Democratizing Imagination Through New Media Design

A response to the Making a New Reality series

If we think about of our individual stories in the current world, to some degree we have been conditioned to perform within the boundaries of dominant discourses that define the reality in which we live; a reality which is largely designed through media representations and their continued reiterations.

“Discourses” can be thought of as narratives that adhere to certain ways of viewing and being in the world, which aren’t necessarily conscious but rather embedded as “common sense” in a community’s understanding of human experience. It is discourse that creates and/or maintains specific social power relations between different groups of people and once you learn to look for it in media representation, it becomes apparent. It is akin to learning how to read the “source code” that generates subconscious conditions of human relations.

So how can we understand these points in relation to designing for inclusivity?

To illustrate these points, I will present a couple of examples of contemporary design in virtual reality that are unintentionally still perpetuating the marginalisation of Non-European people, in spite of good intentions. While it is clear that media is sometimes designed for specific audiences, I have chosen these two examples because of their intention to connect with a wide audience.

As we have become so accustomed to when looking at media and in particular educational depictions of humans there is once again a standard model used to portray the wonder of human development. It’s not in the least surprising that the standard we are presented with is of European appearance; in fact, it is a given. While this VR experience is based on cutting-edge science, if we for a moment assume the role of designer, let us ask the question: what matters and what is excluded from mattering in this experience?

In regards to a factual medical representation of non-European babies in the womb, it is not a question of clear skin tone differences, due to melanin mainly kicking in after birth. However, other options of human appearance are nevertheless excluded. This chosen “norm” is a familiar one used over and over in media, and whether consciously or not, it is actually based on members of society considered to be a socio-economic priority.

A model of a 35-week-old human baby could easily be represented with different features such as thicker lips, broader nostrils, Asiatic eye shape, dark eyes or a full head of hair. If this model were represented in another way, would it be considered too exclusionary to expect white audiences to use their imagination as prescribed by the marketing tag to “meet your unborn self”? Or does it always have to be Non-European people that are called on to develop and then continuously use an aspirational imagination in order to see an image of themselves in a white body?

Design cannot continue to remain a zero-sum game, where in order for a human to be represented, some people are recognised while others are not. The work of new media creators has the potential to be widely distributed across many countries and, given the increasingly diverse makeup of contemporary societies, we cannot meaningfully “speak” to a wide audience by only representing a certain group. While establishing a “standard” or “norm” is the easiest option technically, it is always going to leave many behind, therefore also creating a narrative of social relation. As creators we must put more energy into thinking laterally given the multitude of new design possibilities available through ever emerging technology. Inclusive representation matters, and it should no longer be considered an impossible task.

My second example shows just how deeply embedded dominant discourses are in our psyches and how they can continue to function even in the case of seemingly inclusive design.

The first thing one notices when looking at AltspaceVR’s human avatar selection menu is that as well as a standard model of human there is also a default of skin tone and hair colour. So, what matters and what is excluded from mattering in this case? The underlying narrative of having a default is the assumption of what is normal. Considering that AltspaceVR is a virtual social space where people from around world can “be there together,” would it be so strange to imagine the default model having brown skin and black hair?

Once again, we find that this is actually zero-sum identity territory. Despite the identity choices presented, the layout further instills a hierarchy and subsequently a narrative of who is the more important. While this may be a visual “common sense” of neatly positioning colours from light to dark, it would also be just as neat in a dark to light order. The hair colour menu is interesting because as well as laying out colours from light to dark it also positions the grey hair option right at the end. If it went by true light to dark logic then grey would actually be in the first position. The apparent visual rationality of this ordered presentation clearly makes room for disruption, so that it can also fit within a broader logic concerning the relevance of older people in social environments.

Humans learn to understand the world through order, so while these design choices may seem harmless at first, our brains function to draw connections about reality through orders presented. And when specific orders are repeated continuously everywhere in the media they eventually become an unquestioning “common sense.”

In both of the above examples, despite creators being inclusive-minded the reiteration of certain design “common senses” continues to preserve the very boundaries that are trying to be broken. This article is not about making a negative case against certain creators; rather, it is about revealing how easily we can all be complicit in perpetuating a divisive and hierarchical story of being human without even realising.

To combat this, here are some key points that designers and developers can use in addressing unconscious issues of exclusion in human representation:

Having the courage to disclose uncomfortable truths and have discussions openly can create new spaces for inventive thinking. If enough creators take part in openly deconstructing their work, a cultural shift can take place — hence, making united awareness and effort in solving social representation a key feature of new media design culture.

Developing a design practice of representation based on connection rather than separation can also begin with focusing on the affordances that new media bring, which can help clear the historical “common senses” of order maintained by 2D design.

In the case of virtual reality, users have the potential to both view and handle 3D objects, which creates new scope for interactive interfaces allowing the concept of “selection” to be free of specific arrangements. For example, one idea could connect skin colour selection directly to 3D colour visualization. Visualizing colour in a non-hierarchical way has long been part of computer science and the film and television post-production toolset, and VR has the ability to adopt this concept in a unique way to make a tangible non-hierarchical ‘selection’ experience.

Users could grab and select colour through a customised 3D colour space that has various colours flowing into each other. This colour space could be represented in the form of a cube, polyhedron, or sphere that floats and spins without any hierarchical up and down or left and right.

A possible basis for developing an educational experience with more inclusive depictions of humans could also being with a 3D sphere. Perhaps a model of the earth could allow users to select their ancestral lineage by holding it in their hands. This could also be a timely reason to play around with how we are taught to perceive the earth, considering that there is no up and down in space contrary to the image of the earth we all know, which is also historically imbued with social hierarchy in relation to the north/south, east/west divide.

These are just some rough jumping off points for connective design thinking in 3D space, inspired by the previously discussed examples. However, completely functional inclusive design that fits within a specific creative vision inevitably takes time and costs money. This is the crossroads where new media stands, and what we put value on now will play a major role in how future generations perceive each other. For too long media design has propagated the marginalisation of certain people through visual order, which has colonised our subconscious understanding of ourselves in relation to each other.

As designers and developers, we are active participants in constructing a new era in global human communication, so even if we lack the time and funds, taking responsibility for the work we can afford to make is nevertheless important. Being honest and uncovering uncomfortable truths of exclusion that do exist is a good starting point, so that our imaginations can be freed of old-fashioned stories and we can move forward together, aware and with greater control over the story of social reality to come.

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