IE Application Question J: "How do you imagine social interaction within 10 years, taking into consideration the impact of technology on human relations?"
Injustice - Developers Among Us (SciFiDevCon 2024)
The Impact of Technology on Human Relations
1. Social Interaction
How It Will Change Within 10 Years, Taking Into Consideration the
Impact of Technology on Human Relations
By Soyoung Cho
2. How Do I Imagine Social Interaction Within 10 Years?
2
In quick overview, social interaction will be executed faster and convenient with technological advancements.
Rather than waiting for a Sushi you want to eat
to come along the conveyor belt…
It will come directly to you –
Faster, more precise and in better quality.
But…
How else will technological advancements have impact on social interaction?
3. 3
Social Interaction
Before diving into the discussion,
social interaction is defined as a social exchange
between two or more individuals.
• These interactions form the basis for social structure
• Social interactions can help define social structures
and cultures
• By interacting with one another, people design rules,
institutions and systems within which they seek to live
4. 4
How Do We Interact Others Today Using Technology?
Society
Business
Family & Friends
Individually
Technology helps individuals to organize, create, obtain
information, teach others, and much more. It also helps us stay
connected to the rest of the world.
For family and friends, technology helps to connect and support
each other. Thanks for technology, we can send typed and voice or
video recorded messages to our loved ones on messenger apps.
In business, technology is used everyday in communicating
internally and externally. From emails to video conferences, it
enhances the effectiveness of work.
Technology is used to communicate with our leaders and citizens. It
helps us to stay in informed. With technology, we can form groups
within the society to share and support each other.
6. 6
How Is Technology Advancing?
INTEGRATED Kakaotalk, LINE and WeChat, the most widely used messenger apps in South Korea,
Japan and China, were initially just messaging apps, like WhatsApp. However, over
the past few years, these apps integrated “mini programs” or “mini apps” into the
app to enhance engagement and convenience.
Thus, without having to download other apps, these apps allow users to edit photos,
search for flights, send gift vouchers, call taxis, pay at convenience stores and more.
Facebook Messenger was also simply a messaging app at first, but chatbots were
integrated into the system to replace customer support and also to drive
engagement between the user and the brand.
IMPROVED
REPURPOSED
GAME-CHANGER
7. 7
How Is Technology Advancing?
IMPROVED
Google Translate can now detect and translate languages from
a photo. For example, if a tourist was visiting a sushi restaurant
in Japan, he can take a picture of the sign and translate.
INTEGRATED
REPURPOSED
GAME-CHANGER
At some stores in Tokyo, improved self-checkout counters, were placed. With these
machines, customers can just place the basket of products with IC tags into the
machine and check out instantly, without having to scan the bar codes individually.
Adding onto improved self-checkout counters, Amazon will introduce Amazon Go, a
store that eliminates the concept of “checking out” by utilizing mobile app and
product detection technology, to the pubic this year.
MasterpieceVR by Brinx Software is the first cross-platform, multiplayer enabled,
painting and sculpting experience for virtual reality. This allows users to collaborate
in real time from anywhere in the world.
8. 8
How Is Technology Advancing?
As a winter campaign from J. Walter Thompson Brazil, Coca-Cola vending
machines were repurposed to encourage gifting. Instead of purchasing and
enjoying the drink, consumers were asked to deposit it in the machine and record
a thank you video to send to a loved one. Although this is not a mind blowing
innovation, a vending machine was repurposed to serve a different task.IMPROVED
INTEGRATED
GAME-CHANGER
REPURPOSED
Snapchat, an app formerly used mainly for sending photos, is being repurposed as
a tool to help build hype for new music track from artists. Moreover, through
Snapchat, users can now access more news, comedy, sports and lifestyle shows.
Snapchat working with broadcasting systems allows the content to reach young
millennials and Generation Z.
9. 9
How Is Technology Advancing?
Draper, an independent biomedical solutions lab, decided to make cyborg
dragonfly drones by dressing the insects up with synthetic biology and
neurotechnology systems. This project, DragonflEye, could be used for
surveillance and intelligence purposes, but also for researching and managing
insect population in the future.IMPROVED
INTEGRATED
GAME-CHANGER
REPURPOSED
Azuma Hikari is a hologram that is designed to a “virtual wife”. The device,
Gatebox, has a screen and a projector that brings ‘her’ to life. On the outside,
microphones, cameras and sensors are placed to detect temperature and
motion. It is reminiscent of Samantha in Her (2013).
Wearables trackers have been a big market for past few years, but The Doppel
Wristband is a game-changer for this market. It tracks the person’s heart rate
and uses pulse vibrations to control his mood. It can be used to stay alert (fast
beat) or calm down (slower beat).
10. 10
Impact of Technological Advancements on Social Interaction
– How Some See It
Some writers and directors have interestingly captured the future of social interaction in TV shows and
movies, such as Black Mirror and Inception. Although these are works of science fiction, it is not hard to
imagine it happening in the future.
“What is real?”, “Which reality is real?”,
“Which social interaction was physical, real, virtual?”
• In Black Mirror, Season 3, Episode 2, a man tries out an implant that
functions as the ultimate augmented reality device. The device takes
it one step further by generating the person’s most feared nightmare,
based on his internal thoughts and fears. Since the augmented reality
changes based on the person’s thoughts, his begins to wonder what is
real or not. The episode plays with interaction in layers of
consciousness.
• Inception, a film directed by Christopher Nolan, also plays with
interaction in layers of consciousness. The characters tap into
someone’s unconscious while dreaming, to steal information. For the
person being tricked, the social interactions in his dream and real life
is blurred.
11. 11
Impact of Technological Advancements on Social Interaction
– How Some See It
One almighty app to rate everyone, everything
• In Black Mirror, Season 3, Episode 1, a society controlled by one social media app is portrayed.
Social media is the core of their society, and people will alter their social interaction based on
the rating of an individual on this app.
12. 12
Impact of Technological Advancements on Social Interaction
– How I Envision It
Within 10 years, I imagine the below to be improved and enhanced.
• AI
• AR
• VR
• Digital Voice Assets
• Data
• Cyber Security
13. 13
Impact of Technological Advancements on Social Interaction
– How I Envision It
How will all these fit into a puzzle to change social interaction?
• Technology such as Amazon Alexa and Azuma Hikari will be improved and available to public, which could make
our homes smarter and living more convenient. It could also tackle isolation problems, significant in Japan.
• Both Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality will be improved and used to change market communication
strategy and drive sales. Currently, only some furniture stores and cosmetic brands are experimenting with it, but
it has potential for other markets. With AR, brands will no longer need numerous physical stores and prioritize
growth of online shopping.
• VR will become even more useful in collaborative work, such as MasterpieceVR, and it will even become a norm
to be used in the medical field.
• Digital Voice Assets, such as Siri will be completely integrated into our daily lives. As Starbucks announced My
Starbucks Barista, an AI based voice command ordering system, it will not be long until other brands also operate
business using this technology. This means, no longer having to talk to baristas, waitress, etc, changing our
current social interaction.
• Combination of having more data, utilizing AI, AR, VR in daily lives will result in changes in education quality and
methods.
• Combination of more data and VR will also open up the global labor market.
14. 14
How Will Social Interaction Occur with New Technology?
Society
Business
Family & Friends
Individually
Technology will not only be convenient, but heavily relied on for communicating with the rests of the world.
Individuals can collaborate with others without ever having to leave the house. Furthermore, mood controlling
wearables will help individuals with mood disorders or those having a bad day, get through daily lives.
AI will be integrated into the lives of our family and friends. With improved technology, family and
friends in different countries will be able to feel the presence of a love one through VR and AR.
Ways of engaging customers will increase exponentially. Businesses will need to adapt
quickly. Hiring a new talent can be done easily with technology. Business collaborations will
be key as brands will create more socially interactive content on engaging platforms.
Languages and physical locations will no longer be a problem when interacting with
different societies. VR and AR will advance the medical field, aiding the societies in need
of medical support. Society will need to provide much better security with data being
flown everywhere.
15. 15
Some may say that the perversion of technology in inevitable. Yes,
technological developments could lead the world to be a place
with full of introverts, cold, heartless people with controlled
emotions. People would never have to leave their home, nor talk
to anyone physically present.
However, I believe that people can draw the line. So I imagine a
happier world. Convenient, innovative but not controlled by
technology. If this world becomes a place where conversation is no
longer needed, it could create a desire for genuine conversation
and connection.
Conclusion
16. 16
References
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