Imagining emerging technologies for promoting intercultural meaningful social interactions: a participatory futures approach

Abstract

Intercultural Meaningful Social Interactions (IMSI) are positive and impactful interactions held between intercultural strangers. Previously, studies have explored these interactions characterizing them, identifying factors that influence them, and tactics and strategies to promote them. Still, what kind of technologies could encourage IMSI is underexplored. Hence, we took a participatory futures approach to understand participants' imaginaries and perceptions of potential technologies to promote IMSI. We conducted participatory futures workshops with locals and migrants living in Istanbul, an exemplary multicultural city between the east and west, who envisioned and discussed 15 concepts of emerging technologies that would enable IMSI in Istanbul of 2050. By analyzing this work, our contribution is first to present six visions of alternative futures of IMSI and, second, to introduce the tools and implications of the methodology followed to enable participants' futures thinking of IMSI in an intercultural context.