{"id":17,"date":"2019-03-19T19:02:26","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T19:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/?p=17"},"modified":"2019-03-19T19:04:27","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T19:04:27","slug":"a-window-into-mirrorworld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/2019\/03\/19\/a-window-into-mirrorworld\/","title":{"rendered":"A Window into ‘Mirrorworld’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Window into \u2018Mirrorworld\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Steven Gollmer<\/p>\n

An article in Wired<\/em> magazine recently reminded me of the artificial world in which we live.\u00a0 The article is titled \u201cAR Will Spark the Next Big Tech Platform \u2013 Call it Mirrorworld\u201d and can be found at https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/mirrorworld-ar-next-big-tech-platform\/<\/a>.\u00a0 Mirrorworld is seen as possibly the next technological marvel of our age.\u00a0 Imagine every item in your life having a digital footprint, which can be accessed through augmented reality (AR) goggles, massive databases, high speed internet connections and the appropriate software.<\/p>\n

This is not the same as the world envisioned in Ready, Player One<\/em> written by Ernest Cline, where one experiences a virtual world with a haptic suit and virtual reality (VR) goggles.\u00a0 It is more like Pok\u00e9man Go on steroids.\u00a0 Instead of looking for virtual monsters with your phone display, you can see them with AR goggles, superimposed over the \u2018real\u2019 world.\u00a0 However, the purpose of Mirrorworld is not just fun and games.\u00a0 While walking down a street, you see the address of homes virtually displayed in your field of view.\u00a0 Directions to your destination appear as arrows or colored lines on the pavement in front of you.\u00a0 If repairing your car, you see the screws and bolts to be removed highlighted in green while audio instructions step you through the process.\u00a0 (This is much more effective than watching YouTube videos multiple times to get the instructions correct.)<\/p>\n

In order for this world to exist virtual replicas of every physical object must be modeled with a draftsman\u2019s level of detail.\u00a0 Not only will the exterior of your home be rendered in 3D, making Google Earth\u2019s street view more realistic; but the interior floorplans, electrical wiring and plumbing will be visible through the walls and floors if the proper security access is available.\u00a0 Logging all of this data will be a Herculean task unless it can be assisted by users of the AR equipment.\u00a0 Embedded cameras with GPS positioning could transmit the user\u2019s view in real-time and allow databases to be updated once all objects in the scene have been identified by image-recognition software.\u00a0 A comprehensive digital mirror of our world would improve troubleshooting of problems, enhance security and allow robotic vehicles to more seamlessly interact with us.<\/p>\n

Although privacy was cited as a significant problem, the Wired<\/em> article concludes with the statement, \u201cIt will be humanity\u2019s greatest achievement, creating new levels of wealth, new social problems, and uncountable opportunities for billions of people.\u201d\u00a0 The prospects are alluring and the implications are sobering.\u00a0 Not only are there concerns about personal freedom and privacy, but there is the prospect of a fundamental shift in society.\u00a0 As information becomes immediately available in our daily experience, the necessity to memorize and learn changes.\u00a0 Just as the introduction of GPS navigation changed how we travel, Mirrorworld will change how we interact with the world around us.\u00a0 Will this bonanza of data make us more appreciative of the \u2018real\u2019 world or more dependent on the virtual?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Window into \u2018Mirrorworld\u2019 By Steven Gollmer An article in Wired magazine recently reminded me of the artificial world in which we live.\u00a0 The article is titled \u201cAR Will Spark the Next Big Tech Platform \u2013 Call it Mirrorworld\u201d and can be found at https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/mirrorworld-ar-next-big-tech-platform\/.\u00a0 Mirrorworld is seen as possibly the next technological marvel of… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions\/44"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cedarville.edu\/stem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}