Self-discovery & scenario development

Personal Position

I am from China and came to New Zealand with my parents in 2016. I lived and studied in China until then, so I can tell the difference between New Zealand and China in terms of life, education, culture, history, and so on. It has triggered a lot of thoughts and reflections for me. I think I will still live in New Zealand in 2037, so I will write my future diary about my background and my expectations for the future.

Over the years of living in New Zealand, I have met people from different countries and backgrounds and have become good friends with some of them. In my interactions with them, I think I have been very tolerant of cultures. I believe it is because I come from a different cultural background to New Zealand and have received a foreign education. It means I can avoid discrimination and prejudice when faced with various conflicts, such as culture, values, or beliefs. So in my future diary, I will try to prevent potential biases such as culture and background.

Figure 1: The 17 goals from the United Nations

I would say that people in 2022 are facing many societal issues, and these issues are becoming increasingly critical. In 2015, the 193 countries of the United Nations launched the Global Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), promising to achieve three extraordinary things by 2030 ending extreme poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, and tackling climate change. They have set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to do this. In 2037, we expect all 17 of these goals have been achieved. As you can imagine, life in 15 years should be very different from today.

Future Diary

It is a Saturday in 2037, and I am woken up in the morning by my alarm clock, which my robot butler EE sends. My robot EE is constantly moving around the house. It takes care of household chores and coordinates the other smart appliances in the house. In 2037 almost every home will be equipped with an intelligent housekeeper like EE. Robotic housekeepers are essentially energy-efficient technologies, and my EE robot is solar-powered, perfect for sunny New Zealand. In 2030, the United Nations announced that we would fully achieve the SDGs. In 2037, to maintain the climate conditions, almost all appliances will use renewable energy at low in 2037, affordable prices. Smart homes are trendy in a society where poverty is virtually non-existent and brings convenience to everyone's lives. I remembered a decade ago, New Zealand required children under 14 to be accompanied by an adult at home. Now, with robot housekeepers, children can be left alone at home under the Monitor of an intelligent housekeeper. The robot monitors the child's behavior in real-time and shares it with the parent's phone simultaneously.

After I turn off the alarm clock, my robot gives instructions to the intelligent system in the kitchen to start making the breakfast I set up the night before. With the spread of intelligent kitchens, more and more people can make healthy food "on their own", including those in poorer areas. As long as there is a smart kitchen in the village, it can ensure that clean food is provided, which helps to reduce hunger and disease simultaneously.

Every Saturday, I shop for ingredients for my family, and in 2037, people mostly use online shopping, especially for food. After enjoying breakfast, I start shopping for vegetables and meat for the following week. From 2030 onwards, the checkout page of the supermarket adds an option to donate a few percent of your purchase to a needy area to provide them with free and healthy ingredients and buy a smart kitchen. This time I chose 3%, and the supermarket will donate the same 3% simultaneously. A small gesture may not seem to do much, but as more and more people participate in this campaign. As we all unite together, the problems of poverty and hunger that have plagued society for decades are alleviated.

The time came at noon when I finished the lunch prepared in the smart kitchen, and I met my friend to go shopping in the afternoon. But as my car was restricted today, we opted to use the VR glasses to shop online today. To improve the climate, cars in 2037 must follow the license plate number restrictions, which largely reduce car emissions and energy consumption and even ease traffic congestion. VR technology is already very popular in 2037, and back in 2022, to have a shopping experience, you still need to walk into the mall in person. Now all you need to do is put on your VR glasses, go to the mall website, and have an immersive experience of shopping in the mall. And you can also connect with your friends and shop online together. My purchases will be delivered to my home the next day.

After finishing our shopping, my family members all came home one by one. After we chatted for a while, EE came to inform us that dinner was ready. Each time we buy ingredients, we simply sort them and place them in the Smart Kitchen. The system will arrange for the machine to clean them, and then the Smart Kitchen will customize the menu according to our family's taste and nutritional needs. At the end of each day, it gives us a choice of menus to choose from for the next day.

It's a relaxing bedtime, and I'm writing today's diary, looking back at life 15 years ago and how it's now convenient while saving energy. Technology has brought so much convenience to mankind, and as a designer, I will continue to explore new designs that can improve people's lives and protect the planet. I look forward to what life will be like 15 years from today.

Three domains

Miro link: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVOiWXel4=/?share_link_id=5546438690

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References：

The 17 goals. (n.d.). United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/goals