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UW CSE’s Yoshi Kohno, Franzi Roesner and Tamara Denning co-author policy primer on augmented reality

Augmented realityUW CSE professors Yoshi Kohno and Franzi Roesner and Ph.D. alum Tamara Denning (now on the faculty at the University of Utah) are among the lead authors of a new white paper that examines policy issues associated with emerging augmented reality technologies. The paper is the first of its kind published by the UW’s Tech Policy Lab, which brings together faculty and students from UW CSE, the School of Law, the iSchool and other units on campus to explore the potential implications of emerging technologies in a way that is useful for policy makers.

From the UW media release:

“Though still in its relative infancy, augmented reality promises systems that can aid people with mobility or other limitations, providing real-time information about their immediate environment as well as hands-free obstacle avoidance, language translation, instruction and much more. From enhanced eyewear like Google Glass to Microsoft’s wearable HoloLens system, tech, gaming and advertisement industries are already investing in and deploying augmented reality devices and systems.

“But augmented reality will also bring challenges for law, public policy and privacy, especially pertaining to how information is collected and displayed. Issues regarding surveillance and privacy, free speech, safety, intellectual property and distraction — as well as potential discrimination — are bound to follow.”

The report was co-authored by School of Law professor Ryan Calo, iSchool professor Batya Friedman, Tech Policy Lab associate director Emily McReynolds, iSchool alum Bryce Newell, iSchool student Lassana Magassa and School of Law alum Jesse Woo.

Read the full release here, and read the white paper, “Augmented Reality: A Technology and Policy Primer,” here.

Kohno will be joined by his Tech Policy Lab co-directors, Calo and Friedman, for a panel discussion tonight on “responsible innovation” and the impact of new technologies on security and privacy. Learn more about the event, which is the final installment of the UW Alumni Association’s 2015 Engineering Lecture Series, here.