Science fiction and innovation

In the development of innovations over the past decades, data-driven methods have become commonplace. Alongside advantages in effectiveness and efficiency comes the danger of relying on data describing past rather than future developments which can result in a loss of imagination and creativity. In parallel, a growing awareness of the interface between innovation and science fiction can be observed in academia and among practitioners. This awareness is most often based on the hypothesis that taking inspiration from science fiction can create value in the development of innovations. Despite numerous case studies in the literature describing this interface, a major part of methods applied seem to have been chosen in an unstructured, almost random way. This study investigates the literature in search of science fiction-related methods able to support the development of innovations. With around 60.000 publications considered based on a high-level search, a refined search combined with a manual search led to 17 science fiction-related methods to support the development of innovations. Using a six-phase generic innovation process, the methods identified were mapped into the process based on semantic similarities between the objectives of each method and the objectives of innovation process phases. This mapping is understood as an overview and conceptualization offering a baseline for future academic research and guidance for practitioners on choosing the most appropriate science fiction-related methods for developing innovations.