7th Gen Tech Design – Pathfinders x AbInt
- Location: Mila – Quebec AI Institute, Montreal QC
- Date: June 28 2024
- Duration: 1 sessions of 2.5 hours
- Instructors: Vanessa Racine, Taylor McArthur, Destiny Chescappio
Overview: The 7th Gen Tech workshop took place at Mila – Quebec AI Institute in Montreal, QC. This was the first workshop where the skins team introduced 7th Gen Tech, a spin-off of the 7th Gen character design workshops. In this workshop, the Skins team had the privilege of working with approximately 15 young Indigenous adults, many coming from different nations across Canada.
In this workshop, the Skins team started by introducing the participants to the Future Imaginary, a term coined by Jason E. Lewis. Then, to encourage participants to brainstorm their own ideas, the Skins team showed examples of the final outcomes from previous workshops. Next, the Skins team shared examples of what could be considered 7th-generation tech found in movies, video games, and TV series alongside work produced by previous Skins participants.
We handed out brainstorm sheets with questions challenging them to think broadly about their imagined technology: “How do people feel about this technology?” and “How do people interact with it?” Participants finalized their ideas based on feedback from each other and began sketching out the first and final iterations of their designs or ideas. As the session approached its end, the participants got down to work colouring and inking their designs. Each participant had the chance to present their imagined tech to each other, fostering a sense of inclusion and teamwork.The workshop centered around the creation and exploration aspect before many programs commonly used in creative technology, highlighting the importance of brainstorming and feedback in group settings before the next step of iteration.
The Skins Team also gives huge thanks to team members on the Abundant Intelligences team and Mila for all their help and time! We look forward to future workshops under the 7th Gen Tech.
Funded in part by:
