3.4M views · May 19, 2016 · 6:16 · 1 HN recommender · 20 mentions · discussed 2017–2025
Keiichi Matsuda's short concept film depicting a future where physical and virtual realities have merged and the city is saturated with media and advertising. It shows an augmented-reality-filled daily life as a provocative vision.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN cites it as a shorthand for the dystopian risks of ad-driven, ubiquitous AR, usually in critical discussions of advertising and the metaverse.
“This is a great video that demonstrates some of the risks”HN comment, 2024
“This is a great video that demonstrates some of the risks”
Demonstrates risks of ubiquitous AR driven by advertising
I'm hopeful that ubiquitous AR can be a good thing. I remember being inspired many years ago by the book "Rainbows End" about the possibilities. I am a bit concerned to see advertising companies at the forefront. This is a great video that demonstrates some of the risks: this video
“I think Apple really envisions something like this...”
Depicts a possible AR future
Definitely. I think Apple really envisions something like this... this video ...being the future, and they want to get ahead of it.
Cited as an example of an AR vignette
That might make for interesting project (individual or community). Photoshopping AR vignettes for peoples' various passions. Sort of speculative storyboarding and market exploration for future apps. For a user with a passion for fashion, what might a nifty AR future expert experience look like? Heads-up tooling for where their head is at as they walk down the street. Collaborative tooling for their interactions with friends of similar interests, while walking and retrospectively. What about for software, or for startups? The AR vignettes I've seen have been generic. Refrigerator contents, street navigation, business travel, etc[1]. Broadly accessible, but most of it mundane. Not targeted, not trying to inspire individuals with "O.M.G. Want future now.". Sort of like demos of Unreal VR Editor[2] for game devs, or EXA[3] for bands, or PRIMITIVE[4] for software devs. But synthetic, rather than app demos. [1] HYPER-REALITY this video [2] Unreal link [3] EXA twinkle link , multiplayer link [4] Java link
“Hyper-Reality presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future”
Provocative vision of a media-saturated merged physical and virtual world
Here is a perspective this video "HYPER-REALITY Keiichi Matsuda Hyper-Reality presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media. link "
I you talk about hyperreality I think you were referring to this (1) video, but given the downvotes you received I guess not many people got the reference (1) this video
Man I'm not not worried so much about malicious state or corporate actors getting my biometrics. I'm worried about the incompetent ones (which is all of them). Those are the guys who collect biometric data, store it, and then lose it. Like my social once my face is out there I can't get it back. I know that nobody is going to make a copy of my beautiful face to get access to my iphone, but more about the future when biometrics are used to let us into -- for instance -- a cloud provider's platform[0]. At that point there's no physical device to bypass it's just a question of sending the right bits to a server. Then my biometrics are defeated and I won't be able to reset them. (edit: wrong link) [0] this video
> There may come a day where the world is utterly broken for the unaugmented, just a confusing sterile landscape camouflaged in QR codes this video
“reminds me of (a precursor to) Hyper-Reality by Keiichi Matsuda”
reminds me of (a precursor to) Hyper-Reality by Keiichi Matsuda [1] (from about minute 2). This was done in AR and more like Black Mirror :) [1]: this video
Maybe it's just me, but this video looked like dystopian satire... did anyone else view it that way? It reminded me of Keiichi Masuda's "Hyper Reality": this video
Reminded me of the 2016 dystopian short film HYPER-REALITY, where AR technology is used for exactly the opposite: superimposing ads and a million other virtual distractions over the real world. this video
We're getting really close to the green-on-black head-up display navigational map depicted in Ghost in the Shell (1995) and its spinoffs; see 14m26s in the video, or click here: link > Map UI – Ghost in the Shell link > Even G1 Navigate: Visually-enhanced Direction link Per the video I posted in OP, ER is supposedly using Mapbox as part of their navigation solution on-device in conjunction with a mobile app via Bluetooth. ER is apparently open sourcing some aspects of the apps or interaction model: link And now for something incompletely different, we're nearly at the tech level needed for Keiichi Matsuda's hyper-reality (2016): this video link link Related media: Domesti/city: The Dislocated Home in Augmented Space (masters thesis) link Merger (2019) - 360 degree AR concept film link link Keiichi Matsuda also worked on some stuff for Leap Motion: > A series of design research projects completed while serving as Creative Director and VP Design at Leap Motion. link link
“The aids that is the advertising world keeps trying to infect your home!”
The aids that is the advertising world keeps trying to infect your home! Crickey! We can prevent this! this video
“It's the coercion and lack of user agency.”
I am far less technically inclined than most on HN. I find the premise of AR to be very exciting, but only if I am - as a nontechnical user - provided with tools for solving my own problems and augmenting my life experience as I see fit rather than merely consuming a series of curated experiences. At the more extreme end, Keiichi Matsuda's "Hyperreality"* absolutely is a nightmare. It's not even the intensification of media that I find so abhorrent. It's the coercion and lack of user agency. * this video
“perfectly illustrates this, for the augmented reality era”
This YouTube video "HYPER-REALITY" perfectly illustrates this, for the augmented reality era: this video
“That's a nightmare.”
They have a dream of "5G cities" where everyone walks around with these things fully connected. That's a nightmare. See "Hyperreality"[1], if you haven't. That may be the future of AR. Especially if Facebook is involved. [1] this video
Do we want less ads? Maybe it's just enough? How about more, like in this video: this video Yes, this looks like the best world, can't wait for Google to implement it in Meta's metaverse. How is removing ads from public space still a question?
Hmm, seems like you are on the mark with the generative AI. I've read others writing similar things. Some people propose that this will be the breaking point where people have had enough of internet content and a trend of disconnecting might start to become a thing or the return to more curated walled gardens (remember AOL?) As for your second point, seems like you are referring to neuralink? Are you also considering things like the upcoming Apple Glasses/Goggles? That seems like it will lead us to [1] (a video I totally despise because I dread it coming) [1]: this video
It sounds appealing - until we start relying on it for more and more for even the menial stuff, we stop bothering to turn it off, and hyper-capitalism/consumerism takes it over. I find this to be quite believable: this video I sure hope uBlock will work on it :)
“Here is a short sci-fi film depicting what I fear”
Much has been written about the dystopia we are already in, but I am specifically concerned about the dystopia they are earnestly building. Meta is aware of these problems and is trying very hard to solve them. And they won't be useless! That's the worst part. They will provide compelling value, like smartphones, and as such will be impossible to boycott. At first the value will be simple, obvious utility, like route overlays. Later it will be value within the system, much like how the main utility of smartphones now is to run the mandatory apps to participate in aspects of society that previously did not require a smartphone. And of course they will be addictive. Here is a short sci-fi film depicting what I fear: this video
Microsoft announced that you can extend Windows 10 support if you enroll in Microsoft Backup or purchase “Microsoft Points.” Just think if they get printer manufacturers in on this, just to keep your ink cartridges “authentic” and up to date, and you can keep using Windows 10. And so on... It’s interesting/unsettling to extrapolate a dystopian future from these moves. Keiichi Matsuda’s short film “Hyper-Reality”: this video
