize and run the Los Angeles chapter until the pandemic approached (and I was also asked to pay a...

I gave a lecture at Stanford's CS547 course on HCI, and of course it was on'Design Fiction.' This is interesting to listen back on as I forgot about the examples I used 'early on' that came specifically from film. This was during the 'diegetic prototype' emphasis of things. Drawing on...

A Design Fiction keynote at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology during their fall enrichment program. Bringing the principles and approaches of Design Fiction and an explication of how I create prototypes meant to spark discussions about more habitable near future worlds.

What was my journey to get to a place where I wanted to transform imaginative science fiction into real-world engineering innovations? It all begins with a fascination for space travel and science fiction, leading to a career in electrical engineering and computer science. In this interview, I highlight the importance...

A keynote presentation to the main audience and hands-on workshop for a group of Google office's creative practitioners during a summit of creative technology leadership and practitioners at Google's offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

While we're in the present, dribbling over our shiny new iWhatevers and being amazed that an espresso maker can shit out coffee just from seeing a picture of a bean, Julian Bleecker and his fellow technologists are busy fucking around in the near future. He’s co-founder of the Near Future...

A roundtable salon-like thing with Bruce Sterling, Kevin Slavin, Matt Jones and Julian Bleecker getting into into the intersection of science, technology, and the arts. Each of us presented and the discussions covered a wide range of topics including consciousness, film special effects, artificial intelligence, and science fiction. The podcast...

A panel discussion and subsequent workshop on the topic of Design Fiction & Speculative Design with Anab Jain, Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, and Michelle Kazprzak. We are rapidly entering (and perhaps even have already entered) an era where we are able to print 3D objects at our desks, make and share laser-cut...

'Future Tense' hosted by Anthony Fennell, featuring discussions on imaginative urban storytelling, digital heritage preservation, and the impact of visual language. Rob Walker from the Hypothetical Development Organization alongside experts from Parsons and Near Future Laboratory explore 'Design Fiction' to revitalize neglected urban spaces. The narrative extends to David Hollywood's...

“The inspiration for MADE UP originated in work created in our program that pointed toward emerging trends in art, architecture, and design worldwide,” added Anne Burdick, chair of the Graduate Media Design Program. “Through a research residency, an eclectic exhibition, panel discussions, readings, screenings, and a publication, MADE UP considers...

This panel will present and discuss the idea of ‘design fiction’ , a kind of design genre that expresses itself as a kind of science-fiction authoring practice. Design fiction crafts material visions of different kinds of possible worlds. Design's various ways of articulating ideas in material can be seen as a...

'A Manifesto for Networked Objects': As More Smart, Mobile, Sensing “Things” Are Attached to the Internet, Their Presence and Participation and Agency (Ability To Create Action) Can Be Felt In Our Online Lives. A Keynote given in the city of Turin at the fourth edition of the Piemonte Share Festival...

Julian Bleecker, Kevin Slavin, Dennis Crowley, and Aaron Meyers discuss unique aspects of the design issues and technologies involved in developing “pervasive electronic games.” Pervasive electronic games are experiences that move game play into the real world, outside of the usual venues in which electronic gaming occurs. Moving from sedentary...