Engineering Fictions, is a writing workshop devised to support transdisciplinary research and communication through wordplay, writing, and conversation and is the brainchild of Maynooth University and CONNECT Centre researcher Dr. Jessica Foley, whose IRC research explores the function of fiction in parsing the worlds of smart technologies. A series of four workshops that showcased the role of fiction in the implementation of technology and data analysis. I, along with several other team members from ENABLE, was lucky to be able to attend the fourth workshop, titled Orienteering Fictions.

After much thought-provoking discussion regarding the potential for discrepancies between personal narratives and the narratives formed through technology, the participants were tasked with going out into the SDZ (Strategic Development Zone) that encompasses the Smart Docklands testbed to locate and pinpoint their own orienteering markers. Dr. Foley left the selection of the orienteering markers up to whatever caught the attention of the group participants. Equipped with maps and smartphone cameras, the participants and I set out into the SDZ. We returned with a variety of features, and for some, the focus was on technology, with Wi-Fi signals showcasing just how interconnected the SDZ is or various smart technologies (waste bins, bicycles, CCTV cameras, etc.) driving home the point that technology has infiltrated daily life. For myself, I chose art installations. I chose to model this through the number of unauthorized art installations, graffiti, within the SDZ and just outside the boundary, as well as the number of authorized art installations, commissioned art, that I happened upon. The results fit the narrative that I was attempting to develop, as unauthorized art was abundant in the areas on the perimeter of the SDZ and there was a noticeable lack of similar, unauthorized art as soon as I entered the SDZ. I found several small graffiti tags hidden underneath electric boxes or on the side of waste bins, but none of the large installations that were so frequent just a few dozen meters away.

Images: Examples of the small graffiti tags within the SDZ.

Authorized art was frequent as soon as I crossed the boundary into the SDZ, and most installations were large in scale and prominently featured.

Images: Examples of authorized art installations within the SDZ.

The importance of narratives and creative research is undeniable. Public engagement is a major challenge for researchers, and workshops such as Engineering Fictions hope to derive better methods of public engagement and understanding within research communities. In short, Orienteering Fictions allowed participants to view the highly technical research being done throughout Dublin with a more creative and sociological approach.

Landon Holben, June 2019 

Landon Holben is a Visiting Research Assistant from the University of Virginia, where he studies foreign affairs.