Diminished reality: Choosing what not to see

• Author:
• Author name

  Quantumrun Foresight
• July 1, 2022

Insight summary

Diminished Reality (DR) is opening doors to a tailored sensory experience by letting individuals remove undesired aspects from their environment. While it could enhance fields like medicine, education, and retail by offering focused interactions, over-reliance on DR could lead to a disconnect from reality or even accidents if used unwisely. As DR technology intertwines with Augmented Reality (AR), it's creating a new market space, promising both unique opportunities and challenges in how we perceive and interact with the world around us.

Diminished reality context

Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) have sought to add to the human experience. Now, diminished reality (DR) seeks to complete the cycle by allowing users to remove what they do not wish to feel or sense. Where AR adds 3D objects to a person’s field of vision, DR uses in-painting to remove these same objects in both augmented and virtual environments.

For context, removing objects from 2D digital realities in real-time video streams has been possible since 2011, and is increasingly commonplace within the filmmaking industry. However, DR can also be applied to hiding/concealing moving objects, whether they are in AR or in real life. Moving digitized objects requires real-time 3D reconstruction of the surroundings in the user’s visual perception and is currently under development by a Facebook (Meta) subsidiary Fayteq, among other industry competitors. 

DR also extends beyond removing visual stimuli to reducing touch, hearing, and even smell. Though sound diminishing tools are already on the market in the form of noise-canceling earphones, reducing other stimuli such as smell and touch are yet to be fully realized on a wider commercial scale. 

Disruptive impact 

The market size of AR technologies will likely increase compared to previous estimates as it integrates DR to construct mediated reality (MR) scenarios for interested users. Marketers in the construction and interior design industries, for instance, can leverage MR and DR technologies to show consumers how buildings and designs might look when placed in specific locations, making these offerings more appealing to consumers, and encouraging higher purchasing rates. Consumers can further use this technology to view how purchased household objects may look in a specific setting, supporting more informed purchases and reducing rates of returns. 

If DR devices become commonplace, they can effectively let users manipulate stimuli to experience the world exactly how they want to. But if overused, DR technology could lead some people to become increasingly reliant on these tools to experience the world around them or even just to focus. Such a development could lead to other senses becoming increasingly sensitive, creating the risk of over-dependence or addiction.

DR could further increase the risk of injury for people who opt to mitigate specific senses in favor of others, making people increasingly prone to accidents. However, companies could leverage DR technology in controlled environments to allow employees to work unobstructed and be more focused. Firms could also include fail-safes in immersive technologies to ensure workers can be reached in emergency scenarios.

Implications of diminished reality technology 

Wider implications of DR technology may include:

• Allowing doctors to obscure unrelated anatomical structures during surgery, potentially leading to more focused and efficient operations.
• Enabling students to minimize distractions in their environment, enhancing concentration and academic performance.
• Wearable DR devices like smart glasses or headphones, permitting individuals to reduce undesired stimuli in their surroundings, aiding in managing sensory overload and promoting mental well-being.
• Allowing employees to simplify complex problems or models to concentrate on more important details.
• New job roles centered around DR technology, like content creators or environment designers.
• Government entities adapting policy frameworks to govern the ethical use, data privacy, and potential misuse of DR technology to protect individual rights while supporting technological progression.
• The incorporation of DR in mental health therapies, offering individuals a tool to manage anxiety-inducing stimuli.
• The utilization of DR technology in public safety and emergency response, aiding in the removal of visual obstructions or irrelevant information during critical situations, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency services.
• A disconnect from reality, as individuals might prefer a simplified or altered version of the world, potentially leading to societal or interpersonal issues.

Questions to consider

• Do you think that distorting reality for one’s own benefit can lead to users suffering negative psychological side effects from the use of DR devices?
• Can reality be customized entirely as technology continues to develop so that people can live in alternative realities, or will the real world forever have some bearing on a person’s situation and context?