Radical Perception Change Coming to the Cosmic and Retail Universe

I am a space geek.

Last Christmas morning, I watched as NASA’s James Webb telescope - the largest and by far the most powerful ever designed - was launched into space. It will thoroughly change our view of the universe when it begins to record images this summer from about a million miles from Earth. Not just because of its size but because it will see the stars in the infrared spectrum, not the visible light seen by Hubble and most other telescopes designed and built since their invention in 1608.

Viewing the universe in visible light has its limitations. The same is true with the universe of brands displayed on a traditional retail shelf. In both instances, we have trouble seeing through the haze of our biases or preconceptions.

Our view of the stars and retail brands has been limited by traditional technology that is now being rethought and transformed. In cosmology, our view has been hampered by the limitations of visible light, which can only see so far back in time and only so clearly through the dust and debris of space. Our view has been tied to the traditional expectations of brick-and-mortar retail and how a package is viewed on the shelf in the design of retail brands. In both worlds, it has led to specific theories of the cosmos and certain expectations about purchase decisions.

As a result, astronomers’ exploration of the universe and designers’ creation of retail packaging has been limited to what they could research and see with existing technology.

Both visible light astronomy and the brick-and-mortar store shelves are being replaced by new technology - infrared telescopes and the digital shopping experience. Both offer infinitely more depth, control, and engagement in the viewing experience.

We are on the cusp of observing an entirely new view of our cosmic universe and the universe of retail brands, and these new perspectives will radically alter our fundamental view of both.

By Ricard Shear