"Augmented reality is more likely to go mass market than virtual reality" is something many people in technology (including me) say, but then you watch something like this and think, "... or maybe not":
HYPER-REALITY from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.
Of course people who are willing to pay for premium augmented reality won't have to get a barrage of ads tossed at them 24/7, but for anyone who's not wealthy, something like this is more likely what awaits them. Which makes me think people will just stick to looking at their phones. (Which has about as much ads, but at least they can always look away.)
More from the video project's site:
Our physical and virtual realities are becoming increasingly intertwined. Technologies such as VR, augmented reality, wearables, and the internet of things are pointing to a world where technology will envelop every aspect of our lives. It will be the glue between every interaction and experience, offering amazing possibilities, while also controlling the way we understand the world. Hyper-Reality attempts to explore this exciting but dangerous trajectory.
Hat tip: Kottke.
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The 'test card' around the 4 minute mark is - hysterical.
Posted by: sirhc deSantis | Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 05:15 AM
The coin of the future is attention
Everyone wants to get your attention. For a sale. For a lunch special. For an election. I only have so much attention available, just like I only have so much money. I'm already to the point of actively avoiding attention sucking by not answering my phone, ignoring most email and in sl just deleting all the days notices unread. I now ignore most of the internet because it wants too much of my attention to see something.
So if the future is going to be a barrage of marketing, they will have to have it without me - and my money. I understand the need to advertise. I understand competing for customers. This does not mean I am a piece of meat in the dog pound, with hungry barking maws just the other side of a door.
What do I want from marketers? Remind me every two months that your store is there and what you sell, but otherwise leave me alone! If I need brake pads I need them now - I don't care if you have a sale on washer fluid.
Posted by: Shockwave Yareach | Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 06:35 AM
This depiction of virtualized real life is a predator's dream come true. Just think of all the easy pickings when people aren't paying attention to their surroundings but distracted by cartoon bling dancing across their eyewear.
Posted by: melponeme_k | Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 07:17 AM
M.T. Anderson's Feed, anyone? It's the Cyberpunk novel too few of us talk about.
If that's the future, I hope not to live to see it.
Posted by: Iggy | Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 11:17 AM
In all the years that I have said Augmented Reality will likely go mainstream, while VR will not...
This is also exactly how I have envisioned it.
I've never put forth that view as a good thing, but rather than inevitable thing.
We basically have no rights anymore beyond our value to capitalists...
What we see in this video is pretty much what we already see online for anyone not running an adblocker...
Given which companies are pushing VR, and as such likely to be have the resources to branch into AR first, I fully expect it to be ad-driven without suitable protections for rights and privacy.
Posted by: Pussycat Catnap | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 04:47 PM
The internet as it's envisioned can be a sheep's nightmare. Or it can be something that can be enjoyed when it's used properly. The obvious one thing that the protagonist in the video seems to have forgotten is to run virus scans on her hardware. How many of us today are willing to admit that even though we know better, we still succumb to a "too good to be true" deal? This poor woman just went with what was offered to her without the slightest thought of "will this help me in the long run?".
I'm in the camp of "points are money". Everything will have some kind of digital value that can be applied to your default world lives. Points from brick and mortar stores, combined with points from gaming, combined with cryptocurrencies, all sloshed together in a wallet that also holds accounts to fiat monies will pay the bills in the future.
No matter if we use an HUD, or a smartphone in our pockets, a person will need to know how much is too much, and just turn some junk off.
Posted by: Joey1058 | Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at 01:33 PM