Project Overview

This is a speculative design project that envisions the world in 15 years (2038). This is our output for the Electives: Design 360 under the theme of Design Futures at the Royal College of Art.

This project aims to envision a preferable future (2038) of sexual experiences enabled by emerging technology and social/cultural innovation. In a team of 5, we created a specualtive design and showed today’s action taken to get there. To help the audience better experience this future, we presented our design in the form of a product launch event happening in 2038. 

Link to FigJam board
Link to Presentation

ROLE 
UX Designer
Service Designer
Researcher

TOOLS
Figma, Adobe Illustration, Adobe PR, Rhino

TIMELINE
March 6 2023 - April 12 2023 (6 weeks)

SKILLS
Speculative Design/User Research/Desktop Research/Primary Research/Ideation/Prototyping/User Testing/Interview/Leadership/Team Work/Presentation/Branding/Visual Design

Current Problem (2023)

By desktop research and over 20 primary interviews, we found out that the majority of the current population have experienced unpleasant or unsatisfying sexual experiences, and that sex is a topic that is seldom communicated between partners, which leads to inharmonious relationships, as well as desires to experience more.

Through research we also found several important signals of change: the prevalence of hookup culture which separates sexual needs from emotional attraction, and the fast-developing technologies of skin-conductance and brain-computer interfaces, which makes it possible to measure and re-experience feelings and emotions.

Preferable Future (2038)

In 2038, partners can exchange feelings during sexual activities.

The Solution

After several rounds of Crazy 8’s, we came up with Kiwi, an inclusive and accessible platform with a pleasure marketplace, which creates a guilt free and shame free space for you to enjoy the pleasure, and KiwiLink, a non-invasive wearable device that records your sexual experience and also allows you to experience other people’s experiences.

Key drivers: 

1. Technical

• Brain-computer interface
  
• Artificial Intelligence (need to align with human value)
  
• Biotech
  
• Automation
  
• Wearable technology
  
• Metaverse (cyber human interaction)
  
• Web 3.0/decentralization
  
• Internet of Things
  
• Blockchain
  
• Crypto currency
  

2. Cultural

• Gender equality
  
• Aging population
  
• Globalization
  
• Virtual socialization

3. Economical
Inflation
Unfair distribution of resources
Wealth gap & inequality