Speculative entanglement: toward a real-fictional interplay between a speculative kit and technology practitioners

Abstract Grounded in the philosophical framework of Entanglement HCI, this paper introduces speculative entanglement, a practical methodology for technology speculation. This approach involves an iterative interplay between designers and technology practitioners, moving from real-world technological development to fictional representation (the design phase) and back to practical application (the use phase). We present IoXFun, a speculative kit designed to translate emerging technologies into fictional artifacts, facilitating material speculation. Through individual interviews with technology developers and makers, we observed how these practitioners engaged with the kit, uncovering diverse socio-technical possibilities and fostering new relationships between humans and technology. Our findings highlight key design qualities—such as temporal anchors, modularity, equivocality, and formalized representations—that enhance speculative engagement. This study demonstrates how speculative entanglement serves as an effective participatory methodology for exploring technological futures, offering a novel approach to integrating design fiction and practical engagement within HCI research.