The pace of scientific progress in the 21st century reaches the maximum in the history of humankind. A technological leap occurs due to the presence of key social problems that need to be addressed (Volti, 2017). The world is faced with new amazing discoveries that can change the everyday lives of people. One of these modern discoveries was augmented reality technology. Putting virtual labels on the world was a breakthrough and the basis for many new applications and devices. The discoverers of technology are German scientists Diter Schmalstieg and Daniel Wagner, who adapted mobile devices for augmented reality (Alkandari et al., 2019). Inventors developed special software, which was later introduced by the founder of Osterhout Design Group Ralph Osterhout (Anderson, 2019). The developers made augmented reality technology available to everyone who has a smartphone or personal computer.
On the example of Schmalstieg, Wagner and Osterhout, one can trace the fate of inventors in the 21st century. Modern inventors are not popular; their names are not printed in textbooks and are not praised, as they were a century or two ago. The changed attitude is a consequence of rapid technological progress. The more revolutionary inventions appear in mankind, the less mankind admires them. Now, in order to stay in the public consciousness for a long time, it is necessary to do something truly revolutionary, changing the course of human history. Another reason for the diminished popularity of inventors is the availability of innovation. With the right training and access to modern equipment, almost anyone can make a discovery if they want to. Perhaps that is why, in the modern world, inventors who make peoples’ lives better are not revered as they were in the 19th and 20th century.
The problem of the obscurity of modern investors is not new. The IPAG website publishes an article with the telling title There is no Wealthy Future of Being an Inventor (2022). The article talks about Douglas Engelbart, who invented the computer mouse but received virtually no money for his invention (IPAG, 2022). The developed technology was later adopted by Apple, without hiding the use of someone else’s idea. This case prompts new reflections on why modern inventors are not as popular as their predecessors. In today’s world, intellectual property is much easier to steal. A real inventor may become famous only many years later or forever be forgotten by history.
References
Alkandari, A., Almutairi, N. M., Alhayyan, W., & Alomairi, A. E. (2019). Google project tango and ARCore under the view of augmented reality. Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, 16(3), 1127-1133.
Anderson, A. (2019). Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence in Special
Education: A Practical Guide to Supporting Students with Learning Differences. Taylor & Francis.
IPAG. (2022). There is no Wealthy Future for Being an Inventor. Intellectual Property Expert Group. Web.
Volti, R. (2017). Society and Technological Change (8th ed.). Worth Publishers.