Augmented (hyper)Reality

[AB Editor]

I am unsure if the Vimeo video will work properly - if not please visit here and have a look: http://vimeo.com/8569187

This is a concept video for a quite frankly startling future. Augmented reality is the concept of an information overlay on the real world. It would allow, in the first versions, users to be able to view gps-style route-finding as an overlay through your car windscreen. You would be warned of problems in the road miles away out of your view and be prompted with arrows for when your turning is coming up - all without having to take your eyes off the road.

In this video we see the logical, if worrying, extreme of augmented reality. At the beginning of the video we see our protagonist turn down his "advertising level". In this reality you get paid directly for being advertised to by companies in a very close and personal way.

Our protagonist is also able to pull information quickly from wherever he/she is - this would be handy I am sure.

Would the benefits of being about to "search" at any time override the invasive advertising models?

Could this version of advertising be a logical extreme? For example, 20 companies pay you £1 a day to be exposed to their ads. This gives you £20 a day. If you then spend your money on one of the advertisers you've effectively given the others advertisers money to a single advertiser - this "gamble" by advertisers could be worth while as long as you buy a certain amount from the company. Is it financially viable and what is the average per/day cost you'd need to be paid?

Thoughts?

All the best

Spare Ed Media URL: http://vimeo.com/8569187
Description:

[AB Editor]

Sadly the video didn't work. I will insert it here:

Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

[ChuckFickens]

AB version 4.1 in it's early planning states?

[squarebear]

Nice to see old reruns of M*A*S*H in the future.

[AB Editor]

Yep chuck, 'tis well beta.

Do you reckon we're on V4.0 then? I feel we're more on V1.06? Have to check with the techies.

I just found the idea of completely pervasive advertisement pretty scary!

Spare Ed

[ChuckFickens]

To be honest I find the entire idea of augmented reality a little scary. I think some people already find it hard enough to keep a defined line between real and cyber worlds and to further blur any definitions is risking people getting so immersed in a virtual world it could start to have serious detrimental effects on their real life.

although, saying that, I did like the idea of the entire house turning into the outside view at one point, though I can see that resulting in a lot of nasty cracked shins as people walk into everything in their house.

[AB Editor]

Yes, this would be a problem Chuck - the cracked shins etc

Also: what happens when people stop paintint the walls and just "augment" their wallpaper - hygeine would become an issue.

Given the choice I think most people would prefer to live in a delusional augmented world - at least compared to the crushing banality of an un-augmented one; imagine Suddenly turning all that off and having to...do real things...

It has been proven people take the route of least resistance for the most comfort - this si why the advertising model scares me. If you can make money passively you'll remain passive and, in essence, lose any sort of humanity.

Again, scary stuff!

Spare Ed

[rojash]

Must be dead useful for people who needed to be reminded how to make a cup of tea, but could such a person operate it?

[ChuckFickens]

Ah, but it could show you how to operate itself :)

[wildwood]

As far as the windscreen application is concerned; no technology can forecast human behaviour. How effective would it be when you are cruising at a legal speed and a child runs out from between parked cars?