Remember when Apple and Google made us cyborgs?
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009The announcements from Apple at its last Macworld may leave many yawning (or complaining about non-removable batteries, you know, FOR THE CHILDR—er, ENVIRONMENT), but one simple feature made me happy.
Facial recognition in iPhoto. Facial recognition in Google’s Picassa.
That’s not something entirely new, many companies have taken a stab at it– and we’ve been able to tag photos, improve upon search results for a while. It’s only curious because of Apple and Google are doing it. And it’s a huge start into putting those fancy-schmancy tools directly in our hands and pockets.
Here’s a scenario that may excite you, scare you, or perhaps, both.
You go to a party. Not even sure that you want to stay. Who’s here? You have your iPhone. So, you pull it out, hit the camera icon, and tap the not-yet-invented IDENTIFY button. Anything your camera sees will be shown on screen, with an overlay of information about what comes through the lens. The person, their job, how popular they are, etc. Hovering above someone’s head is their social profile– their myspace, facebook, twitter, friendfeed– whatever the trendy.app du jour is.
All this takes advantage of the facial recognition utility, which will certainly improve over time.
Apple is the retina. The camera app is the brain. Google is the memory. The experiences were created (and posted) by you. Social networking and media became the biggest user-generated database of humanity–for better and worse. Facial recognition at a social level means that now, we can google by sight. The interface-less interface.
Augmented Reality is simply combining the virtual with the real at the SAME time. My little party scenario is kinda silly, but the same concept can easily be applied to anything that requires additional information. Traveling to foreign countries, shopping for products (hello Amazon!) and playing video games (know anyone with an Xbox 360 or PS3? Ask to see Viva Pinata Vision or Eye of Judgement). Dozens of uses from the practical and educational, to the entertaining and frivolous.
Google has indexed everything from Earth and Mars, restaurants, 3D buildings, parts of the universe, and the rooftop of your mom’s house. If Apple can see something, pass it on to Google (or if Google can see it), then the slipstream of your data is made visible.
We are becoming software cyborgs (using tools). Perhaps next is augmented cyborgs (wearables), and after that we become hardware cyborgs (implants).
I leave you with a quote from some kinda famous guy: 
“The solution isn’t to limit the information you receive. Ultimately you want to have the entire world’s knowledge connected directly to your mind.” -Sergey Brin