Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Are we building our own realities?

First, a bit of science fiction:

In a few years time everyone will have sensory overlays in our brains, by which I mean computer/network interfaces in the visual, hearing, olfactory and somatosensory areas of the brain. Or - a more modest scenario - we will have eyeglasses and earphones which do the same, in a more limited sense. And we will use these interfaces to "color" the reality around us towards a vision of the world we want to experience - hearing our favourite music, and our vision manipulated by computers so that what we see corresponds to our attitude towards the world - b&w, bright/dark, blurred, sharpened, saturated etc.

Too farfetched? Well, look at the people on the street, all those (white) earbuds, all the types of clothing, all the types of haircuts, tattoos, trousers, shoes, etc. I don't doubt for a moment that the individualization of reality will not continue as fast as technology allows.

But where is the connection to photography? Well, nowadays there is quite a collection of photographers who manipulate reality, either by skillful use of perspective and framing, or in more active ways such as artificial lighting, or even moving towards a theater/performance art style where the photographs are completely staged and manipulated artifacts, not reality.

So, what will happen when the IT technology allows for real-time processing of visual information, not just by using Photoshop in post-processing, but real-time photoshopping with special effects of the Industrial Light and Magic caliber thrown in?

Would I use such technology? And what will happen to humanity if everyone builds their own view of reality, overlapping but not completely coexisting with others?

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