Up until today, I never had much understanding of Augmented Reality, at least never as much as Virtual Reality. I have seen advertisements of people using their phones to picture furniture around the living room and kids using their phones to augment their arcade games onto tables and walls in living reality. I initially thought they were quite useless, but I never once considered just how much power AR could wield in future technology. With this article by Wired, I am given a full walkthrough into the history and future of AR Technology, and how as opposed to my previous assumptions, it could easily surpass VR in terms of relevancy, functionality as well as popularity.
The article persuades by comparing the biggest platforms and technology of today, including the web, social media, and the AR’s brother, Virtual Reality. They explained very clearly how the virtual and the physical have continued to run parallel from each other, having no relationship at all, and how Augmented Reality is capable of changing the game. Instead of continuing down this path of an intangible realm, AR would merge digital data with physical reality so that one “interacts in the virtual by interacting in the physical”. Unlike VR, it is capable of immersing the participant without having to remove him/her from the physical space.
I also admire how the article, while talking extensively about the potential and benefits of AR, also talks about the possible setbacks and skepticism people have against modern technology. It brought up issues that I did not even consider until reading the article.
First of all, it mentions how the rise of a massive word with big data like AR would mainly rely on simple technology like the camera, a lot of them to be exact. It brings up the question, whether or not people are willing to trade their everyday privacy for such technological advancements in the world.
Secondly, the article mentions how there exists a double standard pinned against AR technology as compared to the normal world. I find it interesting as I realize that I am also a perpetrator of inflicting such standards. When I see how certain self-driving vehicles cause harm and death to certain users, I neglect the truth where thousands of ordinary cars have also caused the same consequences. Have we, as humans somehow become desensitized towards the negative consequences of older technologies? Perhaps we are more strict and demanding of newer technologies because we are afraid of the ones that exist today.