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Old 12-29-2021, 07:15 AM   #21
johndallman
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
I'd also say that the very first stages in the development of a new technology, where it has limited and specialized uses, may well be stages at which it's not possible to say, "Okay, this is taking us to a higher TL."
I think that's often true, but not always.

The Manhattan Project was very secret, but once it had got started, the people working on it rapidly became sure that as well as nuclear weapons, nuclear power for ships and electricity generation, and the manufacture of useful isotopes for many purposes were practical. There were other ideas that were not practical, or not worth their costs, but it was fairly clear that things were changing.

There are also plenty of things that are expected to be, or promoted as being transformative, but which don't work out, for assorted reasons. Around the year 2000, there was a new family of microprocessors from Intel and HP, with the brand name "Itanium," which looked very powerful, but turned out to be impractical to use effectively. They found a single market niche, and stayed in production for about twenty years, with sales in the tens of thousands of processors per year. This was a major failure, given that the plan was to replace the familiar Intel/AMD x86 processors.
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Old 12-29-2021, 09:07 AM   #22
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by Tom Mazanec View Post
Would AR contact lenses be TL9?
At least. TL10 (or even TL10^) might be more likely. I still don't see why anyone would want such a thing though.
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Old 12-29-2021, 09:56 AM   #23
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
Prototypes as such aren't relevant. Standard procedure in GURPS is to assign an invention, not to the TL or historical period where prototypes first appear, but to the one where it's on the market, which implies a greater technological maturity.

I'd also say that the very first stages in the development of a new technology, where it has limited and specialized uses, may well be stages at which it's not possible to say, "Okay, this is taking us to a higher TL." I think that expecting it to be otherwise is setting too demanding a standard; I'm not sure that any technologies mature so rapidly that they could be used to define a new TL that was visible as such at the outset. But I think it's clear that the steam engine did have a transformative effect on manufacturing and transportation.

I might myself have put the boundary of TL5 a bit later, not back at the very first steam powered mine pumps, but at Watt's version of the steam engine. That gets you closer to Franklin's theory of electricity, Lavoisier's theory of chemistry, the Voltaic pile, and the movement from putting out to factories.
But we are currently at the prototype at best stage for AR glasses. That is the context in which I referred to optimism about performance and uptake of the technology.
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I don't see how you get to that conclusion. I have not in fact said anything about smart phones one way or the other. There are a lot of inventions—more than I wanted to list for any TL, and often more than I'm knowledgeable enough to name—and my lists were illustrative rather than exhaustive.
...Because you described AR glasses as not deserving to be called transformative because "they're a further step in a transformation that began with the Internet".
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Old 12-30-2021, 06:07 AM   #24
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth View Post
But we are currently at the prototype at best stage for AR glasses. That is the context in which I referred to optimism about performance and uptake of the technology.
On one hand, we don't necessarily know, at the time when a new technology is introduced in prototype, that it will be transformative, or even successful.

But on the other hand, I think we can speculate about what newly introduced or potential technologies might have that role. And that seems to be what this thread is doing.

Quote:
...Because you described AR glasses as not deserving to be called transformative because "they're a further step in a transformation that began with the Internet".
That's a fair point.
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Old 12-30-2021, 06:48 PM   #25
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

Basically when considering the first issue is that there will be nothing they can do that cant be done with a handheld device. The difference, of course is that they can do all those things without occupying a hand, or entirely blocking your regular vision. And possibly a bit less inconspicuously.

So what can it actually help with?

1. Recording or transmitting video from eye level. And given that capability annoying other people just by looking at them since they'll frequently suspect you of recording them if they recognise what you are wearing.

2. Targeting assistance as it can tell you exactly where your smart gun is pointed making every firefight a more videogame-like experience.

3. Navigational assistance as it displays a translucent minimap of your surroundings. Making every walking tour a more videogame-like experience.

4. Facial recognition allowing it to tag everyone identifiable with a name and perhaps a tag saying some significant fact about them.

5. Text answers to the kind of questions you ask Siri

6. Assistance to technicians by conveniently labeling components and pointing out visually detectable damage you might overlook.

Last edited by David Johnston2; 12-31-2021 at 07:58 PM.
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Old 12-31-2021, 12:55 PM   #26
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
Basically when considering the first issue is that there will be nothing they can do that cant be done with a handheld device. The difference, of course is that they can do all those things without occupying a hand, or entirely blocking your regular vision. And possibly a bit less inconspicuously.

So what can it actually help with?

1. Recording or transmitting video from eye level. And given that capability annoying other people just by looking at them since they'll frequently suspect you of recording you if they recognise what you are wearing.
One interesting question this raises is, what would be common countermeasures that become available?

You also didn't mention a classic AR problem: constant, targeted, intrusive advertising. And also the idea that you could have the glasses block visual data you find distasteful.
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Old 01-02-2022, 09:37 AM   #27
DemiBenson
 
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by Apollonian View Post
One interesting question this raises is, what would be common countermeasures that become available?

You also didn't mention a classic AR problem: constant, targeted, intrusive advertising. And also the idea that you could have the glasses block visual data you find distasteful.
Armor Without Faceplates (UT p.187) implies that anyone could get the same deal with a non-armored face-covering that retransmits to the user from external cameras. That would completely block any facial recognition while still being useful.
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Old 01-02-2022, 10:47 AM   #28
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by DemiBenson View Post
Armor Without Faceplates (UT p.187) implies that anyone could get the same deal with a non-armored face-covering that retransmits to the user from external cameras. That would completely block any facial recognition while still being useful.
I mean, you probably don't need to go that extreme - common face masks (like the ones worn to protect from covid) pretty well wreck modern facial recognition. Mature TL 9 facial recognition might be able to work well enough from what's still exposed, however.
(EDIT: It occurs to me that, from time to time, you run into fictional societies that consider going around without a mask to be roughly equivalent to walking around naked. Ubiquitous recordings from smartglasses could be used to justify such a cultural quirk in an ultra-tech setting.)

Of course, then we get into the issue that many people would rather not have to be masked up every time they go out. One potentially-interesting option would be a legal one backed up by programming - a person who hasn't consented to be recorded (or who has opted out, depending on which way the law goes) automatically has their face blurred (or outright replaced with an obvious placeholder) and recognition data expunged from the recording. This could be done with facial recognition and a database check ("This face isn't in my database of people who consent to recordings/is in my database of people who have opted out of recordings, so I'll replace the face with a randomized cartoon one"), or perhaps people who consent to being recorded do so by carrying around an RFID chip or a "Record Me!" QR code on their clothing (or those who opt out do something similar) . This automated censorship would undoubtedly be reversible for law enforcement purposes, although a particularly privacy-conscious society would avoid this, which would also mean it would be possible to remove it illegally - and even if it's not reversible, people will invariably make illegal modifications to their devices to prevent the censorship in the first place. So, those people who are really big on their personal privacy would just mask up whenever feasible.
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Last edited by Varyon; 01-02-2022 at 10:51 AM.
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Old 01-02-2022, 11:31 AM   #29
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by Apollonian View Post
One interesting question this raises is, what would be common countermeasures that become available?

You also didn't mention a classic AR problem: constant, targeted, intrusive advertising. And also the idea that you could have the glasses block visual data you find distasteful.
That because I was looking for applications that would make the glasses appealing to wear and those seem more like liabilities. Although now I'm imagining a hyper prudish culture that requires everyone to wear visual filters that pixelate the opposite sex when ever they look at them.
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Old 01-02-2022, 04:18 PM   #30
Farmer
 
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Default Re: Smartglasses TL

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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
I mean, you probably don't need to go that extreme - common face masks (like the ones worn to protect from covid) pretty well wreck modern facial recognition. Mature TL 9 facial recognition might be able to work well enough from what's still exposed, however.
Even before COVID and facemasks, gait recognition has been in development. Doesn't need to see a face, so provides an alternative - it's just not great in terms of human verification.
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