AUGMENTED REALITY ART from an emerging technology to a novel creative.

407 Pages·2022·17.522 MB·English

Springer Series on Cultural Computing
Vladimir Geroimenko Editor
Augmented
Reality Art
From an Emerging Technology to
a Novel Creative Medium
Third Edition
Springer Series on Cultural Computing
FoundingEditor
ErnestEdmonds
SeriesEditor
CraigVear,DeMontfortUniversity,Leicester,UK
EditorialBoard
PaulBrown,UniversityofSussex,Brighton,UK
NickBryan-Kinns,QueenMaryUniversityofLondon,London,UK
DavidEngland,LiverpoolJohnMooresUniversity,Liverpool,UK
SamFerguson,UniversityofTechnology,Sydney,Australia
Bronac˙ Ferran,Birkbeck,UniversityofLondon,London,UK
AndrewHugill,UniversityofLeicester,Leicester,UK
NicholasLambert,Ravensbourne,London,UK
JonasLowgren,LinköpingUniversity,Malmo,Sweden
EllenYi-LuenDo ,UniversityofColoradoBoulder,Boulder,CO,USA
SeanClark,DeMontfortUniversity,Leicester,UK
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttps://link.springer.com/bookseries/10481
Vladimir Geroimenko
Editor
Augmented Reality Art
From an Emerging Technology to a Novel
Creative Medium
Third Edition
Editor
VladimirGeroimenko
FacultyofInformaticsandComputerScience
TheBritishUniversityinEgypt(BUE)
SheroukCity,Cairo,Egypt
ISSN 2195-9056 ISSN 2195-9064 (electronic)
SpringerSeriesonCulturalComputing
ISBN 978-3-030-96862-5 ISBN 978-3-030-96863-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96863-2
1stedition:©SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2014
2ndedition:©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2018
3rdedition:©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2022
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Thispioneeringbookisdedicatedtothe
futuregenerationsofaugmentedreality
artists.
InthememoryofMr.MohamedFarid
Khamis(1940–2020), thefounderofthe
BritishUniversityinEgypt.
Preface
Thebookyouareholdinginyourhandsinapaper,ormorelikelydigital,formatis
auniqueone.Thisisthethirdeditionofthefirstevermonographthatexploresthe
excitingfieldofaugmentedrealityartanditsenablingtechnologies.Itiswrittenby
a team of world-leading artists and researchers, pioneers in the use of augmented
realityasanovelartisticmedium,andisbeingdedicatedtothefuturegenerations
ofaugmentedrealityartists.
This book explores a wide range of major aspects of augmented reality art and
related technologies. It is intended to be a starting point and essential reading not
only for artists, researchers and technology developers, but also for students and
everyonewhoisinterestedinemergingaugmentedrealitytechnologyanditscurrent
andfutureapplicationsinart.
It was difficult to make this book happen, because augmented reality art is still
initsinfancy,andtherearethereforerelativelyfewresearchmaterialsavailable.We
oweadebttoourcontributorswhohavemanagedtoproducethismonographinthe
faceofthesedifficulties.Ourvirtualteamincludes33researchersandartistsfrom11
countries(Australia,China,Egypt,Germany,Ireland,Norway,Portugal,Romania,
Slovenia,UKandUSA).
Theneweditioncanbeconsideredaspartofaseriesofsevenpioneeringmono-
graphspublishedbySpringeronthesamesubjectofaugmentedrealityandwiththe
sameeditor:
1. Augmented Reality Art: From an Emerging Technology to a Novel Creative
Medium.GeroimenkoV(Ed),Springer,2014
2. Augmented Reality Art: From an Emerging Technology to a Novel Creative
Medium. Geroimenko V (Ed), 2nd Edition, Revised and Updated, Springer,
2018
3. AugmentedRealityGamesI:UnderstandingthePhenomenonofPokémonGO.
GeroimenkoV(Ed),Springer,2019
4. Augmented Reality Games II: The Gamification of Education, Medicine and
Art.GeroimenkoV(Ed),Springer,2019
vii
viii Preface
5. AugmentedRealityinEducation:ANewTechnologyforTeachingandLearning.
GeroimenkoV(Ed),Springer,2020
6. AugmentedRealityinTourism,MuseumsandHeritage:ANewTechnologyto
InformandEntertain.GeroimenkoV(Ed),Springer,2021
7. Augmented Reality Art: From an Emerging Technology to a Novel Creative
Medium. Geroimenko V (Ed), 3rd Edition, Revised and Updated, Springer,
2022
Thebook’s21chapters,whichcanbereadinsequenceorrandomly,arearranged
in4partsasfollows.
Part I “The Theoretical Aspects of Augmented Reality Art and Technology”
includes5chapters(Chaps.1–5).
Chapter1“ARTforArtRevisited:AnalysingTechnologyAdoptionThroughAR
Taxonomy for Art and Cultural Heritage” states that understanding how effective
technologyadoptionisandhowwellopportunitiescreatedbyadvancesintechnology
areutilizedisvitalforsupportingadoptionanddevelopmentoftechnology.Tothis
end the authors propose an activity-based taxonomy method designed to produce
technology adoption insights. The method is applied on adoption of augmented
reality(AR)technologyinthecontextofartandculturalheritage.Throughthisthe
authors build an AR taxonomy for art and cultural heritage which they then used
toclassify119ARapplicationsinthisdomain.Theresultsofclassificationprovide
meaningfulinsightintotechnologyadoption,andhowitchangedcomparedtoreports
inthepreviouseditionofthisbook.Tonameafew:(i)generallackofsupportfor
communication and personalization activities persist; (ii) the quality of adoption
remainsbelowsatisfyinglevel,yetsomeimprovementshavebeenmadewithinthe
pastfewyears;(iii)despitelimitedimmersioncapacity,handheldARsystemspersist
tobethemostcommonlyusedsystems;and(iv)irrespectiveofdifficultandcostly
setups a substantial proportion of classified systems represent spatial AR systems;
yetthisratiorecentlydroppedduetothehigheradoptionofhead-mounteddisplay
systems,whichislargelylimitedtotheresearchdomain.
Chapter2“MakingSenseofARt:AMethodologicalFrameworkfortheStudyof
AugmentedRealityArt”(anewchapterinthisedition)beginswithanassertionthat
overadecade,artistsandcreatorshaveleveragedaugmentedrealitytechnologyto
protestandreimaginetheirphysicalworldsthroughsociallyandpoliticallyengaged
augmented reality art (ARt). This critical corpus of works is an important, though
underexplored,dimensionoftheARtisticcanon,andofthegenealogyofaugmented
realitytechnology.Tofacilitatedeeperethnographicengagementwithtoday’scritical
ARtpractices,thischapteraddressesamethodologicalgapinthedigitalethnogra-
pher’s toolkit by providing a medium-specific approach to the study of ARt. With
thisframework,termed“criticalsensoryethnography”,thischapterdemonstratesthat
embodied,immersiveexperienceisasociallyandpoliticallysalientphenomenonthat
necessitatesongoing,criticalstudy.Toillustratethisapproach,thechapterconcludes
withacasestudyfeaturinganARmemorialtoGeorgeFloydcreatedbyAmerican
artistStevenChristianinsupportoftheBlackLivesMattermovement.
Preface ix
Chapter3“WhyWeMightAugmentReality:Art’sRoleintheDevelopmentof
Cognition”isbasedonanassumptionthatartservesaneurologicalrole,shapedby
evolution.Art,notasathingthatis,butasafunctionthatoccurs,whichtheauthor
callsBehaviouralArt(BA).AnimportantaspectofBAis“borrowingintelligence”
fromahumanlyorganizedsource,suchasapainting,appliedtoacomputerprocess.
The resulting artefact of this auto-creative process might easily be mistaken for
an object de (computer) art. But the author looks further into the larger dynamic
system,onethatincludestheaudienceaswell.Ashediscusses,themachineitselfis
incapableofmeaningfulorganization(i.e.,alphabeticalorderisanarbitraryscheme
to a machine.) A human (often the programmer) must supply the organizational
paradigmtotheinput,andahumanmustrecognizeoneintheoutput.However,by
integratingresourcesfromtheenvironmentviamachine,aprocesswecannowcall
augmentedreality.Wemightimbuewhateverqualitytriggeredaninterpretationof
“potentially meaningful” in audience members regarding the off-screen image, to
our computed output. In this chapter, the author addresses how and why humans
tendtoemploythissubtleparticularformofnonverbalexpression.
Chapter 4 “Shifting Perceptions—Shifting Realities—Shifting Spheres” (a new
chapterinthisedition)showcasesajourneyofcreativeexpressionusingaugmented
realityasexperientialcommentaryonsocio-economicconditions.TheARjourney
beginsonearthandtakestheartisttothemoon.Ononehand,ontheearth,anARheart
islocatedatalocalparkduringOccupy,aninternationalprogressivesocio-political
movement.TheubietyoftheARartprovokedanintimateencounterwithalocalpark
patronthatillustratesthemultiplicityofrealitiesrelatedtotechnology,environment,
poetryandsocio-economiccircumstances.Thechapterexpandsonamomentwhen
theartworkprovokesadialogueandbecomessocialtheatreinBloomington,atown
in Indiana USA. “heARt to heARt”, the AR art is a pointer to a personal cultural
historyandextendsarevolutionary’sportraitintotheworldwhichinturncreatesa
poeticencounterduringthesocio-economicstormoftheOccupymovement.ARart
wasexperiencedincitiesallovertheworldfromNewYorktoitsperilousappearance
inShanghai,China.Andontheotherhand,onthemoon,the“SeedRobots”plan,
organizeandbuildaperson’slunarcomfortzoneintheMoonLustexhibitionthat
exploresglobalinterestsandissuespertainingtolunarexplorationandhabitation.
Chapter5“AugmentedReality,theExpansiveObject,andtheVivificationofthe
MemoryTheatre:FieldNotes”(anewchapterinthisedition)considersaugmented
reality as an Instant semiotic which begins to problematize, explore, and enlarge
theconnectionsbetweenpeople,systemsandthings.Thediscussedartworksarea
reified memory theatre, a destabilizing mélange of subjectivities loosely hung on
the framework of the works’ object-ness. These are portals, parasites and libraries
ofimaginationandthought.Defining“object”and“augmentedreality”impliesthat
ARrepresentstheconsolidationofaworldinwhicheachlocation,target,objector
sceneistaggedortransformedintoalink.Thisnewtechnologyisatool,atechnique
and an interaction but also liberally reflects inquiries of other fields. We see the
musingsofspeculativerealismandarenewedfocusonthereifiedobjectinaugmented
reality.Andyet,thenotionofamemorytheatreormemorycode,anancienttoolof
humancognition,mightbethemostexplicitmetaphorforaugmentedreality.Thenew
x Preface
technology updates thememory theatreas anextreme spatialization ofknowledge
and experience mapped upon location through digitization. This chapter provides
thefieldnotesoftheuseofaugmentedrealityintwoexhibitions,ClownTown(2016)
andSyntheticCells:Siteand(Para)Site(2018).
Part II “Augmented Reality Art and a Variety of Spaces” comprises 6 chapters
(Chaps.6–11).
Chapter 6 “Critical Interventions into Canonical Spaces: Augmented Reality at
the2011VeniceandIstanbulBiennials”describesaugmentedrealityinterventions
led by the author Tamiko Thiel in 2011 with the artist group Manifest.AR at the
VeniceBiennale,andincollaborationwiththedesignofficePATTUattheIstanbul
Biennale. The interventions used the emerging technology of mobile augmented
reality to geolocate virtual artworks—visible for viewers in the displays of their
smartphonesasoverlaysonthelivecameraviewoftheirsurroundings—insidethe
normally curatorially closed spaces of the exhibitions via GPS coordinates. Our
interventions used the site-specific character of the technology to create works of
artthatstandindialoguewiththesitesandwillretaintheirrelevancelongafterthe
biennialsareover.Thesitefiguresasthecanvasfortheartworksandformsanintegral
visualandcontextualcomponentofeachartwork.Unlikephysicalartinterventions,
theartworkscannotberemovedorblockedbythecuratorsorotherauthoritiesand
willremainatthoselocationsaslongastheartistdesires.Theartworksexploitthe
site-specificityasanintegralpartoftheartworkwhilesimultaneouslyquestioningthe
valueoflocationtocanonizeworksofart,andthepowerofthecuratorasgatekeeper
to control access to the spaces that consecrate works of art as part of the high art
canon.
Chapter7“MergingSpaces:AugmentedReality,TemporaryPublicArt,andthe
ReinventionofSite”(anewchapterinthisedition)exploreshowaugmentedreality
hasredefinedtemporary,site-specificpublicart,expandingthefieldbyintroducing
new practices, and offering possibilities for public engagement that did not exist
before. The chapter investigates temporary and site-specific public art before AR
technology, then looks at Broadway Augmented—an innovative early augmented
realitypublicartprojectlocatedinSacramento,California—andfinisheswithrecent
projectsthatexemplifyhowthefieldhasexpanded.DevelopmentsinARtechnolo-
gies, mobile devices and ubiquitous networks have meant that augmented reality
artcanhaveanimmediatepublicpresence,respondingtosocial,environmentaland
culturalissuesasthey areunfolding, making ittheideal formofpublic artforthe
twenty-firstcentury.
Chapter 8 “Data Narratives: Aesthetic Activation of Urban Space Through
Augmented Reality” (a new chapter in this edition) discusses Data Narratives, a
commissionedaugmentedrealityartworkresultingfromaperiodasartistinresidence
withDublinCityDashboard.DataNarrativesfocusedonworkingwithcitydatato
createhybridartisticrepresentationsofDublin’songoinghousingaffordabilitycrisis,
actingbothasactivistartisticengagementwiththesocio-political-economicspace
of the city and aesthetic activation of urban space through augmented reality. As
datadescribesanddefinessomuchofourdigitaleveryday,theprojectandresidency
programmeaskedhowitcouldbeleveragedasamediumforartisticcreationandhow