Jan 8, 2020
January 8th 2020
Baked and Awake
Episode 096
Don’t worry, I never heard of
Parallel Reality before, either
Source: Fast Company, via
Slashdot
Original Article by Harry
McCracken (https://www.fastcompany.com/90443495/deltas-parallel-reality-airport-display-sounds-like-sci-fi-but-its-real
Misapplied Sciences:
https://www.misappliedsciences.com/
- Delta
Airlines bought ($8million in a Series A) into a Redmond WA Based
startup not at all ominously named Misapplied Sciences (MSFT
Alums). Misapplied was operating in “Stealth Mode” (since 2014!)
while building a new tech that Delta now intends to deploy
ubiquitously throughout airports all over the world (presumably)
that would create a new experience for its customers whereby the
signage the traveler sees will be entirely personalized to each
individual. From the story: “It’s almost limitless, the product
map,” says COO Gil West. “Curb to gate, for things like wayfinding,
boarding, upgrades, service recovery if your flight is delayed or
canceled.”
- The
tech accomplishes this seemingly miraculous feat by hyper focusing
pixels on a special display, which depending on the viewers
position will only beam specific images, colors, text (anything) to
each individual user. Oh yeah, and AI and a bunch of video cameras
mounted all over the place where the system is deployed. I choose
that word for a reason.
- The
screens, still early versions of the tech- currently have some
limitations on the number of different subjects they can display
unique information for, but even these limits are staggering:
one iteration of the parallel reality screen can display unique
information to 18,000 different points in front of it, while
another is claimed to be able to split it’s display A MILLION
times. I’m imagining billboards on roadways and window signs of
businesses that deliver customized targeted ads. I’m also
envisioning dystopian “Public Service” displays that beam reminders
and warnings to people who have forgotten to pay a parking fine, or
might be in the midst of considering other mundane civil
infractions like jaywalking, littering, parking in the load zone,
jumping a mass transit turnstyle etc.
- The
Company’s CEO, in a quote for the Fast Company story said that “The
system is agnostic to the tracking technology—all we need to know
is a three-dimensional location that we want to send a piece of
content to.” This statement I find concerning when referring to a
technology that mostly relies on *many cameras being arrayed and
networked together to follow the traveler around the airport so
that the system can tell when someone is standing in front of one
of the displays, and can then perform it’s magic. For the sake of
clarity and in order to quell my initial weird feeling about this
choice of words, I looked up the definition of agnostic: As applied
it is an adjective, although a person can also be labeled “an
agnostic” and in that case of course the word is a noun.
Sticking to the adjective however we find, per Google, that:
adjective
adjective: agnostic- Relating to
agnostics or agnosticism. Synonyms: skeptical, doubting,
questioning, unsure, cynical, unbelieving, disbelieving,
nonbelieving, faithless, irreligious, rationalist, nullifidian.
Nevertheless, further clarity may be gained by also reading the
noun’s definition, which reads: “A person who believes that nothing
is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of
anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither
faith nor disbelief in God”
- Speaking of magic, I saw some (weed and
paranoia fueled no doubt) red flags in the language chosen by the
article’s author, over and above Misappllied’s CEO’s glib take on
his responsibility to acknowledge the true scope of their tech’s
wider applications. The article opens with characterizing the
airport traveling experience as a ritual. A couple paragraphs down,
a statement about how the tech in question is being judged as “a
technological magic trick”. There were references to the Startup
being in “Stealth Mode”, and the choice to use phrases like
Deployed and Deployment, which appear three times when referencing
additional applications for the tech as well as where Delta is
currently planning to test it (Detroit, by the way). To be fair, I
assume Mr McCracken is a tech writer by trade,(UPDATE: Oh yeah is
he ever) and in that realm, specifically in software development,
“Deploy” is frequently used as a label for certain workflows
including pushing updates to servers, handing off new builds from
developers to Testers, etc. “We deployed the new build this
morning so you clowns should be able to break it as soon as you’re
ready” that sort of thing, so it could just be force of Techboy
habit- but I don’t like the word here. Whenever your car’s
infotainment system receives an OTA update, some Sys Admin
somewhere a few hours before got a little IT Boner when they said
“We’ve deployed the latest code to the Live Server”, or words to
that effect. I don’t know, it all smacks of para militarism or
something.
- The
whole project was borne out of a 2014 Microsoft experiment with
Spectators at a Pro Sports event where cell phones were used to
signal individuals to sit or stand on command, effectively turning
them into “Human Pixels” (Ahem- cybernetics-
cough).
- Misapplied also has a connection to Walt Disney
Imagineering, through Co Founder Dave Thompson, who previously
worked in creating theme park experiences for Disney. (More pure
psychology and cybernetics all with the express intent of getting
you to stay longer and spend more in The Enchanted
Kingdom)
- Delta
will be showing a Future Visions video at CES that depicts a
Parallel Reality powered security check-in experience that appears
to be a seamless, hands free operation- something that I think will
be leveraged heavily to push for widespread use of such systems in
many other public spaces as well as secure buildings (Malls,
Stadiums, High Rise Offices, Apartments, etc).
- The
article closes with ...Future possibilities aside, once Delta’s
beta experience is up and running, it should be worth at least a
few minutes for anyone who travels through the airline’s Detroit
terminal and wants to see something genuinely new. Ng, however,
remains insistent that the ultimate goal isn’t to wow anybody. Like
many a potential breakthrough before it, parallel reality will
matter most if we start to take it for granted.
“It’s not about people
appreciating the technology,” he says. “It’s about people going
through these venues and getting a seamless experience. And when we
can get to that point, where the technology blends away, that means
we made it. That means that we were successful.”
Thanks for listening to today’s
story, I hope you enjoyed it and it gives you something to think
about as you continue your day. I also want to thank my
instagram friends @melbournemudflood and Sean McCoy of the Come to
The Table podcast for sharing my Guardians of the Galaxy meme over
there yesterday- you guys are the real MVP’s! Honorable
mention among my IG family for today also includes @itsyourgirlm7
who posts uncomfortable truths all day long on her account, and yet
still manages to have a sense of humor about it, and
@allenwolfphotos, who listens to the podcast, recently was
traveling in Spain, and went a little mudflood crazy while he was
there. Allan, I’m looking forward to poring over some of
those images you took at full resolution soon brother!
Only three more shows until
episode 100- what do you think I should do for that
milestone? Anything special? Get at me, always, at
talktous@bakedandawakecom, and visit my permanent internet home
at www.bakedandawake.com where you can always find the podcasts, learn
more about me, connect with other listeners in The Smoking Lounge,
and support the show by buying some podcast merch or checking out
my Amazon affiliate links for my journal and daily planner and
other fine products you probably need in your lives.
Maybe.
Alright everyone, that’ll do it
for this episode of the Plagiarizing Slashdot Podcast, I’ve been
your stoney host Steve, and you can make me happy this week by
posting an image to your favorite social media platform and tagging
it with our motto, #smokeindicadoshitanyway.
Check out my new official Web
Store today where your secure purchases directly support the show,
while shopping through online retailers you already trust:
https://bakedandawake.com/the-shop
DON’T CLICK THIS LINK:
https://bit.ly/36towQy
My Website:
www.bakedandawake.com
Email me:
talktous@bakedandawake.com
Official Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/bakedandawake
Baked and Awake Discord:
https://discord.gg/BKJ52JQ
My Peertube Channel:
https://peertube.co.uk/accounts/baked_and_awake/video-channels
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/stevecominski
Insta:
https://www.instagram.com/baked_and_awake/
Episode ambient Music generously
provided by Antti Luode Track: Datsun280zx
(http://www.soundclick.com/AnttiLuode),http://www.soundclick.com/_mobileFrame.cfm?bandID=1277008
Additional Music Provided with
permission by Northwest Grab aka
https://summoningsickness.bandcamp.com