Robots nag and sofas whine in the land of digital natives

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Brian Randell [Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk]
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 8:48 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: Robots nag and sofas whine in the land of digital natives

Dave:

Here's an interesting account from today's (UK)
Guardian about how "South Korea's investment in
new tech has led to a booming economy and the
world's most wired citizens" - for IP if you wish.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/17/robots.korea

> Can you pull an economy up by its bootstraps?
> South Korea's government would argue that you
> can - by embracing every new appliance,
> digitised entertainment and contrived
> convenience.
>
> The country invested billions in IT and
> broadband infrastructure and it worked. South
> Korea has become the world's 10th largest
> economy and as a result of its government
> putting buckets of money where usually there is
> only rhetoric, it is now the most connected
> country in the world.
>
> Almost 70 years after its occupation by the
> Japanese came to an end, the South Koreans seem
> determined to outdo their neighbours when it
> comes to early adoption. Seoul maintains that
> this characteristic has become South Korea's
> saviour and will keep its economic engines
> gunning through the next decades.
>
> Brave new world
>
> Unlike similar British government initiatives -
> remember Harold Wilson's "white heat of
> technology" speech in the 1960s - Seoul's bid to
> make South Korea the number one early adopter
> has triumphed spectacularly. In fact, its
> citizens may have actually gone overboard in
> their zeal to embrace all things digital.
>
> According to Tomi Ahonen and Jim O'Reilly's book
> Digital Korea, 43% of South Korea's population
> maintain an online profile or blog site, while
> nine in 10 twentysomethings use a social network
> daily. Online gaming is also mainstream - the
> South Korean's most desired car is not a Ferrari
> but a Solid Pro, a virtual car from the online
> game Kart Rider.
>
> The average broadband connection is between 50
> and 100 megabits a second (compared with the
> UK's average 4.6Mbps), and the country is
> already rolling out pilot connections at
> 1,000Mbps. South Koreans pay less for their
> broadband than any other OECD country - about
> £10 per month for connections that download
> films in minutes.
>
> So wired are South Koreans that some speak of
> "digital natives" or "new human beings",
> referring to the generation that was born and
> grew up in the 21st century internet era
> surrounded by gadgets like computers and mobile
> phones. "Some babies here appear to pick up a
> computer mouse and cell phone earlier than a
> spoon and chopsticks," says Park Jung-hyun, a
> senior researcher at LG Economic Research
> Institute. "Digital natives are thinking, acting
> and reacting much differently from how we did."
>
> The capital Seoul sees much early adoption of
> new technology, although you might be forgiven
> for thinking the 21st century hasn't yet
> happened to much of the city. Mostly shabby and
> filled with ugly signage and concrete high
> rises, this city of 12 million people hasn't yet
> begun to place its utility lines underground.
>
> But inside some of the smarter clusters of
> buildings and even traditional wooden "hanok"
> homes are blisteringly fast internet and hi-tech
> security systems. Up to a million new-build
> flats now sport voice-controlled electronics,
> intelligent fridges, and talking RFID-linked
> appliances that would not look out of place in a
> Philip K Dick novel.
>
> Nor do visitors to Korea have to wait for a
> personal invitation to experience such advanced
> home electronics. The government has
> thoughtfully built a mock-up of a totally wired
> apartment for public tours. In The Ubiquitous
> Dream Hall, furniture tells you what to do and
> the fridge nags you to buy new stuff or pay the
> bills.
>
> It is a vision now made concrete with the
> building of what South Koreans call a
> "ubiquitous networked world". Ubiquitous because
> it will be everywhere and brings together
> technology as diverse as telematics, wibro
> (South Korea's form of the long-distance
> wireless broadband Wimax), RFID tagging and
> intelligent robot services. There are now
> U-homes U-shops and U-cafes in Seoul.
>
> Ubiquitous too is the happy ethos that the tour
> of the Dream Hall's space promotes. Even the PR
> handouts lend an eerie over-optimistic glow,
> referring to "our super happy and bright
> futures".
>
> But wait a minute, why is that large, shaggy
> brown sofa whining like a puppy? Our guide
> informs us the sofa is "lonely". One Filipino
> visitor leaps on a shaggy dog-robot settee
> that's only happy when you sit on it and caress
> its arms.
>
> Maybe I-Robi, the winsome but attentive robot
> that follows our tour, can bring me a stiff
> drink to calm the nerves? No - the home bot is
> handy only as a glorified messenger and security
> guard - with more nagging: "Don't forget your
> keys! Have a nice day!" But as it has no hands,
> it can only carry your drink, not fetch it.
>
> The South Korean government reckons there will
> be an I-Robi in every home by 2010. This seems
> doubtful but there is a definite demand for the
> rest of the kit, demonstrated by Samsung's and
> LG's successful commercialisation of such future
> homes - where the front door opens when it
> recognises the radio tag in your mobile, the
> lights and TV go on and that day's video
> messages are played to you as your favourite
> background music kicks in automatically. For
> many South Koreans, these now come as standard.
>
> Cooking with ads
>
> One of the niftiest pieces of hi-tech in the
> home is the RFID-tagged paper flyer. Paper, but
> magnetic, they are designed to cling to a sort
> of intelligent flat screen-cum-notice board in
> your kitchen. Once in place - say a flyer
> promoting a concert - video, music and links to
> further information are relayed to your kitchen
> screen.
>
> Marketing people are also excited about a new
> advertisement projection campaign that the hall
> shows off in its "digital streets section". Ads
> will no longer be ignored as mere urban
> wallpaper; now they are fun and interactive,
> thanks to Reactrix, a US-based interactive ad
> company. Images projected onto flooring or
> pavements mean kids can now kick around virtual
> footballs, courtesy of Coca-Cola; or your shadow
> can move images of splurges of paint to create a
> messy virtual canvas.
>
> There are some definite social benefits to South
> Korea's eager adoption of IT. The hall allows a
> peek into the virtual classroom. South Korean
> schools have just introduced digital textbooks
> for the first time, but what is new is Korea
> University's experiments with regular textbooks
> and augmented reality. Pass a special black and
> white graphic from a book under a special camera
> and it translates the code into a colour 3D
> image. You can move the book around to see a
> cross-section of the Earth, for example.
> Something that will bring science alive for our
> own digital natives perhaps?

--
School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell

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