For fiduciary reasons, I tend to focus on pre-shopping online, but just as a pastime I do watch other areas of technological development and work these into my dreams of a better, more open world. Then I started thinking: what if the future was now?
I live in Wortley Village in London Ontario Canada – for those who have been there, it is a small community within a city. There is a little “downtown” with basically any type of store you might need (in miniature) and there is a definitely a bond between those living there as can be seen when they mobilize for some cause. Several years ago the grocery store almost closed – residents of Wortley Village rallied together and John’s Valu-Mart is still there. Wortley Village residents tend to have a disposable income, and while there are rental properties majority of the homes in this neighbourhood are single family homes with a few three-story walk-ups here and there.
One big way and one small way that emerging media and tech will change my neighbourhood:
Development & Construction – My ‘hood is very quaint, the houses very old with a lot of great character. This is what makes it such a desirable neighourhood within the city. So when someone wants to make a change, add something, it is of course going to be cause for a great deal of alarm. Imagine the possibilities, where situations such as this arose, if augmented reality to negotiate and resolve differences of opinion on proposed buildings in communities and the future of said structures. Using dynamic overlays (not limited to 3d), created by distributed groups of users, linked to location/place/time, and syndicated to people who wish to engage with the experience by viewing and co-creating elements for their own goals and benefits.
Dog people – There are lots of dogs in Wortley Village, pet owners more than often very devoted and it is not uncommon for many relationships in my ‘hood to be based on the commonality of dog ownership. Imagine if dog owners used a location based social networking mobile app for dog owners – we are walking here, we are at this park, and instant doggie play date. What if this same neighbourhood network could be used to mobilize to find a lost dog… if the shout out is sent soon enough after losing, the geotagging could help in finding our beloved Wortley pups.
Wortley Village 2.0?
This is not a suggestion for Wortley Village community leaders to rush out and spend tons of money on Wortley social networking infrastructure – but these are just some very real, very plausible examples of how emerging technology and media can and will change our lives. The digital revolution is not one made up of marketers, it is made up of real people using real technologies to solve real problems.
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