Adults and children attending the bOing! Festival on the University’s Canterbury campus (27-28 August) took part in a fun workshop that aimed to give them the opportunity to create a future human.
Future Human is a Signature Research Theme at the University, with researchers exploring the potential uses of technology, tools and techniques in future human development. The Theme’s purpose is to work across disciplinary boundaries to improve our understanding of the opportunities, limits, challenges, and risks of using science and technology to overcome the limits of our bodies and restore or improve performance and function.
Inspired by this, the bOing! workshop got those involved thinking about what humans might be like in the future through arts and crafts. They were encouraged to consider what humans could look like and how they might interact in 30 years’ time, as well as how technology may impact this.
Creations on the day included future humans with tails and pink hair, while there were suggestions that humans may not interact with each other vocally but instead through sign language and that humans may have pet robots.
The future humans designed during the workshop were part of a competition to be included in an evolving ‘live’ exhibition of artwork grown throughout bOing! Festival.