Dorian Benkoil’s “How The New York Times, Others Are Experimenting with Augmented Reality,” discussed Augmented Reality as “layering digital information onto the physical world” (Young, 1). Augmented Reality (or AR) is most common on the iPhone, Android, and other handheld devices that use built in GPS locators, compasses, graphics, and text.
Dorian Benkoil gave several examples on how the AR device could be useful, and from his suggestions I found the U.S. Postal Service AR and real estate AR to be practical. I am always shipping things to my hometown in California, and I am constantly wondering what box to choose to ship my things. With the AR application you can hold up your handheld device to an object, and the app will tell you what size of box you will need. They should also include shipping costs for the destination you want to send your box to on the AR application. The real estate application is also useful because you can walk up to an apartment complex or house with the AR application, and the AR will notify you of apartments or homes for sale. I think these two specific AR applications are useful because you can just scan the object you want to send or scan the home or apartment. This eliminates the time I waste going back and forth to the post office, or can eliminate the time I spend looking for a place to live. The AR app basically allows you to go to the source and find your information right there.
I thought the Postal Service's use of AR was very useful as well. I liked this use the most because I felt like ti eliminated a lot of the "creepiness" that Benkoli mentioned toward the end of the article. AR app's like this one help make my daily tasks easier and more efficient and I could see myself using them on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that these applications will be useful and practical. I can't help but compare the Post Office AR to the Lego store technology where a person holds up the box of legos and it projects a moving 3d image of what the completed set will look like. I think that is very very basic AR example in everyday life but I couldn't help but spend a solid hour messing around with it.
ReplyDeleteI'll do another post on my blog so people can see.
I also appreciated the post office example, although I rarely ship anything. I would really like the ability to use AR for everyday, practical purposes instead of using it to buy a product more conveniently.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely sure of Benkoil's real estate example though. Most of the time (at least in my experience) people do a lot of research online before physically venturing out to places in search of real estate. I guess it would be useful if you were randomly walking down a street, saw a cool apartment complex and scanned it to see if anything was available. But if you're actively in the process of looking for a place to live, it seems like doing a search online is faster and more convenient. It's still useful to be able to scan buildings in person, though.
I think my favorite part of AR is the ability to view information on your surroundings. Being an architecture nerd, I am always finding myself wanting to know more about the structures around me. Many times, know the name of the building (if it is famous) and can just look it up on Wikipedia. Most of the time I don't, and I find it fascinating that I could potentially use AR to find out more about a building right then and there.
ReplyDeleteYou do a good job highlighting the more useful aspects of AR. I think that I personally am a little too skeptical of these kinds of technologies, and you've helped me have a more balanced view.
ReplyDeleteI think you've got a good point -- this sort of technology, if developed well, could really be practical ways of simply improving our lives. Not worrying about postage is a really good thing. I'm like you, every time I ship something I worry that it's not in an appropriate box or that I'm not putting enough postage (and with prices the way they are, I don't want to put too much, either!). While this is just one example, I think your point is well taken, the way this technology could help us is one good argument for developing it further.
ReplyDeleteBoth applications you mention are useful and non-controversial uses of AR. I like these examples because our class gets so wound up in talking about the tension that technology creates that I think we forget the assets which exist free of conflict.
ReplyDelete@Nathaniel: I just saw the Lego AR, and yes that was a useful and fun AR that could easily be applicable. When I used to play with legos, I was always curious how a certain lego-set would look after it was built, so this AR helps that.
ReplyDelete@Anthony: Although the real estate AR is useful, I can agree with you on the issue of online real estate research. When I conduct online research for places to live I receive tons of info on the bedrooms, bathrooms, location, remodels, and even even reviews about the place. Thus, online real estate research is more informative, but maybe the real estate AR has the potential to be this way if it includes more information.
ReplyDeleteI can see AR creating interesting mixes of pleasure and productivity. Say it's a Saturday and there are some random stores you want to check out in an area of town you're not super familiar with. With AR, you get the pleasure of exploring a new place, but you also get some directed assistance... as you don't have time to visit all the stores, you can simply use your phone or tablet to figure out what's sold where, look up prices, check out reviews, whatever. AR helps you avoid the duds while augmenting the experience of exploration. Sure, checking out a dud is healthy every once in a while, but the main advantage of AR as I see it is that it gives us all this extra information that we can use to parse the interesting or relevant from stuff that we probably would have forgotten about anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a lot of good points about the beneficial every day uses of AR that can make our lives easier, but I'm still not sure about the implications this could have on privacy. Are the benefits of using AR really worth it if we have to put up with the negative consequences of further privacy reduction?
ReplyDelete