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Concept Video

Transportation Safety Working Group, 2/13/2012

Elizabeth Terese Montano presented some concept sketches on her transportation safety project to the class. The concept sketches provide a way to imagine situations in which smart cars interact with each other, with drivers, and with the road (broadly defined to mean all transportation infrastructure including emergency services).

It is possible to imagine that one or more projects will culminate in a concept video. The class watched the concept video below, then discussed what they had seen.

Here are some points from the class discussion:

Observations

Communication was pervasive, live, instant. All devices interact. Everything is interconnected.

Translator glasses.

Active display on the road.

Three-dimensional interfaces; display spills over from portable devices to countertops and other displays.

Manipulative interfaces (like gesture navigation on Apple devices), no more typing.

Smart refrigerator (shows contents without door opening), annotation overlaid on some items.

Smart room that knows identity of person and responds.

No need for IDs.

Educational device for kids has animated cartoon characters as a reward.

Interactive ad for charity concert in subway. Transactions fast, presumably secure.

Annotation of the world through smart glass on car window or through small devices.

Negatives/Concerns

Concern for "creepy" aspects of rooms and other environments that know identity of individuals.

Reduced personal contact.

What about people who are not part of this? Are they living in shantytowns? Is this the 1%?

No problems, everything works (unrealistic).

Environment is empty, sterile. Kitchen (beyond technology) is empty, not like a real person's kitchen.

Who has all this information? What about privacy?

Personal experience of smart phone crowd, they miss restaurants and other establishments that are not on the popular apps. (Incomplete annotation or places pay to be listed.)


More

Here are some clips from Minority Report (2002), showing some interesting ideas about user interfaces.

Also recommended: Iron Man 2 (2010).