all about minis ✧∘* ✧･
a design futuring concept for computational media capstone @ georgia tech
I’ve created an alternative future world in which cute robotic, AI-powered pets have become common. These pet devices, named Minis, act as users’ friends, roommates, and mental health resources all in one. In this world, nearly everyone owns a Mini and it has become as common as owning a cellular device in our current world. In my project, I explored mostly positive, but some negative potential effects of this development through the three artifacts that I designed:
A set of 3D models to illustrate what the devices look like
A mobile application associated with the device
A catalog magazine named All About Minis, containing a variety of different designs, advertisements, and articles related to these devices
This fictional world centers around artificial intelligence and mental well-being. I am exploring the capabilities of artificial intelligence when it comes to mental health as well as the human need for social interaction. In this same vein, I’m exploring our growing reliance on technology as socialization within our current-day world. In terms of the economic aspects of this alternative future, I am exploring health and tech innovation and how this relates to company profit.
Though artificial intelligence remains artificial, its growing capabilities raise the questions:
Would a world in which people have constant access to mental health resources, though artificial, improve overall?
Would people feel a stronger sense of mental stability and contentment?
Alternatively, will people isolate themselves from other people due to their over-reliance on technology?
Can AI earnestly replace human mental health resources despite its lack of relatability to human emotion?.
Through my project, though I cannot definitively answer these questions, I hope to explore them within this fictional world.
App Designs (Overview)
Catalog Overview
