Mobile versus headworn augmented reality: How visions of the future shape, contest, and stabilize an emerging technology

Abstract

This study examines the development of augmented reality (AR) technologies, utilizing theories like social construction of technology (SCOT) and from the sociology of futures literature. While some have criticized SCOT for over-privileging certain social groups, drawing rigid boundaries between groups, and overlooking the role of power between them, this study addresses those critiques by conducting an ongoing mapping of the discussion surrounding AR. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation analyzing the discourse and development taking place at industry, standards, and academic conferences, this study explores a contestation emerging between two coalitions (mobile vs headworn) and how they are using future visions to negotiate the material design of the technology, the policies surrounding the technology, and stakeholder perceptions of the technology. The tactics these coalitions engage in reveal new components of stabilization, specifically deploying a “pre-stabilized ideal” to frame technological development. This case represents an instance where applying SCOT to an emerging technology helps us understand the technology itself while also building on and extending the SCOT model.