Essay

Creating Our Own Reality

This article marks the first launch into the place where we explore innovative ideas that have yet to be discovered. As we travel into this space, it is vital to understand that our future is built through evolutionary processes — many of which are dependent upon design iteration, experimentation, and application. This is what allows us to conceptualize and co-create new futures through fields like architecture, industrial design, urban design, and other local and global systems of design.

Yet, the way we design is changing.

As we enter the Augmented Age, not only is our own physical reality being impacted by the virtual, but also our own experience of these fusing realities is shaping humanity through the things we make. After all, it is well known that “the things we shape, shape us in return.” And it is the speed of this symbiotic relationship that will create a huge change for the future of design. This is why reality fusion for design matters. It makes time elastic.

Thus, we must ask the question:

Will Instantaneous Design become the Norm?

What is reality fusion? We now live, work, and play within physical reality and virtual reality. Yet, what about all the spaces in between? Are these mixed realities extensions of our own imagination and curiosity as a humanity? And how will the speed of travel between these realities change to impact how we perceive them? Such questions spark thoughts about the speed at which one can go from a virtual idea to its physical manifestation.

For example, the notion of instantaneous feedback is changing how we live. Already, designs have progressed from flexible to interactive, and now they are evolving into more adaptive realms. But what is next? Is there a way for design to tap into our consciousness? Or is design already an extension of consciousness that we need to better understand?

For these reasons, it is vital for us to see human creativity as an important expression of not only our past experiences and present-day realities, but also as a way to design for what we wish to become. As the physical and virtual worlds continue to fuse more tightly, the speed at which we can realize ideas for our future will quicken. For this reason, it is important to design strategically — which means taking the time to ensure ideas are the best they can be, before they are realized.

The Future is Now

So, will instantaneous design become the norm? Yes and no. To me, time itself is an important design variable — not only during the creative process, but also as a means to test and/or experience a creative work once built. Thus, with more technological advancements there is more power to compress time. Yet just because time can be eliminated or compressed, does not mean that it should. Ultimately, time will need to be inserted strategically once again.

Thus, as time becomes more malleable, design can be leveraged in new ways. What once took a long time, can become instantaneous. And will become instantaneous, may need to be time-stretched. The critical factor is to know your “success criteria” as you create new design realities. This is what will shape our next evolution as humanity travels into new frontiers.

For now, know that time is a key by which to unlock a better future — but this is only the case, if one knows how to stretch or compress it at just the right moments.

For this, the future awaits.