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Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

danielsisson.com

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Re: Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

#21

Post by germinalphrase »

tootie wrote: post #16

Pokemon Go is fully 5 years old. It's AR feature was a decent gimmick but pretty basic and a bit buggy. In the subsequent 5 years there's been nothing to equal it. I won't say AR is "dead" but it seems unlikely to reach mainstream adoption any time soon.

The mistake being made is that audio based AR is here and practical, if underutilized. Apple’s transparency mode (and competitor equivalents) is a critical innovation both on usability and social acceptance levels. It supports the blending of digital augmentations on the real world. Audio based AR is also free of many social signs that visual AR systems have struggle with. In particular, I work with teenagers and there seems to be little stigma around holding a conversation with earbuds in place.

Re: Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

#22

Post by imheretolearn »

DigitalSea wrote: post #13

Augmented reality is the only thing I am excited for, more so than virtual reality is right now (and I say that as someone who has a couple of VR headsets around the house, the Reverb G2 and Valve Index). To me, VR will always be relegated to gaming and solo interactive experiences, augmented reality has already proven itself in fields such as medical and training purposes. Microsoft Hololens has been widely successf…

I disagree that positives will outweigh the negatives. AR and VR are more invasive* than mobile phones. If the ubiquity of mobile phones has taught us anything, it's that tech companies will gain even more access to your personal lives. I certainly see a point where tech companies will know you better than you and can predict your behavior with a fair margin of accuracy. I do agree that most technologies have downsides. Having said that, you do need to realize that we're biochemical beings and we are affected more by certain phenomena than others. I am pretty sure most people check their phones first thing after waking up and cell phones for all intents and purposes were virtually non-existent just 20 years ago. AR and VR will only amplify the dopamine hits which rewire our brains into performing certain actions. This will mean more leverage for the tech companies to influence you into doing things you wouldn't have otherwise. Remember that thing from Amazon you bought which you didn't really need? It's only going to become worse.

Re: Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

#23

Post by spoonjim »

mc32 wrote: post #8

VR will be terrible because, yes, people will be manipulated through virtual realities made up for them to achieve different things. Some options will undoubtedly be good (learning and so on), Others will be worse than any FaceBook bubble + gaming/gambling + video games combined could ever be. Imagine the "re-educational" possibilities here for a sec. You get to plug in to any reality you want or someone wants for yo…

But VR could also help people achieve maximum hedonic satisfaction at minimal cost and carbon footprint. Your one bedroom apartment could look like Versailles (until you step on a Lego). Your spouse could look like your celebrity sex fantasy. You could simulate any experience that few can afford, like driving a Lamborghini or visiting the Taj Mahal or even visiting the Moon. With VR that goes beyond vision, your healthy vegetarian food could taste like a bacon cheeseburger.

Re: Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

#25

Post by easton »

I always figured AR would be a replacement for my monitor(s) allowing cool new applications with space and wouldn't leave my workspace. Obviously, there are lots of applications when walking around, but not a whole lot I'd want (given that they can't come up with much that isn't Apple Watch/iPhone strapped to face). Maybe I'll never get my dream of carrying a pair of goggles in my backpack that can let me spread out my work beyond the laptop screen in a hotel room or on a plane.

Re: Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

#27

Post by mc32 »

spoonjim wrote: post #23
mc32 wrote: post #8

VR will be terrible because, yes, people will be manipulated through virtual realities made up for them to achieve different things. Some options will undoubtedly be good (learning and so on), Others will be worse than any FaceBook bubble + gaming/gambling + video games combined could ever be. Imagine the "re-educational" possibilities here for a sec. You get to plug in to any reality you want or someone wants for yo…

But VR could also help people achieve maximum hedonic satisfaction at minimal cost and carbon footprint. Your one bedroom apartment could look like Versailles (until you step on a Lego). Your spouse could look like your celebrity sex fantasy. You could simulate any experience that few can afford, like driving a Lamborghini or visiting the Taj Mahal or even visiting the Moon. With VR that goes beyond vision, your heal…

Yes but that’s precisely the scary part. Nothing has consequences. Your psychological profile is completely overturned AND it can be gamified to change to accommodate whatever the powers that be want whoever they are.

At that point people become an illusion a strange simulation of themselves.

Re: Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

#28

Post by XorNot »

chrisco255 wrote: post #3

This article goes on a rant about AR and how it will be used for more spying, emotional manipulation, etc that social media has perpetrated. Then defends VR as somehow shielded from these things: "Most of us don’t have a healthy relationship with technology, and AR as currently thought of, will just exacerbate that. It’s why I really like VR more than AR, because VR is a separate world that you consciously decide to…

It seems weird to state these as dangers of AR, when they're already so completely encompassed by "having a phone and a lack of critical thinking skills".

There's a strong trend of assuming that "new thing" is going to be "existing problem but worse" without much justification - AR isn't exactly going to do anything which isn't already being done. People are already signed up to constant news alerts, and depending which service you pick, that projects a very specific and effective psychological profile.

Like, by far the most common desire I see from people wanting some heralded perfect AR system is the ability to just ad-block real life. Imagine a world where all billboards, bus adverts, bus stop adverts etc. are just being replaced by white squares - where you are not being driven to subtly filter that out every moment of every day. I mean, the whiplash I get now when I don't have uBlock Origin in a web browser is incredible - all that visual noise is genuinely stressful to deal with.

Re: Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

#29

Post by foobarbecue »

imheretolearn wrote: post #22
DigitalSea wrote: post #13

Augmented reality is the only thing I am excited for, more so than virtual reality is right now (and I say that as someone who has a couple of VR headsets around the house, the Reverb G2 and Valve Index). To me, VR will always be relegated to gaming and solo interactive experiences, augmented reality has already proven itself in fields such as medical and training purposes. Microsoft Hololens has been widely successf…

I disagree that positives will outweigh the negatives. AR and VR are more invasive* than mobile phones. If the ubiquity of mobile phones has taught us anything, it's that tech companies will gain even more access to your personal lives. I certainly see a point where tech companies will know you better than you and can predict your behavior with a fair margin of accuracy. I do agree that most technologies have downsid…

> AR and VR are more pervasive than mobile phones.

What? No they aren't... There's probably 10x more mobile phones than XR headsets... Did you mean invasive?

Also, I really love that thing I bought from Amazon that I don't need so don't knock it!

Re: Augmented reality will exacerbate our unhealthy relationship with technology

#30

Post by germinalphrase »

XorNot wrote: post #20
mc32 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is so much abuse potential here. Psychologically, it has the potential to change what people are. They will be able to shape people as they see fit --just gamify to achieve whatever goal. There is no need to confront all the blemishes and warts of actual reality when you can have a perfect universe customized to you pleasing all your psychological needs. Everyone can have their own reality they live in. You can…

Why should someone like you get to decide how anyone else chooses to spend their ~75 years of existence though? This whole post is just a statement of intent to manipulate people through other means "for their own good".

Imagine that Openwater.cc is successful, and we have the ability to extract and replay memories in full “lived experience” resolution. How many people might choose to spend their ~75 years “living” in the peak experiences of mankind rather than the mundane struggle of real life? Would that be a social paradigm we want to support, to allow?
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