work in new ways and from different angles. The result of this new perspective is a now expanded concept of the scientists’ original work.
In Chapter 7, we will explore other examples of SF prototypes in the Dr. Simon Egerton Stories and how researchers and scientists are using the stories to expand and further define their development of software, AI, and robots.
Runaway Were-Tigers
On July 19, 2010, the 1st International Workshop on “Creative Science—Science Fiction Prototyping for Research” (CS’10) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This workshop explored the use of science fiction as a means to motivate and direct research into new technologies and consumer products.
The workshop did this by creating science fiction stories grounded in current science and engineering research that are written for the explicit purpose of acting as prototypes for people to explore a wide variety of futures. These “prototypes” were created by scientists and engineers to stretch their work or by, for example, writers, school children and members of the public to influence the work of researchers. The outcome of these interactions was then to be fed back to guide further research and development activities.
The website for the workshop describes its approach to SF prototypes in this way: SF prototypes involve the widest section of the population in determining the science research agenda, thereby making science investment and science output more useful to everyone ranging from companies, through scientists and engineers to the public, consumers and the government that indirectly fund R&D. In this way, fictional prototypes provide a powerful interdisciplinary tool to enhance the traditional practices of research, design and market research. The goals of the workshop were to act as a catalyst of this new approach by acting as a forum where researchers from differing disciplines (notably science fact and science fiction) can come together to explore how to develop this area (Creative Science Foundation, 2010).
One of the SF prototypes that was presented at the workshop was called The Were-Tigers of Belum by Kar-Seng Loke and Simon Egerton. I have compiled an overview below. The full text of the story can be found in Appendix A.
The screen flashed. Raja jumped back to his seat. He selected the hotspot on the screen to get the readout on it.
Just about then, the sun in the between the hills began to show itself, casting longish shadows on this nondescript shop lot in the leafy suburb neighbourhood of TTDI, in Kuala Lumpur. The plain signage on the door simply read A.E.O.N….
* * *
Just then, Kim let out a whistle, and called out to Raja, “Look at this model animation of the gait, Raja, they look weird, certainly not a normal gait of a tiger.”
“Oh my god, I don’t believe this.” Raja gasped. Then he continued, “You know, Kim, the natives believe that a tiger-spirit roams the forest. They believed that the tigers are the guardians of the forest, and its protector. These spirits are the re-manifestation of their ancestral spirits. To see them is an occurrence of dire portent, a harbinger. It is also believed that these spirits can be called into existence by the bomohs, or by some momentous future event … usually a sign of something that is going to happen, be it good or bad.”
“Surely you don’t believe in that stuff, anyway, what has it to do with this?”
“Well what if it’s true, there might be something to it? What if we have triggered something in the deep forest, our machines have penetrated into parts of the forest where nobody has ever gone before, what if we have violated the sanctity of the tigers most ancestral place and awakened the semangat of the forest!?”
“Aw c’mon Raja, stop pulling my leg, this is the 21st century, you are a good scientist and you are still talking about spirits? What have been smoking lately?”
“What does this century have to do with anything? Don’t you see all this datuk-datuk by the roadside everywhere, with all their elaborate shrines and offerings? Rites are still being performed prior to important events.”
“And … your point?” asked Kim.
“Look, you said those are not tiger-like gaits, yet the software has identified them as a tiger like gait, it is a tiger that does not have a tiger like gait. We know our software and AI works, we tested it, rigorously. So, what does that tell you? Do you know that it is believed that the bomoh with sufficient ilmu can transform into were-tigers. These were-tigers can be recognized by the lack of the groove in the upper-lip and by their gait. This is because their heels are reversed! Don’t you see, this is precisely what the software has detected, the unusual gait is caused by the reversed heels, can’t you see it in the sensor pattern on the screen?”
“Are you seriously suggesting that we are tracking were-tigers?” asked Kim, incredulously.
“Well …” Raja, confused, stalled as he couldn’t really put in a satisfyingly coherent reply. (Loke and Egerton, 2010)
This too is not science fiction. The authors of the story have been doing work on a sensor-based environmental monitoring system. In the introduction to the story, they explained their approach:
The environment and the world we inhabit today is perhaps the most precious gift we have to pass onto the next generation. Those who will inherit tomorrows’ environment and tomorrows’ world will no doubt question how we managed their legacy. To help us understand the complexities and sensitivities of our finely interwoven eco system and our effects on that system, we need to build accurate models from which we can derive theory, make predictions and define policy. A complete model would measure all forms of environmental data, both flora and fauna, such as plants, animals and micro bacteria, across the world, measured at frequent intervals, ideally in real-time [1]. However ideal this maybe, it is currently very impractical, there are too many species to measure and monitor, and data collection if often tedious and time-consuming and on the whole, carried out less frequently than desired.
Since it is impractical to consider all biotic taxa for measurement, ecologists have identified a small number of key indicator species, namely, Plants (Trees), Bats, Birds, Aquatic Macro Invertebrates, Moths, Ants, Figs & Frugivores, Dung Beetles, Stingless Bees and Large Mammals, ordered for their importance as a general environmental indicator [2]. Their sensitivity and stabilities to environmental conditions such as air pollution, climatic variation, foliage-densities and so on make them a practical bio-indicator, moreover, they are present, in some combination, across all continents and environmental conditions. This commonality has the advantage of facilitating a common frame of reference for data analysis.
Data collection typically involves a protracted manual process; a good example is the collection of moth data. The collection of moth data requires the ecologist to physically travel to the area of interest, assemble the collection apparatus (light-trap(s) in this case) either camp overnight, especially if the area is in a remote location, or leave and return at a later point, the raw data need sifting and cataloguing by an expert taxonomist, picking out the targeted moth species from the other collected moths and insects, only
