2nd Intl Workshop on Science Fiction Prototyping for Technology Innovation (July 2011, Nottingham/UK)

Dates: 25-26 July, 2011
Location: Nottingham, UK
Deadline for Papers: March 28, 2011
Website: http://www.creative-science.org/

This workshop will explore the use of science fiction as a means to motivate and direct research into new technologies and consumer products. It does this by creating science fiction stories grounded in current science and engineering research that are written for the explicit purpose of acting as prototypes for people to explore a wide variety of futures.

We we are inviting short imaginative fictional stories (prototypes) of no more than 12 pages (and presentations of 20 minutes).

The workshop is running in conjunction with the 7th International Conference on Intelligent Environments IE’11.

Background and Goals:
This workshop will explore the use of science fiction as a means to motivate and direct research into new technologies and consumer products. It does this by creating science fiction stories grounded in current science and engineering research that are written for the explicit purpose of acting as prototypes for people to explore a wide variety of futures. These ‘prototypes’ can be created by scientists and engineers to stretch their work or by, for example, writers, school children and members of the public to influence the work of researchers. The outcomes of these interactions are then be fed back, to shape the science research and outputs. In this way science fiction prototypes act as a way of involving the widest section of the population in determining the science research agenda, thereby making science investment, and science output more useful to everyone ranging from companies, through scientists and engineers to the public, consumers and the government that indirectly fund R&D. In this way fictional prototypes provide a powerful interdisciplinary tool to enhance the traditional practices of research, design and market research. The goals of the workshop are to act as a catalyst of this new approach by acting as a forum where researchers from differing disciplines (notably science fact and science fiction) can come together to explore how to develop this area.

Participation:
You are cordially invited to participate to the workshop either as a presenter or as someone simply wishing to learn more about this topic and, perhaps, join the discussion as a member of the audience. Participation is possible either by attending the workshop in person or via (a limited number of) ‘virtual attendees’ submitting prerecorded video of their presentation which will be played at the workshop (with a Skype connection to facilitate ‘live questions and answers). For presenters (science researchers or writers) we are looking for short imaginative fictional stories (prototypes) of no more than 12 pages (and presentations of 20 minutes) based on recent scientific publications (fact or fiction), which would act as motivation (or discussion) or how science research might be directed. Your fictional stories (prototypes) should include a short discussion (no more than 2 pages) of your published work (and how your research relates to your story, including references to your research). The fictional stories (prototypes) should conclude with a short summary (half to one page, say) that provides an overall comment on your effort to use your fictional prototype as a means to motivate your future research. References should be included at the end of the paper. All fictional stories (prototypes) accepted will be published by IOS Press. The format of the papers should follow the IOS publication guidelines and be submitted via the CS’11 workshop management system. Any pre-recorded videos should be submitted as part of the submission of ‘camera ready’ material in the final stages (after the review).

Workshop Structure:
The workshop will comprise a single day event and will include:
•    Presentations (papers) from science and engineering researchers on their own scientific papers/projects depicting how they foresee their research might impact future worlds.
•    Presentations from science fiction writers depicting aspects of their stories that they feel would be feasible and useful for scientists to try to implement.
•    A panel led discussion, with the audience.

The Venue:
CS’11 will run in conjunction with IE’11 at Nottingham in the heart of England and a popular tourist destination attracting an estimated 1.3 million visitors annually. Many visitors are attracted by Nottingham’s nightlife, its history, the legend of Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest and popular history-based tourist attractions including Nottingham Castle. More details are given on the IE11 web pages.

Sponsors:
Intel Corporation
Creative Science Foundation

Important dates:
•    Paper submission: 28th March 2011 
(via the CS’11 paper story submission system)
•    Notification of acceptance: 25th April 2011
•    Paper final submission (with revisions): 9th May 2011

Competition:
All Science Fiction Prototype stories submitted will be considered by the reviewers for the award of a number of prizes, including best SciFi Prototype and sponsored registrations.

Workshop Fees:
Before 9th May 2011
Regular Participant or Presenter (all non-students) = £144
Student Participant or Presenter = £120
After 9th May 2011
All categories = £180.00

Workshop Organisers:
•    Brian David Johnson (Intel Labs, USA)
•    Victor Callaghan (University of Essex, UK)
•    Simon Egerton (Monash University, Malaysia)