FIBER Festival

Millions of new devices are being connected to the Internet each year—toasters, home hubs, cars, even sex toys. The IoT is a designer’s wonderland, offering endless possibilities for connected “Things.” It is expected that by 2020 there will be upwards of 50 billion connected nodes in use worldwide.

Thingclash is a project of Changeist, designed to allow critical exploration of scenarios around the ever-expanding Internet-of-Things (IoT), with a view to making these products and services better, safer, and more secure for everyone. This talk will be presented by Susan Cox-Smith and Sjef van Gaalen.

Susan Cox-Smith (US/NL) is a partner and Creative Strategist at Changeist. With over 25 year’s experience creating and managing delivery of knowledge and information products to guide decision-making, she manages Changeist’s design, trend, and strategy engagements. Susan also supports development for new immersive experiences about the future, and oversees experience design for workshops, education and group collaboration.

On the research side, Susan focuses on emerging technology and the future of human issues, including personal data, education, international development, fitness and health, work, and culture. Susan also speaks and writes about the futures of personal data and technology, gender, and education.

Sjef van Gaalen [NZ/NL] works freelance as a researcher and designer and is the founder of Structure & Narrative. His current research is focused on issues of camouflage and identity. He has spoken and consulted internationally on both camouflage and futures projects, and his non-fiction writing on futures has recently been published by New Scientist and the Association of Professional Futurists. He is also an occasional collage artist and design cynic.

Sjef van Gaalen is an associate of the Gr1p foundation, dedicated to making technical, political and cultural understanding of our digital society accessible, and is currently engaged as a contributor to the Thingclash project, working with Changeist to teach and develop their workshop design and methodology.