The Internet of Things
Just anything connects to the network is part of the Internet of Things. It fuels the idea of smart phones, smart car, smart home, and even smart city. The connectivity is endless, even you turn off your network connectivity. It brings the world closer together at the expense of the privacy. It also boosts the business model that using our user data for that own benefits. The great example is social media platforms. It makes money base on pretty much on user activity from Likes, to Comments, Following and so on. The aggregation of data collection is the most dangerous part. Edward Snowden pointed out that is not the data is being exploit, it is the people during the Web Summit 2019.
This brings us to the sci-fi shows Black Mirror Nosedive, The Feed and Altered Carbon. How close we are to these shows. Well, we are getting there.
Black Mirror Nosedive – the rating system. This is by far the closest to what we are living right now. The rating system comes in many different form in our lives. From social media to business review, we are constantly being watched and rated accordingly. When was the last time that you check Yelp for restaurant review?
The Feed – the AR and VR shows. We are getting there, I remembered attending of the talk by Facebook Designers on Social Media AR. It is already here, but it is not widely adopted because of the high costs. There are more institutions adopt the technology for education purposes like museums.
Altered Carbon – space craft. Space X would be the great example to illustrate how close we are to the space exploration. Last month, Space X was successful sent four astronautical to the International Space Station in full autonomous mode. It might be a long to get to the sci-fi shows, but it is pretty clear that we are going to that direction in a matter of time.
There are good and bad points about technology. The solution is the design problem itself. There is no one perfect way to the solution without some sort of problems. That is why there many different framework that designers need to adopt and embrace in their design like universal design and inclusive design. Designing with an accessibility in mind is the great way to deal the blind spots.
Indeed, it’s important to think about the pros and cons!