Metafutures - Clinical Trials for Interplanetary Missions
Metafuturism is a constellation of transdisciplinary projects that integrates concepts from clinical epidemiology and meta-research. It is a methodological approach that shares traits with speculative and critical design, using imagined scenarios, props, imagery, diegetic prototypes, iterative R&D, and science fiction writing to raise questions regarding preferable futures.
Our method involves integrating societal challenges into a science fiction narrative, gamified through immersive workshops. Participants and facilitators co-create new narratives, ideas, methods, prototypes, imagined scenarios, and diegetic prototypes which get integrated into future workshops. We developed different iterations of these workshops which have been run as a physical experience in a medical simulation unit to virtual events supported by custom-developed digital tools. Through our workshops, we develop new methods, design new products, and create stories and performances that reimagine possibilities for the future.
The results of this project have been presented at numerous conferences such as the International Astronautical Conference (IAC) 2018 Bremen, Germany; The Edge Conference 2020, Farnborough UK; 72nd International Astronautical Congress, Dubai, UAE (2021). The project has also been run as a series of online workshops as part of the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program 2021 (SHSSP), provided in partnership with International Space University (ISU), France and the University of South Australia;
An article on this project has been published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine:
This project is led by Mona Nasser together with a wider interdisciplinary team of participating organizations: SEADS (Space Ecologies Art and Design) Transtechnology Research, University of the Philippines Open University
Consultancy includes:
Co-design of simulation
Co-design and facilitation of physical and virtual workshops
Contribution to research papers
Development of a commercial arm - a fully scalable program of workshops that provide a framework for organisations to develop processes and mindsets to cope with and thrive in uncertainty.