Demo or die? The role of video demonstrations in the public domain

Video is an effective way to communicate the potential of new ideas, and it's becoming increasingly important to designers, especially to those in the HCI community. Successful Kickstarter videos match the manifest persuasiveness factor of an infomercial. Those using the designed objects of the future, as represented and imagined in many videos, are often the same as the designers and funders of those objects. They share an interest in the same kinds of activities, make similar lifestyle choices, and relish a technological aesthetic, the same as the designers and engineers behind the scenes. Video narratives of technological development have shaped futures by introducing cutting-edge research to the public domain. By positioning a new technology as the clear solution for a known problem, it can transform us from passive viewers into agents of a solution.