Designers Imagine a Future More Closely Melded With Science and Technology

5th Dimensional Camera "At a molecular level the world is very different from the way we experience it. The weird ‘quantum’ nature of this molecular world has captivated scientists for several decades, and now they are attempting to build a machine - a ‘quantum computer’ - that will harness this atomic strangeness to perform tasks practically impossible with conventional technology. But beyond the computational possibilities lie more pertinent questions: What does quantum computing tell us about the underlying nature of the universe? Are we inhabiting just one of an infinite number of parallel worlds? And if so, what does that say about our place in existence?" Jon Ardern and Anab Jain

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Billed as “a unique collaboration between science and design,” IMPACT! – an exhibition that recently wrapped at the Royal College of Art in Kensington, UK – explored the many ways physical sciences and engineering overlap to leave their marks on our ecnomies, our policies, and our everyday lives.

Launch the gallery above for some of our favorite projects.

The mixed-media exhibit brought together a collection of original design proposals aimed at pushing this connection between science and society forward. The results, as you will see, were pretty impressive, ranging from the practical to the whimsical to the metaphorical.

But perhaps the adjective that best ties all the pieces together is revolutionary, as each piece boldly imagines a new way to look at existing technology, or a new technology that pushes forward existing science, making for a very interesting mash up of future tech, science and outside-the-paradigm thinking.

[IMPACT! via Core77]