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Captive, wanting to be free
If there isn't a law about advertising to captive audiences there should be - one hour waiting to clear customs watching an endless loop of Samsung Mobile and Korea Tourist Board advertising. Perhaps this is what augmented reality could come in - overlaying advertising spots with white walls and calm? But if Samsung made the head mounted display that you used to augment reality would it have a built in non-filter to still allow Samsung adverts? Sometimes it all comes down to money and what the consumer is willing to pay, or not pay as the case may be.
Spending just over a week in Korea to run the first half of a user study, then tag with a colleague who will take over and debrief a week later. I know what I know, but have a day or so to figure out some of what I don't yet know. Takes a fair bit of energy to understand how to work in and gather appropriate data from a new environment. Where do people hang out? What are conducive environments for observing xyz? What will interest the folks back home? The primary study is all set to go, the side studies - typically the stuff that becomes the value-added will emerge after a few days. Value added can be anything from a blinder of an off-topic interview to stumbling on a sub-culture that intentionally or otherwise relates to stuff happening in other parts of the world. Joining up the global dots. One of my favourites side themes is asking about what people lose or leave behind in an environment, the implications of that loss and how they recover if at all.
Writing from Seoul | September 23, 2005 | Permalink
Comments
The question might be who gets practical access to augmented reality tech first...If individuals get it, then cool blue walls and the sound of the ocean in the distance. If the advertisers get it, then we'll all find ourselves individually watching personalized advertising that we're actually deeply interested in. Scary and intriguing.
But before that happens, we'll likely extend and expand the interfaces to our current wireless/digital technology, giving us somewhere always more interesting to focus our attention.
But before that, retinal (or iris?) scanners--already implemented in some airports--will replace the long lines and the immigration/customs process won't take but 30 seconds.
But before that...something entirely unforseen will come along to make these guesses irrelevant. Such is the joy and the peril of socio-technical prognostication.
Posted by: Andrew at September 24, 2005 9:32 PM