I first heard the word convergence
been used in relation to the combination of different technologies in home
entertainment systems. Some like to use the word integration; I prefer the word
convergence because it points to something more fundamental, it’s very nature
and it’s implication for all design. That is why I decided it should be our
subject for lunacy 001.
All my efforts at creating
authentic concepts, illustrations and stories have lead me to the belief that the
ideas that follow, form the basis of those story concepts and any I will
eventually work on. So, I urge the reader to spot the potentials for fiction in
the essay.
This essay is not a work of fact.
All that is written here is based on all I have seen, heard, watched or
experienced, and it is those observations and projections that form the crux of
the essay. I have put references where possible to further the reader’s
interest.
In the event that either my
observations or projections are faulty, I would like to hear from you about
them with a counter argument of your own and a reference too. If you have
premises for stories that touch on similar themes, I would love to hear about
them or if you object to the possibilities I outlined, leave an objection in
the comments and state the grounds for your objection.
Join the conversation.
Thanks
Convergence
The domains
are merging. The divides are being bridged, and the spaces filled with wondrous
little things. What is happening right in front of our eyes is a return to a long
forgotten truth at the heart of this world: it is convergence. If you have ever
had an idea, made a decision, found a solution given a set of problems; chances
are you have experienced convergence. As anyone that likes to draw and
illustrate would have experienced, it is a phenomenon that happens when
everything seems to come together.
Convergence
simple means a process of arriving at a particular characteristic independently
through different routes. However, in art the word is used to describe the
fundamental rule of perspective drawing: parallel lines “converge” to a
vanishing point on the eye level when viewed in perspective; this, however, is
a topic for another day.
Convergence is at the heart of all
creative activity, for what is creativity if it is not a convergence of
different ideas collected and archived in the cognitive structure of the creative mind. Two examples come to
mind. Remember the “a-team”; well, that team used convergence just before
Hannibal says “I love when a plan comes together”; whenever “MacGyver” was in a
fix and had to cobble something together, convergence was happening as he pulls
selective strands from his knowledge of different domains to form a whole
solution to the problem.
Convergence is happening all around
us. In entertainment, you find it in incessant collaboration between artists,
genre crossovers, comic book movies; in technology, where it is most prevalent,
you find it in every product, of any size; in
education, where analogies are used and ideas from different disciplines
are been mapped; in health, where bio-technology
is revolutionizing that segment; in economy ,where complex models are built based
on big data, aggregated from different collection points, and predictions made
on consumer preference, stock performances and market prices.
The origins
Convergence plays a major role in
today’s world because it has its origins in the art and design movements in the
early part of the 20th century; the art deco movements, art nouveaux
movements, as well as the Bauhaus movement in Germany, where attempts to create
more natural looking man-made structures were attempted in both art,
architecture and product design, and later
designers’ attempts to cut costs by using industrial design (a relatively
new profession at the time) to accomplish both aesthetic and functional
production of products to effectively compete. This was especially true in the automobile
sector, as it would later be decades later in the mobile phone industry.
In the old days (the 80’s was like
yesterday) music stood alone, communication stood on its own, so did
photography and video and television; all standing vertically. Now you have a
smart phone, a horizontal piece of technology that cuts through all the domains
just listed. Interactivity, portability and economy drove these previously
vertical technological fields to converge in one device. This was made possible
by Sensors.
What is driving it
Sensors are devices that help you
know what the state of physical parameters are, based on a physical model
described using an objective language: mathematics. As humans we have sensors too;
however our sensors use a qualitative
process to create mental models of
our world (1). A sensor, on the
other hand, builds a more exact model quantitatively and feeds that model to an
algorithm to interpret, which then sends that data back to our qualitative
processes for a qualitative response. The domains of miniaturization and
digitization have driven convergence as protocols of communication become more widely
shared and adopted (the internet). This is also true for hardware programming
languages (java, C++).
All smart devices operate this way.
Meaning, all smart devices really are, is exact. Sensors help us get an
accurate picture of the physical world so we can create an accurate response
from our cognitive world and then produce new patterns that become the technology of tomorrow.
Sensors are not solely responsible
for convergence; it gets complicated. Take the human body for instance; it is a
machine with sensors for imaging, emotion, pressure, motion, sound, smell and
all the while doing so aesthetically. The point I’m making here is that nature
uses a pattern in the design of function, repeating that pattern over and over
again, but in each new context, the
result is different and unique and almost perfectly suited to the context; we
call it evolution by natural selection, others call it creation (evolutionist
and creationist sheath your swords). It is human nature to find patterns while
attempting to solve our problems; we stumble in the dark like hapless children
feeling our way through the world to get a better understanding of it. Until
recently, we were fine with the context that kept things separate, so we had a
device for every activity. This was likely due to capitalist need for us, the
consumer, to consume( a topic for another day) or perhaps more probable is
that our context changed; portability
and consumer economy became our priority, that shift signaled the coming
together of hardware and software from many domains melting into a single
domain and hence our march towards convergence.
All professional domains require expertise; expertise is not gotten
overnight, it is built from years of repetitive work and insight into
frequently encountered problems or patterns. These patterns become rules of
thumb and tricks, that the expert uses when any problem comes up that meets a
particular context. At the same time,
technology continues to grow and tries to keep up with the demands of expertise
in our production efforts and this has led to the development of tools that
enable the professional use his
intuition, along with dumb devices to solve his problems. A hammer, chisel, paint
brush, clay , concrete; these were slowly replaced by less dumb alternatives
that first removed human power (machine tools, electric motors, hydraulics etc)
and now technology is moving faster than the professions, as it now tackles the
problem of cognitive interpretation into
reality: enter sensors and imaging. It is interesting to note that it is
our need to “enable” professionals that may ultimately lead to the death of
professions.
Most of our technology today is interactive,
in an effort to meet this human desire to turn ideas into reality. This is done
by reducing the imprecise forms of human sensory calibration, previously performed
by instinct, so that we can get better results. Consequently, reducing tedium
in the use of technology; making achieving this desire almost effortless.
You can do it too
Professionals are not the only
experts; it turns out, so are you. The recent trajectory towards convergence
has its resurgence from what I consider a seminal work on convergence or as the
author of the book “the timeless way of building”, Christopher Alexander,
called it: patterns (2). The theory
contained in the book, meant originally for architects, but embraced by
computer programmers and interaction designers. Young professions at that time,
however, now occupy large segments of our technological space.
The short history lesson above and that which came
before are important to a concept artist like myself or you for a single reason:
every designer of any piece of technology has inadvertently drank from the
fountains of knowledge that this seminal work produced all those years ago and
you would do well to find that book and read it . Many before you have used it
or used it without knowing they have; the gang of four used the ideas in that
book to develop the ideas behind design patterns for programming languages;
anyone who has ever faced a recurring problem and found a solution, documenting
that solution in the event of an analogous
problem from the same or different domain arising later, the solution then being
used, has used the ideas in that book. You, dear reader, are no different in
your daily lives and your use of mental models to solve your own recurring
problems. (2)
Truth is convergence, and hence creativity,
is not as unique as one might think. You are creative by the very fact that you
are reading these words and making sense of them. Language is a communication
tool that uses convergence to great effect, delivering meaning using a couple
of alphabets and some simple rules. Speaking is not some gift, it’s a skill you
learn autonomously as a child, and like that skill, design of anything, and that
includes illustrations, is a skill based on the mental models you develop in
your efforts to visualize the ideas you dream up, whether it’s a cool Spider-man
cover or the characters from star wars.
The fact is everything is
everything and everything can become anything. This is at the heart of the
principle of the conservation of matter and the atom. This idea is also at the
heart of convergence. Convergence operates as a principle, on structure mapping theory and its atoms,
on patterns. Structure mapping
theory states that, if you have two domains or things (any whole), then their
superficial attributes are not what connects them but deeper relations between
objects in the domain, thing or whole. (3)What this means is
that a syringe and sponge bob square pants can be mapped simply because
syringes at their core are things that have space and on application of a
pressure difference can suck up fluids and a “sponge bob” does exactly the same
thing, he does live at the bottom of the sea after all. On the surface of it
they are physically different, but are similar based on the relationship
stated.
This is especially useful to
teachers, designers, engineers, or futurists trying to find a solution in one
domain (the base). They can easily transfer that solution or map it to the
problem domain (the target) producing stunning results.
What this means for concept
artists, amateur artists and designers is that you can map knowledge from one
domain into another and come up with ideas that your viewers would find
awesome. Plus, it would be authentic because that is the exact same process
that scientist, engineers and others artists use in creating the look and feel
of the world we live in today or indeed tomorrow.
Convergence ideas for concept
designs
Insight into convergence and pattern languages has occurred
in the past, but the implementations were disastrous. One such attempt was and
still is: mass production. Mass production attempts to solve the problem of
quantity with absolute repetition, however nature abhors that, and since we are
children of nature we abhor it as well. Nature solves problems by repetition with
variety by mixing. This explains why nature’s “products” always have some sought of womb or matrix through which
the building plan is passed down, and that includes humans. Factories are man’s
product womb, and the specimens it
produces are womb-less and barren. Our designs are static until it’s revised
and out comes another batch. Personalization of our products is our own attempt
to compensate for this perfect repetition, which is monotonous and boring.
The absence of product wombs as
pointed out will be corrected in the future, as products will be able to carry
their building plans within them and using sensors interact with other devices
and their operating environment and redesign themselves to meet our unique uses
of the device by adjusting materials, joints and surfaces(like a butterfly). This
will give us the ability to change its form factor, thus giving birth to a new
generation of the product: product
progeny.
For us as human beings, convergence
will give us increased degrees of perception. It would be possible to get data
about nearly anything; even beyond what nature’s sensors provide. This augmented reality will lead inevitably
to quantum computing. That is the destination of all the miniaturization
efforts and research today .we might get implants either before or after birth
that would increase our degrees of perception a thousand fold. Yes! You could
be like superman and have x-ray vision, either through increasing the power of
the sensor or using data pulled from a world
mind (more on this up ahead) about that person’s health history which would
be available to authorized persons; say your doctor.
A patient could walk into a
hospital and his consultation begins even before he or she enters the hospital,
and when he finally get to see the doctor, human or product progeny, their diagnosis would
already be available from data collected from sensors scattered all over the
hospital and beyond. This could also help in contagion detection and managing
epidemics
For education the implications
would be most profound. It would mean all knowledge; all disciplines would be
linked and can be mapped, domain to domain. In fact, analogies are thought to
work using this process of creating mental models (3) and the impact would
be to bridge the gap that seems to exist between art and science. A similar
bridging already exists in all human minds; only if we allow it develop by just
“letting go”.
In this future, Learning would be
easier and schools would be no more, at least not in the way you understand it
(ever heard of moocs). Convergence
would lead to the world mind. The notion that all knowledge
derives from one source would form the basis for all learning at all levels. We
would jack up to it to retrieve knowledge relevant to our particular needs,
whether to adopt skills or inform. The world mind would be ubiquitous, omniscient
but not omnipotent, that should still be kept in our own hands. It would
consist of a network of environment sensors and interfaces (not screens) so that
you own part of “the cloud”. Cloud computing is a model that is already testing
out the world mind idea, where your data is held in trust for you. the ethical
and cultural ramifications of this shift is worth noting and should be the
subject of some intriguing science fiction work, especially if that world mind
is controlled by a few. (4)
Another possibility is the idea
behind products like the Google glass or other ancillary products collecting
enumerable amounts of data and someone figuring out a way to develop an
algorithm to construct an alternate version of reality, all for this world
mind, making a form of time travel possible. It would be a simple matter of
having some means of creating any sensory input into the mind that reconstructs
that reality or using predetermined forecasts to project you forward in that
reality.
The internet has become the backbone
on which convergence continues to grow. The instantaneous communication allows
quick iteration of ideas and allows patterns to be shared and spread more
effectively, bridging the divide of the oceans and seas, improving the collective cognitive structure (culture,
habit and history) and leaving tedium behind
Our cultural evolution shape our cognitive structure,
this is made evident when you consider that people from different regions have
different ways of looking at things. For instance in oriental art the negative
space is as important as the positive, a fact that their western counterparts
took a while to learn and adopt. Multicultural societies, in whatever form, has
the same effect as the internet regarding collective cognitive structure, as
people can also share their culturally-different ideas, critique it and improve
on it.
The internet, however, has
facilitated convergence; it has not caused it. What will come after the
internet? I predict something is on the way that supersedes the internet in
connectivity, speed and content. This new network would carry energy, matter
and information, all at the same time. This network will be a critical development
if any of the projections made here is to occur. I call it the E.M.I stream.
Convergence will also change
manufacturing, for a single reason: the convergence of energy, matter and
information. As capitalist strive to target their users directly using
analytics and big data , they will inevitable create tools that seem to predict
consumer tastes (politics and logistics are using it already to great effect) .They
will extend that to production targets, retail outlet location , delivery time,
and all will be good, for a time, and then 3-d printing technology will do
something unexpected; the energy-matter-information transformation problem
would be solved and manufacturers will be reduced to selling designs to
consumers, leaving them to then manufacture their own products at the desired
location. This innovation, if it happens, will change transportation, logistics
and energy transfer. Think Bluetooth that is safe for energy-matter-information
transport. The energy-matter-information stream will continuously evolve on its
own reproducing product progeny on demand for use, to ensure we are properly
targeted.
The combination of a world mind and
the E.M.I stream could lead to a situation as seen in the movie green lantern
(if you have not seen it…don’t). A creation
engine, that takes ideas from concept to reality, without any mental or
physical implementation by the creator; just execution. This would be designer
heaven or Oa (another green lantern reference).
Sociological impact of convergence
In the past we have lived, built
and worked on our own, with minimal structures (family) for support; a time of
the archetypal man. All the
infrastructure we have today is there to support our inability to retain,
process, retrieve and use the large amount of knowledge we generate; what I
call pattern waste. Managing this waste has become our chief preoccupation
because it is this waste that we recycle at the current time, calling it
creativity and innovation, leaving little time to discover new patterns. This
was not the case during the renaissance for example, a time of the archetypal
man.
The archetypal man is one not
encumbered by the patterns he discovers, and manages his pattern waste well
enough that it does not become his preoccupation. It’s like an artist that
paints a masterpiece and spends all his time searching for all the meanings in
his painting instead of getting on and painting another masterpiece; the
archetypal man is not this artist. He paints, contemplates the work, uses what
he experienced and goes on to the next one.
Our manufacturing and entertainment industries
are currently preoccupied with this pattern waste management, which is why you
have sequels upon sequels and why you have upgrades and updates to designs.
There are no jumps in insight because they are not looking at the next problem;
they are managing the problems generated by the last solution or insight.
A return to the archetypal man
might change our perception of ownership, extending the boundaries of our
current cultural practice of renting things. Why own a car when you can generate
any car of your choice, when you want and where you want. With this kind of
freedom available to consumers the only thing inventors would own are their
patents. Hence, intellectual property will be the new gold and licenses will be
what defunct manufacturing companies would sell to consumers, while defunct cell
phone and power companies would sell data, matter and energy.
Bottom line: NO MORE MASS
PRODUCTION.
I imagine a world where
intellectual property theft can make or break nations and possibly capital
punishment would be prescribed for such illegal activities. China and the
United States facing off on cyber hacking is pointing us in that direction.
The creative destruction of almost
all professions will be the inevitable result of the return of the archetypal
man, where we either become capable of using the same cognitive structures (mental models) that professionals use in
their work or use systems that do the cognitive work for us. Whether that would
be positive or negative is still up for debate, what I suspect though it might
spell the end of human cooperation.
The Down side
The future may be a bleak one,
considering our track record. Man’s biggest problem is bad implementation of nature’s
patterns, either for good or ill. Already our shoddy attempts at copying
natures patterns has give us monotonous living spaces, mass production, global
warming, uncontrolled energy usage, etc. we have had two world wars already. My
point here is that there are many interpretation pitfalls up ahead and we are
bound to make them; rouge artificial intelligence, biotechnological births, planetary
systems re-engineering, technology ecosystem monopolies, human behavior
modification and human perception redundancy.
The last of the potential pitfalls
is the one I fear the most. We are pattern seekers and once we replace ourselves
in performing this activity, we stop being human. Then again, perhaps that
outcome is inevitable. World mind progeny would spawn to fill our planet and
replace us. The steps to lead us this way are already in action, the future
usually starts today. Already companies are building bits and pieces of what
they call ecosystems on which they are the “administrators”; companies hold our
biometric data; some have projects to map the brain; still others seek to get
patents on our genetic heritage; others try to predict where we are and what we
might want or be doing so we can be “targeted”
Metaphysical and ethical concerns
will be raised by ideas like the world mind and human behavior control; social
questions being asked of ideas like product progeny and human perception
redundancy and economic issues raised by ecosystem monopolies, all issues that
are conflicts suited for some good science fiction writing or debates.
Conclusion
The world that convergence builds will be a
world in which every individual is equivalently skilled and equipped to live,
living in any place of their choice, in communities that they identify with,
regardless of national borders, using technology that is animate and is as much
a whole as it is a part of us, controlled by a world mind, in roles suited to
each individual.
Bibliography
1. K.D, Forbus. Qualitative Process Theory.
s.l. : Journal of Artificial Intelligence 24, 1984.
2. Alexander,
Christopher. The Timeless Way of Building. new york : Oxford
University Press, 1979.
3. Gentner, Deidre.
Structure Mapping: A Theoretical Framework for Analogy. s.l. :
Cognitive Science 7, 1983.
4. Morosov, Evgeny. Is Smart Making Us Dumb?. The
Wall Street Journal. 2013.
