[How About This Book] When Feeling Down, 'Add Sunshine'... A World Seen Freely

Futurist Author's 'Vision Revolution' Outlook
Innovation in 'Viewing' with Smart Glasses
Identify People and Interaction History in Sight
Sharing Interests Also Possible

"The meaning of ‘seeing’ itself will completely change due to the exponential technological advancements over the next decade."

The futurist author predicts that following the internet revolution (1990s) and the mobile revolution (2000s), the next wave will be the ‘vision revolution.’ While we have so far focused on what to see, the paradigm of ‘seeing’ itself will now change. The catalyst for this change is smart glasses. The author explains, "It will not only change the ‘objects’ we look at but will innovate the ‘methods’ by which we see objects, based on the ability to newly ‘construct’ reality."

Smart glasses are expected to transform our future lives in ways completely different from today. By analyzing brainwaves and electrodermal activity data measured at the temples to understand mood, and tracking pupil movements, they dynamically alter the scenes unfolding before our eyes. When feeling down, reality can be ‘modified’ to create a lively atmosphere. Bright rays of sunshine can be added to a cloudy sky, exciting music can play in sync with one’s steps, and comforting aphorisms like ‘It’s okay, things will get better’ can appear among the clouds. The author names this new form of visual reality ‘Supersight.’

The core of Supersight is augmented reality. Unlike virtual reality, which seeks to create something from nothing, augmented reality overlays information onto reality and is already well implemented in sports broadcasts. The parabolic trajectory of a golf ball, the rectangular strike zone in baseball, and the intuitive offside line in soccer are all thanks to augmented reality. In South Korea, information tends to be uniform, but since 2018, the U.S. professional basketball league has used ‘rotoscoping’ (combining animation with live images) to provide personalized animated effects showing game statistics, ball trajectories, and shot success.

Even without sports, wearing smart glasses allows you to obtain information from every screen in daily life. A kind of information tab is overlaid on reality to provide desired information. Technologies that provide information within the field of view, like Naver Shopping Lens which shows product purchase information when taking a photo, have already been developed. Currently, advanced processes are underway to display only optimized information about the object being looked at, preventing information overload.

Supersight also brings revolutionary changes to human relationships. When wearing smart glasses, there is no need to struggle to remember names when meeting many people at once. The moment you look through the smart glasses, not only names but also all past interactions are displayed. Depending on the set privacy level, recent interests and shared preferences can be revealed, enabling quick bonding and increased intimacy. For individuals with autism who have difficulty with social communication, it can help recognize others’ emotions and expand their social life.

The biggest changes are observed in the clothing sector. Many services already exist that allow customers to check how clothes fit without trying them on. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa founded an online shopping mall called ‘ZOZOTOWN.’ Its distinctive feature is providing custom clothing by digitizing body measurements through a camera using a ‘UNITED’ suit marked with white dots shaped like ping-pong balls.

Companies like ‘Trunk Club’ and ‘Stitch Fix’ go a step further by predicting and sending clothes based on customer preference data. They regularly deliver five pieces of clothing predicted by color, taste, and purpose, and customers only pay for what they wear. Technologies that automatically charge for clothes once worn and the wearer leaves the house are nearing commercialization.

From a company’s perspective, businesses acquire vivid information that even customers may not be aware of, based on the information customers allow. In offline stores, feedback with reliability surpassing surveys can be derived from customers’ facial expressions and biometric data.

It may also be used in recruitment. The author envisions that in the future, Supersight might provide individuals with emotional and work-related advice and grant access to accumulated data to prospective employers. While convenient and reliable if mutual needs align, this is also a potentially controversial issue.

In fact, the author expresses concern that Supersight could infringe on personal rights and even trap individuals within their own worldview. With diverse experiences enabled by smart glasses, the need for direct interaction with others may diminish, leading to a rapid decline in the ability to understand others. As a solution, the author emphasizes ‘view switching’?seeing the world through others’ eyes. This is not just empathetic perspective-taking but literally experiencing another person’s Supersight to encounter different worlds. The author stresses, "The more immersive and personalized the experience, the more this bubble becomes an inescapable prison. Just as people high-five or bump into each other to show friendliness, we must be able to easily synchronize our personal perspectives with others. (Omitted) It’s similar to everyone ‘listening to the same music.’"

Supersight | Written by David Rose | Translated by Park Young-jun | Flow Publishing | 400 pages | 21,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.