Everything You Imagine Is Real, Augmented Reality Pioneer (Part 2)

By Jodi Schiller

If you’ve read part one in this series, you already know the very definition of “reality” is changing and expanding thanks to Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality and good old fashioned “reality.” As this technology becomes more and more sophisticated and gets closer and closer to mainstream adoption, it’s prudent to consider some of the moral and ethical implications of a technology-infused future. Here are some more of my answers to questions I’m often asked about how AR/VR may (re)shape culture and society as we know it.

I’m starting to envision a world that’s pretty out of control. It sounds weird, dangerous and unnatural. I’m wondering, is this going to be the most awful technology ever invented?

I guess that’s a valid response. Most people don’t like change, and AR/VR will potentially catalyze revolutionary change. But like it or not, we need to prepare for a new way of thinking, doing, learning, and being. I predict this technology will open the door to a range of experiences from awful to astonishing. Life as we know it will continue, but with a new set of parameters about mindset, belief systems, and even core values. Every technology revolution brings with it both new benefits and new challenges. This one’s no different – except it could well represent the weirdest leap forward a generation has ever taken. I recommend buckling your seatbelt and holding onto your hat!

Wait, you’re implying that AR/VR will change not just the way we play but how we think and feel?

I am. I call VR and AR “Almost Teleportation Devices.” Augmented and Virtual Reality will let us instantaneously experience something happening on the other side of the world. Maybe it’s something beautiful, like cherry blossoms blooming in Tokyo. Or maybe it’s something difficult, like befriending a poverty-stricken family in Africa. With AR/VR, you’ll be able to “transport” yourself directly to places we now see only in video news clips. Instead, we’ll be able to meet and interact with people and places rendered in our own living room – or theirs — in rich holographic detail.

When we’re able to get up close and personal with people and situations anywhere in the world, I wonder how it will affect our tolerance of suffering or brutality? Will we be able to demonize or objectify the people we share tea with in our kitchen? Or celebrate with at worldwide sister-city gatherings? Will AR/VR help us understand each other better? Will we empathize more?

Today, it’s easy to pretend that children from other cultures are wholly different than our own children, but I believe our fundamental similarities – the shared traits of our humanity – will be much harder to ignore when we can watch and interact with generations of families as they grow and change. Check Instagram’s initiative to help make this vision a reality.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this doesn’t sound like the reality I’m currently living in, right?

You got it. Reality is defined as the state or quality of having existence or substance. Going forward, our individual and collective imagination will co-exist with us in real time. Not only will augmentation change what we see and hear, we’ll be able to augment what we touch, feel, even smell. The new definition of reality will be an integration of what we currently perceive as “reality” with anything and everything we can imagine becoming real. As complex and even far-fetched as this sounds, I’ll bet many of our children (and certainly, their children), will grow up as AR/VR natives and have trouble comprehending our limited definition and experience of reality. What kind of world will they build? All I can say for sure is that it will be one well beyond the reaches of my imagination.

Pablo Picasso said, “Everything you imagine is real.” Turns out, he was right.

Jodi, you seem awfully calm in the face of incredible change. How do you feel about all these predictions?

I’m excited. I think AR/VR will reveal something critically important. None of us has ever been what we appear in “real” reality. Each of us is a compilation of our experiences, passions, and fears, layered with the meaning and story we create about them. With this technology, the most essential part of us will become much more apparent, almost as “real” as our truly real selves. As a result, we’ll get to know each other better (whether we want to or not!) – and understand each other, too. I’m crossing my fingers we’ll embrace kinder, more compassionate behavior as we grow more familiar with each other’s inner worlds.

And don’t forget, Augmented and Virtual Reality can be really, really fun!

Although we’re still years away from mainstream adoption, I love pondering the possibilities for AR/VR in our daily lives. Having dinner at a restaurant? Get ready to be escorted to your table by a friendly dragon. Missing your Aunt Sara who lives overseas? Invite her (well, her avatar) to join you for dinner in California. Remember, Aunt Sara loves tulips – so don’t be surprised when her avatar appears at your table as a delightful talking flower.