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Engineer creates ad block for the real world with augmented reality glasses
- PaulHoule 1y agoI imagine something that is half They Live and half Shockwave Rider. What if billboards were replaced or supplemented with negative information at the advertiser?
- raffael_de 1y agohttps://i.redd.it/ak5ejwle2li01.jpg https://i.redd.it/ak5ejwle2li01.jpg I really wanted to like They Live especially after having watched The Pervert's Guide to Cinema. Similar with The Thing which is also directed by John Carpenter. Both movies start really strong and then just descend into pointless violence. Anyway, I digress ...
- aspenmayer 1y agoThat's the point of the movie. Nada got played, and he played himself. It was sound and fury, but it signified something, because it's a movie, not a documentary or fable. Sometimes there's not a sensible ending. Nada didn't get a good guy ending because good guys don't exist the way Nada thought they did. Nada is not smart. He's a useful idiot. I think that like The Thing, They Live is pretty ideological and subversive, but it's also just a weird campy movie. It's a genre flick, but there's a reason it's a cult classic. Just like Zizek and his guide to cinema, Carpenter knows how to make iconic quotable expressions involving a camera. > start really strong and then just descend into pointless violence So it goes. Artists tell the truth by first telling a lie.
- temp0826 1y agoHah glad someone mentioned it, whenever I hear about AR glasses I just think CONSUME
- nopelynopington 1y agoI came here to post this exact comment and kick ass. And someone beat me to the comment
- bell-cot 1y agoI'm seeing a very lucrative bidding war here: - How much are AR owners willing to pay for blocking? - How much are AdTech firms willing to pay to be unblockable?
- bambax 1y agoNobody will buy glasses that block some of the ads; but I would pay for something that blocks all ads everywhere, including when I'm at a friend's house watching TV or YT and they don't have an ad blocker.
- bell-cot 1y ago> Nobody will buy glasses that block some of the ads... Aren't lots of people currently buying glasses that block none of the ads? And "naturally", the adtech folks learn and adapt, so any all-blocking AR glasses you buy today will get worse over time.
- bambax 1y agoGlasses that block none of the ads have other purposes and are light to wear; I'm guessing ad-blocking glasses would be bulkier and pricier so they would have to have something to show for it. Also, on the web (on non-Google browsers) uBlock Origin is still undefeated so the adtech folks adaptability is debatable.
- hsbauauvhabzb 1y agoThat’s like saying people used to use browsers without an Adblock before adblocks were invented, therefore nobody would pay for an Adblock.
- bambax 1y agoWhat? No, that's not the same at all (and on the web, the best adblock is free).
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- politelemon 1y agoThe outcome seems more invasive or harsher to the eye than the actual adverts. I think you'd want something that does some kind of generative fill that's low key not noticeable.
- _Algernon_ 1y agoDesaturating and removing movement would go a long way. That's what make them eye-catching.
- kybernetikos 1y agoThe Steve Mann Version from a while ago replaced the ads with useful information, like maps of the local area or your latest messages, shopping list, to do list items etc.
- cpcallen 1y agoNot to disparage Stijn's efforts, but he's about a quarter century late to the AR ad-blocking game: when Steve Mann came give a talk at the University of Waterloo whilst I was an undergrad there (circa 1997–2000), one of the applications of his wearable computer that he demonstrated was the ability to recognise and block ads on posters and billboards. Of course at the time the computing power needed just to do the image tracking was far in excess of what could be carried on his person, so it involved a (possibly pre-WiFi) radio link to a lab network of graphics workstations, and as far as I know the software wasn't doing any kind of AI ad identification, but only matching pre-tagged ad images (or maybe just tracking the physical locations of the user vs the known location of the ads, via GPS + INS + video tracking). It was nevertheless an exceedingly impressive demo that it has taken quite some time to make a significant improvement on.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- aspenmayer 1y agoAwesome that you got to meet him, I remember reading about EyeTap on Slashdot around that time and thought he was onto something. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann_(inventor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann_(inventor) Steve Mann explains the EyeTap (2010) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiFtmrpuwNY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiFtmrpuwNY 43 Years of Wearable Computing and AR | Steve Mann | AR in Action (2017) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI9obFrfZ4Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI9obFrfZ4Q From 1996: Meet the man who invented a wearable computer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCco6FMCRmk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCco6FMCRmk DEF CON 7 - Steve Mann: The Inventor of the So Called Wearable Computer (1999) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVquUd-MFtU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVquUd-MFtU At around 5:05 in this video, someone is asking: "What type of irresponsible uses do you see for this technology, professor?" "Uh, I think, like, advertising. Like that, that type of thing. One of the things that I'm trying to do is, is design filters to filter out advertising, so that when you're walking around, you could filter out real world spam. You know, already we have spam in the real world such as billboards, and things like that. So, what I envision is that the mediated reality could be used to filter out the spam."
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- givinguflac 1y agoVery cool, but wake me when it ships in a real product. Also, not for nothing, I find it hilarious that such a thing uses the world’s largest advertising company’s product to block ads. I will be the first to buy this, but not based on Google’s AI. No thanks.
- repeatedfailure 1y ago[dead]
- aspenmayer 1y agoSoon we'll need ad block for augmented reality, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJg02ivYzSs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJg02ivYzSs > Hyper-Reality presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media. If you are interested in supporting the project, sponsoring the next work or would like to find out more, please send a hello to info@km.cx. > by Keiichi Matsuda | http://km.cx http://km.cx > more at http://hyper-reality.co http://hyper-reality.co
- euroderf 1y agoCompeting plugins, battling for execution supremacy. Let's replay the entire history of web browser plugin development !
- xnx 1y agoThis is a fun demo implementation of a common idea. Why isn't this a real thing for Android that would block out ads across all apps (e.g with overlay permissions)?
- oniony 1y agoIt should replace the advertisements with art.
- CTOSian 1y agoor pr0n
- DonHopkins 1y ago[flagged]
- Fraaaank 1y agoCalm down. He's a software engineer with an account on X, not a software engineer working on X.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- cinntaile 1y agoThis is one of the most unhinged replies I have seen here in a while. The guy doesn't even work at Twitter. He seems to work for an IT-consultancy in Belgium.
- bburnett44 1y agoFully don't like elon but is it possible you need to touch grass and log off reddit/twitter
- brikym 1y agoIt would be great if some of the anti-Telsa crowd could turn anti-billboard. Some of the billboards are so bright and obnoxious. Electronic billboards in public spaces should be as illegal as shitting on the street. Never mind billboards. Once people realize they can replace their girlfriend's face with Margot Robbie augmented reality is going to become very popular.
- Mountain_Skies 1y agoSome states in the US have laws regulating the brightness of billboards and how frequently they are allowed to change the image on them if they're visible from a highway. Of course, that requires someone to enforce the law, and the billboard lobby is one of the most effective at getting their way.
- spqr0a1 1y agoBeyond regulating brightness, 4 US states ban billboards entirely. (Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont, & Maine)
- CoastalCoder 1y agoI wonder if that's related to them having nature / vista tourism as a major source of revenue.
- conductr 1y agoSure but also citizens that value those aspects of their locale are probably the driving force.
- me_smith 1y agoI've traveled to Hawaii (specifically the Big Island) several times and drove H19 countless times between Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa. For about 30 minutes you are driving through old lava fields with a view of the ocean, some goats and the other cars on the road. I've never realized the lack of billboards and I thank those responsible for that. I can imagine that drive inundated with billboards if it was allowed. Trying to sell sunset cruises, sunscreen and your next time share.
- quaintdev 1y agoSo we are just going to pretend things are not wrong? If this continues, there will come a time when people will have to buy glasses just to look at clean sky because there will be 100s of 1000s of satellites launched into space. How long are we going to believe in the fantasy world where things just look okay but in reality they aren't
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- bee_rider 1y agoSatellites, I don’t really mind them. They are far enough away that they look like shooting stars or something. Actually, they can look quite nice sometimes. The main risk is that some people might make false wishes upon them, I think. However if we get orbital advertisements… that would be very annoying.
- whamlastxmas 1y agoSatellite clutter is a really tired Elon bashing talking point and it’s exhausting to shoe horn it into an article about AR
- karaterobot 1y agocmd-f shows one person in this thread bringing that name up, guess who it was.
- 1y ago
- justmarc 1y agoSaid ads should be replaced with useful, educational content
- williamdclt 1y agoI’d rather we just get rid of them and stop shoving stuff in peoples faces. Thankfully most country have nowhere near the amount of billboards that seem to plague the USA
- roschdal 1y agoNo
- specproc 1y agoYes
- unangst 1y agoWearable ad-blockers should mask ads with AI generated, scene correct dynamic autofill.
- literalAardvark 1y agoI think doing that dynamically and in real time is still too computationally expensive, but we might be getting close
- drivers99 1y agoMight be able to pregenerate something for known ad locations commonly encountered by the user.
- rNULLED 1y agored queen race
- aaron695 1y ago[dead]
- honeybadger1 1y agoIf his execution is right he can set himself up for leading the next tech counter culture. I'm against everyone knowing everything about me to the point they show me everything I want but don't need.
- nashashmi 1y agoI just realized AR is dead as it always has been outside of work-world and entertainment purposes. Unless we become deeply unsocial, no one is wearing AR gear everywhere they go.
- bee_rider 1y agoIt is sort of funny that he’s using Google’s AI to do it. Sorta like “I used the ad company product to block the ads.”
- CoastalCoder 1y agoOr even more horrifying. Pay $X / month to avoid us unblocking these ads. Or even worse, ads are just green screens, and Google will run auctions on why get filled in on your VR glasses based on AdChoices.
- bee_rider 1y agoHopefully if AR glasses become a big thing we’ll get conventional Linux window manager for them, and not have to deal with Android or Apple stuff.
- ceejayoz 1y agoThere was a Black Mirror episode along these lines, where people could block you from seeing them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Christmas_(Black_Mirror)?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Christmas_(Black_Mirror)...
- mrbluecoat 1y agoI've wondered for some time about the privacy impact of AR glasses and how people could opt out in the real world from being captured and analyzed by other's use of AR glasses in a public setting. Similar to how Google StreetView would blur the faces of people it inadvertently captured. In a more extreme example, high school locker rooms and Japanese sentō come to mind. Even the wearer could be vulnerable as they use a restroom throughout their day.
- fanatic2pope 1y agoReminds me of Steve Mann's "mediated reality" stuff. http://wearcam.org/ http://wearcam.org/
- zhyder 1y agoAll current AR glasses are fundamentally designed to see the real world with existing light, as opposed to XR (mixed reality) glasses that block out all existing light from reaching your eyes and create a real-time "passthrough" video feed. So AR glasses can't really block any real world ads, can only place an annoying overlay on them. It'd work with XR glasses but no one wants to walk around in the real world with those on. Maybe someone will invent an electrochromic layer on AR glasses that can selectively block light at individual pixels (rather than darken the whole lens, as current electrochromic layers on some AR glasses do)... that's when RealWorldAdBlock would actually be viable.
- Bjartr 1y agoUnfortunately there are some real problems with that. Imagine a pair of regular glasses with a small dark rectangle on the lens. Do your eyes see the nice sharp edges of the rectangle? Nope, they just see a dark blob because it's too close to focus on. In the same way, even pixel perfect darkening has the same problem. You don't see a nice cutout, you see a blurry blob.
- jayd16 1y agoWhy is a blurry blob that big a deal? In theory a headset could use the focused additive display to draw passthrough video in the blurry regions that should not be darkened to provide a crisp blackout edge at a natural brightness.
- Bjartr 1y agoI think that would need to be adaptive to the current focus of your eye when not looking at the display since we're talking AR. That's a much, much trickier problem than delivering light of constant focus in a workable AR package, which itself is no walk in the park.
- eichin 1y agoIf you haven't solved the near-far focus problem, you don't actually have AR in the first place?
- Onavo 1y agoHe should be doing dynamic inpainting instead. A red box is low effort in 2025.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- wrp 1y agoThis reminds me of Douglas Adams' The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses have been specially designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. At the first hint of trouble, they turn totally black and thus prevent you from seeing anything that might alarm you.
- ProllyInfamous 1y agoEarly 2023, my first impressions of perplexity/LLMs were: this seems like the babelfish from Hitchhikers. "So long, and thanks for all the fish."
- xnx 1y agoBabelfish was the first popular translation service: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_Fish_(website) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_Fish_(website)
- ProllyInfamous 1y agoI had forgotten this (even as a former 90s user, decades ago!) — in my head it was known as "AltaVista" — It's how I passed my foreign language requirements =P Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Dent. Don't forget your towel™
- matsemann 1y agoA few years ago I noticed that my polarized sun glasses happens to block out most public screens. A bit annoying when trying to read the screen about when the next train will arrive (they're prescription, so hard to read without), but nice side effect with the ads on the platform.
- add-sub-mul-div 1y agoThese threads turn into a competition to be the least tolerant of advertising, but I think it's excessive. Everything about Google and the innovation of surveillance in advertising is horrible. But when it's non personalized, people forget that their interests can easily be aligned with the advertiser's. It's information. We're adults and can treat it appropriately. It's good to know if X movie is coming out or X pizza place just opened. It doesn't mean we're stupid enough to take the claim about how great the product is literally. We can compartmentalize that part as biased. I don't go on a first date and get hostile when the girl tries to say something good about herself.
- mystraline 1y agoIRL augmented reality adblock is only required because companies can make our environment worse by eyesores of billboards and other horribly intrusive garbage. And our respective governments primarily let the companies do this. And since it is a tragedy of the commons situation, governments SHOULD be involved to make sure the primary tragedy isn't invoked... But the primary tragedy has been invoked (invasive ads everywhere, making our environment and living worse), so we waste massive amounts of money on an overly expensive individualist solution (AR goggles).
- ahmedhawas123 1y agoThis has me thinking about more broadly what kind of real world manipulations AR / XR technology could do. There's a lot of harmful / dystopian ideas that come to mind and curious what kind of research there is on harm protection.
- guerrilla 1y agoFinally, a valid use for these dorky ass looking glasses!
- einpoklum 1y agoSure, because I want Google to have a complete record of everywhere I've been and everything I've ever looked at.
- bird0861 1y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiFtmrpuwNY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiFtmrpuwNY https://mannlab.com/eyetap https://mannlab.com/eyetap Dr Steve Mann who eventually led the Google Glass team (along with Dr Thad Starner, who like Mann was also a frequent poster in the MIT wearhard mailing list) did this ages ago with a system he and his students called Eyetap. Mann is famous for among other things being probably the first person to be roughed up for being borged out. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/07/17/cyborg-discrimination-scientist-says-mcdonalds-staff-tried-to-pull-off-his-google-glass-like-eyepiece-then-threw-him-out/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/07/17/cyborg... https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/14/technology/at-airport-gate-a-cyborg-unplugged.html https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/14/technology/at-airport-gat...
- Animats 1y agoAd blocking could be a feature in monitors. No way for the advertiser to detect that.
- hidroto 1y agoreminds me of this tom scott video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq7oauciBdc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq7oauciBdc
- qingcharles 1y agoWhen I was working on Microsoft DRM in the early 2000s my thoughts immediately went to a future where AR glasses would block certain things -- but I was thinking of where a building owner wouldn't permit their structure to be visible when you are using AR. For instance -- I talked to some guys who made awesome super-wide postcards of famous landmarks, but they had been sued by the Louvre for using a photo they had taken of the pyramid, because the structure is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without licensing. Think about that dystopia. https://www.onlinevisibilityacademy.com/buildings-that-are-trademarked/#:~:text=However%2C%20commercial%20use%20of%20its,also%20protected%20by%20copyright%20laws. https://www.onlinevisibilityacademy.com/buildings-that-are-t...
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- whall6 1y agoI think there’s a black mirror episode about this?
- awaymazdacx5 1y agocode-fuzzing blocked code using AI. consider the adding machine, implementing a series of weights for alignment. ostensibly for database language, forked versions of DB.
- falcor84 1y ago> "it’s exciting to imagine a future where you control the physical content you see." Yes, it would be, but I am very concerned about a future where others control what I see - e.g. that I'm driven for various reasons to use a non-free OS, which comes with bloatware that injects things into my field of view.