Future Narrative #1 - AR Bubble Transport
AR Bubble Transport is an interpretation of the notes and ideas from our Future Travel workshop with Codebase in Stirling in 2023. Our aim was to explore the future of traveltech in the Stirling area. Participants included start-ups, destination management organisations, and university students, who came together to explore technology trends. We used the three horizons approach to explore the weight of the past, push of the present and pull of the future and we created future narratives about the future of tourism in Stirling, 10 years from now. Themes of accessibility, technology to animate history, and spaces for digital unplugging are especially intriguing.
Illustrated by Nicola Henry and written by MĂĄire Ryan.
AR Bubble Transport - Illustrated by Nicola Henry
âPeople accuse others of âliving in a bubbleâ like itâs a bad thing.
When you really get to thinking, a bubble isnât actually all bad. Itâs see-through, for one thing. Youâre separated from the world by the most gentle, transparent film; lighter than a feather. Sound can still travel. Plus, bubbles are beautiful. Children love them and, if weâre really honest with ourselves, adults donât despise the sight of a myriad of biospheres drifting on a breeze. If you were âliving in a stoneâ, sure â totally negative. Stone implies walled, closed, impervious. In the modern age, weâre not even wedded to building our houses with stone anymore. It lets nothing in, and weâre beginning to notice the negative impact of this. Why not choose the bubble?
This is an example of the kind of rambling, cyclical argument the Robertsons, a three-generation family from Aberdeen, would frequently tuck into on their travels. Gran-Pat or Pat (depending on familiarity) Robinson, a woman whose lack of stature was made up for in her volume (and the voluminous cape she wore on their outings) would frequently butt heads with her granddaughter Kiera, a recent graduate from St Andrews. Gran-Pat loved to playfully accuse Keira, who had read Social Anthropology, of being bound to her bubble. Keira, as predicted, would launch into a tirade that could extend the length of a bus ride to Fort William. In the middleâboth in years, and in stanceâwas Karen. Mum to Keira, daughter-in-law to Pat. Able to see both sides, comfortable in asserting neither. She sometimes imagined herself as a glass bauble; from stone she was solid, but she let all the light shine through.
The bubble argument arose once more on an important trip to Stirling. This time, it wasnât ignited by either party: their transport started it. Well, Celia actually started it. Four weeks prior, Gran-Pat had received a letter from a long-lost cousin. Close as twins growing up, Celia was evacuated to North America during the War and, like so many, ended up planting roots. While Gran-Pat stayed behind to help raise her four younger brothers (her mother had sadly passed away the year before), she had written constantly to Celia. Once it was clear that Celia wouldnât return and, like so many, Gran-Pat never could quite trust any sort of plane, the cousins drifted apart. Celia had decided to make âone last visitâ to Stirling, their birthplace, and had managed to get hold of Gran-Pat to plot a reunion. Gran-Pat delegated the logistics to her two travelling chums: Keira and Karen did the rest.
Wanting to acknowledge Keiraâs adulthood, Karen had made her in charge of transport. She was to remember that, while sprightly, Gran-Pat wasnât able to walk tremendously well. A bus to Stirling was required, and Keira would need to prepare ideas for how Gran-Pat would be best shown the city of her youth, without all the traipsing a young thing might be game for. Keira, in her feverish scrolling, hit upon the recently implemented Golf Bubble Line: a shared transport initiative being pioneered in Stirling. Powered by AI, each bubble provided augmented reality (AR) visualisations, showcasing the rich history of the city by âplantingâ key figures and events at the sites the line passed through. Keira was rightfully smug with her discovery: this would not only give Gran-Pat and her cousin a mind-blowing âwelcome backâ to their hometown, but would also be informatively entertaining for the rest of the group. She was bursting to experience it.
Karen, who had spent the bus ride to Stirling glued to her seat-screen, was still immersed in a documentary (selected through the handheld AI controller each seat offered) when the bus pulled up to the Golf Bubble departure lounge. Gran-Pat and Keira were, naturally, still mid-debateâGran-Pat was in the midst of trying to get her AI controller to find her an example of a real house built from bubbles (and was overjoyed when it could not, for some reason)âwhen the doors opened and the trio alighted. There, waiting on the platform, was Gran-Patâs double. Height, hair whiteness, crinkly crooked grin. Once the moment of shocked familiarity had popped, Gran-Pat swept up to her, cape fanning dramatically, and hugged Celia tightly, both yelling nonsense at one another. A slightly tearful Keira was introduced, then Karen, and the reunion party made their way to the entrance of the Golf Bubble line.
As the perfect orb glided silently to a halt in front of them, even the shouting matriarchs were silenced. Once seated comfortably, the group spoke only in whispers. There was something about the Bubble which called for reverence. The craft drifted towards the castle walls, and the AR kicked in. All members jumped as a Viking berserker seemed about to smash their transport into smithereens with his broad axe. They laughed as they watched a fishwife harangue her husband as they passed through Riverside. They shared a moist-eyed moment when, at the Stirling Bridge, they witnessed William Wallace cutting back the English forces. So transfixed was Gran-Pat, that she didnât even manage to noticeâand thus scoldâKaren for taking the chance to fire off some urgent emails, plugging her phone in and using a portion of the Bubbleâs screen which functioned as a mobile office. The elders applauded once the Bubble drew back into the station, congratulating Keira on a fantastic âwelcome backâ surprise. Keira resisted the urge to make some kind of gloating statement about the positive advances in technology. Let Gran-Pat have this one, this time.
The surprises didnât end there. Amidst the Bubble-enabled work emailing, Karen had been assuring the final touches for a wider Robertson clan gathering. At their next stopâa local restaurant which operated a âno techâ policyâthe reunion party quadrupled in size. Faces and voices from throughout Gran-Pat and Celiaâs youth, plus their significant others, children, and childrenâs children, all joyfully mingled in shared familial familiarity. On this trip, cutting edge technology could interplay with physical and emotional history, with genuine human connection underpinning the entire endeavour. Looking around the restaurant, full of happy faces with their mouths full, Keira was momentarily concerned when she couldnât spot that familiar fuzzy white head of her grandmother.
She neednât have fretted. Gran-Pat and Celia were in the corner, thick as thieves, in their bubble.â
Provocation Questions
Weâd love to hear your thought on this story. Here are some questions that we hope might provoke some interesting debate. Feel free to add your comments below!
Is this story a plausible future by 2032? What would make it more believable?
What technologies and trends are you aware of that might make this plausible?
What stands out as desirable in this future story? What is undesirable?
Who are the potential winners and losers in this story?
Watch our discussion about âAR Bubble Transportâ
We hosted a discussion about this story with the CEO of Autoura, Alex Bainbridge. Together we explored how autonomous vehicles and AI tours are already changing the travel industry as well as the potential design and business models of future autonomous tour experiences. Enjoy!