Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The Future of Interactive Design VS. Our Future in General!

While reading the last chapter of Dan Saffer’s book Designing for Interaction, I couldn’t help but get excited, while simultaneously getting the heebie-jeebies.
When reading about interactive agents, and spimes, I am excited about the possibilities these new advances hold for us as a culture. Particularly for me, someone who has an interest in computers, and now a growing interest in design, the idea being able to learn how to make something such as the “hug shirt” mentioned in the book, makes me kind of giddy with excitement.
Despite my eagerness to learn and push forth into the world of technological advancement, there is still underlying fear that I can’t seem to shake, and I am sure I am not alone in this. I really enjoy my privacy. I also really enjoy being able to do things for myself sometimes. As much as I am excited to see what the future will look like, I am a little bit worried that it will look something like I Robot, or even worse, The Matrix.
It’s not so much that I have a lot to hide, but today’s world already does a good enough job of making me an anxious person. I can’t imagine how I would feel if someone I didn’t like were able to know where I was at every second of every day because of spimes. I can only hope that going forward, the designers on the forefront of this technology do their absolute best to ensure privacy and identity safety.
I don’t really believe in God, but I do however believe that the act of ‘playing god’ is never a good thing. Take Rome for example. It’s true that there are many reasons why Rome fell, but the key reason is that Rome, essentially, got a big head. Even though the Empire was huge and the most powerful in the world at its time, that couldn’t just be enough. They wanted more! So they pushed forth, but eventually there was a tipping point, and Rome fell. I know my analogy is somewhat out there, but think about it. Technological advancements will keep happening until…? You fill in the blank.

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