AUGMENTED ILLUSION
What does "real" mean to you? Is that what you think? What you perceived? Or maybe it is that you feel, or sense; the things that are audible 1, olfactible, gustable, a kind of "provable". Our whole life is an illusion according to the spiritual circles; the philosophical circles define it differently.
As we keep thinking the answer to this simple question, a whole new concept has entered to our lives - augmented reality. This concept, which we have only encountered in computer games for a while, now offers different experiences by manipulating our senses.
It is not just our senses that change; sense organs of tomorrow will be much more functional than they are now. A tiny lens worn in the eye 2, a little chip planted in the nose 3, an interface installed in the tongue 4, an electronic tattoo printed on the skin 5 makes us a little closer to being super-humans.
1 THE EAR OF TOMORROW
Even if you do not have any problems with your hearing, soon you can start wearing smart devices in your ears. Currently, countless different fictions are being studied. Some of the device's task is to make real-time translations, some of which 7/24 assistance... One of the investment fields is enriched audio technology... It is possible to separate the sound into layers and remove the noise in the background, to singularize the noise according to its sources and alter the quality of voice. Let’s say you are at a subway station and met a street player that you enjoy. You can cancel all the noise in the background, adjust the sound of the saxophone and balance the bass and treble.
2 THE EYE OF TOMORROW
Our senses receive 11 million bits of data per second. The eye collects ninety percent of the data. That is to say, the way to the brain passes through the eyes. Each data tries to fall in the field of vision and can draw attention... Eye sees but also parses, prioritizes and even records. On the other hand it gains new skills. For example, eye winks to command. Or because of the uniqueness of the retina, it is turning into a security key, opening the doors of the virtual world. In the near future, even non-vision-impaired people are expected to use extraordinary eye devices. Snap's Spectacles and Sony's wink-activated contact lens camera are the first to come to mind.
3 THE NOSE OF TOMORROW
The cameras are the eyes of the computers, the microphones of the ears, and the touchscreens are the touching senses. The C2Sense company in Massachusetts has developed a chip that senses the smell of the computer.
Significant research are also done on the smell. On one hand, fragrance databases are being created to enable the assessment. Odor analysis is used in many fields from hygiene to brand identity, air pollution to taste testing. On the other hand, electronic noses are developed to analyze odor molecules. The Dutch eNose company is preparing to launch wearable chip size devices into the market.
PROJECT DETAIL4 THE TONGUE OF TOMORROW
DuoSkin develops customizable aesthetic products that provide touch, display and wireless communication thanks to gold metal leaves positioned on the skin.
Thanks to the digital flavor interface technology, the diet is a child's play now. It stimulates the different parts of the tongue for each taste with electricity and heat and allows us to taste what we want without having a bite.
PROJECT DETAIL5 THE SKIN OF TOMORROW
We are moving towards a turn where our skin earns different skills. Facebook has announced its study on the use of human skin for ear use. Moreover, they will make this study available not only for the hearing impaired but also for everyone. Likewise, the skin seems to be the main subject of wearable technologies. Not to mention the chips that can be installed under the skin, intelligent tattoos that can be printed on the body. With the cooperation of MIT Media Lab and Harvard Medical School tattoos that change color by measuring body values have been invented.
