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From Innocence to Imagination: Rethinking Our Technological Future
November 7, 2024,12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
By Open Online Theatre | Date: 7th November 2024 | Time: 12pm | Price: Free
Helen Kennedy ,Sarah Martindale and Nina Willment from the University of Nottingham’s Virtual and Immersive Production Studio (VIP Studio) bring to the table timely questions about bias, privilege, and social inequalities embedded in digital technologies and systems.and colleagues from the University of Nottingham’s Virtual and Immersive Production Studio (VIP Studio) bring to the table timely questions about bias, privilege, and social inequalities embedded in digital technologies and systems.
As we embrace the powerful and popular immersive technologies of AR/VR and AI, how do we remain aware of and attentive to the real impact of these advances? Our cutting-edge technologies rely heavily on resources from the Global South, often without fair compensation or opportunities for those communities to shape the future they’re powering. The imagined uses and embedded values within these technologies are shaped by a privileged few.
This roundtable will explore two critical dimensions of this issue:
- The Hidden Costs of Technological Innovation: We will critically examine the reliance of immersive technologies and AI on rare earth minerals and other resources sourced from marginalised regions in the Global South. These resources are foundational to technological progress but are extracted through exploitative practices that leave local communities out of the loop as beneficiaries.
- The Narrowness of the Technological Imaginary: Current technological futures are often shaped by a limited and masculine vision of how we should evolve with technology. These narratives, which dominate the industry, frequently ignore more diverse and inclusive perspectives. We will question how these limiting visions affect the development of immersive technologies and their impact on global and local communities.