Augmenting things, establishments and human beings. “Blended Reality” in a psycho-sociological perspective

Abstract

In contrast to virtual reality that diverts attention to artificial “second worlds” and robotics that substitutes human beings by artificial agents, AR aims to reinstate the human being as the very center of all digital activities: not only as an abstract “subject”, but as an embodied actor interacting with the physical environment by using his sensomotoric skills. Especially when harnessed with geotracking systems (GPS) and crowdsourced databases, AR applications provide more relevant information about any current environment on a Real Time basis: thus reducing potentially the scope of subjectivity by ”colonizing” even most basic human perceptions and behavior with objectified supraindividual information. When human beings are the targets of augmentation, new devices of reciprocal data control will have to be established in order to keep an equilibrium between the advantages to observe others and the need to preserve privacy (=remain unobserved).