I originally wrote this article for Seoul Magazine and it was published on November 1, 2010. I have republished it here.
Recently, there has been discussion about environmentally friendly ICT (information and communications technology) in Korea. The focus falls on energy-efficient electronic devices and a new generation of smart grids in which electricity will be directed by computers to avoid waste. But there has been a hesitation to take the plunge, to embrace ICT as the central medium for resolving the pressing issue of our time: the massive consumption of fossil fuels for the transportation required by our modern life. If Korea can bring together its expertise in multiple technological fields to make Internet-mediated exchange so effective that the need to commute by car or plane is eliminated, it can become the leading nation in the fight to preserve the environment and reduce energy usage.
Paradigm Shift
We consume massive amounts of energy for transportation, but we cannot eliminate the need to cooperate globally. We can, however, reduce the energy consumption needed for such cooperation. So far, much of communications technology has been focused on entertainment.
Now, we need to make it an essential tool for a massive paradigm shift in society, reducing the need to be present by using a combination of technological, cultural, and psychological factors.
ICT technologies still cannot replace the experience of actually meeting someone in person. If we focus on the technical and cultural barriers that exist, we can accomplish a lot.
Raising Standards, Lowering Barriers
Displays must have far better quality and be mimetically accurate. 3-D graphics should be effectively employed, not as an amusing special effect, but as a means of permitting more realistic communication between people via the Internet. Sound reproduction and recording technologies must be more responsive to make interactions natural. All these advances will reduce the primary barrier to ICT as a means of serious communications: the fact that it seems artificial, complicated, and confining.
Resistance to working remotely also involves complex psychological and biological issues. We must discover the most effective manner for the hand, eye, and ear to interact effectively with the computer. When we identify the critical visual and aural cues for effective human perception, we can create an environment in which it seems like one is actually “there.” The challenge goes far beyond computer engineering, extending to neurology, physiology, culture, and history. Korea can be successful in this field precisely because it has a broad range of expertise in so many different fields.
We must identify the cultural signifiers that suggest that an Internet interaction is of significance. For example, the design of the room should be integrated with the device used for Internet communication to seem as comfortable as possible. Perhaps the computer itself should be made of wood and stone to give it that “natural feel.” In any case, we must determine why exactly it is that seeing someone on a screen is not the same as meeting them and, one by one, figure out ingenious strategies to mitigate those deficiencies.
Frances Cairncross first spoke of a “death of distance” resulting from the ICT revolution ten years ago. We are on the threshold of that breakthrough today. For Korea, the next stage of green growth means going beyond selling a specific product to create a comprehensive system encompassing multiple technologies that permits effective communication. If Korea can effectively seize this opportunity, it will be the green leader of this century.
Reproducing Sensations
There are cultural barriers to making conversation via Internet seem significant, and not just a medium for chats between grandparents and infants à la Skype. The biggest challenge is the seeming unnaturalness of the computer-based conversation. The other person’s image should feel as much like a part of the natural environment as possible. We cannot eliminate the screen, but we can surround it with plants, wood, stone, or plaster so that it appears more like a window between two worlds and less like a program running on a computer. After all, if the person we are addressing pops up on the same computer that we use to email our boss, pay our taxes, and fill out travel reports, the associations will inevitably be less than perfect. But if that person 5,000 kilometers away appears to us as life-sized and seems to be sitting in a chair just across the table, the illusion will be perfect.
Perhaps it is ultimately necessary to shake hands with the other person in a conversation, to pat them on the back, in order for the meeting to seem real. With a bit of technological innovation, that effect is entirely possible. Perhaps the combination of 3E Glasses and devices to reproduce tactile sensations will eventually make it possible for the participants in the conversation to feel as if they are literally in the same space.