Real & Digital the Genisis
I've got too much going on in my head so I needed an outlet and this it. Real & Digital will be a collection of my thoughts and opinions in the context of how our modern lives spill over from the real world into the 'digital sphere'. There's a tonne of stuff going on in both worlds and this is my take on our march towards a digital rich future, while keeping it real of course (pun intended). I outline this in my first post below.
I am actually two different people. How is that possible, you may be asking? Well its really simple and insanely complex all at the same time.
You see there’s the real me, fresh out of university, just finding my feet in the ‘real world’ and basically a very small fish in a very large pond. Then there’s the digital me, personified by my character on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and what ever social network that might be out there. I have a digital character; somewhat charming, somewhat cynical, free to speak my mind on any subject(emboldened by the absence of any ‘real’ consequences).
I predict that over the next few years these two individuals are going to be brought closer together, so close in fact that they will become indistinguishable. The process has all ready begun, slowly the real me and the digital me are inching closer together.
The smart ones among you can guess where I’m headed with this, those who are superstitious are probably beginning to wonder which asylum I’ve escaped from, others among you are totally stumped as to what the hell this blog post is about. So let me clear the air and set the record straight.
Since the dawn of time we as humans have lived in the realm of the physical, the part of the universe that we can see, touch, smell, taste and hear (We may differ on the existence of the spiritual realm, but lets leave that argument for another day ). With the invention and proliferation of computers over the last 60 years or so another realm has emerged and this is what I call the Digital Realm. For most of us, our digital lives began without our knowledge as information about us was stored on various national record databases and the like. For others it began in a voluntary manner as we opened bank accounts, set up email addresses etc. The information required by these systems is really basic and only reflects a small part of who we really are.
But if life in the real world begins at 40 then digital life really begins when you open an account with a social network. Now you can communicate with other ‘digital beings’ in ways that simulate communication in the real world. We chat online, invite each other to real world (and digital) events, we argue, we make up, we find spouses online (this greatly surprised me), we shop, we sell and we play games. In short we live very full digital lives. Some of these activities spill over into the real world (remember the spouses) as some real world activities extend into the digital world, but for the most part our two personas are for the most part distinct.
So how have these two personas started to move closer together? Well here’s my theory;
It started with the growth of the mobile phone sector and surged forward even faster with the advent of smart phones, because now we could carry our digital lives with us where ever we went. An obvious consequence has been the development of mobile applications that augment the way we experience the real world, for example apps that help you find tourist attractions in a city or highly recommended restaurants or apps to help you navigate your way through exhibitions in a museum.
This has lead to the development of a whole branch of computer science called Augmented Reality, in which (as the title suggests) computer generated sensory input is used to aide our experience of the real world. Those of you who have played video games with a tutorial for beginners will have an idea of what this looks like. Augmented Reality really hits high gear when it meets with social networking, and there is no better example of this than Google’s Project Glass (here’s there promo video http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Basically you have a pair of glasses that replace your mobile, tablet or laptop. You simply slip them on and go about your day as usual, except the glasses constantly project little pop up’s with information relevant to your environment in front of your eyes. These pop up’s range from notifications from your Google+ account, the specials at restaurants that you walk past, special offers in a boutique/clothes store, email messages from your gmail account or even directions to a place you’re not familiar with.
But I must add its not just a one way deluge of information, Project Glass allows you to request information. For example looking at a store and asking how much a coke costs in it will give a little pop up with the price. Google also envisions you being able to video chat and hang out (in true Google+ fashion), take photo’s and upload them instantly and most importantly buy, sell and do business all through Project Glass.
Project Glass shows clearly how my digital and real worlds will be merged together if Google has its way. The real world me’s experiences will be augmented by the digital world, and my digital world will no longer be caged by a smart phone or tablet but will instead be all around me.
If your heart is about to burst your chest from pure excitement, I’m afraid I must calm you down by adding that Project Glass is still under development and some way away from becoming a reality. Worse still for us here in Zambia, Project Glass will require the kind of cloud computing infrastructure that doesn’t exist here . . . . yet.
But I’m sure from this brief description you must be forming ideas of how your digital and real lives are going to change over the next few years.
So what will the next phase after augmented reality be? I would like to think something like the Matrix, without machines controlling us (Dodging bullets appeals to me LOL), but I honestly have no idea.
I will be watching the trends though and I urge you to do the same, firstly because the opportunities for developers are endless but more importantly because there are serious issues that come with the blurring of the line between the digital and real worlds. For example; issues of privacy, identity theft, crime and policing in the digital world and ethics.
More than just stir your imagination, I hope this article has helped you think about the direction that all tech is taking, the opportunities that may arise and the dangers too.
For any feedback, opinions, additions, subtractions, corrections and suggestions email me at kcchilongoshi@gmail.com
ME: REAL &DIGITAL
I am actually two different people. How is that possible, you may be asking? Well its really simple and insanely complex all at the same time.
You see there’s the real me, fresh out of university, just finding my feet in the ‘real world’ and basically a very small fish in a very large pond. Then there’s the digital me, personified by my character on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and what ever social network that might be out there. I have a digital character; somewhat charming, somewhat cynical, free to speak my mind on any subject(emboldened by the absence of any ‘real’ consequences).
I predict that over the next few years these two individuals are going to be brought closer together, so close in fact that they will become indistinguishable. The process has all ready begun, slowly the real me and the digital me are inching closer together.
The smart ones among you can guess where I’m headed with this, those who are superstitious are probably beginning to wonder which asylum I’ve escaped from, others among you are totally stumped as to what the hell this blog post is about. So let me clear the air and set the record straight.
Since the dawn of time we as humans have lived in the realm of the physical, the part of the universe that we can see, touch, smell, taste and hear (We may differ on the existence of the spiritual realm, but lets leave that argument for another day ). With the invention and proliferation of computers over the last 60 years or so another realm has emerged and this is what I call the Digital Realm. For most of us, our digital lives began without our knowledge as information about us was stored on various national record databases and the like. For others it began in a voluntary manner as we opened bank accounts, set up email addresses etc. The information required by these systems is really basic and only reflects a small part of who we really are.
But if life in the real world begins at 40 then digital life really begins when you open an account with a social network. Now you can communicate with other ‘digital beings’ in ways that simulate communication in the real world. We chat online, invite each other to real world (and digital) events, we argue, we make up, we find spouses online (this greatly surprised me), we shop, we sell and we play games. In short we live very full digital lives. Some of these activities spill over into the real world (remember the spouses) as some real world activities extend into the digital world, but for the most part our two personas are for the most part distinct.
So how have these two personas started to move closer together? Well here’s my theory;
It started with the growth of the mobile phone sector and surged forward even faster with the advent of smart phones, because now we could carry our digital lives with us where ever we went. An obvious consequence has been the development of mobile applications that augment the way we experience the real world, for example apps that help you find tourist attractions in a city or highly recommended restaurants or apps to help you navigate your way through exhibitions in a museum.
This has lead to the development of a whole branch of computer science called Augmented Reality, in which (as the title suggests) computer generated sensory input is used to aide our experience of the real world. Those of you who have played video games with a tutorial for beginners will have an idea of what this looks like. Augmented Reality really hits high gear when it meets with social networking, and there is no better example of this than Google’s Project Glass (here’s there promo video http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Basically you have a pair of glasses that replace your mobile, tablet or laptop. You simply slip them on and go about your day as usual, except the glasses constantly project little pop up’s with information relevant to your environment in front of your eyes. These pop up’s range from notifications from your Google+ account, the specials at restaurants that you walk past, special offers in a boutique/clothes store, email messages from your gmail account or even directions to a place you’re not familiar with.
But I must add its not just a one way deluge of information, Project Glass allows you to request information. For example looking at a store and asking how much a coke costs in it will give a little pop up with the price. Google also envisions you being able to video chat and hang out (in true Google+ fashion), take photo’s and upload them instantly and most importantly buy, sell and do business all through Project Glass.
Project Glass shows clearly how my digital and real worlds will be merged together if Google has its way. The real world me’s experiences will be augmented by the digital world, and my digital world will no longer be caged by a smart phone or tablet but will instead be all around me.
If your heart is about to burst your chest from pure excitement, I’m afraid I must calm you down by adding that Project Glass is still under development and some way away from becoming a reality. Worse still for us here in Zambia, Project Glass will require the kind of cloud computing infrastructure that doesn’t exist here . . . . yet.
But I’m sure from this brief description you must be forming ideas of how your digital and real lives are going to change over the next few years.
So what will the next phase after augmented reality be? I would like to think something like the Matrix, without machines controlling us (Dodging bullets appeals to me LOL), but I honestly have no idea.
I will be watching the trends though and I urge you to do the same, firstly because the opportunities for developers are endless but more importantly because there are serious issues that come with the blurring of the line between the digital and real worlds. For example; issues of privacy, identity theft, crime and policing in the digital world and ethics.
More than just stir your imagination, I hope this article has helped you think about the direction that all tech is taking, the opportunities that may arise and the dangers too.
For any feedback, opinions, additions, subtractions, corrections and suggestions email me at kcchilongoshi@gmail.com
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