Week 2 "Looking to the Future"

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Week 2

Video 1: A Day Made of Glass 2

Education is being visualized here by showing the teaching capabilities of glass are endless.  You can have the teacher show hands on activities; transfer them to the students’ desk, glass tablet, wall format displays and more.  Here they are using it for art. They showed a color wheel, and then they were able to go to the glass top table, and choose their colors. The show it in the picking out of clothes in a closet mirror, automobile radio, and tinted glass, and solar panels.  They used it in the medical field to share patient information between doctors, and then consult on a patient.  Then they used it to display x-ray data, cat scans, state parks for teaching dinosaurs, footprints, digital dinosaurs, TV displays – large screen, not heavy. 

The nature of communication in these future worlds is also endless.   Inbuilt telephone communication is already in the cars, it could lead to visual phones in cars, and more motion activated things.  This would clearly be utopian, a society of highly desirable, perfect students, vehicles, and neighborhoods.

Video 2: Productivity Future

The age of the subjects suggests they already know how to use the technology.  The video starts out with the lady-approaching road from airport, in foreign language, hears in English due to glasses, shown by the red dots on the side of her glasses.  While in the car, makes hotel reservation with language preference, and valet greets with hotel room key.  The phone has no edges, boundaries, views proposal, man makes purchase order, donates a pledge,

she transfers info from phone to glass tablet. The second subject a man, receives proposal, has on screen interaction, but visual is very 3 dimensional.  The two men together information is instantly transferred with the touch of a finger- virtual keyboard.  I have scene this type of computer displays on US TV shows such as NCIS and NCIS LA.

Education is shown by the student using the technology in their homework to do math, scroll through math game.  The virtual fridge to see inside without opening and wasting energy/wall calendar to rearrange, or add to the step-by-step recipe with visuals

This also opens the possibility for future communication.  Seeming easy to use but is only one step away from chip implantation as seen in other videos discussed here.

Video 3: Sight

The man in the video has virtual contacts that show everything in electronic mode.

Here even cutting of vegetables is electronic with the glasses.  He acts like he is playing fruit ninja – the takes score, shows the exact measurements.  When he messes up he waists the food by discarding it in the sink.

Even the reminders show up on his television. It seems with this technology there really no need to leave the home, no exercise, and no interaction with the real world.

When he does go into the real world, he seems distracted, has no clue how to talk to the date, always accessing apps while talking to her.  This seems to show her that he is interested in her and knows about her, when in reality he is looking up things as they go along without her knowledge.

When they arrive at the apartment he can portray anything that he wants, however he left the games up. The ending seems to suggest that these eye implants have some sort of mind control, and he can control her.  

How does this vision align and contrast with the ones in the first two films?

Video 4: Charlie 13

The video starts with the boys looking through binoculars for what they say are deserters, who may have blown up a watchtower.  They make comments that even the birds have chips and are watching their every move stopped or picked up by the police.  The society of anyone over the age of 12 has chip implants in wrist for identification, and in their finger for payment.  Those under 12 still have a birth ID bracelet.

While at this look out place he meets his father, the man he had been watching as a deserter.  His father does not want Charlie not to have his implant put in, and wants Charlie to go with him. 

Charlie 13 seems hopeful to be able to track people, but very bleak if all have to fall under the same standards. Video 5: Plurality The story starts with the society being compiled into a system called the “Grid.”  It takes all info and links to a person’s DNA including bank accounts, passport, and etc. The video shows a lady taking off her wedding band, and bumping into the rail information system.  This places an alert in the system that she is a duplicate and duplicates are arrested for fear that they will mess up the system or change something.  The idea that this grid had gotten so bad that the lady and some others traveled back in time to try to fix it.

Plurality’s depictions of the impact of surveillance technologies seem almost communistic, or socialistic.  The idea is that people are always watching, and have easy ways to track you.  As far as educational practices today, it would allow students to be very in touch with each other, but allow administration to know their every move.

I do not want to be in either Charlie’s or Alana’s society. Honestly, I do not like either society.  They are both controlling and have too much interest in personal lives.  It reminds me of the rumors of big brother always watching.  We know police can track credit cards, cell phones and more, but usually they need probable cause to do so.  Here they are just doing it regardless of permission or not.