CO-DESIGNED WITH TOBIAS ERINGSTAM. Illustration: TOBIAS ERINGSTAM.
How can a deeper connection between humans and nature address the feeling of meaninglessness and improve well-being through speculative design?
Based on a future scenario in a highly digitalized and automated Megacity separated from nature, this essay aims to investigate how a deeper connection with nature can respond to the feeling of meaninglessness. In this speculative PROJECT, design methods such as future persona, provotyping and design experiments were used to examine how nature can impact and respond to feelings of meaninglessness and enhance people’s wellbeing. Through the creation of speculative design artifacts such as provotypes and storyboards that compile the esseys aim, this alternative fiction hopes to encourage discussion about if a deeper connection with nature can impact and respond to feelings of meaninglessness and enhance people’s wellbeing.
Based on the implemented methods, a mind map was created that explores alternative provotypes that can give rise to discussion about meaninglessness and separation from nature in "Megastad Nord".
This resulted in an electronic device that allows the user to experience the separated nature outside "Megastad Nord" through holograms. The collection of data that enables the existence of the hologram is done by drones that scan the separated nature. This can then be experienced in the electronic device. In this way, the residents can experience the nature that they physically cannot visit, which gives rise to a deeper connection to the separated nature that positively affects the feeling of meaningfulness and well-being.
The electronic device can also provide information about the administrative green areas that are in the person's vicinity. The greenery can be scanned using the electronic device and the user then receives information about the greenery. For example, the greenery's need for sunlight, water, humidity and name.
