Sci-Fi and Sci-Fact Meet: The Envisioning App for iPad

German designer and developer Filip Chudzinski has come up with a concept for an iPad application which attempts to narrow the breach between real science and science fiction.

Sci-fi is largely appealing because it presents us with ideas and designs which aren’t real but very well could be – seeing as they’re futuristic, alternative or modified versions of things that already exist. The genre constantly draws from the well of actual science and technology, but this isn’t a one-way connection. Many devices, machines and techniques seen in the real world were inspired by notions that sci-fi writers and film-makers imagined with anticipation.

The main purpose behind Filip’s “Envisioning” is to serve as a brainstorming tool for interaction designers and, potentially, other professionals as well. Interaction designers attempt to optimize the relationship between people and the products, programs and services they use. Their input is needed in order to make new tech gadgets usable and non alienating. Filip proposes they employ “Envisioning” to get inspired by sci-fi movies and see the human-machine interaction issue under new lights.

The application offers two main options: Explore and Favorites.

If the “Explore” option is chosen, the user is presented with a myriad sci-fi movie clips that can be browsed at random. This method may, for example, highlight previously unthought-of links between ideas that are featured in several movies spanning several decades. The format and multitouch display of the iPad tablet make it the perfect candidate to host an application which works like this. As Filip suggests: “Swipe. Tap. Get Inspired. Randomly.”

Once a clip has been selected and viewed, a section containing information about the movie and its tie-ins with the real world can be viewed simply by rotating the iPad.

The “Favorites” option, like its name indicates, provides easy one-tap access to the user’s clips of preference.

The application also features a wizard for the user to upload their own movies and stills, with support for YouTube and Vimeo. Furthermore, Filip foresees it might include a search engine to locate clips through tags or keywords, an extended facts and fiction section and the possibility to stream content to HDTV via AirPlay.

“Envisioning” looks stylish and neat but it could definitely do with a bit more complexity and depth. Overall, though, it constitutes a rather interesting approach to the architecture of information and how ideas come to be. Life imitates art far more than we realize, and an app that seeks to make the most of that is nothing but welcome.

Check out these other  iPad apps previously featured on Walyou: Bla Bla Bla iPhone and iPad Appi3D Hologram: Three Dimensional Communication and StudioTrack: Multitrack Recording App For The iPad.

Via: Behance