Finalising Ideas

Now I've decided on the infographic style to portray a exaggerated future of technology, I've researched further into the topic, and found some points that I can reference and generate discussion on.

Following on from a discussion in Society, Aesthetics and Digital Media, I have formed opinions on how I believe the future of technology will affect society, and in particular the way lives and social interactions are archived. Technologies like Google Glass and SenseCam have brought the reality of augmented reality and 'life logging' closer to the present.

SenseCam, a Microsoft research prototype, is a device that captures images and video depending on the change in conditions that the user experiences. Prototype users have re-watched and re-lived key moments in their past by going back over the footage that their SenseCam's have recorded. Whilst some are concerned regarding the overstepping of privacy boundaries, the project is still in prototype phase with few users in the public sphere. Below is an overview video of SenseCam.

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror had a whole episode based on the concept similar to SenseCam, where users of an augmented reality recording system could record everything their eyes could see and then replay them at will. In the episode the main character begins to wonder whether his girlfriend is having an affair, and begins meticulously re-watching scenarios in which she interacts with other men. Below is a link to a trailer (apologies for not embedding YouTube itself, it didn't want to play along).

http://youtu.be/CWN9WEU2NP8

The show is available on 4OD and Netflix.

Theorists suggest that these technologies could be used to create Big Data including the general movements of users, and things that stimulate and improve the lives of its users. This sort of information could be used to improve inefficiencies in society, for example solving route-planning issues as well as helping with crime reporting and prosecution processes.

Similar to social networks that generate revenue through fundamentally selling their users to advertisers with specific information about their users, the capitalist opportunity within these technological developments is great, allowing an insight into everything that consumers do, from the music they listen  to and the shows that they watch but also the people they interact with and places they visit.

One scene from Black Mirror shows the protagonist attempting to travel by plane, and one step of the security checks requires him to rewind the last week of his recordings to show to the security guard who scans the faces of those seen. This is a prime example of something that consumers may currently consider too intrusive, however it may be something that evolves alongside the uptake of such devices.

Whilst this technology may still be a little way off, it is something that seems to be becoming more and more realistic. Using this as the basis for my infomercial styled animation, I will script a description of how such devices might interact and intertwine with society, set against the backdrop of poverty in third  world countries. The tone will start as acerbic and humorous, but slowly slip into more impending and unsettling one as the future prediction steps closer towards the privacy-breaking and almost dictatorship-like devices.