What The Heck is Cognitive Distance?

Earlier this week, I attended prof Michael Porter's lecture on the importance of having an AR strategy within your company. 

Indeed, the topic is right up my alley. But let me tell you what I learned:

In essence, prof. Porter described today's abundance of digital information as a real burden for workers.

The fundamental issue is that front line workers are unable to process high amounts of data and the choices they accompany. E.g. user manuals have become too complicated.

Furthermore, there is a lot of 2D data available, but we need to decide upon it in a 3D world. This disconnect between digital and physical is what scholars define as 'cognitive distance'.

Last year, the US Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) conducted a survey, assessing manufacturers’ preparedness and priorities in this era of industrial transformation.

32% of respondents claimed that the ability to interact with increasingly complex networks and systems is a necessary skill or competence that organizations need to transform successfully.

Sight is the powerhouse

In order to bridge this gap, human sight offers the best solution. Why? 80 to 90 percent of the information we receive as humans happens through sight.

According to prof. Porter this is why Augmented Reality, where you can superimpose information on our 3D world, will become the transformational next step in closing the cognitive distance gap.