Smarter Repair 2053

Coulton, Paul and Stead, Michael and Owen, Rebecca (2024) Smarter Repair 2053. The Design Journal. ISSN 1460-6925

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Abstract

In 2023 the European Union enacted the right-to-repair for European citizens which was undoubtedly a step forward in tackling planned obsolescence and the deluge of electronic product waste being produced at that time. An expansion of the right-to-repair to include smart devices occurred in 2035 acknowledging their increased proliferation as everyday products and services. However, these rights-to-repair did not result in creating a capacity for repair such that consumers were both willing and able to avail themselves of this right. To address this technologists extended the infusion of datafication and Artificial Intelligence within smart products to address their lack of reparability resulting in the right-to-repair being granted to the devices themselves in 2045. This has resulted in both decreasing electronic product waste, increased device longevity, and extending the development of an aesthetic of repair into more products and services.