AR
There are a number of things that struck me when looking over the brief for Augmented Reality. The first few minutes were focused on game and movie references; Portal, Mass Effect, Avatar, Wall-E, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within being just a few to mention.
From that, I considered how my local environment would be affected by some kind of augmentation – be it high tech digital equipment like the advertisement “boards” in Wall-E, or the use of sound in space as found in Valve’s Portal (I’m talking about Glados).
Both of these ideas work, however, the cost of physical implementation is beyond me, and possibly beyond most people. So whatever idea I settle on will have to be a visualisation of it, as opposed to real live documentation.
Note how both of my ideas so far centre on augmenting the space around myself and others. It is a more generalised concept that I am working with at the moment, one that can be in some ways considered less invasive – less strictured to one person having the experience. This works from the basis that despite living in an age of technology, many people remain unaware of the capabilities of their computers, or restrict themselves from technology at all. Grandparents especially, since they have seen the rise of computers from what could be considered the start right up until this current point in time. At least, my grandparents seem to have been/are afraid of computers, saying that they are machines that are confusing and too complicated. Much like the oft repeated mantra of schools today, inclusivity is a core element here. Going to @Bristol and seeing kids and their parents play with each other games of virtual volleyball is an example of such. There is a lot of amazing technology out there and available to us, but a lot of it is restricting to a separated personal level. The consideration given to interactivity on two levels, of the individual to the technology and the interactivity between the individual and other individuals – actively so – is something that I’m sure has given things like the Nintendo Wii such popularity. It is by following an idea such as this that I think I can create a successful concept for the Augmented Reality Brief.
Environmentally speaking, though I consider the city where I live to be a generally bleak and grey cityscape, and that a splash of colour or the addition of a more modern design would be a benefit, I wonder if the idea of designing something of a more high tech standard to introduce into the space would actually augment it truly, or prove to strengthen the contrast between the more updated elements of the city; the Mall and the Plaza, for instance, are things that can be stated as “new” and “shiny”, whereas the rest of the CBD (Central Business District) provides a definite visual contradistinction, as a greyer and less distinct component of the environment. If this were to be the case, I feel that creating some kind of augmented reality may…
Since this is post is pretty much a thought process in action, I’ve just thought about an “augmented” photo project I could delve into, bringing the concepts of both the high tech and wealthier environments to the the low tech and poorer environments. Anyway, continuing on.
… be of detriment to the space, as opposed to adding positively. From a personal point of view, this would be unethical, as the equivalent expense of that project would likely have been better spent on improving the environment of the area in which it is placed first, raising the whole standard.
Nevertheless, for the purposes of this brief I wish to create an augmentation, designed for use within the CBD. Quite simply, my initial thoughts are based off of the adverts that you find in Wall-E – however, drawing inspiration from animated street art, to create a visual that appears more aware to its environment. Much like in Module 106 as well, the idea of creating something that can be responsive to the space directly around it, like weather and temperature.
To then be combined with the ideas of something like this;
