[University of Florida | Design 8 | Professors: Donna Cohen & Nina Hofer]
"A sign or warning of something to come"
The Forerunner project explored the concepts, imagery, and history surrounding the idea of Utopia and whether we may see it in the not-too-distant future. Utilizing AI software Midjourney & Runway, the research thesis was presented using visual storytelling from the short-cinematic "Forerunner" as well as two other short videos.
The presentation served to answer the question: Is Utopia achievable?
The usage of Midjourney served to visualize the human vs. AI perspective of Utopia and how we've conditioned not only ourselves but machine-learning programs, to imagine places and environments practically unattainable by today's standards.
Forerunner Short-Film
The film was played as an introduction to the presentation, setting the scene for the ideas that will be explored throughout.
"Deep in the vast expanse of space, a team of interstellar travelers made up of researchers, scientists, and explorers makes a groundbreaking discovery on a distant planet...
A seemingly abandoned urban community left behind by a society that is no longer present."
An AI's Envisioning of the Future
Following several slides of sketches, imagery, and edited photographs of humans' visualization of Utopia, a short video was played to showcase how Midjourney AI sees the same concepts.
The imagery was generated using the same prompt, however, the final descriptor word was changed to several synonyms of Utopia to see how the visuals would change. The prompt read:
"Generate images of a large-scale urban metropolis that has green infrastructure and accommodates millions of people. This metropolis is [insert descriptor]"
Utopia
Used as the finale sequence for the presentation, this collection of AI images served to showcase how limitless the idea of Utopia can be. Numerous images of master-planned communities and cities were uploaded as a control for Midjourney to base its generations.
As a society, though we may share a somewhat collective definition of Utopia, the visualization of Utopia changes from person to person.
Utopia, in all accounts, is subjective. Therefore, unachievable.
"From a realistic standpoint, Utopia isn’t achievable...or at least how we define it today. In its current state, and for the past few hundred years, it has lived in an imaginary bubble that not even the most prominent urban planners and architects have been able to pop.
We’ve set it on a pedestal so high, and with every advancement in society, it seems to get taller and taller.
Our visions for utopia should be grounded, individualistic, and probable. They should be environments and places that make us happy, spark curiosity, and ultimately serve the benefit of the people who live there, however, that may be."