The X Prize Foundation on June 1 announced the creation of a Science Fiction Advisory Council and tapped writers, filmmakers, screenwriters and others to help the Culver City-based nonprofit “chart a path toward a future of abundance.”
The foundation, which conducts incentivized prize competitions, said the advisory council’s mission is “to accelerate positive change in the world by bringing together those who can imagine a bold vision of the future with those who can innovate to get us there.”
“X Prize has always been inspired by science fiction. (Robert) Heinlein’s `The Man Who Sold the Moon’ was an early inspiration for me, as was `Star Trek,’ which inspired the recently awarded Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, its founder and executive chairman.
“As the future becomes harder and harder to predict, we look forward to engaging some of the world’s most visionary storytellers to help us imagine what’s just beyond the horizon and chart a path toward a future of abundance,” he said.
Originating from nine countries, the roster of 64 advisers includes novelists Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Veronica Roth, Andy Weir, A.M. Homes, Daniel H. Wilson, Ernest Cline and Hugh Howey; science fiction writers Gregory Benford, Nancy Kress, Cory Doctorow, Kelly Link, Mike Resnick and Charles Stross; filmmakers Darren Aronofsky and Don Hertzfeldt; producers Gale Anne Hurd and J. Michael Straczynski; and screenwriters Akiva Goldsman and David Goyer.
According to the foundation, they will assist X Prize “in the creation of digital `futures’ roadmaps across a variety of domains: Planet & Environment; Energy & Resources; Shelter & Infrastructure; Health & Well-being; Civil Society; Learning & Human Potential; and Space & New Frontiers.”
“These roadmaps will be dynamic, interactive narratives that describe a vision for the future in each of these domains and identify the ideal catalysts, drivers and mechanisms, including potential X Prize competitions, to overcome grand challenges and achieve a preferred future state,” according to the foundation.
Next month, the foundation is partnering with All Nippon Airways, the Japanese airline, to launch Seat14C.com. The digital science fiction anthology will feature original stories by members of the advisory council, told from the perspectives of passengers onboard a fictional ANA flight from Tokyo to San Francisco who mysteriously find themselves transported 20 years in the future.
The advisors will also participate in quarterly virtual and in-person meetings, according to the foundation.
For more information, and a complete list of Science Fiction Advisory Council members, visit XPRIZE.org/SciFi.
