Speculative Showcases
Fall 2025 Cohort
Soluna City 2070: SEED Knowledge Transfer
By Sofia Argiriou, José Ignacio Durán González (Nacho), Kalyan Marripudagala, Hannah Goldenbogen
A speculative look at Soluna City (near Oslo, Norway), a community-centric, post-capitalist metropolis populated by climate migrants. The project features SEED, a smartwatch-docked drone system paired with translation earpieces, enabling the borderless sharing of skills and environmental monitoring.
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Designing for Adaptive Futures: Exploring Human-AI Collaboration in Sustainable Floating Cities
By Helena Kaufmann, Karl Hacker, Vanessa Gehringer, Anna Hwang, Keisha Zanichelli
Set in Jakarta and Dhaka's floating districts of 2070, this project explores a nomadic floating city network where learning replaces currency. It introduces the Lumen Loop, an emotional-cognitive bracelet companion that visualizes mental states using color patterns to align rhythms and encourage empathy.
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Reconnected: AR as a Path to Connection, Balance, and Belonging
By Gehna Goel, Marcel Weihs, Till Maier, Timothy Passalacqua
Set 50 years after a dystopian pod-based survival era, citizens choose between living in the physical world or within virtual reality. The project explores AR-driven environmental restoration, featuring space-based solar data centers and smart pods with built-in health monitors to restore balance.
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Redefining Home in the Federated Earth (2070): A Speculative Design Inquiry into Belonging and Mobility
By Anuj Bhandare, Jonas Eisenhofer, Lena Kächele, Mercedes Emte, Vedika Mahamulkar
In a post-territorial world governed by an AI Flow Network, national borders have been replaced by resource citizenship. To solve the severe emotional dislocation resulting from constant transit, the project proposes the Ambient Anchor Core, a biometric device that records and streams the sensory fingerprint of home.
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The Lens: Weaving Memory and Tradition Across a Borderless Central Asia, 2070
By Nicole Schwetz, Carlos Cruz, Elisabeth Groh, Saloni Raut, Sabrina Dobios
In a borderless Central Asia shaped by climate-induced agricultural collapse, nomadic families must navigate a constantly shifting terrain. The Lens is an AR-sensing wearable that maps digital traces and memories of past travelers, turning movement into a shared, living practice of guidance.
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The Delta Accord: When Harmony Becomes Law
By Büsra Uysal, Jumaine Gould, Ken Pao, Marie Heß, Navya Chopra
Set in a world of redrawn coastlines and millions of displaced citizens, national borders are replaced by empathetic borderlands. Relocation to ecological zones is managed by an AI-human co-decision-making framework called the Delta Accord, aligning human presence with planetary health.
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The Future of Coral Reefs
By Sanja Schleicher, Paula Groth, Patrice Reynolds, Alma Garcia
In the year 2070, a surplus of corals in the world's oceans has boosted marine ecosystems and climate resilience, but created challenges for marine transport. This project introduces the CoralCollector2 (CC2) robot to manage growth and harvest corals. These harvested corals are then utilized as a rich source of nutrients and minerals to support human health.
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The Future of Transportation – Go!Rickshaw
By Ralf Schmitzer, Anamika, Elisabeth Göhrig, Gazi Arifin
An autonomous, solar-powered rickshaw business network designed to resolve urban transport isolation. By providing passive income opportunities, Go!Rickshaw functions as a micro-business platform that uplifts underserved communities and restores social connections.
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Waste2Taste
By Harrold Zining Cai, Katrina Poon, Tanmoy Roy, Julian Jochimsen
Waste2Taste turns organic waste into culinary currencies. Visitors bring household food scraps to smart public kitchens, converting waste into soil nutrients and earning app credits redeemable for free meals, combating food insecurity.
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Harvesting Hope
By Adriana Velasco, Archana Ma, Khushboo Kaur, Sarah Willig
Urban community gardens integrating smart technologies with natural growth. New members receive a Welcome Box printed with plantable paper and a HarvestBracelet, connecting local growers, tracking contributions, and unlocking smart lockers.
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FlexFitCube
By Ines Skrzypek, Katrin Gauer, Saiteja Kudligi, Vinh Lam
A subterranean, closet-less apparel delivery and care ecosystem that counters fast fashion. Users request outfits via touchpads, receive them from automated underground tubes, and use clean, smart panels to repair and upcycle garments.
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