The world of media is always evolving side-by-side with the tools we use to explore it. The future holds many exciting possibilities, but with this ever-growing saturation of data comes a new danger. Internet service providers have recently been charged with restricting access to competitor’s websites and services. Unless Congress sets the precedence and enforces network neutrality, ensuring equal access to all internet users, we could face a more dominating corporate presence online. If we draw upon insight from the past and trends from the present, valid predictions can be made about our future. We can anticipate exponentially more sophisticated media devices and a more controlled and regulated media environment along with them.
We may see media as a window to our world, as our ancestors did with the first televisions and radios. The window is changing and evolving every day, transforming a bulky black-and-white analog TV set into a thin 3D liquid crystal display. 3D-TV is a medium that is growing in popularity, with many new HDTVs supporting this feature. Along with the higher resolution images that HDTV technology allows, 3D adds a sense of depth to entertainment. Theaters are enjoying a resurgence of moviegoers willing to pay an increased ticket-price for admission to 3D motion pictures. There is also a growing trend for 3D videogames. Some PS3 and Xbox 360 games such as Avatar and Enslaved include a stereoscopic 3D option, and Nintendo’s portable videogame console 3DS was released this March, 2011. The 3DS features a new kind of 3D technology, where glasses are no longer required and the visuals literally ‘pop’ off the screen.
As impressive as the ‘popping’ effects of stereoscopic 3D are, they remain only an optical illusion. A true 3D effect is attainable through an exciting new technology known as holography. Holograms are a limited visual representation of reality as we know it, in all three dimensions. Currently there are limitations to this format. There simply isn’t a device advanced enough to display holographic images in the color range or detail we see in real life. The developing technology being used to project holographic images is known as volumetric display.
Originally only dreamed of in science fiction, volumetric display describes a process to show media in true 3-D (as opposed to the illusion of 3-D made from stereoscopic images using special glasses or other methods.) Our scientific knowledge has not yet accomplished this dream, and volumetric display is a format still in early stages of development. There are several methods to achieve a true 3-D effect, but they have not yet reached the consumer market. The most advanced volumetric displays remain in the control of corporations that produce them, academics that develop them, and the military that seeks to employ them in warfare.
The possible applications of volumetric display could change our daily lives in dramatic ways. Hospitals could be fitted with machines that scan your body and create a 3D image of you and all your organs. This image could then be displayed in all three dimensions, so your doctor could narrow down the source of your illness with great precision. Our TVs and portable videogames could evolve into devices capable of projecting a true 3D image, transforming our living rooms into a completely different world and time. The military could fit aircraft carriers and intelligence centers with equipment capable of projecting a detailed diorama of the battlefield.
Volumetric display could one day advance to the level of sophistication we see in the fictional Star Trek universe. In this show, the crew of the Enterprise go to relax in a room called a ‘holodeck’ that is essentially one vast holographic display. These displays consist of tangible props and furniture, and are indistinguishable from the material world. Everyone in the room becomes a part of the alternate reality the holodeck projects. Participants may share a drink in a wild western saloon or waltz in a seventeenth-century ballroom. They may fight an ancient army for control of a medieval castle, or perform emergency repairs on a plummeting airplane. If this technology comes into existence, the applications for entertainment with friends and family would be as limitless as one’s imagination.
Beyond mere entertainment, holodecks could also prove useful in other areas. Future spies and soldiers could be trained in scenarios the holodecks display. Emergency responders could practice their skills in detailed, worst-case scenarios and hone their ability even more than is possible today. This technology could open many doors, not only as a pastime but also as a viable approach to learning.
Another possible way of conveying media through display is the developing field of virtual retinal display. This is a way of seeing that completely bypasses the lenses in the eye and creates an image in your mind. Our very sense of what is real could be altered using this method. Statistics of random objects we encounter could pop up, or entire movies and shows could be visualized out of thin air. VRD would be an engineered hallucination that could be interactively controlled. We would begin seeing things from within ourselves as opposed to what we see on an LCD monitor.
Virtual retinal display would be more portable and discrete than a volumetric display. No one but yourself could see the images or information you see, and the device you use to view these things could be as discrete as your glasses. A virtual retinal display could even be implanted in your brain, connecting your body to a universe of media and creating a layer of separation between yourself and the material world.
These possibilities may seem overwhelming and wholly positive, but when you couple this with the danger of increasing government control and corporate-backed regulation the future can seem less optimistic. Recent legal battles between regulatory bodies attempting to protect our right to uncensored, unrestricted access to the internet have taken a turn towards corporate interests and decreased independence. This ongoing debate has been dubbed ‘network neutrality’.
The issue of network neutrality affects all consumers of internet media. Network neutrality is the idea that all users should have access to the entirety of the internet’s content, free from restrictions imposed by internet service providers, governments or schools. This concept mandates that no website should be obstructed and no tiered system should exist to give faster access to premium customers. Minnesota Senator Al Franken recently addressed the potential abuse that would result from such restrictions: “Verizon will be able to cut off access to the Google Maps app on your phone and force you to use their own mapping program, Verizon Navigator, even if it is not as good. And even if they charge money, when Google Maps is free” (Stelter). This debate boils down to the rights of a company to decide how much of the internet they are willing to provide versus the rights of the consumer to enjoy unhindered access.
The Federal Communications Commission authorized a deal that met internet service providers half-way. On December 21, 2010 a decision was made that divided internet service into two classes; fixed-line and wireless net. This made the situation Al Franken described into a reality and allowed cell-phone companies to block certain websites and provide faster service to higher paying customers while requiring wired internet service to be free of restrictions.
There are several arguments both for and against legislation to ensure network neutrality. This topic brings into play the question of who controls the world’s data, while also raising questions about the rights of a service provider to decide how much bandwidth they produce. Some believe the concept of laissez faire should be applied to network neutrality, while others fear that powerful organizations could become gatekeepers over our collective knowledge.
The way this issue develops is vital to our future in media. Depending on decisions being made today, the world of tomorrow can change drastically. If further legislation fails to ensure network neutrality, we may face a destiny resembling George Orwell’s 1984. In his classic novel, Orwell describes a dystopian future where a single party has assumed control over the entire earth. The protagonist is a low-ranking member of this party and keeps a journal describing his negative ideas regarding the party and the restrictive state of the world. If the government discovered these negative thoughts, they would put author of them to death. To stray from the ideals of the controlling party, even in your mind, is considered a ‘thought-crime’. If we are not careful, the issue of network neutrality could evolve into the future Orwell depicts. The powers that be could ensure we follow a path they approve of, forcing customers to remain loyal to the corporation they subscribe to and blocking the will of their competitors.
A vigilant government like the one described in 1984 could watch customers as they watch the media. A technology vital to this story is a futuristic television called the ‘telescreen’, which is a kind of two-way television. While the viewer watches the TV programming, the TV’s camera watches the viewer. This could easily be implemented into devices we use today, ranging from laptop-mounted webcams to Microsoft’s latest Xbox 360 accessory, the Kinect. Unwanted access to a customer’s home could provide insight into their buying decisions, and prove useful to a company.
Ultimately the responsibility lies upon ourselves to ensure future generations don’t suffer the pitfalls of an overbearing government. We must support legislation to ensure everyone gets equal access to the internet’s resources, regardless of a company’s desire to keep things from us. If this path of citizen-spying and access restriction is derailed, then we may all enjoy a promising future of ever-developing technology.
Works Cited
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Secker And Warburg, 1949. Print.
Stelter, Brian. "F.C.C. Is Set to Regulate Net Access." The New York Times 20 Dec. 2010: Print.
