Institute For The Future

Artifact Engine

When thinking about the future, it is important to start somewhere. Especially if we believe that the future is something that we can actively shape and attempt to direct. One way to start the futures thinking process is by creating an Artifact from the Future. The text below is an example artifact.

Try visiting the Artifact Engine website to randomly generate new Artifacts and find one that resonates with you.

Each Artifact is a snapshot of one possible future object/scenario, frozen in time. It is a window into another world that is both familiar and novel. While these concepts may never exist outside of our imagination, they serve as a concrete starting point for discussing what is possible. They help us imagine a world in which the artifact would exist, and be used in everyday life. When we open our minds to these new possibilities, it allows us to better prepare for the future by addressing today’s challenges in more creative ways.

You may already be familiar with some of IFTF’s Artifacts from the Future. They often take the form of photo-realistic images, with short stories describing technologies and interactions of the future. These Artifacts are super useful, so we’ve expanded the genre with the Artifact Engine, a new tool that allows us to rapidly generate visions of the future. The text-based visions that are made with this tool are often bizarre, and occasionally profound. There are two different versions of this Artifact Engine: a digital version, shown above, and an analog version that is a little more hands-on.

Artifact Engine: Analog Version

This activity is a great way to start a conversation about the future. It helps people of all ages creatively recombine ideas to envision possible future scenarios. These are just a few of the artifacts that were created at the recent Open City/Art City festival, hosted in partnership by IFTF and YBCA.

It works by compiling lists of words, and using dice to recombine these words into sentences that describe possible futures. 

A free, Creative Commons licensed PDF of this worksheet is available for download here: Artifacts from the Future Worksheet

Artifact Engine: Digital Version

There is also an online version that uses the same mechanics, but the process is automated. You can find this digital Artifact Engine embedded at the top of this blog post, or at artifactengine.iftf.org.

The database is populated words that were generated from the Open City/Art City session. This means that the current version of Artifact Engine reflects the Artifacts that were generated that that event. We encourage you to download this code, and create your own database, and generate your own futures. 

The program is built with the WTF Engine, which is a pretty great tool, despite the mildly inappropriate name. The Artifact Engine Code is freely on GitHub. This means that you are free to download, customize, and remix the future. If you’re not familiar with coding, don’t be afraid, this one if fairly straight forward. Its as easy as adding words to the appropriate category, and making sure that your punctuation is in the right place.

Share your Futures

This tool could be useful to anyone who wants to think about the future. Whether you’re curious about the future of your community, a corporation, or your own personal life, this tool can help you imagine a multitude of possibilities. For each Artifact that is created, imagine the world in which that object would exist. Suspend any disbelief and ask yourself, or discuss as a group, how you and your community would interact with this potential future.

We would love to see the futures that you come up with! Whether you use the analog or digital Artifact Engine, let us know. Tweet your futures to us @IFTF, share them on our IFTF Facebook page, or email us at timetraveler at iftf dot org. We will add words from your Artifact sentences to the database for artifactengine.iftf.org