Wall-to-wall Television?

January 30, 2009

What if the four walls of your living room were covered with giant interactive high-definition television screens, capable of making TV programs, Web sites and video games into intensely vivid participatory experiences? Would our free time become incredibly more stimulating, pleasurable and educational? Would we take virtual tours of the Louvre and the Sistine Chapel, walk on the moon, or learn how to perform open-heart surgery? Or would we turn into a nation of couch-bound zombies, unable to let go of the remote control?

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This notion came to me via Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel, Fahrenheit 451, which envisions a future American dystopia in which critical thinking is taboo and the fire department burns books instead of putting out fires.

Over the years, readers have interpreted the book as an allegory for the anti-communist repression of free speech in the 1950s or as an attack on government censorship.  (Believe it or not, there used to be such a thing in America; less than a decade before Bradbury published his novel, for example, the U.S. Post Office demanded that a mail-order book retailer remove Voltaire’s 1759 social satire Candide from its catalog on grounds that it was somehow offensive.) But Bradbury himself, in a 2007 interview on his Web site, revealed what Fahrenheit 451 actually is about:

I wasn’t worried about freedom. I was worried about people being turned into morons by TV.

Indeed, to me the book’s most striking aspect is Bradbury’s description of the “TV parlor” in existentially troubled fireman Guy Montag’s home, in which, at the insistence of his video-addicted wife, Mildred, he has installed floor-to-ceiling screens on three walls so that she can more fully immerse herself in her daily soap operas.

What's on this afternoon?" he asked, tiredly.
She didn't look up from the script again. "Well, this is a play comes on the wall-to-wall circuit in ten minutes. They mailed me my part this morning. I sent in some boxtops. They write the script with one part missing. It's a new idea. The homemaker, that's me, is the missing part. When it comes time for the missing lines, they all look at me out of the three walls and I say the lines. Here, for instance, the man says, 'What do you think of this whole idea, Helen?' And he looks at me sitting here center stage, see? And I say, I say--" She paused and ran her finger under a line in the script. "'I think that's fine!' And then they go on with the play until he says, 'Do you agree to that, Helen?' And I say, 'I sure do!' Isn't that fun, Guy?"
He shook in the hall, looking at her.
"It's sure fun," she said.

Mildred then badgers Guy to install a fourth wall-sized TV to further intensify the experience, explaining to him that “it’s only two thousand dollars.”  As you read this, I know what you’re probably thinking: Where can I get a deal like that, and will they throw in a Blu-ray player?”  Remember that at the time Bradbury imagined the America of the future as a TV-addicted, intellectual wasteland, people were squinting at blurry black-and-white images on Crosleys and Philcos with screens a little bigger than the average notebook computer.

Today, we have the Panasonic’s 150-inch plasma set, which debuted at CES 2008 in Las Vegas. But the manufacturer has far bigger aspirations. Here’s a page with clips of the Life Wall. Your house will be filled with floor-to-ceiling interactive screens that you’ll be able to control without a remote, simply by waving your hands around. That is, to the extent that you control them. The wall sets will automatically zoom in or pan out, depending upon your position in the room, and they’ll be equipped with facial recognition technology and Internet connectivity, enabling them to recognize different family members and instantly provide their favorite TV programs, games, Web sites or video-chat rooms.

No word on the price tag yet, but I’m guessing that whenever this sort of technology goes on the market, there will be plenty of potential Mildreds out there willing to get out their credit cards.
Successive generations of wall-to-wall interactive HDTV might push the envelope even further, possibly incorporating advances in 3-D technology  (you don’t need to wear those dorky glasses, anymore, either) and haptic systems to create incredibly vivid virtual environments.  Imagine playing Grand Theft Auto IV   and actually being able to saunter down the streets of Liberty City and feel the glass shattering as you break into a parked car.

 The possibilities are absolutely mind-blowing.

Of course, that’s also the problem. With such intensely stimulating entertainment available all around us in our living rooms, would we all turn into compulsive consumers of mindless entertainment with atrophied souls, stunted emotions and a total inability to interact meaningfully with other human beings, as Bradbury prophesied?  Would we ever even get out of our pajamas and leave the house?
Let me know what you think, by posting your thoughts below. And btw, I’m always open to suggestions for future Good Idea blogs. So go ahead and amaze me.

Comments

[Kevin]

Interesting concept that you suggest with virtual wall TV. We are in some ways tentatively moving in this direction with our open cockput Formula One styled actual race car / simulator. Where drivers can race in a large virtual world in a well lit environment and feel all the numps and virbrations in the virtual world from the road and engine. I don't think wall to wall tv would turn people into morons and would envisage a wide diverse range of unique applications would emerge. We are currently planning on having three walls filled with the virtual race track and even concieved the idea of a projected moving race track

The early adopters would be able to afford to buy the Life Walls but I suspect they have the least amount of time to sit wasting time watching their wall.

By the way the Life Wall link no longer works

[Patrick Kiger]

Sorry about the bad link...here's one to an article from an English-language Japanese publication about the Life Wall.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081003/159082/

[Patrick Kiger]

Here also is a recently published update on the wall-sized TV idea. Panasonic apparently is planning to bring it to market by 2015.
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20090130/164927/

[Manny]

Why do we have to wait until 2015? I want one now!

[Natural Man]

I think this invention will lead to increased alienation and isolation, because people will interact more with their TV sets than they will with other people.

[Stephan]

I think this idea is totally sick. We need to stop watching so much television, not let it take over our lives completely!

[Mothra]

Except for the Science Channel, of course!

[Tom Chapas]

You're making light of what actually might be a very useful technology. Think of the incredible potential for distance learning, for example. You could take a college course in your living room, and get virtually the same experience as someone who actually was in the classroom.

[Caffeine Driven Stress Magnet]

I think you're mistakenly assuming that people are going to become total zombies passively watching these giant TVs. Remember that this technology is interactive. That's going to be the hot part. In fact, I envision that eventually, you'll be able to sit in your house and project a hologram of yourself into a virtual classroom or nature walk or yoga studio, so that you can interact with other people from the other side of town or the world.

[Neo-Luddite]

I want a wall-sized AM radio instead!

[Wall TV]

Thanks for this informative post.