Hi Tribe 
Theme: I have long been obsessed with the idea of heterotopias; subtle or overt interactions of elements of Utopia and Dystopia as described by French philosopher Michel Foucault. I was hoping that I could draw these out with play and games, to ask the question what are the hidden dystopian elements that support utopias in cities and vice-versa? To give an extreme example, what do the hellish realities of maximum security prisons do for suburbs where the rich are free to raise their children? What interactions could these have and how can we make these more visible and felt through the play and game? It is not meant to be some kind of critical artistic commentary on disparity but rather an appreciation of how these two stark themes co-exist to “drive the engines of civilisation” as Hegel would put it.
Ideas/project: I am not entirely sure about this but I was initially toying around with an idea to make a city treasure hunt game with some speculative futurism baked into it. The treasure hunt structure would help guide the player through a series of experiences that might lead them to feel “heterotopic” impressions of areas they’re exploring. In order to make the game more interesting than the garden variety treasure hunt I wanted to use a wearable technology (vest) that uses haptic feedback to guide the player. So the player only knows where to go by way of small vibrations that they feel on a vest. Vibrations on the right shoulder mean turn right. These vibrations would be sent to the vest from a second player that can see the active treasure hunter as a dot on a map. I would like for the two players to be complete strangers. The whole thing would be tied together by some engaging narrative like "travel back in time to stop Trump’s parent’s from meeting at an undisclosed restaurant in [insert hipster restaurant in dodgy neighborhood] ".
Skills: I can somehow code and make electronics stuff, my strength is thinking about cool shit and I read a lot of transdisciplinary science and cyberpunk. Would love to work with anyone with similar thoughts or just people want to make something cool and fun.
Research: No research yet but my next step would be to see how I can make a lo-fi prototype of the whole thing to see how enjoyable it could be. So my approach here would be to first make something fun and then imbue it with all the philosophical rationalisations later. Would love to collaborate with anyone who loves cyberpunk themes of high-tech and low-life.