ggalaxy

A lot has a been written about augmented reality - is that really a sizable tree growing out of a chimney or has it been photoshopped? To what extent will tomorrow's urban architecture be designed to be digitally augmentable? as opposed to being inherently augmentable?

Technology is evolving to the point where LED based pocketable projectors will be bringing digital content to a surface in front of us (imagine a variation of this from Afghanistan but for a wider range of moving content). Because of its inherent immediacy - the wow effect, pocket projectors will go through its moment as the gadget de jour, but ultimately use will restricted to use due to poor lighting conditions, sub-optimal surfaces on which to project and unstable surfaces on which to rest the projector. They will potentially include some form of data capture like duh, a camera turning the one way flow of information a form of proximate broadcasting (data transfer via, say, LED based street lights being already feasible). Throw multiple projectors to the mix and a new medium is born.

Related: a solid piece by Kevin Kelly in the NYT on screen literacy (& ta Sara for the pointer).

Photo from a day on the back of a bike in Bangkok.

Meal delivery in Tokyo above and Shanghai below.

What meals are currently off-limits for home delivery and why? To what extent do changes in local delivery norms alter consumption habits? Whilst a shift from motorised transport extends the likely delivery range, how does the additional speed affect the meal's appearance? How the food tastes? The customer's level of anticipation?

Fast forwarding to a distant future perfect - how will teleportation or other ways of matter-location-shifting affect the home delivery business? The most likely business model? Customers and restaurants will receive a home teleportation device for free and the service provider generates revenue charging for every meal delivered. The home food delivery industry will go through a revolution with consumers being able to select meals from anywhere. When you can have anything what decisions will affect your choice? (And by the same token - right now you could be reading any website, why are you here?) If there was a good catch of Tuna in Sado today - you might go for fresh sushi. Your Indian take-away will arrive from India, naturally. Whilst the market for take-away food will become hyper-competitive i.e. competing with anyone whose ever picked up an egg whisk, brands will matter more as consumers turn to trusted sources of food and suppliers that are able to translate international and intranational foods for the local palette.

Some will prefer to have the raw ingredients teleported over, wanting to prepare the food themselves and you'll never go without an ingredient again. Asking a loved one to pick up the milk on the way home (and for that matter taking out the trash) will be things from our past. Globally popular TV chefs will be the new-power brokers in society - capable of shifting a year's supply of Kenyan butter beans or [insert name of any foodstuff] in a matter of minutes through a single broadcast, through not before buying low and selling high. Everyone needs to eat - it just takes a little direction to get them to buy from you.

Whilst you might think this scenario is far far off there are elements that are already here and more that are just around the corner, if not for food then for other tangibles. Fax machines create a tangible output based on the tangible or digital command from a remote someone. Who will be the first to offer a free internetworked home printer where the sender pays to print? At what point do internetworked 3d printing technologies arrive in the home?

A guest over from South Korea - warm but wearing her coat for the duration of her stay inside the cafe. For every context the likelihood that you're going to remove layers of clothing. Korean weddings are renowned for the numbers of guests and the speed at which the guests arrive and depart. The cultural implications of taking of a jacket, coat or shoes.

From our research in Mumbai.