I love this effort! I try my best to avoid any type of advertising. I’ll buy an AR/VR headset/glasses when they can block IRL billboard ads. That’s the killer app for me.
I've been thinking about this for a very short period of time, but then it got to me that I would not want to use it because ad-recognizing algorithm is not perfect, and I could miss a road sign or other important information because of such augmented vision.
I still find the amount of advertising annoyingly high, literally every plane that could be possibly filled with ads is filled with ads. This has to change on another level, not by simply ignoring the advertisement in one way or another.
> Do you close your eyes walking around town any time you go by a store front, you see a roadside ad, a bench covered in ads, a taxi backseat, public toilets, any sports events and jerseys, TV, newspapers, magazines, radio...
There will be open-source AR projects to block those, too, one day
All we need is a YC-backed AR startup that removes ads from your personal visual space. Although it might be difficult to get that tech safe enough to be used while driving.
I can't wait for the day that lightweight sun-glass frames can block real-world ads in real-time. Perhaps replacing them with classical art or even white rectangles.
Regarding the ad blocker, one thing I definitely can’t wait for are true AR glasses that could act as a real-life ad blocker.
Being out in the street doesn’t mean I have in any way agreed to being constantly drowned in and have my attention stolen away by all this bloody noise.
You can bet your butt that if people could filter out billboards and intrusive advertising alone in the real world with just some kind of glasses, they absolutely would.
Ideally you could use a device like the Apple Vision Pro with a machine learning model to blank out all advertising you see both in the real and virtual world. Would be interesting for it to recognise billboards, for example, and simply show a blank space instead. It could also work with AirPods to simultaneously silence any audio advertising.
Unfortunately this is not possible at the moment due to the restrictions that are placed on the pass-through video feed by Apple in visionOS. If these OS restrictions were removed it could be technically feasible.
If Google used Mann's "diminished reality" idea, they could replace ads we see in everyday life (billboards and the like) with some ratio of information chosen by the user and ads from Google. Thus, using g-Glasses, one might see a net reduction in the amount of advertising one is subjected to. And Google could tell billboard companies to pay a toll if they ever want to get through the filter.
What about that HNers who lamented that a Google wearable will be plastered with ads, what if it reduced the overall number of ads you saw?
Well hopefully we can figure out ways to integrate advertising so deeply into every aspect of our lives that you can no longer escape marketing with pi holes and hammers. Imagine using a public urinal and you can watch an LCD screen while taking care of business. Filling up your car with gas? Fill your mind with ads while you do it! Imagine glasses that show augmented-reality ads based on your current location and what you are looking at, that would be incredible. Any place people rest their eyeballs should contain ads. Digital picture frames that show family photos in your home should occasionally flash ads, etc. Hopefully the National Park Service can install some satellite base stations so that hikers and campers can get the urgent advertising they need to be aware of the latest survival gear while out in nature. Basically, we need to prevent people from having quiet time and thinking - we need to come with as many ways as possible to aggressively interrupt and intrude thoughts with gentle reminders that the economy needs stimulating and that the only way to truly be happy is with more stuff.
But they do. You have to mentally process the incoming data first, then discard it. It's a waste of attention, especially with mind-catching ads you can't figure out immediately. Sometimes they are as blocking as browser pop-ups, e.g.: logotypes (or even full ads) displayed before a responsive UI is shown to you, duty-free zones in the airports, and so on. I am pretty sure we will soon have real-life targeted billboards. Even with the current tech, what prevents a webcam with NN to recognize if you're wearing sneakers and tell the display along your way to show some beanie ads, especially if it's cold outside? If you walk into a grocery store you are bombarded with displays outright, and before checking out you are tasked with cross-sale suggestions. All this crap blocks your mind and steals your attention.
Yeah the garage in front of my house often leaves their sign on after 8pm (when it's supposed to be off) and it's super bright. Really annoying in summer when I have the windows open.
It would be nice once AR glasses come. Although they probably won't be able to black things out (unless they also have an LCD layer to darken certain pixels) as well as a colour layer.
Life online has improved so much with adblockers. I literally rarely see ads anymore online or on TV.
This is unlikely to happen in most cities, as avertising is embedded in our culture now. Can you imagine what NYC and Times Square would look like with no ads? (Turns out much better[1] IMO, but I'm not sure everyone would agree.)
Rather, I think the only way to make this happen is to move adblockers to the real world. The user would wear AR goggles that would hide any detected ads. I'll be using that the second AR becomes accessible for everyday outdoor use. An audio adblocker would be great as well.
Billboards and all other public-space advertising out in the real world are so much worse than modern digital media. At least when it's confined to a device the user has the ability to turn it off.
That said, I do think the end of humanity will be via a primitive AI optimized to hold our attention at all costs. I just don't think we're there yet.
I think this will be a whole new issue when AR becomes standard. In fact, it's the whole reason I don't want AR. I just see ads for days coming out of it. Everyone putting little ad starting QR codes (or whatever they settle on) everywhere so every time I turn my head there's a gecko on a coffee table in the random store I'm in trying to sell my car insurance.
My car of the future will have a very complicated hosts file. The manufacturer had better not try to break the self-driving features if I block the ads. If they do I volunteer to be the pedestrian that gets hit by a car with ad-block so I can sue them for the stupid decision.
Smart ad blockers will soon be able to find and eliminate stuff like sponsored content automatically.
Glasses that automatically blank or replace billboards in real life might actually convince me AR is more than just a gimmick.
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