The 'Trip to the Future' workshops at the 2016 Kala Ghoda Arts Festival engaged children in imaginative explorations of future scenarios regarding food production, housing, and technology. Responses highlighted key trends such as practical space exploration, beneficial intelligence, and the maker movement, reflecting children's exposure to urban technology and media influences. The workshop aimed to harness children's creativity, yielding insights into future technological advancements and their potential impact on society.

1. Trip to the Future:
Future Visualization Workshops for
Children at Kala Ghoda Festival 2016
March 2016

2. An Introduction to
the Workshops
In 2013, the Institute of Customer Experience
designed a board game called “Trip to the Future”
which was used to conduct “playshops” for children
to get insights into how children’s minds work in
visualizing the future.
Three years later, at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2016
held in Mumbai, we had an opportunity to conduct
two similar playshops—one for an NGO called
Akanksha and the second for the KGAF 2016 festival
children.
The responses we received were intriguing and
actually point to current trends in 2016, indicating
the directions in which technology will evolve in the
future.

3. Approach to the Workshops
The approach was borrowed from the previous workshops. We:
• > Presented the stimuli as incomplete scenarios to be finished by the children
• > Encouraged all and any possible answers, with no right or wrong answers
• > Made the sessions about creativity, more play than work

4. 2016 Workshop Venue:
The Former Prince of Wales Museum Gardens, Kala
Ghoda, Mumbai
Dates: February 9th and 10th
Duration: 1 hour (each)

5. The Participants
Akansha (NGO)
 Age group: 11 years
 Total number: 30 children
Kala Ghoda Festival Public
 Age group: 6-13 years
 Total number: 10 children

7. Trip to the Future As a Board Game
The game called “Trip to the Future” requires the children
to let their imaginations run wild in the context of the
following areas:
 How will food be produced in the future?
 What will future houses look like?
 How will people entertain themselves?
 Who will they look for as companions?
 How will they get information in the future?

9. Linking the Responses to Trends
The formative minds of children project important trends
that society can expect to actually manifest in the future.
Here, we take a closer look at what are the key
influences on children today:
 Children in the urban environment of Mumbai are
exposed to various kinds of technologies and
gadgets, including laptops, smart phones, tablets,
and wearable tech.
 Games and toys make a huge impact on the
imaginations of children through which they can go
on journeys of open-ended play.
 The films, television series, and advertisements that
the children consume also impact how they might
think about the future.
Source: Simon Davidson, Flickr Creative Commons
https://flic.kr/p/rGWgm

10. The Response-Trend Links Found
This report aims to bring out themes we spotted in the responses of the participants along with current
trends that are emerging in technology, housing, entertainment, food and so on. Here are the themes
that the drawings point to:
1. Practical space exploration
2. Beneficial intelligence
3. Maker movement (3D printing)
4. Space-saving automated tech
5. Cognitive Internet of Things
6. Immersive screen display
7. Augmented knowledge (and immortality)

11. Although space travel was also the theme of the board game, the ideas on having an oxygen supply,
“advisor” on space, jetpacks, space suits, robots, etc. indicate that space exploration is becoming more
and more an imaginable, practical reality. As we recently saw with NASA’s release of space exploration
posters, promotion of space tourism, for example, imagine a Hilton on Mars.
Source: http://www.thedrive.com/article/2171/nasas-giving-away-brilliant-space-travel-posters-for-free
Trend #1: Practical Space Exploration

12. Five things you would take with you if you had
to leave Earth and go into space
Akanksha (NGO)
 Oxygen (cylinder/mask)
 Food
 Water
 Safety clothes
 Others: Small stones, Helmet, Rocket,
Medicine, Football kit, friends, TV, mom,
house, books, pen, basic needs, space suit,
games, sister, cycle,
Festival Public
 Oxygen cylinder
 Food
 Space Suit
 Games
 Others: water, rocket, books, luggage, gum
sole shoes, paper, space car, jetpack, video
games, books, a robot, space car, sister, space
ship, space clothes, toys, an “advisor” about
space,
Trend #1: Practical Space Exploration

13. Trend #2: Beneficial Intelligence
In quite a few responses we see the way in which
children are motivated by the power of
technology to save their time, improve their lives,
and, most of all, to always be by their side as an
“assistant” to whatever they might be doing.
Source: http://trendwatching.com/trends/5-trends-for-2016/

14. Trend #2: Beneficial intelligence
Akanksha (NGO) Festival Public
When we tell the robot to do something, it does that. “Robot, bring my games back!” (space garage)

15. Trend #2: Beneficial intelligence
Akansha (NGO) Festival Public
The circle is the machine that can say
information of any planet.
“My robot, produce a pizza machine and make pizza from it.”

16. Trend #2:
Beneficial
intelligence
“My robot is always with me.”
This drawing indicates that
children are starting to think
of their relationship with
technology as not only
“beneficial” as a life assistant
but also comforting in its
constant presence.

17. The Maker Movement was also evident in many of the drawings that the children at the festival made.
The workings of the “machines” conceived to produce pizza were designed in a way unique to each
child, characteristic of the maker movement trend. In addition, 3D printing is technology that assists to
make a lot of different conceptions possible.
Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-toy-trends-of-2015-announced-by-toy-industry-association-tia-the-official-voice-of-toy-fair-
300036276.html
Trend #3: Maker Movement

18. Trend #3: Maker Movement (3D Printing)
I’ll make pizza by pizza machine. I’ll make my pizza machine into a TV which can do anything.

19. Trend #3: Maker Movement
“Pizza Rocket” is conceived as being made out of pizza,
solving the problem of transport and food.

20. Trend #3: Maker Movement
Vegetables, sauces, outlet, bread. Pizza-producing machine. Play with the pizza machine, as a Frisbee

21. Trend #3: Maker Movement (3D Printing)
Pizza machine with dials:
1) First you have to put the pizza in the machine. Then turn
on the dials.
2) Set the place.
3) And you have the pizza there.

22. Trend #4: Space Saving Automated Furniture
Many of the responses indicated that kids are thinking of a
space saving, smaller, more compact material lifestyle that will
serve more than one purpose.
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/kraaijvanger-
hub/42268/?li_source=LI&li_medium=default-widget

23. Trend #4: Space-saving Automated Furniture
I’ll convert my spaceship into a
house which has many
features like… it can be
opened if we type the
password and my house will
look like an ancient warship of
chocolate. And whenever I
want to explore, I’ll covert my
house into a spaceship.

24. Trend #4: Space-saving Automated Furniture
If you wish, the Magic room to become a small
ball, it can fit in your pocket. You can wish it
back into a room.
Everything is integrated in the house. Space shop & sports arena.

25. Trend #4: Space Saving Automated Furniture
“A bed which will control all the things.” (With buttons)
“Small foldable structure that turns into a house”

26. IoT was one of the major recurring trends observed.
Kids depicted material things in their life that were
connected and functioned according to their mood
and preferences.
IBM’s Watson Internet of Things makes sense of the
vast amount of data generated by the Internet of
things, using machine learning.
Source: http://www.ibm.com/internet-of-things/watson-iot.html
Trend #5: Cognitive Internet of Things

27. Trend #5: Cognitive Internet of Things
Akansha (NGO) Akansha (NGO)
“Music system that plays according to my
mood, talking portraits.” The circle is the machine that can say information of any planet.

28. When asked about entertainment in the future,
communication through a large display “screen” came up as
a theme. Large screens on different products is also found to
be trending at CES 2016.
Sources: https://www.jwtintelligence.com/2016/01/ces-2016-key-trends/
http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/10/the-other-ces-2016-trend-put-a-screen-on-it/
Trend #6: Immersive Screen Displays

29. Trend #6: Immersive Screen Displays
I will have screen in which we can see TV or play
games and it has a voice to talk.
Talk to my friends on the Earth through a screen.

30. Trend #6: Immersive Screen Displays
I may be playing GTA 18 on my
latest technology suit. The glass
in front of me will project the
screen. Whatever I think will
happen in the game.

31. Trend #7: Augmented Knowledge (and Immortality)
When the kids were asked about the kind of life
they might see on other planets, a common
response was related to “superintelligence” and
“talking with the mind.” These “alien” beings had
qualities that were aspirational to the children.
For example, being born so intelligent, they
didn’t need to go to school. Also, immortality
was very appealing quality of the aliens.
HBR’s predicted trend for 2016 is around this
kind of augmented knowledge and
communication directly through the brain that
means enhanced cognitive abilities which will
impact what it means to “learn.”
Sources: https://hbr.org/2015/12/8-tech-trends-to-watch-in-2016

32. Trend #7: Augmented Knowledge
They do not go to school. They are so intelligent that
when they are born they know everything. They talk
with the phones in their heads (their mind).

33. Trend #7: Augmented Knowledge
They will have an antenna which will help
them to talk to each other.
When they are born, they are very smart so
they do not go to school.
They are colorful.

34. Trend #7: Augmented Knowledge
They will talk with their head because in the
head they will have a computer.
They cannot die because on the planet is
made like that. When anyone goes to that
planet, they cannot die.

35. Trend #7: Augmented Knowledge
Aliens are not like humans. They wear no clothes. As my friend is never tired, he can
go anywhere.
They are very intelligent. As soon as they are born, they become intelligent. They
never die.

36. Thank you!
The workshop team
• Kalika Sharma
• Jayna Bansal
• Khushboo Biyani
• Anand Vijayan
• Riddhi Shah
• Chinmay Sethe
• Anurag Bhattacharya
• Rasika Wadodkar
Thanks to
Apala Lahiri Chavan
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