Silicon Valley's homework: watch more anime

In the grand, unending quest to shove technology into every nook and cranny of our lives, Silicon Valley seems to have overlooked a goldmine of inspiration: the Japanese anime series called "Den-noh Coil". This isn't your run-of-the-mill Saturday morning cartoon. It's a prescient exploration of Augmented Reality (AR) from which Silicon Valley could learn a thing or two — if only they'd take a break from inventing internet-connected toasters with hidden fees to pay attention [1].

Remember when wearing a smartwatch made you feel like a spy? Those days are as gone as the headphone jack on your phone [3][8]. Today's wearable tech wants to be your future personal assistant, strapped to your face or to your chest, ready to whisper sweet nothings about your heart rate, weather, incoming emails, and connecting you to services that sell you products, of course [3][8]. It's the future that geeks and not nerdies dream of, shiny and invasive dreams.

Smart glasses, VR or AR, aren't your grandpa's bifocals; they're the kind of tech that could make Tony Stark give up his Iron Man suit for a quieter life as a tech blogger. Be no fool, there's no battle between VR and AR. Whether you like it or not, it's the tech equivalent of choosing between becoming a hermit or a street magician [7]. VR offers a geeky escape to fantastical worlds, while AR insists on bringing those worlds into your nerdy living room [2][7]. It's the difference between "I need a vacation" and "I need to see a dragon sitting on my couch."

"Den-noh Coil" dives headfirst into the nerdier future, a world where AR glasses are as essential as oxygen, and kids navigate a digital overlay so complex it makes Google Maps look like a paper atlas [2]. While Silicon Valley is still fumbling with the engagement ring to track them all [3], this anime series doesn't just flirt with the future of AR; it marries it, by envisioning business models and killer features, and has kids making you discover it. We're today closer as never before to a "Den-noh Coil"-esque future, but with more firmware updates and fewer digital ghosts [4].

At least four incredible trends converge into AR smart glasses.

• AI, yes AI, the eager intern of the tech world, desperate to prove itself by taking on every task imaginable [5]. Also in the smart glasses. From predicting your next existential crisis based on your Spotify playlist to turning your refrigerator into a social media influencer, AI's integration into AR is about as subtle as a sledgehammer [5][6]. But hey, who wouldn't want their glasses to remind them they're overdue for a good cry?
• Transparent displays, i.e., the tech world's answer to the question "What if we made windows even more window-y?" [7][9]. These marvels allow you to watch cat videos without missing the actual cat doing something adorable right outside your window. It's a game-changer for multitaskers and a nightmare for birds everywhere.
• UX and the future of consumer interaction. It is all about having deep, meaningful conversations with your gadgets [5][10]. Why chat with friends when you can argue with your smart fridge about your dietary choices? Enhanced interaction technologies promise a world where devices understand you better than your therapist, mainly because they have access to your browsing history [5][10].
• Ethics. For all its wonders, the march of AR technology through our lives comes with a backpack full of ethical quandaries [11]. From privacy invasions that make NSA surveillance look like child's play to the environmental impact of churning out gadgets at breakneck speed, the tech industry's ethical compass seems to be spinning like a fidget spinner in a tornado [11][12].

It's clear that while Silicon Valley has its head in the clouds (or the cloud), it might do well to ground itself in the lessons offered by "Den-noh Coil" and the insights from our YouTube altar [4]. Perhaps then, the future of AR can be as bright as the screens we're destined to stare into—just with fewer bugs and a bit more soul [13].

References:

[1] Azuma, R. T. (1997). A survey of augmented reality. Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, 6(4), 355-385.
[2] Elmqaddem, N. (2019). Augmented reality and virtual reality in education. Myth or reality?. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 14(03), 234-242.
[3] Rauschnabel, P. A., He, J., & Ro, Y. K. (2018). Antecedents to the adoption of augmented reality smart glasses: A closer look at privacy risks. Journal of Business Research, 92, 374-384.
[4] Marr, B. (2019, July 19). The Important Difference Between Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. Forbes.
[5] Siau, K., & Wang, W. (2018). Building trust in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics. Cutter Business Technology Journal, 31(2), 47-53.
[6] Makridakis, S. (2017). The forthcoming Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution: Its impact on society and firms. Futures, 90, 46-60.
[7] Chavan, S. R. (2016, June). Augmented reality vs. virtual reality: differences and similarities. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET), 5(6), pp-1947-1952.
[8] Chuah, S. H. W. (2018). Why and who will adopt extended reality technology? Literature review, synthesis, and future research agenda. Literature Review, Synthesis, and Future Research Agenda (December 13, 2018).
[9] Lee, J., Kim, J., & Choi, J. Y. (2019). The adoption of virtual reality devices: The technology acceptance model integrating enjoyment, social interaction, and strength of the social ties. Telematics and Informatics, 39, 37-48.
[10] Følstad, A., & Brandtzæg, P. B. (2017). Chatbots and the new world of HCI. Interactions, 24(4), 38-42.
[11] Royakkers, L., Timmer, J., Kool, L., & van Est, R. (2018). Societal and ethical issues of digitization. Ethics and Information Technology, 20(2), 127-142.
[12] Brey, P. (2010). Values in technology and disclosive computer ethics. The Cambridge handbook of information and computer ethics, 4, 41-58.
[13] Dunne, A. (2006). Hertzian tales: Electronic products, aesthetic experience, and critical design. MIT press.
[14] Wikipedia - Deh-noh Coil