on the invisible future
“It is well known that many persons, especially in the well-developed part of the world, are willing to trade productivity time for personal time, which they can spend for their own benefits.” (Ambient Intelligence, The Invisible Future 237)
Theory behind intelligent environments or smart places is that these places will be constructed in three keywords: ubiquity, transparency and intelligence. Most of the technology theorist believe that humans need and eventually will create intelligent spaces that use various sensors and systems that are implicit and need human part-taking. (The Invisible Future 239) Thats what we are seeing is the work of user experience designers who put these concepts to work. Today it might be a website with cheap flight tickets and trips that uses automation to give you the best possible interaction, by suggesting destinations you might like and sending you alerts on dropping prizes.
Tomorrow it might be your house sending you the notifications that you forgot the AC on but the weather forecast says its the temperature that will drop. And after tomorrow? It might be able do it all on its own because it knows what room temperature you prefer and wants you to cheer you up with a warm bathtub when you come home afterwork.
The question is what do we do with the time we are left with? With all the time that has been created for us to enjoy ourselves and invest into us? My assumption is that nothing, only consuming. We see a foreshadowing today on how we treat the time created for us thanks to automation and technology advancement. We spend hours consuming content on social media, youtube and other platforms, we might invest into beautifying ourselves but we will cease to create. Why? Because meaningful creating is a habit that needs perfection, not naturally occurring capacity.
In this case it won't matter if the technology around us will be wireless, pushed into background or integrated into our clothes. If we won't use the data and our spare time wisely, they will become useless gadgets that don't meet the initial requirements. Instead of focusing on the user and helping him to live fully, all these advancements just clutter his life. They will create just more material one has take care of and that doesn't lead to a simple and joyful life. As well as Mozes found out in her study, most of the people want to stay in control. The author after acknowledging this states that “this is exactly what ambient intelligence can provide since it is aimed at increasing quality time for people through intelligent interaction, novel services, and entertainment, providing an enhanced user experience.” (The Invisible Future 246) But my question is, if somebody acknowledges the need for an “intelligent interactor” — understanding and knowledgable user.
In fact, the problems and concerns raised by the author (e.g. extreme data collection of the users, monitoring and security) are not issues that can't be tackled. The real thread is the human nature that stands in the way. Despite the exhilarating technology development, we tend to forget educating users about the moral principles, security, privacy and information processing.
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works cited:
Peter J. Denning, Ambient Intelligence in The Invisible Future: The Seamless Integration of Technology Into Everyday,
