Futuring and trust; A prospective approach to designing trusted futures via a comparative study among design future models

The design of the future is the design of trust in relation to uncertainty and risk. In this paper we introduce Prospective Design via a comparative study between existing design future approaches. In this study, we outlined their limitations and propose a mixed methodology aimed at combining and enhancing different approaches to present an integrative model that aims to reconcile different perspectives and improve the main task of design in our unpredictable and exponential technological age: designing trust in prospective futures.

Futuring and trust; A prospective approach to designing trusted futures via a comparative study among design future models

The design of the future is the design of trust in relation to uncertainty and risk. Although you cannot completely eliminate uncertainty and risk, as they are intrinsic of futures, trust operates as a category to mitigate and reducing uncertainty and risk by enabling methods to address them. In this paper we introduce Prospective Design via a comparative study between existing design future methodologies. In this study, we outlined their limitations and propose a mixed methodology aimed at combining and enhancing different approaches to present an integrative model that aims to reconcile different perspectives and improve the main task of design in our unpredictable and exponential technological age: designing trust in prospective futures

Designing trust in Artificial Intelligence: A comparative study among specifications, principles and levels of control

This paper presents a comparative study amongst the three main frameworks acknowledged for designing trust in AI; specifications, principles and the levels of control necessary to underpin trust in order to address the rising concerns of Highly Automated Systems (HAS). We will also address trust design in four case studies specifically designed to address the rising concerns of these systems in the area of health and wellbeing. Based on the results, levels of control emerge as at the most reliable option to design trust in Highly Automated Systems, as it provides a more structured focus than specifications and principles. However, principles enhance philosophical inquiry to frame the intended outcome and specifications provide a constructive space for product development. In this context, the authors recommend the integration of all the frameworks into a multi-dimensional cross-disciplinary framework to build and extend robustness throughout the entire interactive lifecycle in the development of future applications

Resolution limit in opto-digital systems revisited

The resolution limit achievable with an optical system is a fundamental piece of information when characterizing its performance, mainly in case of microscopy imaging. Usually this information is given in the form of a distance, often expressed in microns, or in the form of a cutoff spatial frequency, often expressed in line pairs per mm. In modern imaging systems, where the final image is collected by pixelated digital cameras, the resolution limit is determined by the performance of both, the optical systems and the digital sensor. Usually, one of these factors is considered to be prevalent over the other for estimating the spatial resolution, leading to the global performance of the imaging system ruled by either the classical Abbe resolution limit, based on physical diffraction, or by the Nyquist resolution limit, based on the digital sensor features. This estimation fails significantly to predict the global performance of opto-digital imaging systems, like 3D microscopes, where none of the factors is negligible. In that case, which indeed is the most common, neither the Abbe formula nor the Nyquist formula provide by themselves a reliable prediction for the resolution limit. This is a serious drawback since systems designers often use those formulae as design input parameters. Aiming to overcome this lack, a simple mathematical expression obtained by finely articulating the Abbe and Nyquist formulas, to easily predict the spatial resolution limit of opto-digital imaging systems, is proposed here. The derived expression is tested experimentally, and shows to be valid in a broad range of opto-digital combinations

Handheld and cost-effective Fourier lightfield microscope

In this work, the design, building, and testing of the most portable, easy-to-build, robust, handheld, and cost-effective Fourier Lightfield Microscope (FLMic) to date is reported. The FLMic is built by means of a surveillance camera lens and additional off-the-shelf optical elements, resulting in a cost-effective FLMic exhibiting all the regular sought features in lightfield microscopy, such as refocusing and gathering 3D information of samples by means of a single-shot approach. The proposed FLMic features reduced dimensions and light weight, which, combined with its low cost, turn the presented FLMic into a strong candidate for in-field application where 3D imaging capabilities are pursued. The use of cost-effective optical elements has a relatively low impact on the optical performance, regarding the figures dictated by the theory, while its price can be at least 100 times lower than that of a regular FLMic. The system operability is tested in both bright-field and fluorescent modes by imaging a resolution target, a honeybee wing, and a knot of dyed cotton fibers

Design for safety Grand Challenge report

Our world has shifted radically on its axis, creating new challenges and issues which are becoming much more pressing and immediate. It is clear that traditional design approaches and a problem-solution focus are limited and unable to tackle the risks currently facing human and ecosystem safety and wellbeing. The fundamental question facing design is how do we approach these large-scale projects from a design perspective? We need a new model for design. Against this background, the Design for Safety Grand Challenge sponsored by Logitech was implemented between November 2020 and February 2021, bringing together our ambitions for large-scale design and research to address this urgent design need. Established as a collaborative project, the Design for Safety Grand Challenge was not intended to find immediate answers to global challenges, but to focus a conversation about how we approach and design safer future societies. This report provides an overview and analysis of key findings from the project. Over 400 students participated in the project from a wide range of disciplines and cultures — spanning technology, science, design products, services, materials, innovation, and craftsmanship, involving a multiplicity of stakeholders ranging large technological companies, world-renowned scientific institutions, academic experts, think-tanks, civil society, and public sector organisations. The students – many of whom had never met each other before – collaborated remotely online in teams of 4-5 people from around 50 countries. The effort of this group amounted to some 64,000 hours of creative design thinking aimed at making the future of the world a safer place. They were supported by a group of over 30 academic staff and invited guests and experts

Learning remotely through diversity and social awareness

Covid-19 has brought unprecedented and unthinkable transformations that have drawn uncertainty across the world, in particular regarding the strategies that could most effectively help the global population undertake substantial behavioural changes. To reflect and generate a response to the societal flaws in safety procedures the pandemic has exposed politics, communications, logistics and global economies the Royal College of Art School of Design launched a Grand Challenge on Design for Safety which enquired the design capacity to draw behavioural propositions that leverage diversity, creativity and, generally, attitudes for addressing societal challenges proactively. This was explored by engaging a community of multidisciplinary and multicultural postgraduate designers, working remotely away from the studios, to think beyond solutions and imagine unthinkable ways to innovate. This diverse community of designers and thinkers became an asset for developing design strategies that, mirroring the initial hypothesis, generate knowledge for design to learn from the dramatic changes the world has experienced through the pandemic to inform more sustainable and equitable futures

What Design Research Does ... : 62 Cards Highlighting the Power and Impact of UK-based Design Research in Addressing a Range of Complex Social, Economic, Cultural and Environmental Issues

Design research makes a significant contribution to the UK economy and society as a whole. Ever since the establishment of the Government Schools of Design in the nineteenth century, the UK has been widely acknowledged as an international leader in design research. Following this lead, the What Design Research Does… cards highlight the wide range of social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts that design research, funded and based in the UK, makes all over the world. The 62 cards illustrate unambiguously the positive changes that contemporary UK-based design researchers are making in many complex issues. Each What Design Research Does… card lists the challenges and issues faced by the design researchers, who they collaborated with, the research methods and approaches taken, the outcomes of the design research, what the main results and findings have been, and what impact the design research has had. In short, the What Design Research Does… cards clearly articulate the breadth of social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts that UK-based design researchers are achieving today

Handheld and Cost-Effective Fourier Lightfield Microscope

In this work, the design, building, and testing of the most portable, easy-to-build, robust, handheld, and cost-effective Fourier Lightfield Microscope (FLMic) to date is reported. The FLMic is built by means of a surveillance camera lens and additional off-the-shelf optical elements, resulting in a cost-effective FLMic exhibiting all the regular sought features in lightfield microscopy, such as refocusing and gathering 3D information of samples by means of a single-shot approach. The proposed FLMic features reduced dimensions and light weight, which, combined with its low cost, turn the presented FLMic into a strong candidate for in-field application where 3D imaging capabilities are pursued. The use of cost-effective optical elements has a relatively low impact on the optical performance, regarding the figures dictated by the theory, while its price can be at least 100 times lower than that of a regular FLMic. The system operability is tested in both bright-field and fluorescent modes by imaging a resolution target, a honeybee wing, and a knot of dyed cotton fibers

Fourier lightfield microscopy: a practical design guide

In this work, a practical guide for the design of a Fourier Lightfield Microscope is reported. The fundamentals of Fourier Lightfield are presented and condensed on a set of contour plots from which the user can select the design values of the spatial resolution, the field of view and the depth of field, as function of the specifications of the hardware of the host microscope. This work guides the reader to select the parameters of the infinity-corrected microscope objective, the optical relay lenses, the aperture stop, the microlens array and the digital camera. A friendly-user graphic calculator is included to ease the design, even to those who are not familiar with the lightfield technology. The guide is aimed to simplify the design process of a Fourier Lightfield Microscope, which sometimes could be a daunting task, and in this way to invite to the widespread use of this technology. An example of design and experimental results on imaging different type of samples are also presented