Sucioaia Elena -Alexandra [621101]

UNIVERSITATEA "BABEȘ -BOLYAI" CLUJ -NAPOCA
FACULTATEA DE TEATRU ȘI FILM
MASTER TEATRU, FILM ȘI MULTIMEDIA
MODUL INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA

LUCRARE DE DISERTAȚIE

AUGMENTED REALITY

Coordonator științific:
Conf. univ. dr. habil Mocan Rodica

Absolvent: [anonimizat]
2019

Table of Content

I. Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………… 2
II. Augmented a nd Virtual Reality: Definitions and History ………………………….. ………………….. 5
1. AR vs VR ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………………. 6
2. Technological Realities ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……….. 9
3. Categories of engagement with the user ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. 11
4. History of AR ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………….. 12
III. Augmented Reality Artworks and Projects ………………………….. ………………………….. ……….. 14
1. Categories and examples ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. 15
2. Project s: ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 17
2.1. Early Projects and semi -AR installations ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… 17
2.2. Interactivity in AR ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………. 18
2.3. Feminist AR ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………. 21
2.4. Google Glass Art ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………… 22
2.5. Immersion -AR seen more as a concept ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………… 23
2.6. AR and ‘classic’ mediums ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……. 24
3. Artists ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. 26
3.1. John Craig Freeman ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. 26
3.2. Sander Veenhof ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………….. 29
3.3. Nathan Shafer ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………….. 30
3.4. Mark Skwarek, Tamiko Thiel, Conor McGarrigle -AR in Activism ………………………….. ……….. 31
4. Applications in the Art world ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 37
IV. AR a pplications in industries ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. .. 39
1. Mini AR experiences for everyone ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………… 39
2. Architecture, Urbanism and Construction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. 42
3. Education ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………… 44
V. ARvisceral (Personal pra ctical project) ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. 47
VI. Conclusion ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………………. 52
VII. Bibliography ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………. 53

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Introduction

In my dissertation , I approach the field of Augmented Reality from different perspectives ,
gathering definitions and delimitate it in categories of user engagement and not only . Being a
new technology which is developing each year , it is rather hard to have a fixed definitio n.
Briefly, AR can be described as a technology which combines the virtual with real ity, it is
interactive in 2D and 3D and the computer -generated augmentation is overlayed over the real
registered objects in the physical environment. (Azuma, 1997)
Augmented reality is different from virtual and mediated reality because the first one is
creating a new whole world and the second is intervening changing the physical objects. AR is
just adding, augmenting digital computer -generated images over the environment. (Charles,
2016)
AR also has a history which is worth mentioning, being predicted before it appear ed
centuries ago both figuratively and technical. T he first prototype was created by Ivan Sutherland
with his students in 1960 and the term “Augmented Reality” was coined by Thomas P. Caudell
and David Mitzell in 1991. (Caudell & Mitzell, 1991)
Augmented reality facilitates new ways of e xpressing concepts , revealing i nnovative
ideas. In the field of art is having its own definitions and categories as well subdivisions. Artists
are approaching the new technology , pushing boundaries and evolving. They are independent of
the old curatorial proceeding s and spaces. (Garbe, 2018)
AR applications have also different levels of interactivity and software which influence
the way it can be manipulated by the users and creators. The five major categories of gesturing
are: fiducial (fixed), planar, locative (GPS), environmental/spatial and embodied/wearable. The
fiducial and planar are based on image recognition but the second one is used more for print. The
locative software is based on geolocation , the user can see the digital ima ges just if they turn on
the GPS on their devices. The environmental is the most complex because it is not using
geolocation, neither image recognition but a combination of both. The softw are is analyzing the
real space, creates a 3D map with different alg orithms and is applying the virtual object into the

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environment . The device must recognize it in the digital map created onto the physical space.
Embodied augmented reality is just at its dawn, Google Glass being one wearable example . Even
though nowadays there are few embodied devices, t he technology is not yet fully developed and
can be seen just in science -fiction films. (Litchy, 2018)
Artists nowadays are using digital media to protest and showcase their statements against
injustice s created by the elitist society and capitalism. “ManifestAR ” was created by Mark
Skwarek and John Craig Freeman , and is one of the AR applications which give s everyone a way
of expression with different movements. One example is #Occupy which ref ers to the Wall
Street manifestations , where people were forced to leave the area physically . Augmented reality
gave them the poss ibility to keep the protests virtually. Another movement was O ccupy MoMA ,
where different AR creators were exhibiting their d igital works into museums , showing that art is
not just for privileged curated artists. (Skwarek, 2018)
Augmented reality, even though is a specific technology, can be used by artists in
different ways to manifest their perspective . There are different grades of immersiveness s and
interactivity , depending either of the artwork or the implementation of the application. Sensorial
immersion is one of the most encountered , and augmented reality art is almost always trying to
embody and convince the viewer that the digital object is placed in the physical world.
(Margolis, 2018)
The users can be simply performative observers wh o use only mediate d device s to see the
digital ly augmented world , where the interactions are happening inside the frame of a
smartphone and not in the real world . They can be engaged to participate interactively , where
they manipulate the narrative , or even get involved to become co -creators . Everyone can add on
the digital platform from different 2D writings to 3D sculptures , in different GPS location .
(Garbe, 2018)
AR is not just for artists, nowadays technology beco mes much more sophisticated and
accessible for everyone. Social media platforms are using the technology for entertainment and
we can see how augmented reality became mainstream in the past few years. From Ins tagram
and Snapchat filters, to Pokemon Go and Ingress , AR is now more relevant and consumable than
ever and it will grow exponentially together with the more and more evolved technology.

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(Rhodes, 2018) Personal wearable AR is not so far from our reality and now is helping humans
to learn and comp rehend spatiality in different industries such as architecture, anatomy,
mathematics and education in general. (Dieck & Jung, 2018)
My practical dissertation work contains five digital printed illustrations , which are
augmented through the Artivive application . Artivive is an active creation application from the
perspective of consumption , which let the users create their own content and share it on the
platform. I named the project “ARvisceral ” because of the process I choose to create the content.
In need to express my subconscious , I was concentrated entering a zone almost as a meditation
having my mind in the moment , every glimpse at a time, to create the movements of my avatar ,
which experience differe nt simulated force s of physics in the 3D software Maya.
After that, I started to interpret them creating different elements and the kinetic
environment in After Effects. The printed illustrations are as an explanation giving hints of what
it will happen i n the digital environment. In this case, the viewer is just a performative observer ,
using a device to discover what will happen. T he interaction is happening in the digital media
between the camera and the recognize d illustration by the software.
The translucent gleaming avatar is having a dual person ality which is either tranquil or
destructive. In the augmented illustrations “Cocoon” and “Creator”, the character is serene ,
having slow movements , floating into space and fabricating digital matter. On the other hand, in
“Eraser me, baby” and “01110011 01101111 00100000 01110011 01100001 01100100” which
is translated as “so sad” , the avatar is impulsive and destructive , crushing and erasing each
element is in front of her . The cent erpiece, “Cotton Ca ndy” with the com position as a circle,
representing the aftermath of this reality, the character is swallowed by a cotton planet
transformed in different particles , being the victim of entropy as all of us.

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Augmented a nd Virtual Reality: Definitions and History

The phrase “augmented reality” is a modern creation, coined in the early 19 90s by
Boening research scent Tom Caudell. (Aukstakalnis, 2016) “For Gene Becker of Lighting
Laboratories Augmented Reality is a technology, a field of research, a vision of future
computing, an emerging commercial industry, a new medium for creative expression .” (Kipper
& Rampolla, 2012) It is difficult to have a fully formed definition because AR i s developing
technology so did not yet reach its full potential. Because of this fact, the definition of AR has
gone under a lot of modifications depending on the method of implementation and context.
(Poelman & van Krevelen, 2010)
The AR s ystem is enhancing the user’s perception supplementing the real world with 3D
virtual objects making them interact in a way they seem to coexist in the same space as a “real
world”. A short definition of AR , proposed by Azuma in his 1997 survey paper (Azuma, A
Survey of Augmented Reality, 1997) , must have three properties: to blend between real and
virtual objects , in a real environment, to be real -time interactive and to be registered in 3D . And
the AR to be in accurate al ignment of the combination of real and virtual objects. The last
property refers to the risk of compromising the “illusion” that the virtual obje cts exist in a real
environment. T his is why registration is extremely important and also a difficult topic of the
continuing researches that are made. That doesn’t mean AR is restricted to display and add
technologies, such as Head -mounted Display (HMD) . Also, is not limited , AR can a pply to all
senses that include touch, hearing, smell etc. “ For example, an AR visualization of a building
that used to stand at a certain location would first have to remove the current bui lding that exists
there today. ” (Azuma, et al., 2001)
AR mediates between computers and humans, humans and humans and humans and
computers. Humans interact with different media in different ways. In comparison with classic
media consumption (read a book, wat ch a movie, listen to music), AR is appealing to many of
user’s senses being interactive forcing you to engage in order to gain the experience that it
provides. AR can be applied in art, medicine, entertainment, education, medicine and many
more. (Kaufmann & Craig, 2013)

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It already has been implemented and researched in various industries such as gaming and
retail and has gained an interest in the tourism industry . It was created criteria for AR that the
interaction is with the immediate surroundings, connect real and virtual objects and register
them . And it was taken the concept further defined AR due to the ability to share and exchange
location -based information in the immediate surroundin gs. (Dieck & Jung, 2018)

AR vs VR

Virtual reality places the user inside a completely computer -generated environment but
augmented reality present information that is directly registered to the physical environment.
With AR in the user’s perception, everything appears to become part of th e real world. AR goes
beyond mobile computing merging the virtual world and the real world, both spatially and
cognitively. (Schmalstieg & Hollerer, 2016)
Augmented reality is changing the vision of the physical world by overl aying the digital
one over it. This can enhance and help the awar eness of humans without altering their
perception, but just having additional features.

Figure 1 “Reality -virtuality continuum” (Poelman & van Krevelen, 2010)

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Augmented reality can’t be a virtual reality because the second one is another whole
abstract reality. Is made entirely into the digital world with the power of technology and
computer graphics. And the user is usually immersed in this new world with all the senses.
Augmented reality , on the other hand, is adding new virtual features into the physical world.
Augmented reality is not mediated reality because the second one is altering the physical
reality by either covering or subtr acting the real objects. AR is just adding new digital
information into reality, but it’s never changing it. (Charles, 2016)
Classifications:
 Reality -Real Environment, Augmented Reality, Augmented Virtually, Virtual
Environment
 VIRtual reality, AUGmented reality, MODulated reality (modified DIMinished )
 MEDiated reality

Figure 2 “Mixed reality with mediated reality” (Peddie, 2017)

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A lot of people are confused also by associating the visual combination of virtual and real
elements with the special effects movies. Augmented reality appears in movies as well using the
same technologies as the applications but it’s lacking the interacti vity.
Taking in consideration the most widely accepted definition about AR (Azuma, A Survey
of Augmented Reality, 1997) where AR combines real and virtual, it is interactive in real time
and registered in 3D, the user can at lea st experience an interactive viewpoint, and the computer –
generated augmentations in the display will remain registered to the referenced objects in the
environment. This requires three components: a tracking, a registration, and a visualization
component. And everything stored in the information about the real world and the virtual one.
The real world is a reference for the tracking component determining the user’s location in the
real world. And the virtual one is the contented used for augmentation. They need to be
registered in a coordinate system.
“While opinions on what qualifies as real -time performance may vary depending on the
individual and on the task or application, interactivity implies that the human -computer interface
operates in a tightly coupled feedback loop. The user continuously navig ates the AR scene and
controls the AR experience. The system, in turn, picks up the user’s input by tracking the user’s
viewpoint or pose. It registers the pose in the real world with the virtual content and then
presents to the user a situated visualizati on (a visualization that is registered to objects in the real
world).” (Schmalstieg & Hollerer, 2016)
Augmented Reality Devices :
 Personal computer with w ebcam
 AR glasses and Head -Mounted Display (Kipper & Rampolla, 2012)
 Mobile phone, tablets based augmented reality (Haller, Billinghurst, & Thomas, 2011)
The past can predict the future. See-through lens design was created in the early 60s for
AR which makes the user’s perception of the real world unmodified and displays the information
of graphic augmented reality objects as an overlay on the transparent display, mirrors , and
lenses. There are different classes of AR displays: helmet, h ead-up display (HUD), smart glas ses,
contact lenses. The AR is overlaying the data with all its graphics from the headset over the real
physical world having a projective display, this technique is named projected AR.

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The head -mounted displa y (HMD) is obstructing the view -blocking the real world but the
user sees the view of the wold from a front facing camera in the HMD. This technique restricts
the field of view and it’s the closest model of mixing graphics overlayed into a video feed on a
2D view camera. (Peddie, 2 017)
Technological Realities

“Immersive reality is a multidiscipline multi -labelled and massively confusing collection
of technologies, applications, and opportunities. It or they go by many labels. ” (Peddie, 2017)
Reality can be:
Alternate Interactive Spatial -augmented
Another Magic Supervision
Artificial Mediated Synthetic
Augmented Merged Trans
Blended Modulated Vicarious
Cognitive Perceptive Virtual augmented reality
Digital Projected Virtual Environment
Digitally mediated Previsualization Visual
Dimensional Spatial augmented reality
(SAR) Window -on-the-world
Extended Second
False Simulated
Hybrid
Immersive(Tactical, Strategic,
Narrative, and Spatial)
Table 1 “Reality has many names” (Peddie, 2017)

It’s hard to sort out technologies and their conflicting names but it is mandatory for
understanding to put a label, even though it will change shortly while technology is evolving.

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“The Metaverse is a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of
virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, and is a fusion of both
while allowing users to experience it as either. The term came fr om Neal Step henson (1959 )
science fiction novel Snow Cras, (1992) where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and
software agents, in a tridimensional space that uses the metaphor of the real world. ” (Vincs,
Bennett, McCormick, Vincent, & Hutchison, 2018)
We’re not quite at the step to use in everyday life augmented reality, virtual reality , and
mixed real ity head -mounted displays. I nventors, industries , and consumers recognize we’re
getting faster than ever before and the way we int eract with our devices evolved like never
before.
New media makes possible of reinvented and original ways of expressing concepts.
Augmented reality has a big potential to reveal new ideas with its own limitations and emerges
with innovative methods to do so. Because online life can have consequences into the real one,
now the digital world is overlayed over the physical one being converged. Nathan Jurgenson, a
sociologist and a social media theorist proposes “an alternative view that states that our realit y is
both technological and organic, both digital and physical, all at once. We are not crossing in and
out of separate digital and physical realities, a la The Matrix, but instead live in one reality, one
that is augmented by atoms and bits” (Vincs, Bennett, McCormick, Vincent, & Hutchison, 2018)
With the rise in popularity of mobile phones and social media, the mobilization of the
masses in physical spaces are increasing all over the globe. This new political movement is
linked with augmented reality. O ne such example is Occupy Wall Street , where different artists
used this technology to ov erlay their protest images whenever they could not do it physically.
(Jurgenson, 2012)
However , Alex Gibs on, a lead ing commentator in AR , does not believe in the theory that
two realities are in a crossover , but rather that they are just influencing each other constantly.
They are interacting but the atoms and bits are two different distinct forms in two parallel
universes and they are , at best , just blended. (Vincs, Bennett, McCormick, Vincent, &
Hutchison, 2018)

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Our perception of seeing and using technology and the method of input is evolving . We
move d from using a keyboard t o the mouse, then to the touch. The interactions will evolve as
well, becoming more complex . We will soon use our movements of the head, hands, our voice s,
or our eyes, as eye -tracking ( technology it’s already being used for special cases of disability ).
AR will break these paradigms and invite the user to use these natural movements abandoning
the touch screen in favour of virtual reality gesturing. (Peddie, 2017)

Categories of engagement with the user

Augmented reality applications and games have different levels of engagement with the
users especially in the creative field varying from passing consumption to the active one:

In the passive consumption (user engagement none) the AR content can’t be changed by
the users the physical object is predefined and has the same form for everyone. On the next step,
the augmented reality application or game have also predefined content and real object but is
changing the interface based on what the user desire. For example , it can be an application that
it’s showcasing an art gallery but it’s experienced differently by everyone based on their own
setups. In the third category , just the physical object is predefined but it can change when the
user is watching it. One example is where every experience can be different depending on who is
watching it. The software is memorizing the preferences and it’s personalizing the content for
each individual. The fourth step on engagement is where the physical content is not entirely
predefined and it can give new content in augmented reality. An example is an application where
is placing your digital photographs between the physic al ones in an exhibition. In the fifth , the
Figure 3 (Kljun, Pucihar, & Coulton, 2018)

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content is still predefined but is constantly expanding with the help of users. For example , an
application that owns an archive but the users can add new photographs to the server making
them co -creators. In the sixth step , the content is predefined but the users can personalize and
augment it. For example , it can be an application where the user is playing transforming forms in
the AR changing and adding on the “physical” objects. On the seventh, the content is not
predefined and it is changed by the users. For example , they can create their own work and
expose it for everyone to see (Artivive) . (Kljun, Pucihar, & Coulton, 2018)
History of AR
Even though it feels like augmented reality is just at the beginning of its journey, it has an
interesting history worthy to mention. Henry Dircks invented in 1862 an illusion named
“pepper’s ghost” and this technique is used even today with high -quality p rojectors and
advanced technology. (Altamirano., 2019) John Henry Pepper popularized Dircks ’s technique
and incorporated it in theatres. This is why the illusion remained with this name and not with its
inventor. It was first used for Charles Dicken’s play “The haunted men” having a big success. It
works by reflecting the original being lightened through a mirror. The reflection seems to be
tridimensional and now is used t o give the holographic futuristic effect (especially on stages)
using led panels and projectors but it’s not actually one. A hologram has computer generated 3D
parallax that allows the viewer to walk around and see it in 360 degrees. (Pepper's Ghost – A
historical overview)

Figure 4 “Illusion Pepper’s Ghost” (Mannoni, Nekes, & Warner, 2004)

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Conceptually AR maybe comes from ancient Greece, in the book of Plato where the
notion of subjective perceiving of reality is given by a few men seeing shadows of people from
outside’s world imagining what is actually happening there. In 1420 the engineer Giovani
Fontana writes a book where he describes a magic lantern that can project fanta stic images and
not only on the wall . (Arnaldi & Guitton, 2018) His idea was actually put in practice by Carolina
Cruz -Neira being a pioneer of virtual reality and interactivity. She created “CAVE ” in 1992, a
virtual reality software system, an advanced technology and she designed an AR room with 3D
virtual images on the walls that immerses the viewer into a surreal experience. (Faller, 2016)
The first AR prototype was cr eated by Ivan Sutherland with his student from Harvard and
Utah Universities in 1960. Several years after ARToolKit software appeared and it was av ailable
for everyone interest ing. In 2001, NASA Ames Research Center finished their researched and
created th e biggest international symposium for the industry about Mixed and Augmented
Reality (ISMAR) helping everyone involved talk about their knowledge and doing networking
about the matter.
Augmented reality took much longer to evolve having much more technica l technology
difficulties than virtual reality. Because of the obvious reason being much harder overlaying a
virtual matter into reality than creating an alternative one. Combining the virtual with the real
world, using a tracking device for the position, the components used for creating an AR system
remained more or less as in the 60’s: the tracker, display, the software and graphics.
In the 80s and 90s mobile devices were created and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology continued the research for AR. In the 1990s because the technology advanced and
the devices were small wearable computers was introduced. An example is Apple Newton
MessagePad introduced to the public in 1993. (Poelman & van Krevel en, 2010)
In January 1991 the term of Augmented Reality was invented by Thomas P. Caudell and
David Mitzell, two scientists working at Boening Computer Services Corporation at the
department Research and Technology. They were working at developing a s ee-through, head –
mounted AR prototype display. (Caudell & Mitzell, 1991)
Still, in the 90s, the technology wasn’t sufficient enough for creating an AR technology
small e nough for day to day basis. The GPS technology was invente d and the navigational

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system helped the user to get to the destination with an audio guidance overlay. After this, the
software engineers created an image overlay prototype for mobile with 3D graphics directional
advice.
Because of augmented reality tech nology advanced and it was seen as a specific tech, in
the late 90s there were some conferences about the matter: Designing Augmented Reality
Environments W orkshop , Symposium on Augmented Reality , the International Workshop and
the organization of Mi xed Reality System was created. (Poelman & van Krevelen, 2010)

Augmented Reality Artworks and Projects

The AR art movement evolved with the technology which became over the years
increasingly user-friendly. In the ‘90s the artist needed knowledge in coding and also equipment
of googles and webcams. Now it’s easier than ever to generate your own artwork into the world
with all the mobile and tablet applications including the geolocation AR -based media. After the
commercializa tion of AR with beauty selfie apps, Pokemon Go and Google glass, now it has the
challenge to be established in the art world and seen as avant -garde. (Rhodes, 2018)
At the same time, when we talk about augmented reality it is necessary to start
mentioning first about its integration in art. AR is a visual statement having its own aesthetic in
the digital world. And also it is a mechanical technological fairly new tool of expression used in
different ways and branches of art. There are many types of AR art expanding in different
approaches. AR artists are always trying to push the boundaries and find new ways to use
technology. Augmented reality is constantly changing an d evolving being explored and in our
times is a turning point for all artists that are using it. What content humans are distributing
through this new technique represents just the subjective view of how they are perceiving the
world. Just a few decades ag o digital art was taken in consideration, the art world is full with
classic mediums of expression such as painting, sculpture, some installations, music, dance and
dramaturgy where the viewer was just a spectator and nothing else. (Wright J. , 2018)

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AR artists can play with dynamic matter and also in their performance. The AR
experience is not in galleries but on mobile devices so this is why it’s usually independent of
classic curatorial proceedings being moved into the digital space and having much more
freedom. “Augmented reality art, as a new media subset, distinguishes itself through its peculiar
mechanics of exhibition and performative re -contextualization. It allows the artist to translocate
the borders and constraints of the experience from physical to virtual, expressing the piece onto
spaces in a way that is independent of physical or locative constraint, yet still tethered to the real
world. ” AR art is now more relevant than ever because of the complex ways of expressio n and
also the easiness of finding and using it. (Garbe, 2018)
Categories and examples

The two most defining interactions of the public with AR artworks are the gaze and
gestures. The g aze is the action of the viewer which is p ractically seeing the art manifestation
through different devices. And the gesture is the way an augmented reality software is using the
technology to showcase the work. T here are five categories of gestures: fiducial (fixed), planar,
locative (GPS), environmental/spatial and embodied/wearable. One application or artwork can
inherit a multitude of gestures having combined more than two technologies.
The Fiducial is one of the earliest forms of technology in AR. It gives the dimension of
the subject and the camera sees where to overlay the 3D object into the real world. One example
is “Reactable ” made in 2005. In a circle, there are AR buttons that react to the participant' s touch
manipulating the sounds. Another two examples of Fiducial AR is Miku Hatsame at Berlin’s
Transmediale festival in 2016. (Litchy, 2018)
The Planar (print, poster) AR is much more advanced by scanning usually overlaying in to
a print media. This kind of AR is used usually in marketing campaigns beca use of the nature of
print . One example is Esquire Magazine cover where the actor Robert Downey Junior is talking
with the viewers presenting a 3D space into a 2D magazine. (Reagan, 2009)
The Locative GPS based AR is one of the most complex gesture because of the dynamic
relationship between the user and location. One example is We AR in MoMA by Mark Skwarek,

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John Craig Freeman and others where they ente red in the museum without permission. If you
used the app inside, you could see the artworks overlapped with digital 3D media.
Environmental AR has a number of problems with spatial recognition because depends a
lot of light, weather, time of the day or c hanging objects. This is why a lot of artists chose to do
their work in closed spaces. “Ascension ” by Richard Humann mixes environmental and planar
AR. At the Venice Biennale, the user could head his phone to the sky and see the constellations
interpreted as in mythology but in a contemporary way. Another good example is “Exit Glacier
Terminus ” by Nathan Shafer. In Alaska, the user can point its phone or tablet to a location and
see how big the glaciers were and the change made from 1978 to 2013. He also uses augmented
3D glaciers to remodel the shape they had several decades ago. It is built on location so the user
needs to go and see the glaciers because the creator thinks the geolocative form of augmented
reality is cheating by downloading everything beforehand so it’s not experienced as it should be.
Also, there is a possibility the GPS of th e mobile not to work in such aeries because of the wifi
connectivity.

Figure 5 “Exit Glacier (2001 Terminus) by Shafer (2013), five different AR versions of glacial termini were built on
location at Exit Glacier, and this is the terminus from the year 2001” (Shafer, 2018)

Embodied AR evolved from the computer screen to phone device to the body and finally
into space through contact lenses. This nowadays is seen more in dystopian films and television

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than reality. One example is the short film “Sight ” by Eran May -Raz and Daniel Lazo from
2012. The users had implanted the AR technology in their body using it for everyday mundane
tasks and also using applications for meeting other people. Being a dystopic genre it shows how
someone can hack into your perception and brain and control yo ur thoughts. (Litchy, 2018)

Project:

Early Pro jects and semi -AR installations

The earliest artwork that used digital media and location is “ I am sitting in a r oom”
created by Alvin Lucier in 1969. He recorded himself talking in a room and then plays it
recording it over and over again until the sound has the frequencies of a room tone. The room
became more of an abstract augmented concept than an actual location. This work can be seen as
a promoter of the conceptual thinking o f many AR artists and not only. (Shafer, 2018)
Another promising early installation is “You’ve Got B ugs!” from 2006. Having just a
screen and a camera broadcasting the viewers pixelated, every movement was tracked and
overlayed with bugs. The viewer is interacting with the AR screen being seized by small black
pixels on the screen multiply ing following them. (Wright J. , 2018)

Figure 6 “You’ve Got Bugs! Screenshot and a picture of installation with and without audience member ” (Wright J. ,
2018)

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“MONOLITT ” is a sculpture that generates colours made by Eirik Haugen Murvold and
Syver Lauritzsen. It can be interpreted as environmental AR even though is not using digital
media in an obvious way. The colours that appear from the installation are influenced by the
general mood on social media. It’s taking all the data from what people are posting , for example
on Twitter , and it’s transforming it in pure paint in real time. (Iaconesi & Persico, 2018)
“Quick & Easy Recipes for Disaster ” is an AR Installation made by Thomas Storey who
uses 3D objects as food generating random recipes. The viewer sees the installation as an
average cooking website blog. They are served virtually into a plate and you can take a picture
and share it on social media. This artwork is as a response to social media, looking continuously
at the screens, the in dividual forgets to enjoy the surroundings, interactions or simply how the
food tastes. Nowadays we don’t need to eat anymore in real life to exist on social media, you can
post a digital food picture and is as if it’s the real one. (Reyes -García, Innocenti, & Zreik, 2016)

Interactivity in AR

AR using an intermediary apparatus between the artwork and user and in this way is
having its fourth wall of viewing being firstly mediated by a technology in which the image is
altered. S o we can name t he viewer just as “performative observers” because the slightest
interaction is happening actually inside the frame of the virtual space, and he can just move the
device to observe it in different ways. The way artists are using this te chnology can become
interactive engaging with the users. I will display in this chapter from the least interactive with
the viewers to the most: (Garbe, 2018)
“Mapping Ararat ” uses Augmented Reality to commemorate the past thro ugh digital
monuments and also uses digital maps to show the path taken by Major Mordecai Noah which
wanted to found Ararat but failed. (Kaplan) Kaplan and Shiff displayed what his intention would
look like through image augmentation and the viewer can see synagogues, memorials, banks,
graveyards, different shops etc. in Grand Island. This can be problematic because it is shown
something that it could have been bu t never was because all the repression and never having the
opportunity to settle throughout history. (Reyes -García, Innocenti, & Zreik, 2016) “Thus, the

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user-visitors pe rformative actions reflect a personal sequencing of the st ory in piecing these
images together. Ultimately, this is a visual story -telling project that can have unlimited numbers
of sequencing. Each visitor walk can be told or visually viewed differently. ” The project is
designed as a tour for a utopian vision of the present. (Hornstein, 2017)
“Aurasma ” is an application which can accept fractal forms and the software also use
image recognition and localization for the augmented objects. Drago ș Gheorghiu and Livia
Ștefan choose this pla tform to mark prehistoric places with specific patterns like in the ancient
culture Vădastra . When the user is pointing the phone on the specific patterns in a specific
location, a 3D prehistoric house and characters appear. The viewer is experiencing a virtual tour
about the history and the character is doing different things such as decorating a pot with the
same prehistoric pattern. The project also inclu des real objects scanned in 3D such as the
Vădastra patterns and vases. The creators combined scien ce and art to illustrate the vast
prehistoric history from the location. (Gheorghiu & Ștefan, 2018)
“Crisis 22 ” is a participative narrative work where the user is tracing the trajectory to see
the story thro ughout the city of Ottawa. B esides being participants and explore the events
happening into the cyber world, they can’t change the narrative. The only engaging event is
searching for a specific space. (Garbe, 2018)
Another example of an augmented reality artwork that tried to use interactivity is “The
Haunted Book ” by Camille Scherrer. He used a book, a camera that was connected to an
augmented device and projected onto it the digitally animated work. The user could turn the
pages and see different short pieces of AR but wasn’t engaged fully performing as a participant
into the artwork. (Scherrer, 2007)
At the Venice Biennale from 2011, Will Pappenheimer came with an interesting
approach: H e transformed his bufo toads into psychedelic ones through Vita Flaneurazine which
is a potent programmable psychotropic drug used in Second Life. (Pap, 2012) Their skin had
colourful imagery and you could found them everywhere into the city and growing in number
around the pavilions in the Giardini. If you touched them on your screen, they were releasing the
VF effect on the entire display. (Thiel T. , 2018)

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Figure 7 “Colony Illuminati by Will Pappenheimer/Virta -Flaneurazine ( 2011 ). Augmented Reality. Colony grou p on
Giardini main concourse ” (Thiel T. , 2018)

“Sky Petition City ” is an application created by Will Pappenheimer and Zachary Brady
on Manifest.AR platform and lets the user to draw or to write on the sky with a cloud -like line.
Pappenheimer explains: “ It has become evident that Washington institutions no longer listen to
the voice of the people. We need something we 've never tried before .” Everyone can express
what they think on important national institutions from Washington. This is an informal political
statement that allows civilians to express their feelings on the blue sky. Every old message once
in a while are replaced by new ones. (Pappenheimer & Brady, 2013)
Pheonix Toews engages his users through the app lication “Pyrite ” with sculptural digital
installation to a new another whole universe. Everyone can participate by creating and find other
sculptures anywhere in the world breaking down the fourth wall. And the application
“Manifest.AR ” does the same: you can upload virtually your artwork in any gallery you wish.
Skwarek destroys the idea of privileged art and artists and invites creators willing to display their
work in such “sacred” art spaces. This can be defined not only as interactive participative AR
artworks but also co -creation installations because the public work together to create new digital
worlds into the real one. T his depends on the willingness and knowledge of the participants to
interact with the applications or not because of the difficulty augmented reality technology can
give. (Garbe, 2018)

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Feminist AR

Riot Grrrls was a feminist and queer movement from the 90s which is still influencing the
art world today. Now it became an augmented reality application with the same name created in
2017 by the School of Art Institute’s Virtual Installation under Claudia Hart’s sup ervision. Their
goal was not only to augment some of the works but to elevate the movement through new media
and make the viewers think analytically about it. (Hart, 2017)
One of the works “Hedda Gabler” by the Francesca Udesch ini is rein terpreted by Molly
Zuckerman. She is making it black and white with bitmap dots. The dots are transparent and the
original piece can be seen through it.
Beier Zong chooses “Metropolitan ” by Mary Heilmann and he tried to create the 2D
piece into a tridimensional one. The user can see the augmented 3D work moving in different
geometrical lines and forms adding to a sphere which is almost breathing. There are dispersed
four forms interpreting the six black a nd white squares with the red -pink lines integrated
simultaneously and each of them is having different styles.

Figure 8 “2017 Rendering of Mary Heilman augmentation by Beier Zong over Mary Heilmann’s Metropolitan, 1999. Oil
on canvas; 75 × 60 in. (190.5 × 152.5 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago ” (May & Hart, 2018)

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“A Love L etter to a Violet ” it’s been augmented by Ellen Burkenblit giving a different
and introspective meaning. The viewer can see different females taken from old films fighting
and it has audio with different speeches. Jonatan Martinez give s homage to Tomma Abts
augmenting bright colo urs coming from her work propagati ng to the entire space lines of bright
blue, red and green.
The students wanted the viewer to s pend more on the female artist’s art pieces with this
augmentation than the usual of several seconds per work . Claudia Hart comments on her
student’s work and h er effort “Riot Grrrls App Show was, to me as conductor and
choreographer, an improvisation —both a pleasure and a surprise. I discovered that augmented –
reality apps are a kind of museum in a bottle, a device to make curatorial connections, open up
differen t worlds, and create dialogues between the art and the visitor and among museum
visitors. I couldn’t be more pleased with the result and more grateful for the experience .” (May
& Hart, 2018)
Google Glass Art

There are different types of immersion in AR which are bearing away from the VR
ideals. For example , sensorial immersion is one of the things AR art tries to embody with the real
world altered with a digital one. The viewer can be immersed and almost convi nced with a really
good integrating augmenting software that the digital element is there. Social immersion , on the
other hand, is where people are connected to place virtual objects with meaning.
Samantha Katz created “Gallery Glass ” where she gathered th irty artists from Brooklyn
to perform while wearing Google glasses. After, on the Youtube channel with the same name
posted edited videos where the viewer can see through the point of view of the artist while
creating. Over it added interviews with them wh ere they explain about themselves.
Molly Crabapple created a drawing with Stoya while wearing Google glasses. The name
of the work is “Glass Gaze” because she was looking at the model live through the glasses and
draw her. This is an example where the art ist is using AR devices to create art via classic
mediums.

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David Datuna used the application “BrickSimple ” to create an interactive installation.
From the distance, it looks like the American Flag made w ith small pieces of glass. A s you get
closer and see the work in detail you realize that actually are small cameras filming you. The
installation live -streamed the visitors through the small cameras. This can be interpreted as a
comment on how art can watch back and also about how sm all cameras from our devices can be
turned against us. (Margolis, 2018)

Figure 9 “Viewpoint of billions by New York artist David Datuna at A rt Basel Miami ” (Margolis, 2018)
Immersion -AR s een more as a concept

Integrating digital form into the physical one, AR can be seen also rather conceptually
than just a form of technology. As a user, you can interact as the physical form with the digital
one become a part of the perform ance, some artists that convey such immersive works are Klaus
Obermaier and Gideon Obarzanek.
Kim Vincs, John McCormick, Alison Bennett and performer Steph Hutchison did a
dance scene, “Crack -Up”, where they used a Kinect to show the depth of the image filmed in real
time of the performance. This digitally augmented modified image of the skin was displayed in
the background and the performers could interact with themselves but in the form of bits.
Alison Bennet also did a performance project “Shifting Skin ” having a series of
photographs with parts of bodies having scars and tattoos. When the viewer sees it through a
smartphone device they see an overlay image of the photograph but scanned and hig hlighted
coming out from the surface. The user can move the device to see the photographs in different
ways.

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Figure 10 “Untitled (camera) from the series ‘Shifting Skin’ 2013 by Alison Bennett ” (Vincs, Be nnett, McCormick,
Vincent, & Hutchison, 2018)

John McCormick created “Recognition ” and it was performed by Steph Hutchison. As in
Crack Up the performer is interacting with the 3D almost liquid iris eye were is following its
movements. And with the help of artificial intelligence, the object is doing its own choreograph
by learning past motions. So after, the software generating the 3D image can perform alone
creating also newly improved forms having already all the information processed and is adding
and reproducing the knowledge every time is performing. (Vincs, Bennett, McCormick, Vincent,
& Hutchison, 2018)

AR and ‘classic’ mediums

Usually, digital work can be constantly modified or changed entirely as time passes by
the artist compared to the classic mediums. This gives a new concept challenging the classic
interpretation of art, now the creator can have the whole control over the digital medium even
after if it was already showcased to the world. (Garbe, 2018) AR can be also displayed in classic
mediums such as painting an d sculpture. “Hidden Realities ” is a series of six paintings created in
2013 by Vladimir Geroimenko using 2D overlayed images in the application Layar and 3D ones

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in Junaio. All of them represent different styles and techniques as well as the digital forms
overlayed. AR artists use print or sculptures to be tracked by the applications having palpable
content.
First work is named “What lies underneath?” being a tribute to analogue black and white
photography being made digitally in an impressionist technique . The second one, “The Half
kiss” is the first AR artwork ever sold, the price was 19.99 pounds. “This is not a phone” is a
digital photo with an iPhone given an allusion to “This is not a Pipe” by René Magritte . And
where the viewer is seeing it through the camera a 2D image with a Swiss army knife appears. It
can be a comment of the real purpose of a smartphone and also the dualism of the idea that the
device is used to see a representation of itself. The fourth painting name is “Augmented Quote”
having just half of a text and seeing it through the device is completed in an ironical way. “Four
keywords lost in augmented reality” is presenting a virtual environment where just with the AR
the viewer can find the fourth key. The last artwork is “The hand of Moscow”, in the 2D digital
painting there is the Red Square of Moscow and a 3D hand is emerging from it as a
representation of the cold war.
Vladimir Geroimenko realized also augmented reality sculpture, one example is
“Enterprise Jigsaw”. It was created in 2011 and is in the United Kingdom, Plymouth in the City
Jigsaw Garden. The viewer can experience the sculpture tridimensionally all around and the
puzzles have such forms that can be read as an enterprise. (Geroimenko V. , 2018)
Another “classic” art that was introduced in augmented reality is graffiti. In its essence, it
can be a form of AR adding creative images onto the buildings. B . C. Biermann organized the
“Heavy Project” with original illustrative murals. Using Re+Pub lic AR application the viewer
can see the initial image modified being animated and is spreading all over the environment
moving into the tridimensional space. Biermann uses interactive works because the forms can
vary, the viewer having different exper iences each time and also some pieces can be seen in the
dark, being really hard for the majority of applications software to give such experiences. (Gwilt,
2018)

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Figure 11 “Heavy Projects , How & Nosm mural augment (2012). Full view [left], scr eenshot [right]” (Gwilt, 2018)

Shannon Novak suffers from synesthesia, he can feel and see colours and sounds where
they are not actually there. He uses real places and objects to overlay his AR works as he
perceives it in real life. He overlays animations with geometrical objects and colours over them
with music. “Manhattan Phrase” is one of his work were into an orange door he displays lines
and forms as a comment of history of music in that area. (Peddie, 2017)
Not only artist s can experiment with augmented reality doing digital graffiti. Now
everyone can use the app to draw on buildings. There are several applications that invite users to
do their own kind of work on different monuments and important building as a signature.
“Autography ” is one of them, unfortunately , it works just with the Cathedral from Florence but
it’s a fun way to leave a mark in a place you visit or you live. Eve ryone can see it and explore it .
(Kljun, Pucihar, & Coulton, 2018)

Artists :

John Craig Freeman

John Craig Freeman is an artist that uses technologies to influence individual’s lives and
communities. He is one of the founding members of Manifest.AR and has and showcased
artworks around the globe. (Freeman J. C.)

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“Things We Have L ost” i t’s a project based in Liverpool and Los Angeles created by
John Craig Freeman which introduces 3D objects with the help of GPS coordinates around the
city. He created a database after asking random par ticipants “What have you lost?” They were
connected to an EEG -reading brainwave sensor and the software detects their answer and then
the virtual object appears in front of them. You can see around the town different lost items or
concepts such as trains, empires, women’s rights, keys, boats, hello kitty stickers, the time, and a
dodo bird. This project is interesting because the answers are the most sincere possible with th e
help of the technology used. (Freeman J. C., EEG AR: Things We Have L ost)
“Frontera de Los Muertos ” is an AR piece showcasing every Mexican immigrant that
died trying to pass the border in Arizona. In each play where human remains were discovered, he
overlays digital skeletons to remind people how hard can be the proce ss of trying to pass on the
other side of the border. And Mexican people are still doing it wanting a better future for them
and their families. The user can download the app Junaio and it will give ex act locations through
the GPS. (Freeman & Ulmer, 2018)

Figure 12 “Border Memorial: Frontera de Los Muertos by John Craig Freeman, On the road to Ajo along Highway 86,
Arizona, 2013, Augmented reality public art ” (Freeman & Ulmer, 2018)
In West Belfast, the Catholic and Protestant communities were in conflict so this is why
they have “peace” lines which are actually walls that were first built in 1969 after the riots in
Northern Ireland. At first, they meant to be just temporary but they are still up. (McGrade, 2017)
John Craig Freeman tried to unite the communities through his nine AR works situated in
different locations along the line. “ The doorways are integrated into the physical locatio n as if

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they existed in the physical location. ” (Freeman J. , Peace Doors on The High Line, New York
City, 2011)
“Virtual Russia and Virtual China ” is a two -part project created in 2017 which is using
geolocation in Sankt Petersburg, Wuhan at National Historic in Massachusetts. The viewer can
see through a metaphorical portal and “teleport” themselves in China or Russia. They see
digitally just munda ne normal events. Freeman comments about his work: “ During its early
history, the Port of Salem conducted trade with both the Baltic and China. This history is
relevant today as the world struggles to reconcile the discord between globalization and the ris e
of nationalistic protection and isolationism. We tend to think of globalization as if it were
something new. ” (Freeman J. , 2017)
In the USA there is a big problem with gun regulations and with the school shootings.
There is an impressive number of incidents and deaths each year. (K-12 School Shootings
Database) J.C. Freeman did an AR artwork in front of the United States Capitol at Wa shington
D.C. “School Shooting eMorial”. In it, you can see the Sandy Hook School sign, 20 backpacks
representing the deceased students and 6 apples being the professors. As you approach the AR
you can hear the phone ringing as the parents started to call their children in panic without
knowing they were alrea dy dead. Public di scourse has been relocated to a virtual space that
encourages exploration of mobile location -based media in public. Moreover, public space is now
truly open, as artworks can be placed anywhere in the world, without prior permission from
government or private authorities —with profound implications for art in the public sphere and
the discourse that surrounds it. (School Shootings eMorial, 2013)
“Paseo Portal, Securing the Virtual Border ” was created for the ex hibition “ZERO1 ” at
the Paseo de San Antonio Plaza. Through it, the public can see people they would not normally
encounter on a daily basis. “ Paseo Portal, Securing the Virtual Border acts as an access point
where the public can immerse themselves in vir tual reality experiences documenting
gentrification, the housing shortage, and working class flight in the Bay Area generally, and
homelessness, displacement and migration globally. ” The portal is immersing the viewer into the
world of homelessness and pov erty. The viewer is having a meaningful experience as a
privileged citizen it can be shocking and eye -opening to encounter such digital augmented

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images especially that nowadays this is seen as normal. ( Paseo Portal, Securing Virtual Border,
2017)
Sander Veenhof

“The Patent A lert” is an application designed for HoloLens. It’s an anti -patent because
after it’s scanning the environment and by discovering an object usually is telling the user how to
avoid, how dangerous can be or not to use that object. This is a comment of all patents that
restrict individuality by blocking people to use for example devices and applications from
competitors. And instead of helping to broad en the freedom and imagination using technology,
sometimes it’s doing the opposite. The future can look very gloomy if this will continue to
influence our daily lives.
Sander Veenhof made a call internationally: “Whether you are in Australia, Asia, Europe
or the Americas, anyone in the (connected) world is invited to join a globally performed
synchronous dance on October 7th. A new genre of collective experience, now possible thanks to
mobile technology and augmented reality: a distributed flashmob, “dancing alone together”.
(Sterling, 2012) The artist through “Global Choreography ” is trying to influence users to move in
the physical space coordinated by a digital object. They are doing a choreographed flashmob
even though they are not together in real life by following the augmented cube with their phone
in the digital space. As a user , you could see how many people and from where are participating
being part of a bigger picture on the entire planet, but from the outside real world each individual
looked like they just are looking at their phone gradually turning around. This is a good example
of how augmented reality can influence the real world and people globally.

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Figure 13 “Global Choreography (Veenhof and Vogels 2012) ” (Veenhof, 2018)
“Cyborg Dating ” is a project created by Sander Veenhof, Paul Siegmann, Rosa Frabsnap,
Rudolf Burma and Paul Siegmann which allows the user to be a robot just for a moment. The
application needs to be played by two people, one of them is using the smartphone being from
the present and the other one is using a VR device being the cyborg from the future. They are
both imme rsed in a story communicating but one of them is being told what to do and where to
walk. After the person with the smartphone is asking a question, the other one is being told what
to say by the platform. In the middle of the game after they start to know each other, the users are
changing their roles each of them understanding what is happening.
Also, he created a digital augmented traffic light on the bike path with the idea if enough
people will know there is a digital traffic light, they will stop and wait for the green light. This
could be another example of how artists can influence humans with “invisible” objects which
just some have ac cess to them or know about it.
“The Quantified S elf” is another project that helps the user to concentrate. Using G oogle
Glass or HoloLens the technology is connected to the heart rate of the viewer detecting when is
not concentrating. The augmented reality shapes will appear as a reminder that they need to stay
present and focused. It is useful in lectures and meeting s and not only. (Veenhof, 2018)
Nathan Shafer

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“Borealis ” takes part from Manifest.AR being created by Nathan Shafer and Christopher
Manzione. With the huge problem of pollution, the aurora borealis is not possible to be perceived
with the naked eye like before in the dark months, especially in the city. So the co -creators made
a way to animate it so the user can see it where it supposed to be with the device using
geolocation.

Figure 14 “Boreali ses by Shafer and the Virtual Public Art Project ( 2011 ), digital/animated AR version of the northern
lights, displayed ” (Shafer, 2018)

“Non-Local ” is an AR project where the viewer is integrated into science -fiction short
digital stories that together form a bigger one. It’s using the Layar application in Seattle,
Anchorage and Skidegate and in New York , it’s working with Junaio. H ere it’s just one story
about two boys encountering an alien. (Shafer, 2018)

Mark Skwarek, Tamiko Thiel, Conor McGarrigle -AR in Activism

“When injustice becomes law, resistance b ecomes duty” by Thomas Jefferson (March)

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Activism is an old notion, the first dated protest was made in ancient Egypt when workers
just stopped any activity until they got paid . (Andrews, 2018) In France in the 19th century
started a movement which spread all over the world of occupying the streets. The mobility of
vehicles or lack of it was extremely valuable politically because of the consequences in the
economy. Back then was seen as something radical but from the 60s, it is a liberal practice. And
as society evolved, the tools used to prove a point got as sophisticated with the time. (Schnapp &
Tiews, 2006)
Augmented reality is an emerging technology which takes internet activism with its
physical and digital worlds combined. The artists can place their message anywhere in the world
and make different statements. Some of them started to use AR as an ins trument of social
change. “Technology will never be a fix -all solution to fight injustice, but it can aid activists to
help level the playing field against the corrupt elite.” (Skwarek, Augmented Reality and
Activism, 2018)
Everyone nowadays can make their own statement having access to free or low -cost
tools , spreading their message through their smartphones mobilizing thousands of people just
with a hashtag via social platforms -it is much more effective to be heard in a di gital world. And
now technology is expanding like never before even in developing countries, the majority of
people worldwide will have access to the internet via smartphones devices. (Leetaru, 2018)
This is why AR applications on mobile give the artists the ability to spread their
perspective because there is no border that separates the viewer from the art in this digital era.
AR doesn’t replace the reality, it is just another tool of expression starting conversations and it is
displayed in public spaces to engage people. (Schnapp & Tiews, 2006)
The AR artists are finding real -life objects (logos, images, advertisements) targeting
corporations and transforms them giving a new whole interpretation. One e xample of an artist
who wanted t o inform the population is Mark Skwarek's media artworks with the app
“arOCCUPY ” (2011). AR can make you see a lot of things that the naked eye alone can’t catch –
for example , the amount of money used as a bailout for Wall Street companies which created the
recession . (Reyes -García, Innocenti, & Zreik, 2016)

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Mark Skwarek is an artist and activist who works to make the gap between the virtual and
physical reality much tinier. He was one of the crea tors organizing “ManifestAR ”, “We AR in
MoMA ” and arOccupyWallStreet movements. (Mark Skwarek, Lecturer of Integrated Digital
Media)
The known protest Occupy Wall Street was forbidden to happened and closed by the
police on the main street, most of them being detained and treated by the FBI as terrorists. (Estes,
2012) Therefore the activists were forced to camp on Zuccotti Park. The AR helped the
movement to spread digitally even reaching the White Ho use. There were more than twenty -five
artists working together for the #arOWS and was organized by Mark Skwarek proving that a
protest can be present with the help of technology even though the government spent millions of
dollars through FBI and police to stop it. (Skwarek, #arOCCUPYWALLSTREET)
Their objective is to reveal the corruption behind the big corporations by giving an AR
message over their advertisement or logo. So the purpose is already met when the viewer can be
infor med with what is happening behind the scenes, this statement has the name of logo hacking.
Basically, the camera sees and recognize the trademark image and overlays the digital one. In
2010 was still legal this kind of use with AR but now a lot of laws hav e passed to regulate the
Augmented Reality experience with copyrighted images, logos, maps, sequences, patents etc.
(Gatto)
“Many culture jams are intended to expose apparently questionable political assumptions
behind the commer cial culture. Common tactics include re -figuring logos, fashion statements,
and product images as a means to challenge the idea of ‘what’s cool’ along with assumptions
about the personal freedoms of consumption” (Schnapp & Tiews, 200 6)
On April 20, 2010, after an explosion was the largest marine oil spill in history in the
Gulf of Mexico. (Pallardy, 2019) After this environmental disaster, a big reaction of the activist
happened, “The L eak in Your Home T own” was created by Mark Skwarek and Joseph Hocking
as a response against British Petroleum. In the AR image, you can experience on your
smartphone the 3D broken pipe over the logo of the oil company. It was the first activist work
made with a mobile app. “ Basically turning their own logo against them. This repurposing of
corporate icons will offer future artists and activists a powerful means of expression which will

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be easily accessible to the masses and at the same time will be safe and no ndestructive ”
(Skwarek, The leak in your hometown)

Figure 15 “Mark Skwarek and Joseph Hocking, the leak in your hometown , Augmented BP logo ” (2010) (Skwarek, 2018)

“The Separation Barrier ” is a wall which divides Palestine from Israel. People can’t pass
through easily, they need to go to different military checkpoints with official papers and usually
wait around o ver an hour or more. (Introduction, Th e Separation Barrier) The project made by
Mark Skwarek, Daz Chandler, and Ghassan H. Bannoura erase the barrier and the viewer can see
through it. Erase the Barrier used satellite maps images as documentation and produce 3D
models and for some locals, it was the first time when they saw what i s actually beyond the
barrier. (Skwarek, Erase Separation Barrier)
After the war and still ongoing rivalry between North and South Korea, Mark Skwarek
manages with the help of Augmented Reality to remove “weapons, checkpoints, fortifications,
barriers, walls, and all reminders of the ongoing con flict from the Korean landscape” at their
borders. This is a vision which shows a better alternative for the two countries, enforcing the
message of peace, by tempering with reality. (Skwarek, The Augmented Reality Korean
Unification Project, Uniting Korea with Augmented Reality)

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“NAMA ” (National Assets Management Agency ) is an Irish government agency created
after 2009 t hat bails Irish banks by removing property loans with the target of improving the
economy. This attempt failed and the banking system next year still collapsed. The agency kept
secret all the information from the public’s eye. Conor McGarrigle created his AR project taken
from an unofficial database, “NAMA Wine Lake” with all the information about NAMA’s
properties. The project tagged 120 locations of buildings in Dublin exposing for the viewer what
the government tried to shield. You can identify the place by seeing through the s creen the
Monopoly Man figure. (McGarrigle, NAMAland, 2018)

Figure 16 “NAMAland in operation on the iPhone, Conor McGarrigle ” (2010) (McGarrigle, 2018)
One interesting work is “Reign of Gold” by Tamiko Thiel where you can see golden
coins falling from the sky when you reach NYSE with your camera. This is a reference after
Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, two activists that entered NYSE and threw real money inside
the trader’s stock building. (Ledbetter, 2007) Comparing both protests we can say Reign of Gold
even though you need to be at that place to have the experience, it can be seen by thousands of
people, the second one was behind a closed door and only the brokers took part. (Thiel T . )
Another project from 2013 which is still growing by Tamiko in collaboration with Will
Pappenheimer using Manifest.AR application is “Boomers Skelters ”. It is created to put users at
ease by creating a natural environment around them. It is connect ed to a heart monitor and
depending on how the heart rate increases, the augmented fauna is started to grow around the

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user. You can see the town in a natural botanical environment. The users can choose between
natural fauna from that specific location or the exotic ones. The viewer sees the flowers growing
or appearing each time differently, having each time a unique experience each heartbeat
transforming the digital images constantly. (Pappenheimer & Thiel, 2013) The user bec omes a
participant having an indirect role in changing the digital universe. They stated in 2016: “ It is in
this sense that our work becomes an interventionist space for critical thought. Virtual
augmentation , therefore, is not utilized to enhance or commo dify objects or space, but rather to
reveal problematics of the public or institutional site and memory. The virtual artwork, integrated
into the actual Cartesian environment that claims a specific functional or ideological territory,
reveals what is other wise hidden, functioning not merely as a technological apparition but also as
an index of suppressed social objects or strata of allusion. ” (Wright R. , 2018)

Figure 17 “Player of Biomer Skelters , and her ‘biome’. Image courtesy of the artists, Virtuale Switzerland 2015 ” (Wright
R. , 2018)
“Gardens of the Anthropocene ” created in 2016 can be seen as an addition of the Biomer
Skelters project. He is using Layar and geol ocation to exhibit different types of animated plants.
They can either be attached to buildings or streets and even on the water in the ocean. They are
weird looking coming from a science -fiction movie and are inspired by plants which will resist
in our po lluted future. The plants are remembering the viewer if we are not th inking with the
nature this dystopian future is not so far away as we think. (Thiel T. , 2017)

37
Applications in the Art world

“Artivive” is an active application created by S ergiu Ardelean and Codin g Popescu in
2017 which sees augmented reality as the future for artistic manifestations. “ With Augmented
Reality, your canvas has the power to become a story. With Artivive your art has the power to
transform before the viewer 's eyes. It evolves, it warps, it reshapes itself as the moment of
expression evolves. You are no longer sharing a single moment of yourself. You are telling a
story. ” This platform is designated for ar tists who want to enhance the experience of their own
works and not only. The user can add three visual animated layers and six images and also
sound. It is user -friendly, you can use the chat for every problem you encounter. And the viewers
just need to d ownload the free application to experience the works and also to save it and to
share it in eight second s. (Ardelean & Popescu)
“SketchAR ” in a virtual reality application created by Andrey Drobitko and Alexander
Danilin which helps users to sketch tracing over 2D images including famous artworks. It has
step by step models where beginners can trace it after the phone into the real paper. A lso
different professional artists are using this app with Google Glasses and HoloLe ns to help them
innovate their works: Audrey Kawasaki, Demeski J, Natalia Rak, Spok Brillor and others. You
can search for different templates for beginners learning to draw or you can upload your own
image. (Drobitko & Danilin)
Nowadays artists and curators can create and organize their own exhibition seeing the
real space through their device in a 3D virtual form from their own home homes. The application
that makes this possible is “Taking the Artwork Home ”. The user can select each artwork and
arrange them in different ways and also name each of them as the exhibition. They can share it
and the viewers can zoom -in to see also the details of each artwork. (Kljun, Pucihar, & Coulton,
2018)
“TARX ” is an augmented reality application which contain s an archive with history
photographs given by the museums for the users. The app is using geolocation and the viewer
can interact by visualizing them over the actual place. Everyone can upload historical
photogr aphs into the platform to enrich it and also they need to add a description, the date and

38
the location. Besides the co -creating feature, the users can explore cities interactively and see the
past through augmented old photographs. It has a map where the v isitors can explore it, they can
download the photographs and the information about it and al so share it on social media. (Kljun,
Pucihar, & Coulton, 2018)
Another platform that maybe works the other way around is “Blippar ”. The augmented
reality application recognizes over 2 thousand landmarks on the entire planet. The user can reach
with their camera the unknown building and on the screen , it will appear the name and the
information about it. Because it’s using just image recog nition and not geolocation, you can use
it also in photographs to find what you are searching for. The CEO of Blippar, Ambarish Mitra
explains his perspective: “Everyone is focused on placing things on top of things with AR . But
computers need to really, s emantically, understand reality.” (Goode, 2018)
At the Mixed Reality Festival, Conrad Gleber and Gail Rubini created the application
“NEWzzzzz ”. It’s using geolocation and also recognition tool to overlay red propositions from
the newspapers of Alaska’s countryside. It’s a funny way to use random words taken out of
context and display them in a feed and locate them in different places. (Shafer, 2018)
Augmented reality entered also the world of fashion . With the help of holographic
hardware now people can imagine how they will look like in different outfits. “Haphazardme ” is
an application that uses the real-time scan to create digital forms and texture over the models.
The viewers can use HoloLens to s ee fashion shows. Also, it can be helpful for fashion designers
when they want to preview their work digitally to see if it works or not before buying all the
expensive materials. We can see a future where the artists can combine the real textures with the
digitalized ones and express themselves beyond the logic of physics. (Veenhof, 2017)

39
Figure 18 “Left: Hyperfabric, Marga Weimans in collaboration with Augment and Weimans (2013); right: Haphazardme
HoloLens app (Ensemble de Solution 2017) ” (Veenhof, Living and Acting in Augmented Words: How to Be Your Own
Robot?, 2018)

AR applications in industries

AR in applications and games is a growing business especially because technology
becomes more sophisticated. “Augmented reality is not only an exciting new technology but a
business opportunity with numerous applications. Beyond the world of gaming and the movie
industry, augmented reality is poised to become a t hriving stand -alone industry. “ (Key
Augmented Reality Statistics You Need to Know, 2017) We can see it everywhere in our daily
basis:

Mini AR experiences for everyone

Developers and artists are making filters that are accessible to everyone giving them an
immense exposure. “There are museums that incorporate digital art in the form of AR, but this is
the more accessible way for everyone to not just try those tons of au gmented reality mini
experiences, but a lso to share it through the application and even see it on the web . (Instagram
Filters Beautifully Combine Art and Tech, 2019)
Social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook use the AR for mobile
applications. There are some limitations that every AR applications still struggle with: lighting,
viewing angles and no dynamic lighting having problems with powerful sha dows. Face tracking
is well developed and has really good accuracy this is why it’s available on a lot of platforms.
From face swapping, gender or age change and make -up to 3D overlayed animations and face
morphings made by artists. (Altamirano., 2019)
This filters can get problematic when it comes to showcasing different stereotypes.
Meitu is an application that makes the user way cuter with lipstick, bigger eyes and whitened

40
placing him in a nicer environment. This applicati on even though has the intention to beautify it
is borderline racist but being a Chinese developed program it shows the sociological situation
between lower/middle -class and upper -class. (Litchy, 2018)
Going further over the fil ter-generated world, a lot of researchers believe the personal
wearable AR technology can have an immense potential in the industry. AR could satisfy the
user more naturally in the future for everyday use. Some apps could overlay reality with
messages, rem inders, and GPS guidance. It can be used in a lot of work context where you can
take notes and write with AR. For navigation, there are some prototypes that demonstrate it can
have a better result in drivin g having fewer GPS errors. T hey are just concepts and prototypes, it
will take time for the technology to evolve and to be used by the general population.
We can experience AR in different ways. The latest generation of the headset from
Microsoft is HoloLens were introduced this year in February. Faceboo k confirmed they are
making their own AR glasses. With the technology evolving we can see lens displays that could
work for AR. Screen devices are much more available for the users, with the use of an
application every mobile phone can be transformed into an augmented reality device. The LCD
walls combined with a camera can display an AR experience having bigger proportions.
Holograms using a pyramid are an effect that can revolutionise the augmented reality industry.
(Altamirano., 2 019)
After 1998 during American Football the viewer could see an augmented reality line on
the field which wa s delimitating the stadium. American football is not the only one utilizing AR,
the Fox -Trax system is widely known for hockey, swimming, rac ing games. Another example
for AR is ARQuake being a game where the player is fighting in real environments virtual
enemies. SkyInvaders is another mobile augmented reality game where online players try to
avoid real human runners . (Poelman & van Krevelen, 2010)
Pokemon Go being released in 2016 is a good example that the general population is
ready for AR in entertainment. As a user, you need to chase virtual pokemon characters in the
real world. It was a world -wide phenomenon being an almost a hypnagogic experience with
everyone trying to “catch them all”. (Altamirano., 2019)

41
This kind of application goes back in 2012 with Ingress, which developed by Google
where the users try to catch portals all o ver the important places (such as monuments, parks,
museums etc.). You can gain points by linking the portals together. This transmedia game makes
the users choose between being from the group of the “enlightened” or the “resistance” having a
big battle be tween them. When a user links two portals between them creates a field owning it
for the team. They have different augmented shapes and forms over the real map and the users
started to create designs which were representative for each group of individuals that might never
be met. Some examples are forms of flowers, a C hristmas tree, dinosaurs, and butterflies. Also
after the Boston marathon bombing, both teams decided to create a design n memorial for the
deceased policeman. (Margolis, 2018)

Figure 19 “Field Art created with Ingress. a Flower in Germany. b Christmas tree in London is over two miles long c
Butterfly in Heidelberg, Germany d Woodpecker in Germany” (Margolis , 2018)

The layer is an application that lets users geotag locations with texts, sounds, images and
others. It is an interactive way to share information and discover new ones. Initially, a locative
technology evolved also in a soft that recognize im ages and add the digital feed over it.

42
Vufo ria, on the other hand, is basically based on image tracking technology. And an
interesting thing is that the digital 3D augmented object is still present for the user to experience
it even though the camera is not pointing at the initial tracked target anymore. (Margolis, 2018)
AR evolved considerably since the beginning of the XXI century and it will still grow
exponentially in the next years principally in image recognition. And wit h this, all improvements
in software, cameras and improved devices, augmented reality will have new breathtaking
experiences for users. (Altamirano., 2019)

Architecture, Urbanism and Construction

Digital images used for arch itecture evolved in the past few years because of the
modelling image and visualization algorithms software. AR programs are overlaying 3D models
of buildings over the 2D urbanistic plan. The user can navigate both inside and outside the model
but still ha s some problems if it’s used on the actual site because of the recognition system where
it depends on the weather and lighting. (Arnaldi & Guitton, 2018)
In construction, there is a huge development in augmented reality devices that helps the
architects, engineers and workers. Just in the United Kingdom, there is allocated around 1.000
pounds just for developing AR technology in this field. A lot of compani es are using Building
Information Modeling to make 3D plans. After uploading them into the software the engineers
can see with a mobile, tablet device or glasses the full -scale model plan.
MLM Group is using Waking App to show the AR projects beyond the p lan creating 3D
models over the original from several to half an hours. The CEO of the application Matan Libin
explains: “ AR technology is providing clients with more control and understanding before the
first nail is ever hammered i nto their construction projects. ” Augmented reality application gives
the opportunity to visualize tridimensionally everything. SmartReality is another mobile
application which uses 3D models where it scans the plan and overlays the virtual design over it
and the user can see it all around.

43
The communication between the architect and construction workers becomes easier
because everyone can see exactly in real size how the structure needs to be made and the
measurements are extremely precise saving time and money. Everyone can ha ve access to the
platform in the team changing information about materials, layouts and equipment. AR can also
help for safety, some application showcase the construction workers how to prepare and check
for safety hazards in the real -life scale environmen t they will start to work. (Mileva, 2019)
AR can help architects also with the relationship with clients. It is really hard for
someone who doesn’t have a spatial vision or doesn’t know how to read a blueprint to
understand th eir future homes. So architects are using 3D models to showcase their designs and
AR can improve this relation and expands the client’s vision. They can walk around the empty
area and use their smartphones to adjust their building because they actually com prehend the
plan. Instead of trying to figure out how big is a room from numbers or a computer generated
modelling scale through a screen, they can experience it in real life. It can be an emotional
moment as well as seeing your future home for the first t ime before it was built. (Gallagher,
2018)

Figure 20 “Augmented Reality for Architects and Building Designers ” (Gallagher, 2018)

44
One problem with this technology can be the illumination. This element can influence the
integration and realism of the 3D object in the real world. A group of professors and students
from Spain research the technology which makes the augmented object to a dapt to the real
world’s lighting. From the 1990s until now there are some developments and research that try to
apply the lighting conditions from the outside world into the digital one. There are three lighting
techniques can improve the quality: adding the shadow from real to virtual, illumination mixing
the two realities, and shadows from the virtual to the real world. B esides the three simple
elements, depends on the intensity of lighting and shadows as the location of the source. Also, it
should be ta ken into consideration the reflection of some objects and the interactivity between
augmented objects and real sp aces. (Redondo, Fonseca, Sánchez, & Navarro, 2012)
At Virginia, Tech analysts develop a wearable AR technology. This exoskeleton AR can
help the workers to perform safely and efficiently. And by 2030 in this industry is expected the
builders to have machine suits and AR will be a part of it. The devices will help the constructers
see life -size plans, having more sa fety and can help everyth ing go smoothly without errors.
(Arnaldi & Guitton, 2018)

Education

“AR has strong potential to pr ovide both powerful contextual, on-site learnin g
experiences and serendipitous exploration and di scove ry of the connected nature of information
in the real world.” (Lee, 2012) Augmented Reality provides the necessity of the children to learn
in a playful way while engaging directly with different physical art efacts preserving it. The users
can interact with the applications in different ways. Here are some good examples of applications
that broke the old conventional educational system:
University of Northern Colorado AR developers, in educational games, the task is to make
the user engaged to learn to have a new approach and it is proven to be really useful even though
we are at the beginning of such endeavour. Augmented reality will soon influence all the
educational system like all new media technologies introducing new method s to make the
information comprehen sible. In our days 80% of students have smartphones, and the possibility

45
to use it augmented reality applications is a big opportunity. Students can be far more motivated
especially for the ones that understand better visually.
AR can render difficult objects that can be hard to visualize by the student and translate
the theory, especially in mathematics, into images. In Canada, there is an augmented reality wall
in a gym class where the kids can hit the forms with the ball making the physical activity fun.
Also in Portugal uses AR for the Polytechnic Institute and the students find the app useful and
easy. The application Google Translate also has an augmented reality mode where you can use it
live to translate foreign languages overlaying the text exactly over the original one. It is perfect
for self -education and also for tourists. (Augmented Reality in Education)
“AugThat ” founded by Adam Newman is an application that has 360 -degree
environm ents with lessons and their mission is to engage the student with the technological
experience. Instead of trying to memorize the subject, they can firstly visualize it in an
interactive way having videos, images and text. Students can scan interactive she ets or images
and it will reveal digitally videos and explanations. (Gupta, 2015)
“Elements 4D ” is a free application that helps the user, especially middle school students,
to understand chemistry. They learn about the properties of the elements by combining them
together into a 3D cube and when they touch each other start to react as in real life. They can
also click on each element to learn more about it. The same developer, Daqri has another app
named “Anatomy 4D ” which help students to see the augmented human bodies and organs. You
just need to reach the 2D sheet with the camera and the applicat ion will overlay 3D animated
elements from the human body, also you can choose between learning just about the organs,
skeleton or muscles. (Shayna, 2019)
“Gulliver’s World ” is a multi -user interactive mixed reality game having a multilevel
structure and people of all ages can play in this 3D augmented universe. In it you can choose
between digital film production, theatre and you can be either a spectator, an actor, director,
stage designer or director. “Environmental Detectives ” and “Mystery at the Museum ” are two
educational interactive augmented reality games having stories, activities, giving roles engaging
children into learning without even knowing it. (Poelman & van Krevelen, 2010)

46
“Mystery at the Museum ” is an AR game created by MIT Teacher Education Program. In
this game, you can be a technologist, a biologist or a detective and you will work with your
teammates to solve crimes. There are different ways to elucidate the mystery, such as adding the
clues together, analyze samples having virtual instruments and interview virtual characters. It’s
an interactive digital game where you can learn about the museum and how detectives proceed in
the real world. (Mystery at the Muse um)
“Environmental Detective ” is a multi -player augmented reality simulation game where
the teachers can instruct the designers to develop it for a specific location and the students to
investigate it with the purpose to learn about it. Being customiz able the situations can vary from
class to class emulating the needs for each field. The students need to gather data to see potential
environmental problems given by the game. (Klopfer, 2007)
Playing with the artwork is an au gmented reality game that engages children to learn
while they use their creative side. Usually, during school trips, they are given dull homework and
they can’t actually enjoy the artefacts. This application is given to children different puzzles
from art works that they need to complete into the real works. Another feature is to colo ur the
black and white pieces and after they also need to find which buildings, sculptures or painting is
from. If the colo ur doesn’t match with the work the app gives more inf ormation about the work
they are searching for. After they identify it the application starts to give information in a text
or/and audio about the artwork. And also in the device , the kid can see how i t blended into the
piece giving a feeling of reward. In the end, it can give interactive quizzes where the students are
more engaged to learn in a playful dynamic way. (Kljun, Pucihar, & Coulton, 2018)

Figure 21 “Playing with the artwork: user colours a given contour. After finding the corresponding artwork the patches
from the contour wrap onto it creating a unique personalised version of the artwork” (Kljun, Pucihar, & Coulton, 2018)

47
Nathan Shafer created augmented “Inuksuit Project ” in 2012 in Alaska. It’s an educative
AR project where the kids use 3D legos to build different forms such as an igloo. The kids
worked together to create a new form from inuksuk which represents landmarks made by the
Inuits in the past. (Shafer, 2018)
“Construct3D ” is an efficient application for geometry and mathematics in general and
can help future engineers to comprehend this world. The developers try to maximize the abilities
to comprehend through a platform that is easy to learn to improve spatial skills. It’s much more
user-friendly than an architecture/construction application. And the spatial skills learning tool
includes five distinctive categories: spatial visualization, spatial relations, spatial orientation,
spatial perception and spatial rotation. Now t he student can see a tridimensional object instead of
imagining and calculate it on a 2D platform. The application has the possibility to take
measurements, a multitude of geometrical 3D forms and also 2D ones. (Kaufmann H. , 2008)
ARvisceral
My dissertation project is ARvisceral, a series of five illustrations which are
augmented by 3D and 2D animations. Each of them has its own story, but all of them are coming
from the same digital world. In the middle of it it’s always an a vatar mostly creating the events.
I wanted to express the subconscious because it is linked to another “universe”, full of
surrealist and incoherent dreams and thoughts. The digital world can somehow be linked to it
because it’s different from the physical one. I choose this title, “visceral” because of the kind of
process I did to create my works. It was rather simple for me from a young age to draw or to
write, entering a zone where I wasn’t thinking when the next line or word will be. Every time
when I d id that I produced works, and exactly as dreams, it took me several weeks to actually
decipher them myself. The zone is the state of mind for the brain which manifests exactly as
mediation by practising yoga or tai -chi. The brain is maximizing the concentr ation over the
movements and it’s not thinking about other things such as the past or future, just about every
glimpse at a time.
For my dissertation work, I knew because of the technique that it would be much more
difficult to fully enter that zone on the entire process. So I choose only the first steps to be
produced in such manner, and the rest to be as an interpretation “explaining” the product in a

48
minimalistic way. The first step was moulding and manipulating the 3D avatar in Maya. I call it
as my ava tar because unintentionally I choose a blue translucent gleaming woman to represent
my unconscious. The only representation of the “real” me was in the first work “Eraser me,
baby” which is actually another moulded old character but it is quickly erased as a process of
cleansing the mind for the next works. In the 3D world from Maya, the avatar is experiencing
different encounters with forces which can simulate physics but usually, they are being ignored.
The character has all the power to erase, destroy, c reate and float but it’s also absorbed by the
elements around it.
In the next step I used Photoshop and After Effects, seeing the actions of the rendered
character, I constructed an environment which would be perfect for the manifested action. I
choose bri ght popping colours because I envisioned the digital universe having a totally different
full scheme and also I was inspired by glitch art and cyberpunk’s colours. I also manipulated the
2D layers to be integrated into the frame, just the 3D ones escaping it into the world.
The third step, after finishing all the layers which are separated one from another, is to
create the illustration which will be printed and recognize by the software. This step is the most
analytical because it is part of the physical w orld. I choose to sum up the beginning of the
experiences giving clues of where the augmented videos will go. At the same time, the
illustration can stand alone as works which can tell a story without the augmentation.
The final step, after editing the vid eos in Premiere Pro and After Effects, is the
integration in the application. I used Artivive which is perfect for artists, and it has an option for
3D where I could upload a maximum of 3 videos and 6 images. Because of the limitation, I
always take in min d which elements are important to be seen in movement besides the 3D
objects. Because in this universe there is also vibration translated into sound, I also used foleys
and ambient editing them in Audition to immerse the viewer more into the augmented work s.

49

Figure 22 “Eraser me, baby” (author’s collection)
The illustrations are categorized in two moods, referring strictly to the content reflecting
dualism in the avatar: destructive, tranquil, and one aftermath. From the first category are two
short and impulsive works where the avatar is creating the destruction. In ”Eraser me, baby”
(Fig. 22) the two av atars translated in moods are destroying by erasing the real character with
two lasers coming from their heads. One of them is conscious of what is happening: to inflict the
destruction intentionally and the other is almost harmless , having a child -like ch aracter and
actually smiling when she sees the aftermath. It is like now they have all the liberty to manifest
themselves in their true forms without having the consciousness limiting them. In the
background, the brushes which remind the viewer of the old physic painting techniques are
distorted into liquid lines until they almost disappear.
The second destructive work is “01110011 01101111 00100000 01110011 01100001
01100100” (fig. 23) which is translated from binary in to “so sad”. In the work, binary writ ing
starts to appear like someone is controlling every aspect of the avatar through programming it. In
a way this is true, the viewer is reminded that the work is created by bytes with technological
languages. The character now is having its own digital au ra translated in a circle giving a divine
connotation. It’s choosing to destroy the object appearing in front of her, a heart -crushing it in
thousands of glass shards.

50

Figure 23 “01110011 01101111 00100000 01110011 01100001 0 1100100” (author’s collection)
A tranquil work is “Cocoon” (fig. 24) having the other side of the avatar living and trying
to repair the glass shards in the multi -colour environment. It is floating into space in the core of
the event, the DNA in the background actually representing the symbol of infinite being one of
the only self -replicating material. It can be seen as a continuity of the events; even though they
are not meant to be seen as a chronological series with a story . Each of them has its own
narrative , being from parallel dimensions . Cocoon paradoxically has the most dynamic
composition complementing the actions.

Figure 24 “Cocoon” (au thor’s collection)
The second one is “Creator” (fig. 25). She is not only destroying and repairing , but also
she’s actually the creator of the world she is living in , making the avatar much more complex.
Levitating is making spherical particles to appear a nd then slowly disappear, having the
character istics of a child , she’s surprised to see her own making. Also , the three elements which

51
the avatar is always controlling , are surrounding and going through her ephemeral translucent
body without a problem.

Figure 25 “Creator” (author’s collection)
The cen ter-piece is “Cotton Candy” (Fig. 26). Here it is the only action wh ere the
character is not in control . She is running from the cotton ball which ends up swallowing her.
The composi tion I made from a circle does not need any other element in the background. In the
augmented background , the viewer can see a space -like environment and stars floating appearing
and disappearing. The user is having a clue of how reality is coming back , swallowing the digital
augmented avatar through a cotton -swirl -candy ball. In the print ed media , I added the “ghosts”
from the avatar’s past and future actions. She is transformed into one of the background yellow
stars, being a small particle in an entire universe , like all of us.

Figure 26 “Cotton Candy” (author’s collection)

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Conclusio n

With the technology evolving and the software becoming increasingly sophisticated, new
forms of digital realities emerge. Augmented reality implants digital objects into the physical
world and the users can experience it without leaving it as in virtual reality. AR is not just an
innovative element in the creative field, but it can be the precursor of an eme rging amalgam of
realities in the art world. (Geroimenko V. , 2018) The technology is constantly evolving , but to
be defined as an augmented reality it needs some disti nct components: To use tracking on the 2D
or 3D image , or/and place it in a location from the real physical world and to be registered in the
virtual one , activating the visualization into a device used by humans . (Azuma, 1997)
The Artivive application is having a maximum level of eng agement of consumption ,
because the content is not predefined and can be changed by the users , giving the opportunity to
showcase their own works and display them publicly. The gesturing of the application I used is
planar becaus e it’s working on printed media. T he software is using image recognition and the
digital animations can be displayed into the tridimensional physical space.
In my project , “ARvisceral ”, the viewers are using the intermediary apparatus to see the
augmented printed illustrations. Th e interaction is happening inside the frame of the device in the
virtual space. T he AR software from the Artivive application is recognizing the image and is
activating the animated visuals. People attending the exhibition are performative observers ,
where they can only move the camera to discover the work from different angles and
perspectives in the physical space .
The project emulate s truthfulness coming from the process of achieving a mental state
similar to meditation . This is “reincarnated ” in an avatar , with a complex and counterintuitive
personality, and its actions in a tridimensional world. The result is translated in to five distinct
illustrations: “Co coon”, “01110011 01101111 00100000 01110011 01100001 01100100” ,
“Cotton Candy”, “Eraser me, baby” and “Creator”. “ARvisceral ” is using a classic context such
as a vernissage with printed illustration s, to display a digital ly augmented world by adding
computer -generated images over the environment.

53
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