Augmented Reality Zoombies
80 billion Euro is the estimated cost of UMTS in Germany. Getting a return
on this investment from phone bills only is impossible. In the near future local
based services (LBS) could be the technologies for a brave new world. The vision
is: With the seductive power of the Sirens the UMTS mobile phone guides its
owner through an odyssey of reality, leaving a trail of consumption behind.
I would like to advance two hypothesis on which the success of this media depends:
1. UMTS mobile phones have to be (hyper)fictional to unlock their full seductive
powers.
2. To prevent traffic accidents and other disasters UMTS phones will also have
to keep their seductive powers under control.
Whether this technology opens the door to the hell of omnipresent advertising
or lets us enter a fiction/reality web is not just a matter for big telcos.
Now, before the LBS marketing machine is ramped up, is the time for us to seize
the opportunity of shaping this technology.