Keywords: van privacy naar privacies, rfid, ambient narratives, bricolabs, naar een nieuwe grondslag van (voorbij) oppositioneel handelen, bruggen bouwen, quick and dirty prototypes.

Rob van Kranenburg werkt sinds 1 oktober 2007 bij Waag Society als Programmaleider Public Domain (Domein Samenleving). 

Somehow I feel I have come full, or, almost full- circle. I studied Literary Theory in Tilburg, focusing on the critical theory of Terry Eagleton and delving into the Sensationalists, a group of mid-Victorian authors that included Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Charles Reade. They shifted the literary paradigm of their times by highlighting fact-fiction (dis)continuities, mixed highbrow and lowbrow and insisted on being  'real', taking part in all kinds of debates and political discussions.

Now, in 2007, literature as a body of writing and as a poetic discourse has recovered from the postmodern notions of the focus on the discursivity of narrative and stories, from re-evaluating literature as the most productive best practice cases for the Harvard Business School, and seeing the job of literature to envisage future scenarios in an age where science and fiction are on the same  trajectory (Kate Goonan), to the ideas of Philips researcher Mark van Doorn who claims stories and narrative are the key to designing successful ambient narratives.

Main challenges for now:

Wireless is increasingly pulling in all kinds of applications, platforms, services and things (rfid) into networks. Many people communicate through mobiles, blackberries, digital organizers, palmtops. Cars become information spaces with navigational systems and consoles like Nintendo DS have wireless capacities and get linux kernels installed.

We are witnessing a move towards pervasive computing and disappearing technologies in intelligent clothing (wearables), smart environments (knowing where and who we are), pervasive games, and we will see doors opening for some and closing to others. Mimickry and camouflage will become part of application design. Things will show colors and produce sounds corresponding with your surroundings.

How to develop theories, concepts, scenarios and prototypes for this wireless world, beyond the product, beyond the individual user, to social and culturally empowering experiences for larger groups of people?

How to focuses on resonance as a design principle, loss and lack of control in situated daily activities?  (walking, shopping, learning) where it is no longer clear what is communicating with what (rfid, smart cameras) and what kind of profile is triggered in datamined environments. At the core of thinking about code we need to look for recent EU thinking on Ambient Intelligence and Working Paper 29 (pdf) on RFID that describes the move from privacy compliant applications to privacy compliant technology. Issues that were thought to be cultural and front end problems are now being rethought as clear back end deliverables. As we increasingly live in a world where everything  is connected, designing stand alone things for stand alone people is no longer an option. Things are connected, and through these things, people are always part of some group, increasingly more online and in the real world as well, as Yocai Benkler shows in his Wealth of Networks.

Digital Culture: The Changing Dynamics

The Internet of Things