AR and VR on everyone's lips - where is the journey heading?

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are ongoing topics in the media. Events on the subject can be found in many places. But what is really feasible? Where are the boundaries between fiction and reality?

These and other questions were explored at Creative Zurich Wednesday on the evening of November 29, 2017. The event was moderated by communications expert Daniel Frei. The speakers were: Dalith Steiger, SwissCognitive; Noemi Chow, Master student ZHdK; Melissa Derrer, Lead Designer Ateo; Fritz Gottschalk, Swiss graphic design legend.

Augmented reality, simulated reality, the effect of virtual reality, the broadening of the digital world - such definitions are foreign to non-native contemporaries. Especially when it comes to the unification of man and machine; spectacle wearers are the pioneers of this singularity, so to speak.

Noemi Chow used examples to show how AR and VR make the world tangible through interaction in a simulated environment. Melissa Derrer asked: What happens when we put on the glasses? We become part of the immersive world and can even interact with penguins. A technology that is also used in medicine, for example by reducing the sensation of pain in burn victims by half.

Dalith Steiger offered an analog presentation in the form of a lecture with philosophical depth. "Smart technologies are not only a threat, but also a great opportunity." It is important for the Swiss to use the brain asset. "And we need to put our companies in a pioneering position." Fritz Gottschalk, old master of graphic design, representative of "the very old school", asks: What kind of people make this kind of technology? That is not his world and he does not want to comment on it. Instead, he spoke about the creative quality that must also be preserved in these new techniques. He urged the predominantly young people present to think outside the box and gain experience abroad.

Claude Bürki