Auger’s work develops new ways of critiquing current and future societal and technological developments through Speculative Design, a form of Critical Design (originated at the Royal College of Art: Dunne 1999, 2001) designed to provoke debate.
Here, five prototype robots and a supporting video presented an alternative perspective on domestic robots. The work was commissioned as part of the EPSRC-funded research project ‘Material Beliefs’, which brought designers and scientists together to encourage debate about science and society. Auger worked with Bristol Robotics Laboratory to explore, through aesthetic, functional and interactive adaptation, how its technology might migrate into the home.
The originality of this approach is two-fold. Avoiding the spectacular or simply dystopian, these fictitious designed objects are fully researched extrapolations of technological, cultural and societal developments. Secondly, by producing poignant, plausible and tangible proposals, they engage several audiences: Auger’s work is increasingly used by scientists and designers to inform their thinking, as well as engaging the end-users of technological products.
The project has featured in exhibitions internationally, including: ‘New Energy in Art and Design’, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 2011–12; ‘What If’, National Museum of China, Beijing, 2011; ‘Tech Fest’, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, 2011; ‘Lift10’ conference, Geneva, 2010; ‘Transmediale Festival’, Berlin 2010; and ‘What If’, Trinity Science Gallery, Dublin, 2009.
The project led to conference presentations in fields such as science and technology studies (‘EASST’ conference, Trento, 2010), robotics (‘The Shape of Robots to Come – Robolift’, Lyon, 2011 and ‘Robots that Care’ [keynote], Kolding, Denmark, 2011) and design (6th Swiss Design Network Conference, Basel [keynote], 2010). It was also featured on BBC1 television’s Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention, and several radio interviews in the USA (WBAL AM 1090, Baltimore and the Jay Thomas radio show on Sirius and XM Satellite radio, New York).