Framing the Fifth Industrial Revolution
IR5 starts from a simple idea: systems are becoming more powerful, but not necessarily more human.
We work to keep people at the center of progress. To that end, we created the Human Compatibility Framework®
to assess whether projects support agency, dignity, understanding, and long-term human capability.
We explore the following areas:
Human Compatibility Framework©
IR5’s Human Compatibility Framework© is a practical tool for evaluating whether a system remains livable for humans over time. It is built for situations where something can “work” on paper and still quietly harm the people inside it. The framework focuses on four basics: whether humans keep agency, whether they can understand what is happening, whether responsibility stays clear, and whether human capability is preserved rather than slowly eroded.
The framework is composed by ten sections:
IR5 applies the Human Compatibility Framework© through three domain modules. The framework itself remains stable, but each domain translates it into a specific field of practice, with its own risks, stakeholders, and long-term consequences. This allows the same core logic to be used consistently across very different systems without becoming vague or generic.
Directors
Shiung Low and Ignacio Zamora bring together different geographies, disciplines, and ways of reading the world. Born in Malaysia and Spain respectively, now based in Melbourne, Australia and shaped by international careers carried out across continents, they share a commitment to creativity, human values, and the belief that technology should expand human possibility rather than reduce it. Their collaboration is grounded in a global perspective, but also in paying close attention to how people actually live, create, adapt, and make meaning in different contexts.