Future Generations Generator

Participatory Futures Installation | re:publica 2025 | Berlin

An interactive installation inviting participants to generate speculative future generations and reflect collectively on long-term societal change.

Location: Berlin
Event: re:publica 2025 (~30,000+ attendees over 3 days)
Duration: 3 days
Format: Interactive installation
Audience: Designers, technologists, activists, students, public visitors
Team: Lena Jacobi, Simon Herdegen, Katja Budinger
My Role: Co-Concept & Interaction Design

Concept & Interaction Design

The Future Generations Generator functions like a speculative “game machine.”

Participants:
→ Generate a randomly composed future generation name → Complete missing attributes (values, favorite food, trends, technologies, cultural traits) → Print their generation profile → Place it on a collective reflection grid → Use the emerging landscape of generations as prompts for dialogue

The reflection grid situates each generation along axes of realistic ↔ unrealistic and wonderful ↔ terrible, making abstract futures visually comparable and discussable.

Through humor and structured randomness, the format lowers barriers to futures discourse while making implicit assumptions visible.

Context & Challenge

Large conferences often host conversations about “the future” that remain abstract, polarized, or intellectually distant. We asked: How might we create a low-threshold, playful format that makes long-term societal reflection tangible and participatory?
Placed prominently in the Off Stage Area of the main hall, near ARD, ZDF, Google, and directly by the entrance, the installation was designed to attract spontaneous engagement from a highly diverse audience.

My Role

Co-developed the core concept and interaction logic
Designed the reflection grid structure
Contributed to visual and spatial installation design
Structured facilitation flow for participant engagement
Co-exhibited and supported on-site interaction during re:publica

Outcomes & Impact

Across three days, 300+ participants actively contributed generation profiles to the collective grid.

Notably, teenagers from diverse backgrounds engaged enthusiastically with the format, demonstrating that futures reflection can be both accessible and meaningful beyond academic or professional audiences.

The collected outputs revealed striking patterns:

Some generations were humorous and imaginative.
Others were surprisingly plausible—and at times unsettlingly realistic.
The aggregation of profiles created a visible “collective creative brain” reflecting shared hopes and anxieties.

The installation sparked spontaneous conversations among strangers, transforming speculative thinking into a shared, embodied experience.

Follow-Up Interest

Invitation from Berliner Ideenlabor to re-exhibit the Generator at a public festival.
Ongoing discussions about potential display at Futurium (pending).

Reflection

The project demonstrates how playful interaction design can:

Make systemic and long-term thinking accessible in public settings.
Surface collective assumptions through structured co-creation.
Turn abstract futures into tangible artefacts that invite dialogue.

By combining humor, randomness, and visual mapping, the Generator creates a shared reflective space where complexity becomes approachable rather than intimidating.