Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Debord writes, “rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by
images.” Guy Debord (Debord and Nicholson-Smith
1967/1994
)
These critics bring up important issues but misunderstand AR as a medium.
People have to travel to specific locations to experience almost all current AR
activism whether the work is rooted in gravitas or humor. The site-specific quality of
AR allows it to leverage a new untapped demographic of potential protesters. These
could be tech savvy people who disagree with the state of national policies but aren't
quite motivated enough to go to the protests. The lure of AR could be the carrot that
could motivate these people into making the effort to travel to a protest. Once there
they would meet the like-minded people and hopefully become more involved. In
this sense AR has the ability to help build the movement's numbers. Both White
and Skelton make very important arguments that future activists working with
AR should consider carefully. Some future works will undoubtedly fit the mold
that White and Skelton's have predicted. Activists should work to see that these
predictions do not come true.
Another argument against the use of AR for activism is that it is a technology
of the elite. They say it requires an expensive device and normally a year long
contract. When smartphones first became available to the public, this was the
case but the industry has their eyes on the untapped global market. This market
is not in developed countries but instead in third world nation states. “The big
opportunity is in how we put smartphones into the hands of the next billion,”
says Dan Appelquist, Open Web Advocate at Telefónica Digital. “And we do not
believe that the situation we currently see with smartphones in developed markets
will necessarily be replicated as this happens.” (Carter
2013
)
The first cell phones appear ridiculous to us now. They were unwieldy and
completely unrealistic for the general public. The upfront costs to develop for an
AR mobile device have previously keep many activists out of development.
Finally the vast majority of the general public simply has no idea what AR is.
Lack of knowledge and understanding of the software separates not only the
activist creator but also the public from the experience. The transition from smart-
phones to glasses will usher in exponential growth in the public's understanding of
the technology. The general public who is bombarded with content everyday filters
AR out.
1.17
Dangers Facing the Digital Activist
The dangers facing AR activists have changed along with the technologies they use.
In the past activists had to worry about being caught in the real world. This included
being recorded by a surveillance camera, being infiltrated by undercover agents,
entrapment, charges of destruction of property and vandalism to name a few. Today
police cars can automatically scan each car's license plate and security cameras
make use of facial recognition algorithms to determine who you are and then search
your online profile automatically for any wrong doing. The tools of science fiction
