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Sixth Sense

November 20, 2009

Futuristic films like "The Terminator" and "Minority Report" imagine a time in which the virtual world can be projected onto the physical world. This technology, known as augmented reality, will be commercially available in the form of glasses sooner than we think, says Jamais Cascio, of the Institute for the Future. But, he warns, don’t necessarily believe they’ll be rose-colored.


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[1]
Posted by: geo8rge
November 21, 2009 - 10:37AM
Brooklyn NY

Bloods and Crips didn't need no stinking glasses to identify who was who. I like that gps iPhone app, maybe it will reduce the need for gang graffiti.

[2]
Posted by: James
November 21, 2009 - 03:06PM
Cleveland, OH

So will parents be able use AR to prevent their children from seeing sexual images? Will devout muslims be able to clothe all women in virtual abayas and burqas? Will potential employers or landlords be able to look at you and instantly tell if you are a vegan? A citizen? Gay? An atheist?

[3]
Posted by: Nathan Bonilla-Warford
November 21, 2009 - 10:09PM
Tampa, FL

Listening to Brooke's piece, I am reminded of Douglas Adams. He predicted AR tech relatively well with his "Peril Sensitive Sunglasses" They turned totally black and thus prevent you from seeing anything that might alarm you.

[4]
Posted by: alex
November 22, 2009 - 12:10PM
Brooklyn

Flying cars.

Where are the flying cars?

Shouldn't On the Media ask everyone who talk about their predictions and projections about future of the technology and the impact on society ask about flying cars?

Remember Ginger? Remember how Ginger, once we found out what it was and what it did, was going to be as important as the personal computer and change the very design of cities? Do you remember what Ginger turned out to be?

The not-just-occasional technology boosterism of OTM is its weakest element, particularly with regard to projections about the future of technology. The ideas explored truly are interesting, but the show would do us listeners a better service if it approached this beat as cynically as it does contemporary media stories.

[5]
Posted by: gordo
November 22, 2009 - 01:23PM
New Jersey

AR could allow us to "filter out everything about the world we don't like" and possibly even "block out political opponents we don't like". I regretably have to admit that Sarah Pallin is way ahed of the curve on this one.

[6]
Posted by: Brian
November 23, 2009 - 01:38AM

Why is she interviewing someone that has never created an AR app or any program? I googled it. The common stoner can come up with this same kind of insight.

[7]
Posted by: Chris Gray
November 26, 2009 - 01:28AM
New Haven, CT

Now, let's see. Was Ginger the Segway or the chair Dean was trying to develop an economy of scale with which to afford the servos that would make it available to MS suffers such as I? Give it time.

As for flying cars, we have enough problems navigating on the ground as just tonight's carnage report tells me. Plus, talk about the dangers of texting or talking on cells while driving, imagine what damage drivers outfit with a pair of AR glasses could wreak!

Our technology outstrips our poor puny skills to utilize it safely on so many, many fronts. We've even already forgotten the lessons of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island!

[8]
Posted by: Chris Gray
November 26, 2009 - 01:28AM
New Haven, CT

Now, let's see. Was Ginger the Segway or the chair Dean was trying to develop an economy of scale with which to afford the servos that would make it available to MS suffers such as I? Give it time.

As for flying cars, we have enough problems navigating on the ground as just tonight's carnage report tells me. Plus, talk about the dangers of texting or talking on cells while driving, imagine what damage drivers outfit with a pair of AR glasses could wreak!

Our technology outstrips our poor puny skills to utilize it safely on so many, many fronts. We've even already forgotten the lessons of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island!

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