Comments for Cross Reality Will Change Your Life, But at What Cost to Your Privacy?

Cross Reality Will Change Your Life, But at What Cost to Your Privacy?

2009-07-15T10:00:00Z

Yesterday we explored an emerging trend called "Cross Reality", one term for when sensor networks meet online virtual worlds.

As this trend becomes more common over the next few years (and it will, as both Web-connected sensors and virtual reality ramp up), what are the implications on how people use the Web? How will it change our interactions in both real and virtual life? In this post we'll explore some of these issues and offer some ideas: for example a bookstore that offers you personalized, contextual information on your mobile phone, in real time and with virtual reality.

]]> During my meeting at MIT with Joseph Paradiso, Associate Professor and Director of the Responsive Environments Group at MIT Media Laboratory, we discussed how connecting environmental sensors to the Web and virtual worlds will change the way people interact with each other and their environments. Essentially it will enable people to expose as much of their life online as they want - leading to an era of "ubiquitous media." There are privacy implications for this, which we'll discuss below. But let's first look at the benefits.

Better and More Personalized Information

The more data that is exposed online about a person, the more personalized their media experience will be. This appears to be the most compelling argument for allowing your movements and interactions in the real world to be recorded and uploaded to the cloud. As long as there are privacy controls in place that allow people to opt out at any time (even for just a short period of time, e.g. if they're having a private conversation with a friend), then the pay-off of a much more personalized and contextual media experience seems worthwhile.

Imagine for example walking down to your local shops and entering a bookstore. Theoretically, the bookstore would recognize you as you entered and would 'ping' your mobile device, which then might bring up that wish list of books you've been compiling (let's assume it's not an Amazon wish list, but an independent third party app - perhaps an opportunity for any entrepreneurs reading!). The app would let you know which of your wish list books are available. Also it would display a virtual map on your phone of exactly where each book is located in the store, via the barcodes of the books. Armed with all of this handy, very contextual information, you make your way to the first bookshelf...

You may say: well I could've just ordered the book on Amazon and not gone to the bookstore in the first place. But a lot of people still want that experience of going to their local shops and wandering around, socializing and being part of the 'real world.' By integrating the online world more deeply into the real world, it creates a more compelling shopping experience.

Changing the Way You Live

A more fundamental way in which sensors and virtual reality might mix is in your home. An example that Joe Paradiso mentioned was being able to control a thermostat in your home without even touching it. Instead it would be controlled by sensors connected to the Web. All you'd need to do is send your preferences into the Internet cloud, once. And the thermostats would control your home heating from there on out. You could also check in on your home when at work or traveling, on the virtual Web.

One does wonder what would happen though when multiple people live in the same house, but have different thermostat preferences! Well, let's presume that the Internet will be able to work out an efficient sharing program for that too ;-)

Changing Social Networking

Sensors and virtual reality will change social networking. Paradiso mentioned that you might have a Zigby badge, which would automatically post data to Facebook. For example when you entered that bookshop mentioned above, Facebook would get pinged. Theoretically then this will enable your friends in the vicinity to meet up with you, or you could make new friends if you allow people to 'discover' you at bookshops.

You could do this virtually too - e.g. if you find that you have great conversations whenever you're in a bookshop, then why not try catching up with some friends via Second Life's version of that bookshop (which connects in real-time to the real bookshop)? And what's to stop you from visiting overseas bookshops, virtually, and meeting/making friends?

Wait, What About My Privacy?!

All of the above potential benefits (which just scratch the surface of what's possible) sound marvelous, but of course we haven't yet touched on the not insignificant privacy implications of living in a world enhanced by sensor data and virtual worlds.

This issue was discussed in the academic paper which we summarized in yesterday's post. The paper asked what happens when "potentially invasive media capture becomes an intrinsic property of devices scattered all over our environments?"

To try and solve this issue, MIT is experimenting with a small badge that people can wear to "passively manage dynamic privacy" in environments where potentially sensitive information is streamed across real and virtual worlds. Such a device might be embedded in your mobile phone, or on your body somehow, in the near future. It's early days, so don't panic just yet about brain implants. But here is how MIT describes the current solution:

"We have elected to address this [privacy issue] with badge systems, which periodically beacon a unique ID, to wirelessly mediate privacy (a prototype privacy badge is shown in Figure 7). Using received signal strength and/or the localization engine, the Portals know which badges are potentially within sensor capture range, and can passively and dynamically control data access according to the badge users' preferences. When the red "NO" button is pressed, however, an immediate opt-out signal is transmit to block any sensors in range - an important option if a sensitive conversation is initiated. The current protocol answers to the most restrictive privacy setting that is received. If we have any indication that the wireless network is being jammed or spoofed, the portals will revert to a conservative privacy level."

Conclusion

Clearly much work needs to be done to enable people to effectively - and easily - control personal data from sensors. The benefits described above are compelling, but equally we want to ensure that our personal data is under our control and not being monitored by governments or corporations.

Now tell us what changes you forsee on the Web, as a result of the emergence of Web-connected environmental sensors and the continued growth of virtual worlds.

Image credits: sndrv; MorBCN; Alpha Auer; butkaj.com; Responsive Environments Group

Comment from Scott on 2009-07-15

2009-07-15T10:59:41Z

The thermostat example sounds interesting, although I can see someone hacking your "thermocloud" and forcing the heat in your house to be excessively high to cause serious health problems. While that might be an extreme example the possibility for it to happen is there if thermoclouds become a reality.

I think the melding of the real world with the online world is what Web 3.0 really is. Not the "semantic web" which many people refer to. While they might happen in tandem, most people will remember Web 3.0 as the era of real/online meshing.

I've always said in other forums that sensors in the home, for example, that would allow you to search your physical possessions would be the next gen of Web. If I lose my keys, I could search for them with my "Google Home Search" page and find their location easily. I might be looking for the box that has the picture hangers in it and I could quickly look those up as well.

Of course all of that comes with privacy implications. But we to have assume, I hope we can do that, that privacy controls will be more robust as we further add technology to our lives.

Comment from Robbie Kiama on 2009-07-15

2009-07-15T11:35:45Z

Oh metaLIFE is waiting for this next evolution of the web to happen! we already have implemented a set of tools and services that allow you to travel within Second Life and post what you do what you see there, have automatic messages pinging both Twitter and Facebook informing your real friends there.
As for the next wave of the internet (or 3.0 as Scot named it) I personally believe that it will be headed both ways at the same time:
- Evolution of Semantic web: Internet becoming more and more interconnected, symbiotic, using common standards
- Cross-platform and cross-world connection will become a natural thing.

Comment from Roger Harris on 2009-07-15

2009-07-15T11:55:13Z

Very interesting. Thank you for bringing to our attention. However, I tend to disagree that the prevalent issue is privacy. More likely the systems will be so awash in information that we will all be anonymous unless we choose otherwise. Therein lies a sense of privacy. One thing lacking from these academic discussions is how the definition of privacy changes, and how notions of privacy differ among cultures. In pre-industrial cultures, it was not at all unusual for whole families to share a room, and the various conversations, food, bodily functions, and so on that go along with such proximity. Our notion of privacy is built on the Western ideal of each person having their own room where they can shut themselves off from the world. Not that this is a bad thing, but can it be used as a metaphor for privacy on the internet. Of course, there are also laws to protect against authoritarianism, such as the constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure but, again, such concepts may be difficult, if not impossible, to transfer to an online environment. My guess is that such technologies will lead to a rethinking of privacy. Perhaps we will see a dualistic concept of privacy with in-person being quite different from online privacy.

Comment from Jason Barone on 2009-07-15

2009-07-15T13:25:28Z

Very interesting post. Seems to remind me of that movie, Minority Report, where you walk around and the stores know what you purchased or what you were looking at last time.

It's funny you see all these movies about the future, but the way technology keeps developing, it looks like we'll see a lot of this in the real world.

I just hope it doesn't get too out of control. GPS, object/facial recognition, cross reality. Soon we'll walk through the mall and pass by the Apple Store and the Apple store camera will recognize us, know we bought a Macbook a year ago, and ping our phone with a coupon or sale on Macbooks.

Comment from Miramon on 2009-07-15

2009-07-15T14:09:59Z

Sensor networks are certainly a big deal in general.

But the virtual world interaction part has little bearing on privacy, and its issues are negligible and all but irrelevant compared to security and privacy issues associated with the real-world.

If you give all the devices in your house IP addresses so you can control them with a wave of your hand or a tap of a stylus, you have only yourself to blame when someone from 4-chan cranks up your house heating system in the summer to maximum, sets your garage door flapping, and tunes in all your A/V to a permanent Rickroll. And that would be just a friendly mischievous intrusion in comparison to what you would get from serious criminals.

All this stuff is fun to play around with, but any serious implementation really requires an entirely new approach to network protocols and application development platforms.

Comment from meg dunn on 2009-07-15

2009-07-15T21:44:39Z

Is there a symantec or mcafee for thermostats? I'm not as worried about someone turning up the heat in my house as I am that they'd use the thermostat as a vehicle to access the rest of the computer systems in my house.

I can see it now, the hacker gets in through the thermostat, finds a bunch of private company docs on the computer, and broadcasts them via Twitter to the world. Beautiful.

Comment from Sam Ross on 2009-07-16

2009-07-16T11:00:44Z

@Jason Barone "Soon we'll walk through the mall and pass by the Apple Store and the Apple store camera will recognize us, know we bought a Macbook a year ago, and ping our phone with a coupon or sale on Macbooks."

Where does this differ from swiping a store card and getting coupons in the mail, or buying credit for your phone and a minute later getting a text from your provider with some deal? OK, so it's a camera on your face, but I think we all have a lot more to lose from the stored data that already exists about our personal habits than any distinguishing facial features, which will probably already be noted somewhere if you own a passport anyway...

Should we be paranoid about opt-in technology?

Comment from Rob G on 2009-09-07

2009-09-07T13:10:19Z

Thanks for the interesting post. A quick reply about your quip about the need for an alternative to Amazon for book lists.

Since opening up their vast database in 2006, WorldCat has continuously improved their website, and it now supports public and private lists as well as other social functionality. It also has a decent collection of journal article citations. In addition to showing you which local library has the book, most items link to their Amazon/B&N pages ...