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An interesting case of design fiction where they have actually programmed a washer to be connected to a smartphone through the cloud so that you may control changes from you phone as well as receive notifications. What they have done which I find interesting is that they have made this video as a way to "start a conversation" about this instance of design fiction. Unlike some design fiction they are not claiming to know what the future will look like or pretend like they have already created the product and worked out all of the bugs. Their approach to design fiction is very simplistic and honest. ""Cloudwash is a prototype connected washing machine. We prototype products at Berg to help us understand how our platform should work, and to encourage better design in connected things…" BERG, "Berg Case Studies/ Cloudwash." Accessed March 20, 2014. http://bergcloud.com/case-studies/cloudwash/.

This piece of Design Fiction is imagined to exist in a world where products are developed to the point where they almost have lives themselves. When thinking in terms of Spime, "Brad the Toaster" is a product that plays into the idea of discontinuing the process where products of today's consumer culture are built, and then soon become obsolete due to new technologies arising. Brad and his fellow Sprimes might be the answer to all environmental sustainability problems. Sprimes would be sent out into the world, their every move being trached. Every interaction that they have with people will be tracked, and stored in a database, ready to be accessed by developers. If these developers can study these interactions, what does work with a product, and what doesn't, then their Brad 2.0's can be the best possible product, without having to create a series of upgraded products, only to be obsolete when a new need is discovered. Vanhemert, Kyle. "A Toaster That Begs You to Use It: Welcome to the Bizarro Smart Home." Wired. March 14, 2014 http://www.wired.com/design/2014/03/addicted-products/

Thanks, this intersects with a number of rich topics within realm of New Media and, as you note, spimes in particular! There's also a funny variant here of anthropomorphized machines and notions of sentience. The video for Brad the Toaster is another compelling example of a diegetic prototype

An interesting TED talk by Neil Harbisson, a man who is completely color-blind. He built himself a device with a camera which reads color, and translates the colors into different frequencies. He considers the device to be an extension of his brain, part of his cyborg self. Eventually he was able to train his brain to hear more colors than normal human beings can even "see," and in essence is able to tell more about his surroundings than a normal person. http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_harbisson_i_listen_to_color Harbisson, Neil. "I Listen to Color." Ted.com, video. Filmed June 2012, accessed March 2014. http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_harbisson_i_listen_to_color

On October 24, 2013 Julian Bleecker, James Bridle, Nick Foster, Cliff Kuang and Scott Patterson participated in a round table discussion during Near Future Laboratory's event, "Design & Fiction". In this link, there is the full video of their discussion (lasting about and hour and a half) as well as a synopsis and several key points from the discussion put together by the host site, core77.com. Each participant in the discussion brings up really interesting ideas and it is nice to have the option to watch or listen to the discussion in full, or just get a brief overview through the written synopsis. Ray, . "Near Future Laboratory Presents Design & Fiction (A Near-Past Event Recap)." Core77 (blog), February 21, 2014. http://www.core77.com/blog/strategy_research/near_future_laboratory_presents_design_fiction_a_near-past_event_recap_26484.asp (accessed March 12, 2014).

Thanks! This is indeed a great resource, concise and legible overview of core concepts from some of the key figures involved with this mode of design. The section with James Bridle provides strong echoes and parallels with Sterling's concept of "Spimes," too!

An interview with Glitch Studies Manifesto author Rosa Menkman that discusses glitch as a genre and Menkman's influence's, inspiration and process. She goes into detail about glitch videos and talks about some artists who create work in the same category. I thought there was a lot of insight into Glitch Studies and there are some useful links at the bottom of the interview too that give more information. Rosinski , Andrew. "INTERVIEW WITH ROSA MENKMAN, DUTCH VISUALIST." DINCA.org. http://dinca.org/interview-with-rosa-menkman-dutch-visualist/5323.htm (accessed April 17, 2014).

Carl Sagan talking about 3 dimensional creatures living in a 3 dimensional world, but maybe that is not the case. Imagining that the universe is expanding and and can be beyond dualistic thinking is an amazing concept. That the universe can be finite AND unbounded is interesting. This is in discussion of the meta-reality discussion