Response: Week 13

Going into this week, I’ll be honest- I was a little skeptical about the legitimacy of augmented reality, especially since there seems to be an abundance of hype but a scarcity of execution in consumers’ day-to-day lives. But our Skyping session on Monday put my skepticism to rest. Whurley actually touched on many of the augmented reality-related issues that I was considering while writing my framing questions for the week.

With the limited knowledge on the subject that I possessed at the time, I wasn’t sure how augmented reality was being incorporated into various sectors of society, outside of the superficial sports broadcasting examples that were given on Wikipedia. We didn’t exactly touch on the ways that augmented reality is incorporated into educational methods (maybe because it hasn’t yet reached that sector?) but we did discuss how professional organizations are using these new technologies. For instance, the smartphone apps that allow users to scan the streets before them to locate the nearest gym, restaurant, drug store, etc almost give these local businesses free advertising, in a sense- albeit without any effort on the part of the local business.

Regarding less trivial matters, it was really interesting to hear about how the military is using augmented reality-enhanced devices for a variety of uses. We hear all the time that the military utilizes advanced technologies that are way ahead of the game, in terms of what’s available to the average citizen for everyday use… but it never fails to blow my mind that military personnel have been using augmented reality to protect our country for years before I, and probably many others, even knew such a concept existed. On the other hand, it was slightly alarming to find out that military officials in the United States can remotely control weapon detonations across the world with little more than the click of a button. Sure, the technology behind augmented reality seems to present many benefits- the military can carry out attacks without putting their lives in harms way. I also think that the power that is synonymous with such advanced technologies should be exercised with great care and control. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if our enemies had access to such tools. While new technologies such as augmented reality-based devices are certainly exciting, they also raise further questions involving appropriate uses that will only continue to benefit our society as a whole.

Tags: augmented reality, response, technology