Honestly, I am a little torn with the issue of Augmented Reality, or AR. I think this kind of technology is extremely intriguing (and cool), but I also think that it can be a detriment to our privacy as individuals and as citizens. It’s hard enough to control what goes on the internet about you because of Facebook photos that your friends upload and blogs people may mention you in, but if that information is available without real effort from someone else (it just shows up when someone points a phone at your face) I think that could be a potential problem.
On the one hand, these smart phone and computer applications make the transmission and retrieval of information, pertinent or not, more easily available to the public. It eliminates multiple steps involved with retrieving information, taking most of the effort out of the entire process. A positive result of this fact could be that more people get involved with politics or other important issues. With the availability of information and with its ease in transmission, people can actually see how political decisions affect them individually. For example, one application “lets you point your handheld and get an overlay on the screen that shows how bailout dollars have been spent in your neighborhood” (Benkoil). Seeing how money is spent in your area, with a specific application, at the time that you think about the subject can help people grasp how vague political concepts directly apply to their lives. The fundamental principle of democracy is involvement and AR could potentially get people more politically involved.
Also, AR can help save, or at least partially repair, the floundering of the print magazine industry. People in the industry have been searching for ways to keep print journalism from disappearing and have yet to come up with a definitive answer. “Other AR applications can live on computers, like one Esquire magazine plans to use next month that will let readers hold the December issue up to their computers’ cameras to get moving images of what they’re reading, such as an actor removing layers of clothes for a fashion story about dressing for the weather. Turning the magazine will trigger other actions, The Wall Street Journal reports, such as making it appear to snow” (Benkoil). These are extremely smart ideas, if they catch on, because they force the consumer to buy the print version of the magazine as well as going about their normal processes of online interaction. AR could be a solution to the crumbling of the magazine industry by becoming the “direct mail of the 21st century” (Benkoil).
On the other hand, the availability of information without effort can lead to loss of jobs, especially middlemen type jobs. Real estate agents could lose their jobs because with these apps, a person looking for an apartment in a certain area only has to go around with his or her smart phone and can talk directly to sellers without involving an agent at all. The number of travel agents has declined in the past years with the Internet and the ease of personally booking reservations and finding deals. This AR technology will make processes like this even easier.
In addition, AR technology seems very invasive of privacy on multiple levels. “How about facial recognition software to give information about a source a journalist is talking to?” (Benkoil). That seems like an informative idea, but it also seems like an invasion of privacy and of personal rights. Anything about facial recognition technology gives me the creeps and I don’t think anyone other than our police forces and CIA should be able to use that kind of technological capability. Isn’t that illegal, anyway? The fact that gliches haven’t been solved in these kind of technologies furthers my suspicion that they won’t work properly and could be a major detriment to someone’s life.
Do you think that the whole-hearted acceptance of these kind of technologies, especially facial recognition technologies, encourages our society to view actions that are previously thought of as creepy and stalker-ish, to become more the norm instead of the exception?
I agree with David. AR will be the way of life of younger generations. They will grow thinking that public info is the norm, and that anything otherwise is strange. I do think that there has to be a limit. Where the limit, exists, though, is the question. Who knows how far technology will go..
ReplyDeleteI don't think that AR will save print any more than digital editions of newspapers, tablet computers, and e-readers have - that is to say, it won't help at all. Think about why online news sources are now more popular than newspapers for a moment. It's because online sites have links to relevant information, can integrate video into the story, and can be updated without the effort or running off a new edition. Why have a newspaper and then need ANOTHER device to add in those features when you can get that all online to start with? If anything, one could claim that digital print media is an early form of AR itself, and that what Esquire is doing is simply an attempt to shift power back into print's favor.
ReplyDeleteI do think that it is already too late in our technological development for augmented reality to be completely viewed as "creepy and stalker-ish" because so many similar things are already considered the norm. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before AR is completely the norm, and I definitely think that is a result of our society accepting any and all new technologies whole-heartedly.
ReplyDeleteI think people in this class are freaking out about the loss of privacy to too much of a degree. I mean, there has been technology to invade our lives for years now. Alternatively, if someone really wants to know where you are, they can easily follow you around. In some cases, I think the loss of privacy can be a really good thing: finding lost children, finding a body, etc. I don't doubt it could go awry though, but it only starts to disturb me when such things are admissible in court and overwhelm the need for search warrants. I simply think we need better and more appropriate laws to keep up with the technology intruding on our lives.
ReplyDeletethis is a really cool field that is popping up. my friend has a phone that actually shows the weather in the background of the phone. so if its raining outside the phone will have little water droplets on the screen or if its sunny there is a animated sun that is shining in the background of the picture. this only works with the preprogrammed backgrounds but its a starrt. facial recognition software is a little invasive, i agree but it can have practical applications such as recognition software that uses your webcam to see that it is you logging into your computer for extra security, like a thumbprint scan.
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