WIRED Found: The Ultimate Collection

I love WIRED magazine. It has excellent features; interesting contributors; an unpatronising writing style; awesome graphic design; unannoying ads; even the paper it’s printed on is good quality. WIRED is, to many, an opinion leading and culturally significant title both on and offline.
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It’s future facing attitude really suits my own, so I’ve been reading it regularly for years. Now the UK title is in print, I buy both that and the US version. Ubergeek, aren’t I?

One of my favourite features was always the back page, the ‘Found’ section, which featured potential realities of our future daily lives.
Sadly no longer supported by the magazine, ‘Found’ lives on as an online Photoshop contest, where readers can submit their own images on subjects such as chewing gum and rehab.

I wanted to find the original images though, and I’ve managed to source the earliest online record (Jan ‘04) up to the last published image (Jul ‘08).

So here they are, in reverse chronological order. They are packed with all sorts of detail and easter eggs, so click on them to see the full images:

The Final Found

From WIRED July 2008, predicted for 2018:

wired found image

Wine Spectrometer

From WIRED June 2008, predicted for circa 2020:

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Smithsonian

From WIRED May 2008, predicted for 2096:

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Risk

From WIRED April 2008, predicted for 2027:

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Home Shopping

From WIRED March 2008, predicted for circa 2016:

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Tattoo

From WIRED February 2008, predicted for the near future:

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Windshield

From WIRED January 2008, predicted for 2013:

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Responsibeer

From WIRED December 2007, predicted for 2012:

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Waste Management

From WIRED November 2007, predicted for circa 2025:

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Halloween

From WIRED October 2007, predicted for 2015:

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Birthday

From WIRED September 2007, predicted for 2079:

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Fruit Stand

From WIRED August 2007, predicted for circa 2020:

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Comic Book

From WIRED July 2007, predicted for 2021:

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Fido Fusion

From WIRED June 2007, predicted for 2016:

wired found image

Reunion

From WIRED May 2007, predicted for 2052:

Bug Spray

From WIRED April 2007, predicted for circa 2050:

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Medicine Cabinet

From WIRED March 2007, predicted for 2013:

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Speeding Ticket

From WIRED February 2007, predicted for 2054:

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Crayons

From WIRED January 2007, predicted for 2013:

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Christmas Shopping

From WIRED December 2006, predicted for 2017:

wired found image

Organ Farming

From WIRED November 2006, predicted for 2015:

wired found image

Bluetooth

From WIRED October 2006, predicted for 2019:

wired found image

Report Card

From WIRED September 2006, predicted for 2018:

wired found image

Diet Cola

From WIRED August 2006, predicted for 2019:

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Contact Lens

From WIRED July 2006, predicted for 2020:

wired found image

Bookstore

From WIRED June 2006, predicted for 2021:

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Operation

From WIRED May 2006, predicted for 2027:

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Tax Day

From WIRED April 2006, predicted for 2021:

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MTA Route Map

From WIRED March 2006, predicted for 2067:

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Love Tester

From WIRED February 2006, predicted for 2015:

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Mood Ring

From WIRED January 2006, predicted for 2009:

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Christmas Morning

From WIRED December 2005, predicted for 2016:

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Diaper

From WIRED November 2005, predicted for 2024:

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Sharper Image

From WIRED October 2005, predicted for 2012:

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Space Elevator

From WIRED September 2005, predicted for 2032:

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Crossword

From WIRED August 2005, predicted for 2019:

wired found image

Nightstand

From WIRED July 2005, predicted for 2017:

wired found image

Antivirus

From WIRED June 2005, predicted for 2022:

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Bumper Sticker

From WIRED May 2005, predicted for 2012:

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Horoscope

From WIRED April 2005, predicted for 2056:

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Insurance Form

From WIRED March 2005, predicted for 2069:

wired found image

Taste Tester

From WIRED February 2005, predicted for 2009:

wired found image

House Call

From WIRED January 2005, predicted for the near future:

wired found image

Barf Bag

From WIRED December 2004, predicted for 2047:

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Election Day

From WIRED November 2004, predicted for 2012:

wired found image

Bathroom Vendor

Scanned from WIRED October 2004:

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Lost File

Scanned from WIRED September 2004:

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Box Set

Scanned from WIRED August 2004:

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Power Gym

Scanned from WIRED July 2004:

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20 Big Ones

Scanned from WIRED June 2004:

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Postcards

Scanned from WIRED May 2004:

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Nanobot Inhaler

Scanned from WIRED April 2004:

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Bulletproof Fashion

Scanned from WIRED March 2004:

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Chococeuticals

Scanned from WIRED February 2004:

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Mood Machine

Scanned from WIRED January 2004:

wired found image

Thanks to Rhaomi for the brilliant Metafilter article Artifacts from the Future, and to Stuart Candy for his scans that complete the collection, found here on his site.

Any I’ve missed? Let me know!

Introduction

Augmented Reality (AR) is a theme of computer research which deals with a combination of real world and computer generated data. AR is just one version of a Mixed Reality (MR) technology, where digital and real elements are mixed to create meaning. In essence AR is any live image that has an overlay of information that augments the meaning of these images.

Digital graphics are commonly put to work in the entertainment industry, and ‘mixing realities’ is a common motif for many of today’s media forms. There are varying degrees to which The Real and The Virtual can be combined. This is illustrated in my Mixed Reality Scale:

mixed-reality-scale
My Mixed Reality Scale, a simplified version of Milgram & Kishino’s (1994) Virtuality Continuum

This is a simplified version of Milgram and Kishino’s (1994) Virtuality Continuum; simplified, because their research is purely scientific, without an explicit interest in media theory or effects, therefore not wholly applicable to my analysis. At the far left of my Mixed Reality Scale lies The Real, or physical, every-day experiential reality. For the longest time we lived solely in this realm. Then, technological innovation gave rise to the cinema, and then television. These media are located one step removed from The Real, a step closer to The Virtual, and can be considered a window on another world. This world is visually similar to our own, a fact exploited by its author to narrate believable, somewhat immersive stories. If willing, the viewer is somewhat ‘removed’ from their grounding here in physical reality, allowing them to participate in the construction of a sculpted, yet static existence. The viewer can only observe this contained reality, and cannot interact with it, a function of the viewing apparatus.

Later advancements in screen media technologies allowed the superimposition of graphical information over moving images. These were the beginnings of AR, whereby most of what is seen is real with some digital elements supplementing the image. Indeed, this simple form of AR is still in wide use today, notably in cases where extra information is required to make sense of a subject. In the case of certain televised sports, for example, a clock and a scoreboard overlay a live football match, which provides additional information that is useful to the viewer. Television viewers are already accustomed to using information that is displayed in this way:

Simple Augmented Reality, televised football matches augment meaning with digital graphics
Simple Augmented Reality, televised football matches augment meaning with digital graphics

More recently, computing and graphical power gave designers the tools to build wholly virtual environments. The Virtual is a graphical representation of raw data, and the furthest removed from physical reality on my Mixed Reality Scale. Here lies the domain of Virtual Reality (VR), a technology that uses no real elements except for the user’s human senses. The user is submersed in a seemingly separate reality, where visual, acoustic and sometimes haptic feedback serve to transpose them into this artificial, yet highly immersive space. Notice the shift from viewer to user: this is a function of the interactivity offered by digital space. VR was the forerunner to current AR research, and remains an active realm of academic study.

Computer graphics also enhanced the possibilities offered by television and cinema, forging a new point on the Mixed Reality Scale. I refer to the Augmented Virtuality (AV) approach, which uses mainly digital graphics with some real elements superimposed. For example, a newsreader reporting from a virtual studio environment is one common application. I position AV one step closer towards The Virtual to reflect the ratio of real to virtual elements:

An Augmented Virtuality, the ITV newscasters sit at a real table in a virtual studio
An Augmented Virtuality, the ITV newscasters sit at a real table in a virtual studio

There is an expansive realm between AV and VR technologies, media which offer the user wholly virtual constructions that hold potential for immersion and interactivity. I refer to the media of video games and desktop computers. Here the user manipulates visually depicted information for a purpose. These media are diametrically opposed to their counterpart on my scale, the cinema and television, because they are windows this time into a virtual world, actively encouraging (rather than denying) user interactivity to perform their function. Though operating in virtuality, the user remains grounded in The Real due to apparatus constraints.

Now, further technological advancements allow the fusion of real and virtual elements in ways not previously possible. Having traversed our way from The Real to The Virtual, we have now begun to make our way back. We are making a return to Augmented Reality, taking with us the knowledge to manipulate wholly virtual 3D objects and the computing power to integrate digital information into live, real world imagery. AR is deservedly close to The Real on my scale, because it requires physicality to function. This exciting new medium has the potential to change the way we perceive our world, forging a closer integration between our two binary worlds. It is this potential as an exciting and entirely new medium that has driven me to carry out the following work.

To begin, I address the science behind AR and its current applications. Next, I exploit an industry connection to inform a discussion of AR’s development as an entertainment medium. Then, I construct a methodology for analysis from previous academic thought on emergent technologies, whilst addressing the problems of doing so. I use this methodology to locate AR in its wider technologic, academic, social and economic context. This discussion opens ground for a deeper analysis of AR’s potential socio-cultural impact, which makes use of theories of media and communication and spatial enquiry. I conclude with a final critique that holds implications for the further analysis of Mixed Reality technology.