CASE #8: ORCAM:
a handheld smart device that seamlessly reads text for people with visual or reading difficulties.
CASE #9: SKYDIO:
Autonomous drone can see, understand its complex surroundings; plan and fly a path avoiding obstacles in close-proximity.
INSIGHT+OUTLOOK:
Virtual reality and Robotics:
I have a Need. I either bring the Value (of the object or event) to me, or I send myself out (as a bot extending my eyes or hands or even mind). I combine Smarts (AI) with advanced Engineering (communications + sensors + mechanics + materials).
Value, when freed from containment (time, space, physicality, third-party control), can be transported or streamed. And finally we restore the Value – “real-ization” into useability – perhaps in its original physical self.
CHALLENGE:
What human abilities can be enhanced, extended, or restored?
DIVERGENCE:
A drone might as well be a magical wizard.
For the visually or cognitively impaired, the OrCam’s a welcome magic wand.
Fanciful analogies, yes: but a narrative starts with imagination, then on to realization.
Creativity, after all, is play.
Also see my article series on Digitization: