Patent Alert

Science fiction is closer than you think. Without our knowing it, big companies like Google and Microsoft are registering patents for advanced smart glasses, which scan the environment and add information to the image—like Pokémon GO, but applied to make everyday life easier. That is, if the smart glasses you are wearing have all the patents available, because it looks like the tech giants will be competing for the handiest options. One company owns the rights to scanning common hand gestures, while the other holds a patent on helping you to cross the road. Patent Alert exposes this dubious impending scenario. Visitors experience the special HoloLens themselves, only to be confronted by the patenting obstacles that future apps will face. The tone is tongue-in-cheek, but the experience raises thought-provoking questions. How much control over your life are you prepared to give up in exchange for convenience? It makes a lot more sense to think about this now than in another two decades. On-site reservation required.