FEDERALhearing transcript

Senate Hearing on Augmented Reality Technology

Original title: EXPLORING AUGMENTED REALITY

January 1, 2017

augmented reality technology policy digital innovation privacy tech regulation

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The Frame

What this does

This hearing established the congressional record on augmented reality, setting the stage for potential future federal oversight or regulation regarding privacy, safety, and data usage in emerging digital technologies.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Technology Developers

Companies creating AR software are subject to congressional inquiry regarding their data practices and safety standards.

General Public

Consumers of AR technology may see future changes in regulation or privacy protections based on committee findings.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2017.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing to examine the potential and implications of technology. The discussion focused on how AR differs from virtual reality and its growing presence in consumer life, highlighted by the popularity of games like Pokemon GO.

Key Facts

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing on November 16, 2016, to discuss augmented reality (AR).
Augmented reality is defined as technology that superimposes digital information onto the real, physical environment, as opposed to virtual reality which creates an entirely artificial world.
The hearing featured testimony from industry experts, legal scholars, and technology company executives.
The committee received written responses to follow-up questions from witnesses regarding the technology's impact.
The hearing was held in room SR-253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between augmented reality and virtual reality?

Virtual reality covers the user's eyes to surround them in an artificial world, while augmented reality adds digital information on top of the real, physical world.

Why was this hearing held?

To explore the potential of augmented reality technology following the widespread public use of AR-based mobile games like Pokemon GO.

Why It Matters

News Coverage

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Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Early Congressional Interest in AR

The hearing demonstrates that Congress began formalizing its interest in augmented reality as early as 2016, shortly after the mainstream success of Pokemon GO.

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Connected Entities

personBrian Mullins“CEO of DAQRI”Map →

personJohn Thune“Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”Map →

personBrian Blau“Research Vice President at Gartner”Map →

personStanley Pierre-Louis“SVP and General Counsel of Entertainment Software Association”Map →

personJohn Hanke“Founder and CEO of Niantic, Inc.”Map →

organizationNiantic, Inc.“Developer of Pokemon GO”Map →

personRyan Calo“Professor at University of Washington School of Law”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance40
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy10
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment20
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz15
Current news / social attention level

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