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ISBN 978 90 6369 470 8
EISBN 978 90 6369 528 6

AUTHOR

Galit Ariel, Amsterdam

info@wondarlands.com

EDITOR

Simone McKenzie, Toronto

COPY EDITOR

Jill Sheen, Amsterdam

CREATIVE DIRECTION & BOOK DESIGN
Galit Ariel, Amsterdam

CREATIVE DIRECTION & COVER DESIGN
Delux Design, Amsterdam

AUGMENTATION ART DIRECTION & APPLICATION
Nimi Ariel, Amsterdam

Copyright © 2017 Galit Ariel and BIS Publishers.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owners.

Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Any errors or omissions brought to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in subsequent editions.

augmentingalice.com

AUGMENTING

Alice

The Future of Identity, Experience and Reality

by Galit Ariel

Table of Contents

 Preface

0.0Wonderland Within Reach

Subject Introduction

0.1‘Innovation Über Alles’

0.2Hate the Buzzword, Love the Game

0.3My Precious

1.0Down the Rabbit Hole

The Road So Far

1.1Understanding Augmentation

1.2The Virtual Continuum

1.3Oculus Rising

1.4Virtual Reality Implementation

1.5The Immaculate Augmented Birth

1.6The Big Glass Hope

1.7[Un]wearables

1.8AugMania

1.9Why Augmenting Kicks Virtual’s Butt

2.0Beyond the Mirror

Augmented Reality Within a Sociodemographic Context

2.1It’s Gonna Be Mega

2.2Location, Location, Location

2.3Digital Societies

2.4Post Social [Status]

2.5Digital Tribes

3.0The Cheshire Economy

Reaching an Experience Ecosystem

3.1Atoms, Bits, Data and Beyond

3.2Augmented Storytelling

3.3Rethinking Narrative

3.4Say ‘Hello’ to My Little Experience!

3.5Experiential Value Generation

3.6Sustainable Technology

3.7Bring On the Big Boys

3.8Econo-Me

4.0Who the F*&k is Alice?

Redefining Identities in the Augmented Age

4.1Me, Myself, and the Digital I

4.2The Digital Identity Crisis

4.3Right Here

4.4Right Now

4.5Instant Identities

4.6Real-Time Time

4.7Augmented Intimacies

4.8When Wonderlands Cross Over

4.9In Your Face

5.0Off With Their Heads

Data Queens & Citizens of the Augmented World

5.1Information Politics

5.2Whose Story Is It Anyways?

5.3Get Out of My Reality

5.4Resist the Disruption

5.5Hacking Reality

6.0Caterpillars to Butterflies

‘Reality’ Redefined

6.1Grasping Reality

6.2The Real Fake

6.3I See, Therefore It Is

6.4Post- and Hyper-Reality

6.5The Ultimate Immersion

6.6Digital Dreamtime

7.0The Human/Cyber Continuum

Conclusions & Tools

7.1This is the Age of Humans

7.2The Final Frontier

7.3Experiences That Matter

7.4Digital Ethics

7.5Design With Intent

7.6Here’s to Augmented Kittens

7.7Establishing Augmented Reality Design Principles

8.0Appendices

Definitions & References

8.1All That Virtual Jazz

8.2Notes & References

Preface

Hello, Spatial Explorers!

This book was written with the intent to contextualise and ‘futurescape’ Augmented Reality applications, considering the technology’s implementation potential, challenges and risks. Whether you are an Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality developer, content creator or consumer, Augmented Reality will play a major role in our [near and far] future experiences and interactions. Immersive tech – and Augmented Reality in particular – has the potential to become a universal experience platform, that could be either beneficial or detrimental to societal, economic, political, identity, cultural and experiential systems.

I chose to reference Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a framework, as this masterpiece of popular literature describes the adventures of Alice as she explores new aspects of reality and confronts her own limitations in a virtual world. Lewis Carroll – the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson – was a mathematician who explored the way we adhere to culture, politics and identity in a manner that was ground-breaking for its time, and still relevant today. If technology and new media could offer us a window into wonderland, Augmented Reality would enable wonderland to travel through the rabbit’s hole and become a layer within our physical space, altering our sense of reality, identity and culture.

We may have normalised the presence of a constant digital influence, believing that we can filter and disconnect from technology at will. If this is even partially true, Augmented Reality will be a transformative technology, one that will forge such an immersive experience, embedded within our spatial and bodily spheres, creating a seamless physical-virtual flow – a reality with a digital layer implemented within it – everywhere, and all the time. This is not a prophecy for a distant future. We are on the verge of this new era, and we must be prepared for it – the augmented era.

I Am a Nerd.

Being a self-proclaimed nerd has finally become a badge of honour. A hypothetical passport that grants you passage to the land of the new tech elites. Nerds have moved away from the social fringe, and now represent mainstream future builders, members of the start-up crowd, the innovators, the social disrupters, the unicorn breeders, and leaders of a new social and economic order.

Growing up, I had no doubt that the alternate sociotechnical futures as described by my personal holy sci-fi trinity – Isaac Asimov, William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick – could materialise. What drew me to their writing was that they did not focus on the science behind future technologies, but how vividly they could envision and describe the complexities, challenges and consequences of applying future technologies within the context of complex human mechanics – on the mental, social and moral level. Their vision can guide us as we navigate near- and far-future zeitgeist, social conflicts and systems put in place to regulate human-machine-digital interaction.

My personal interest [or should I say obsession] with other realities began as a child – on board the USS Enterprise’s Holodeck. It was such an incredible notion for me that technology could enable exploring alternative, infinite environments and experiences. But alas, all of this was happening light years away, on a spaceship, and I had no clue how to get drafted into the Federation’s Intergalactic Fleet. I did try to research the subject, but it was quite challenging with only a dial-up Internet connection.

You should never underestimate nerds and their science fiction, as they play a pivotal role in stimulating technology and creativity. Science fiction is the ultimate playground for true innovators to seed ideas without being restricted by mechanical, operational and financial issues. And so, I consider myself lucky to be one of the nerds who lives to see how the ‘fiction’ layer is peeled off science fiction novels. We are witnessing how emerging technologies that were previously considered sci-fi concepts have materialised, and been integrated into our everyday lives – including the World Wide Web, mobile devices, Real-Time streaming, Artificial Intelligence, and, of course, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.

During my design studies in the 1990s, ideas about invisible computing technologies, Augmented and Virtual Reality were being explored, and were even being prototyped. My childhood dreams were suddenly being transformed into a tangible technology tool, but still out of reach - ‘living’ only in research labs, with early prototypes that were not available or ready for mass implementation. My ‘technology calling’ was yet to be realised, and I entered the working world as an industrial designer. After sharpening my skills on a varied portfolio of brand and product design strategies, I decided to concentrate on my Master’s degree in technology innovation focusing on a social and user-engagement lens.

Along the way, I married a 3D game designer – of course! And halfway through my degree, he walked into our home carrying the best thing a 3D sapient can bring his wife – an Oculus Rift Development Kit. He cleared his throat and said, “Honey, this is it. Virtual Reality is here. And it’s ready to change our lives.” I adjusted the Oculus goggles, and was ready to be immersed in my lifelong fantasy of a parallel universe.

And then… all of my childhood fantasies came crashing down around me. Where were these alternative, immersive and inspiring worlds? Instead, I had a mildly engaging experience that felt more like a party trick than transcending to another dimension. The visual feedback was disorientating and in fact – I became quite bored. I took off the clunky headset and was left feeling disillusioned, disappointed, and with a mild headache. I did not expect the technology to offer a high-fidelity experience, but I questioned the Virtual Reality itself. My husband shrugged, and told me that I am simply “experiencing it wrong”. And so began our family feud.

Like every nerd challenged by a feud or a sense of disappointment, I sat down to write a paper that would explore Virtual Reality as an innovation platform. I was hoping to find out what should happen within this Virtual existence, but mostly I wanted to have an academic argument proving that I was not ‘experiencing it wrong’. My conclusions drove me to shift my academic and professional focus towards augmented implementation strategies.

I Am a Digital Hippie.

How lucky am I to be living in the era that every nerd ever dreamed of – an era in which science fiction transforms into, well, just science. Still, my dream ‘what if I was born then’ epoch has always been the 1960s. Perhaps I have a false idea about the actual events and atmosphere of the ’60s, but I perceive it as an era of self-exploration flavoured with the simple aspiration for a utopian civilisation, and spiced with an amazing soundtrack. A simpler era where reality was reality, and mortality was mortality. But I accept that within our limited lifespan as an evolving species, we have an urge and perhaps an obligation to look at the bigger picture. It is after all, what makes religions, social structures, and yes, even technology evolve. The belief that there is ‘more’, and that there is a better way of living, a more efficient or progressive way. How this should be achieved [for individuals and societies] is the root of ancient and modern conflict.

As a digital hippie, I believe that there is still room for progress in the innovation process. I am convinced that tech leaders and developers can do better to sustain the balance between technology and its end beneficiaries – humanity and society. I am optimistic about the way technology is and will be integrated into our society, yet urge the industry and the reader to apply critical thinking to its development and application.

Midway through my thesis, I took a short break to beautiful Lisbon, Portugal. Just as my vacation commenced, a pop-up window grabbed my attention, introducing the launch of a new Augmented Reality application, Pokémon GO, based on the yellow pop-culture anime character, Pokémon.

“Oh my!” I thought. “And so it begins...” I was already deep into researching the failed diffusion attempts of past Augmented Reality devices and applications, looking into new and existing platform builders. The viral popularity of this [Pokémon] game shuffled some of my core theories. As the weeks went by, it became a global phenomenon [despite its inevitable and quick decline]. You could see how marketers and investors were moving their interest [and funds] from the development and implementation of Virtual Reality towards Augmented Reality. It became evident that Augmented Reality was finally here, and here to stay.

At that point, I wondered what the implications of ‘the new tech in town’ would be. How would Augmented Reality change our relationship with technology, and with reality itself? I wasn’t quite sure what I needed to do to tap into this universe of human, meaning and technology. Social sciences always fascinated me more than the exact sciences. Throughout my career, I constantly rebounded between my need to explore ideas about social and personal identity, and those about physical and virtual aesthetics and function. Following Steve Mann’s extraordinary work on information streaming and data layering via head mounted devices, I become drawn to Augmented Reality as the field that I find the most impressive in terms of the hybridisation of technology into the physical realm. Seeing the first Magic Leap simulation videos made my heart skip a beat. And there you have it. The moment where fiction ceased to exist, and science bled into our reality. So I committed to converging the past, present and future aspects of emerging technologies and Augmented Reality, and delivering perspective and prospective thoughts regarding its development and implementation.

Wonderland within reach

Subject Introduction

0.1 ‘Innovation Über Alles’

Western society is surfing the wave of the digital revolution, marking significant social, demographic and economic changes. Over the past decade, Forbes’ World’s Most Valuable Brands list reveals a shift towards the domination of technology conglomerates in the top spots, easily surpassing former leading brands from the food and beverage, consumer goods, and automotive industries. We are witnessing an unprecedented consumer and market following, leading to investment growth in emerging technologies, notably related to the development of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Both of these have already been applied to gaming, training, medical, retail and marketing tools, automotive interfaces, mobile applications and more.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality investments rose from US$ 692 million in 2015 to a whopping US$3 billion [!] by the end of 2017.[1] Along with the highly-anticipated launch of Magic Leap, a multi-million venture-capital-backed Augmented Reality start-up raising US$ 1.39 billion within 5 years of its foundation,[2] financial analysts’ predictions had extended the future value of the Augmented Reality market, to be valued at anything between US$ 80 to US$ 182 billion by 2025.[3]

This forecast in growth was probably induced by the viral success that Pokémon GO gained. At the same time, we need to be cautious about such a rose glasses view, and consider forecasts that predict a slow consumer adoption rate. In fact, Q1 in 2017 already demonstrated a lower investment volume raising one fifth of the amount raised in the same quarter of 2016.[4] If we look at past experiences we would be wise to learn from examples of Augmented Reality integrated hardware, software and applications – from Google Glass to Pokémon GO – which have shown initial promise and interest from users and investors alike, yet [arguably] failed to create a lasting impact or a more meaningful, long-term adoption. These cases show that when seeding and launching emerging technologies, simply following ‘by the book’ innovation implementation strategies does not guarantee their successful adoption and widespread diffusion. In order to understand the context and potential of Augmented Reality development and implementation, we need to review the context of current emerging technologies and the broader term of ‘innovation’.

Globalisation has caused innovation to emerge as a key parameter and driver for competitiveness and growth. As manufacturing and consumption has moved into new territories [the BRIC and PIGS countries], economic competitiveness has relied more and more on process efficiency. This was followed by an increasing need to focus on unique design and service models, meaning that reviewing business models, creative and processes became critical to the survival of companies, brands and entities. Innovation as an independent practice gained popularity and led to widespread growth of innovation services, roles and educational degrees. New terms have come to the forefront of business as design thinking, service design and streamlined experience planning increasingly define product and service development processes.

For example, the term ‘usability’ is applied more often and in a wider context when we speak about innovation development models. Beyond improved end-user productivity, usability engineering offers cost effectiveness in R&D, support, maintenance, training and marketing for both internal and external stakeholders. In turn, it improves development lead times and product marketability. Usability engineering and its insights provide a competitive edge, increasing brand and product value, user satisfaction, and driving sales and revenue.

Innovation has brought us global communication and manufacturing systems that act as a catalyst to creating innovation-driven processes and social structures. Capital value, public and private entities are now measured by their present status and potential growth within the innovation field. Start-up hubs, nations, cities and individuals are becoming key influencers within economic, strategic and political systems, as they are all the gatekeepers to the new commodity and global driving force – information.

Despite all the hype and value brought by innovation, I, for one, cannot wait for the overuse of the word ‘innovation’ to fade out [and don’t even get me started on ‘disruptive innovation’]. Buzzwords and industry trends are essential to triggering new approaches to value creation, yet when they become a ‘one size fits all’ or ‘let’s just repeat the word a lot of times in our business plan’ solution, they may become not only counterproductive, but also destructive.

In Apple’s heyday, I was often asked by clients to help them become ‘like Apple’. I ended up creating a presentation deck that outlined the ‘becoming Apple’ process. I made sure that the entire executive board was present, created a slick layout, and used my best presentation voice. The first slide was titled ‘How can you become Apple?’ The room was silent, and the participants were sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for me to explain how to capture that Apple magic. As I clicked through to the next slides, I enjoyed watching their increasingly baffled looks and widened eyes as I amplified their need to purge out top management, perhaps lose relevance for a few years, re-hire the management, invest mostly in Research & Development, and release limited quantities of new products to the market.

“Oh,” the CEO would say. “This is not what we had in mind. This wouldn’t work for us at all…”

“In that case,” I’d say, launching my second presentation deck, “let us discuss the meaning of innovation and its application according to YOUR company’s needs.” It was a neat trick that helped to embed a better internal perception of innovation, reiterate the need for innovation to become a relevant tool [rather than a slogan or a holistic outcome], and highlight the requirement – first and foremost – for streamlined processes. Unfortunately, the overused term and its meaning are still thrown around by midlife-crisis brands and start-ups alike.

0.2 Hate the Buzzword, Love the Game

Innovative strategies, products and processes are vital for companies to stay at the top of their game, and react to changing market and consumer needs. The challenge becomes greater for established companies to identify and cultivate disruptive technologies, and divert resources from a known customer need to a new product when the need for the new product is unknown or unproven.

But, what precisely is ‘innovation’?

Here is an interesting anecdote about innovation – Innovation was not always considered a positive attribute. Benoît Godin, a Canadian researcher, looked at the use of ‘innovation’ extensively. The term has existed for several hundred years, and was considered a derogatory term until the late nineteenth century. Conformity was an effective tool used by political rulers and the church to maintain religious dogmas, and social and political hierarchies. Disturbing the status quo was considered an action against church and state, to the extent that England’s King Edward VI ordered A Proclamation against Those that Doeth Innovate in 1548, threatening that innovators would: “suffer imprisonment, and other grievous punishementes”. [5]

In 1636, Henry Burton published the pamphlet For God and the King, which acknowledged the ripple effect innovation could have as it spreads. The pamphlet also specifies the types of innovation:

»Innovation in Discipline

»Innovation in the Worship of God

»Innovation in the Civil Government

»Innovation in Altering of Books

»Innovation in the Means of Knowledge

»Innovation in the Rule of Manners

»Innovation in the Rule of Faith

Though Burton’s condemnation of innovation was resisted by scholars of the time, his contribution to the definition and significance of innovation and innovators is indisputable.

Burton’s definition of innovation was related to ‘alterations’ in religious, public or state affairs, and this is indeed the source of the modern meaning. Innovation is commonly related to the act of change, yet the common trumpet-blowing of any product or process anomaly as ‘innovation’ is misleading. Perhaps this is the reason why nine out of ten start-up companies fail. Innovation requires contextual or functional alterations – otherwise, it is ‘merely’ natural growth [which is also great]. However, there is a massive difference between the introduction of a new alteration or an ‘invention’ and the aspired deep and long-term impact created by true ‘innovation’. It was economist Joseph Schumpeter who differentiated invention from innovation in 1939. He defined innovation as related to an advantageous shift within a business model. A single deviation from the norm cannot be considered innovation. The ability to embed or offer an alternative to typical paradigms and processes is what defines the outcome as innovation. For example, the Ford Model T on its own may have been a spectacular piece of machinery, but its innovative value lies in its broader context and significance as the source for establishing fast-paced assembly lines and mass-produced goods, the five-day work week, and product customisation.

Innovation and technology development are key factors in the realisation of globalisation. Both represent the human aspiration to rule the Earth – built on the desire to create a homogenous society, whether it is cultural, ecological or ideological.

Comedian Louis CK has a great take on the reason we innovate. God approaches humanity, outraged by the destruction they have caused to a perfectly self-sustained ecosystem. “Why did you do it?” He [God] asks. “Food,” answers the human. “I left you food all over the floor... What are you doing?” asks God, baffled. “It didn’t have bacon around it,” mumbles the human.[6]

The original sin described in the Bible is humans’ dissatisfaction with an existing status quo, and our pursuit of an elevated state of mind. This was the root cause of Adam and Eve’s Expulsion from Paradise. Our desire to gain the forbidden fruit of progress is what defines humanity. Going beyond the survival instincts of other species, humans look to increase effectiveness by elevating processes, quantities and quality.

But do we ever stop to ask ourselves to what end, and at the expense of whom and what? Many emerging technologies wave the flag of efficiency in the way they cater to existing and new needs, yet fail to evaluate whether these are essential to our survival and development, and – in other words – valid. The advertising industry has long trained us to cross-reference and swap our needs with desires, forming effective new consumption hooks and triggers. Not to underestimate the role of feelings and impulses within our decision-making process – after all, attraction, risk-taking and even acting on a whim are all part of our evolutionary survival mechanism.

Augmented Reality will have a tremendous effect on the way we form innovative interaction and content systems. As it matures, it will evolve beyond the visual aspect of the technology to encapsulate new interaction possibilities. This will require enhanced display and control design, based on more intuitive manipulation of and interaction with physical objects. The adoption of technology is influenced just as much [if not more] through an internal sense of reward rather than straightforward considerations of cost and benefit. The implications of launching a new technology within such a saturated market means that developers need to be more attuned to user needs – identifying hindrances, such as unnecessary layers of complexity, and balancing the paradox between ease of use and feature variation and optimisation.

0.3 My Precious

As the craze of ‘innovation’ as a hype word dies out, its value as a transformative tool will remain. Yet the focus of innovation will shift from a mere business tool to the creation of a more experiential value. We can see signs of this transformation in examples such as a recent LA Times article that declared that the word ‘innovation’ would finally clear the path for the word ‘immersive’.[5] Let’s take a closer look at the ripples Augmented Reality will create as it evolves, and it’s further application in the public and private domain.

The rate of technology’s development has accelerated over the last few decades and with it its dominance in all areas of life. Regardless of the industry or platform, we are completing a cycle of digital transformation where disruption, access and immediacy become core values and factors for success. For those following the ‘start-up soup’ closely, relevant technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Real-Time, cloud storage, Global Positioning System [GPS] and wearables are all materialising into everyday tools.

We are witnessing the era where science fiction becomes a tangible reality. Emerging technologies are being developed and merged, capable of achieving amazing thing, surpassing our wildest visions. The ‘one ring to rule them all’ is Augmented Reality.

Together with Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality shows unprecedented growth in both investment and interest within big technology platforms and accelerator industries. When we look at implementation case studies, products and processes, we can see that we have developed tunnel vision about Augmented Reality – by considering it as a technology product. Instead, the Augmented Reality horizon is to become the new standard platform for content creation and experience generation, becoming as essential as other common resources, with an impact that can only be compared with the global influence of the World Wide Web.

Spatially embedded interaction would give us greater freedom to use technology fluidly, creating new layers and relationships within our physical space. Sustainability entrepreneur Elon Musk’s energy panels are revolutionary not only because they offer a sustainable energy source, but also because they offer the user the ability to be independent of the energy grid ecosystem. In the past, governments provided us with access to common infrastructure. Now, we see technology facilitators offering equivalent systems that both expand to a global reach and adhere to niche requirements. The reference to Alice in Wonderland is not coincidental – Augmented Reality will act as the rabbit hole that will enable the application of a world of endless possibilities within our everyday reality.

Our society is driven by technological interaction, yet one must remember that technological systems, interaction and perception are heavily based on pre-existing cognitive and social factors. Thus, successful digital interaction builds on, mirrors and enhances pre-existing behavioural cues. What has changed is the accelerated rate with which digital artifacts and systems integrate within a wide range of functions from communication to creation. This is partially due to the affordability of mobile devices, Internet connectivity and access to online knowledge systems, which have positively influenced the rate of diffusion of new digital technologies. The acceleration, miniaturisation and increased performance of technology also result in wider applicability, allowing smoother integration within everyday activities and objects.

All of this ensures even more widespread access to technology and data streaming devices across territories, societies and industries. Seeing Moore’s first and second laws [accelerated computing capabilities and decreased cost/accessibility] unfold, the majority of the human population today either owns, or has access to, high-capacity computing devices. Mobile phone ownership, for example, has shown steady growth, increasing from 4.01 billion users in 2013 to 4.61 billion in 2016, and expected to reach 5.01 billion global users by 2019.[7] Now, consider the fact that your smart phone has a higher calculation capacity than all of NASA’s 1969-era computers combined. In other words, the device we keep in our pocket, and use to capture and share selfies, is sufficiently powerful to achieve a successful moon landing.

Moore’s Law in Practice, 120 years overview

Author’s Image, 2017.
[Adapted from Kurzweil, 2005]

With the diffusion and acceleration of technology, the Internet of Things [IoT] has started shifting from a prophecy to a reality. Internet of Things refers to the integration of communication systems within a variety of products – ranging from communication devices and small portable home appliances, to aircraft engines and furniture. IoT offers clear benefits to users when applied to consumer-centric design and interaction. We already have many smart sensors – from smoke detectors to health trackers, which have been developed for remote activation and access, as they track and send output to the user via mobile applications. The next step is a range of interconnected devices across platforms and industries. Concepts such as smart homes and smart kitchens include appliances that gear-up for your dinner, offering recipes containing the ingredients already in your cupboards and fridge, and preparing the food according to the recipes and users’ dietary requirements.

The combination of big data and IoT will undoubtedly generate new physical/digital hybrid models in product, interaction and service design. Outside the domestic realm, IoT implementation can be beneficial in a variety of fields and applications, such as monitoring premises, products, customers and supply chains. Its relevance and benefits extend to a wider scope of industries, environments and societal shifts. We can already see this shift through the use of virtual assistants – used in both public and the private domains.

Much like the question of the chicken and the egg, improved access and the accelerating rate of technological innovation keep us in a state where we constantly pursue newer and more efficient applications. At some point, we really need to ask ourselves how to ensure that the continuous acceleration of technology is a sustainable model. While it’s true that technology and online communication have enabled global systems, for example, they have also enabled further ideological fragmentation. This is predominantly demonstrated in the development of localised, racial and nationalistic identifications and politics – from ISIS to Brexit and the 2016 US elections.

In light of this, we also need to consider Newton’s third law, which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This is applicable beyond the physical realm, and applies to social and technological phenomenon. A recent example is the shared economy, which was hailed as the future of business models, and now seems to be losing steam. This is partially due to the increased caution from users who are demanding higher standards of quality and reliability from open-source service platforms and social media. Countries and regions are also applying restrictive legislation and regulations on these models. Established businesses, such as Airbnb and Uber, are being hit hard. To survive this assault they must diversify and modify their business model expand their service offering.

There are merits and consequences for a technology-based society. It transforms relationships and social dynamics, and evolves notions such as time, intimacy, and human existence rather than seeing these as separate phenomena that cannot be separated from human structures and behaviours. Technology is already an enhancement, or augmentation of the human condition.

When we consider the context of Augmented Reality, we need to learn from past implementations of emerging technologies and platforms, moving towards a philosophy of ‘design with intent’ rather than design for the sake of ‘innovation’.

Down the Rabbit Hole

The Road So Far

At this point in time, a variety of technologies are being developed that have the potential to change the nature of technology – from an applied system to an integrated tool. Augmented Reality would be the ‘one ring to rule them all’ permitting us to form an interaction layer that would interlace the physical and the virtual. Before we move into the implications of such a change, let’s take a step back and review what brought us to this point.

1.1 Understanding Augmentation

“The real world just doesn’t offer up as easily the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding afforded by virtual environments. Reality doesn’t motivate us as effectively. Reality isn’t engineered to maximize our potential. Reality wasn’t designed from the bottom up to make us happy.”[1]

What an odd species we are, as Jane McGonigal stated [above] we seem to not accept reality as is. Always on a quest to decipher, explore and modify our experiences within it, always on a quest to augment it. Throughout history, we have created incredible technologies that do exactly that, allowing us to overcome the uncertain conditions of mother nature, enhancing our communication and social systems, inventing things and materials that we need, crafting ones that we simply enjoy, and exploring the very nature of the universe. These are truly amazing achievements. The creation of a hybrid space that exists between the digital and the physical has fascinated authors, researchers and scholars for decades. Augmented Reality stands out as one of the most interesting bridges between the two realms.

As humans and technology embark on the journey to cross this bridge, let’s look at the learnings and obstacles augmentation has faced so that we can better comprehend the path ahead. Don Norman, one of the most influential scholars focused on developing a centric approach to design and interactive systems, envisioned the future of computing as invisible information appliances, embedding computer processing features inside everyday objects. In his 1998 book, The Invisible Computer, he also concludes that this will heavily impact our interaction and relationship with our environment and the objects around us. Norman envisioned a future [that is currently unfolding before our eyes] where computing systems would be embedded within physical structures [interactive surfaces], where home devices would utilise the Internet as a data infrastructure [Internet of Things]. He envisioned the potential of wearables and body implants, and how everyday behaviour would change due to the access of portable information systems – or as he refers to them as ‘pocket information displays’.

In their book, Windows & Mirrors, Jay David Bolter and Diane Gromala describe Norman’s view of an invisible appliance as a window attribute. They argue that the additional role and potential of digital artifacts should be to reflect, enhance and evolve user actions. This means that while technology might become invisible, the interaction enabled through it acts as a mirror of our activities. So, in a sense, embedding even basic technologies generates new layers of interaction, which effect behaviours, rituals and cultures directly and indirectly. Smartphones are a great example. Within a relatively short period of time the frequency and quality of our mobile communication and related behaviour has shifted – sometimes with serious implications. There are new laws and awareness campaigns in place to deter people from texting while driving. Even our walking patterns have changed and to accommodate this new behaviour, some cities have created designated pedestrian lanes for texting pedestrians, and even placed pavement projected traffic lights to ensure that distracted ‘texters’ are aware of the traffic signals. Now, consider the context of Augmented Reality. We are trying to create a technology that applies a digital layer on top of [and within] our physical reality.

The popular television series Black Mirror narrates ominous predictions about the effects of emerging technologies and mass digital and social media. The show’s title is a smart reference to our constant staring into our blackened mobile screens – it also derives from a divination method called ‘scrying’ – where future predictions are made by gazing into a reflective object, often a magic or darkened mirror. This method is attributed to Nostradamus, the French seer from the 1500s whose cryptic four-line prophecies are commonly quoted in relation to disastrous events.

Many developers tend to shrug their shoulders, and dismiss technology cautious individuals and policies as being overly conservative, or even regressive. The issue begins when valid concerns, considerations, and negative impacts are ignored, resulting in a technology-silo development bubble. Perhaps the myth of the genius visionary who disregards public opinion and social conventions has contributed to this.

As the use of immersive technologies will become more common, we ultimately need to understand how they might manipulate our perception of physical reality. To ‘augment’ reality means to achieve a higher or intensified state of reality itself, acting as a mirror and a window simultaneously.

The reality is that no technology is an island. Beyond its functional needs and features, every technology will eventually be used by humans. Technology at large is not a thing that is separate from a social context. Anyone developing and applying technology needs to consider the broader effect of its use. Embedding emerging technologies is likely to have some destabilising outcomes, controversy, and possibly alarming reactions. This is expected from any application of progressive processes and behaviours. And if this is a core expectation for the application of technology, why are we shrugging it off as a side effect?

The realisation of Augmented Reality is a natural progression – a merger of processes, and an evolution of the user interface. We have moved from vacuum tubes to transistors and on to integrated systems. This is the natural outcome of maximising computing power, miniaturisation and the commoditisation of mobile computing devices, as well as the ongoing development of multisensory input systems into human-sized machines. Today, we already need to consider a much broader aspect of system building – forming a seamless system that incorporates hardware, software, multi-platform, user interface, service design, brand, and content delivery. As big-data analytics evolves, we will see more micro-behavioural feedback integrated into applications and experience building. Yet the most interesting shift will be the strides toward biological machines and computational neuroscience – this is where cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence surpass science fiction hypotheses, and transform them into tangible futures. As these technologies become available and fully functional, they will enable the development of complex systems within user communication and feedback. We will see the creation of holistic and targeted experiences – Augmented Realities serving as the experience bridge between the digital and the physical.

1.2 The Virtual Continuum

Many users and developers seem to loosely refer to Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality applications and devices as the same technology. Although they share many features and both sit within the virtual, there is a significant difference between the two. Virtual Reality’s paradigm is to form a fully immersive simulation that replaces the user’s environment, whereas Augmented Reality builds a digital layer onto or within the existing physical environment.