navbar-logo

The Museum of Future Archaeology consists of a collection of artifacts that reflect key components of futures we explored in a tangible way that audiences can interact with — they act as a lens into a given future. These physical representations of our future thinking spark dialogues and bring ideas to a common understanding. We invite you to stroll through our digital museum! This curation of the Museum of Future Archaeology is structured around the individual, the choices one makes and one’s surroundings in these possible, future worlds.

About you

This section focuses on the individual and the possible changes in everyday life in relation to the self, reputation and ownership of information.

Self portrait

This is a portrait of Margarita made by her digital self, an intelligence that acts on behalf of its human counterpart. Through a long life, the two grew closer together and had a deep understanding of each other. So it was only fitting that toward the end of Margarita's life she got a portrait from her digital self: an act of love and emancipation ending their common journey.

Reputy butterfly

As people go about their day, everything and everyone they encounter will become part of their personal timeline. The Reputy butterfly found here is one specific representation of a mechanism that not only collects all this information but also manages your timeline and reputation. Every interaction becomes quantifiable in one way or another. These interactions are sticky like pollen on a butterfly, and become part of one's identity. The personal reputation which emerges from this is one of your most valuable assets. It unlocks new possibilities of interactions enabling you to live a life without barriers.

Pod

The pod places the person and their data at the center. The control and ownership over data and all its facets are in the person’s hand. The owner can manage the content stored in the pod of their own accord. Personal data is not with companies anymore, but rather with the person. Whenever access to personal information is requested, the owner is in control of how much and under which circumstances access to their data is granted. It can also be assumed that the pod itself can act on behalf of its owner, lifting the burden of manually managing access.

Your choices

Here we explore the choices an individual can make and the consequences of understanding more from a person, being employed differently, owning things temporarily and exploring possible futures.

Colloquial coasters

On display are two coasters, one from today and one from a distant future. The coaster from today has a handwritten note on it, a common form of attempting to get the attention of another person. However, none of the coasters found in the distant future have handwritten inscriptions, because the foundation of relationships is elevated by a system available to everyone called Colloquialism. Colloquialism provides a feeling of a lifelong understanding of another person at first sight, opening up a possibility of never-seen-before interpersonal exchange.

Job description

This is an artifact from a future in which job searching is different from today. The system is called the employee of choice. Work teams are fluid and are coming together temporarily to tackle a specific problem at hand. Someone who looks for a solution to a problem no longer searches for team members or organizations with specific skills, but they are open for any type of solutions, regardless of the skill that is traditionally linked to the subject matter, offered by a human, organization or even artificial being.

Ownershop loyalty card

On display is a rare example of an Ownershop’s loyalty card. It’s unknown who the owner was, but from the heavy wear it can be concluded that this person was a regular customer. The Ownershop is a place where one can experience the notion of ownership in a world where this feeling is mostly forgotten. People can remember the excitement of holding something and knowing that it is all theirs. Most people would just come sporadically to experience ownership, but for the loyal visitors there is a special reward.

Coral of Vitinity

Vitinity physically represents possible life paths associated with the person who interacts with it in the shape of a coral. Through the branches the user can experience different potential outcomes of their decisions without having to commit to them, be it a possible investment or moving to another place. Limitless exploration of life paths is unlocked.

The world around you

This collection concerns the wider societal changes individuals could witness in relation to products that propose themselves, health that is shared between people, exploring hypothetical scenarios and experiencing unique realities.

Autonomous product

This sofa belongs to a new class of intelligent and highly connected products. It is aware of its surroundings, understands personal preferences and senses demands. As soon as the necessity arises it materializes itself, just as one imagined the perfect sofa. In this future most products and services are like this, from furniture over health care to mobility or financial offerings. The search is over.

Shard of the health language

This shard is a rare glimpse into the health language. This language encompasses the endless complexity of human wellbeing. Health seekers, entities living in humans, understand this language and use it to ensure every person’s health. For humans the secrets of wellbeing can be difficult to understand, and the shard still hasn’t been fully deciphered, but it was discovered that health has always been contagious.

Selective memories shampoos

These are samples of shampoos used while passing from one physical or virtual reality to another. The shampoos let you choose which memories and parts of your identity you want to bring into a realm when entering and which ones you want to keep once you leave. Wandering between different realities became a creative expression.

Experience menu

This menu comes from a so-called Shell Building. Integrated into the urban landscape, Shell Buildings offer customizable immersive realities to live and interact with. You experience these mentally and physically as your complete self, including all your sensorial capabilities, is brought to a totally different reality of your choice. In the example of the dinosaurs at Paradeplatz, visitors can feel the wind on their skin as a dinosaur is boarding the tram in front of them. The menu on display features popular experiences offered during that particular week.