Blog 1: Lecture Reflection
From all the collection of lecture, the one attaches my attention was “ Emerging technologies” by Nick Almond. The lecture discussed how emerging technology impact industry, including fashion, it broadens my horizon to see how technology changed our life and fashion industry in the past ten decades.
Technology brings infinite possibilities to our life and transforms realization into real action. As Nick said, the value of technology is about utility, reflects on how to use it, and if people want to use it. Blockbuster video replaced by Netflix, the offline video renting system was replaced by the online platform in a short time, which is easy, convenient to use and got the most significant resources; Kodak invented the digital camera and was defeated by what they made in the first place, years later the digital camera was replaced by the smartphone. It happened so fast and always catch us by surprise, technology is about the trend, and if you can follow as it developed so quickly, so does fashion.
As the lecture goes on, I am interested in the field of bitcoin and blockchain, people mentioned this concept for several years, but I never got the opportunity to get familiar with it. Bitcoin, as a decentralized digital currency, provides a circumstance with open and transparent data that can not be deleted, the information would be shared, and there is no way to fake it. It provides anarchy that people can collaborate without a third institution, which I believe is efficient and fair. The concept of blockchain has been brought to the fashion industry. It allows people to track the supply chain of the fashion company, get direct information such as what is these clothes made by and where are they come from. Sustainability attaches importance to the fashion industry, fast fashion company like H&M claim they are devoting it and produced sustainable line, in that case, we are able to use blockchain to give brands more pressure and find out if their products are sustainable.
The idea of blockchain could be fascinating, but we are also facing the problem of current immature technique, and it is complex and challenging to use. As technology do not always offer positive impacts on our life, we need to pay attention to their negative side. The XR technology is trending nowadays, It allows people upload videos to make the clothes appear on the body, or try the makeup on your face or change your hair color, it brings the audience a new and exciting immersive experience in the fashion industry, but is it going too far in ethical principle? We are leasing our personal information to other institutions, our iris, face, and body is being part of the company’s database, there is no more privacy, and the technology like ‘Deepfake’ shows human-being can cross any moral line when they got the power. As technology is unpredictable, we never know what is coming next; this lecture is a big opening for me to embrace it.
I am looking forward to bring technology into the fashion industry as we intend to build a diverse and sustainable future.