IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2016 - 36

We surmise this may lead to greater
empathy and an opportunity to
combat racism.

While VR and AR content will move toward real life
shared experiences, professional content will also
become more spectacular, akin to the blockbuster films
of 2016. People also utilize VR, AR, and MR to imagine
and live in an "enhanced" reality. For some people,
these idealized VR games overlay a "better" reality over
the existing reality, but the enhanced vision becomes so
addictive, that some viewers are immersed and seduced
into going deeper and deeper into the fantasy world. For
professional productions, viewers will also have easy
access to content curation, with the ability to exclude
certain content; as an example: choosing to follow only
one character in a narrative experience.
Makoko itself becomes a hub for the creation of content through education and production run out of the
floating school system. Celebrities and actors emerge
from Makoko, and the community at large produces,
sells, and creates a profit from content. Makokoans utilize personal devices to view this content, and if they
cannot afford the latest AR, VR, or MR devices, they can
go to communal screening areas and festivals to view
content on shared devices.

Places, 2036
Makoko can be characterized by connective architecture
that promotes community. This includes places like the
Makoko Street Market, a long market that traverses the
border of Makoko along the length of the causeway. However, the community has not only fixed markets, but also
boat-based, mobile markets. We also discovered, along
the causeway, both pop-up and longstanding media viewing stations, similar to American drive-in theaters but
populated with boats. Media viewing platforms include
independent theaters and small showrooms with membership opportunities (protected and enforced by the
area boys), "float in" theaters, projections attached to
the causeway, latticed pixels, and inflatable domes on
water, which are mobile and easily dismantled. There are
also specific shops for building, purchasing, and repairing technology.
We identified the floating school network as being
central to developing media content and content for
education, teaching and pushing the maker movement,
and allowing a platform for children to help develop
their own curriculum, including both content and

technology. Education is considered to be aggregated
through peer-to-peer knowledge transfer across toolset
platforms in a form of a democratized trade school that
allows children to develop necessary artisanal skills,
while supplementing their knowledge through remote
teacher networks. The network of people coming out of
the floating school network also includes several
famous individuals, who help empower the community
of Makoko at large.

Culture, 2036
Our knowledge of culture around media and technology gained from this exercise spans a wide range of
content. VR events, raves, and parties are popular as
places to go experience and watch things collectively.
These events particularly appeal to those who either
cannot afford their own advanced technology, or
those who seek a shared experience. Tech teachers
and educators come to have an important role in the
society. Along with the development of content in
Makoko, the African Superhero genre and Afrofuturist comix develop further and gain popularity for
both learning and identification among youth. VR
Masters and Conduits also rise, becoming celebrities,
as well as simply sophisticated viewers whose VR
experiences one may prefer to follow in order to have
a passive VR viewing opportunity. Other Makoko
celebrities include the stars of VR and AR content. In
general, the mythology about Makoko throughout the
world increases, with the community garnering greater attention and recognition. This recognition continues to remain significant in protecting Makoko from
greater Lagos. However, highly accessible and
supercheap AR, VR, and mixed reality platforms also
serve as a way for individuals to connect with Lagos,
as well as for collective policing within Makoko. The
boundaries between Makoko and mainland Lagos
(where the "aliens" live) are created, maintained, and
enforced through the use of passcode transmitters.
On a positive note, shared experiences remain
central to experiences in Makoko 2036, through theaters, VR Masters and Conduits, and other shared VR
and AR platforms. These experiences mesh with traditional practice and can be shared, performed, and
non-hierarchical.

Models for Realistic Speculation
The power of world building as a future-facing design
practice lies in its collaborative nature and approach to
ethnographic methodology. Just as designers often get
the sense of a shape or form by starting with the "distant
read" of the silhouette, so too does the world builder
begin with a distant read of the world she is building.
When the process is grounded in a real location, it

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

∕

DECember 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2016