Augmented Reality Activism
Some might say that Augmented Reality is not real. However, having the opportunity to be a player in our own reality, do we actually care what really is real?
When new technologies arrive on the scene their benefits are sometimes not immediately recognisable. And perhaps, more often than not, it’s the creative world that finds alternative ways of using them. In the article below, the designer and researcher Paulina Kowalska discusses the relationship between AR and activism using the examples of Occupy Wall Street and the 2010 BP oil disaster.
But when activism is involved we must always question the sustained impact these new technologies have. Are they the answer in and off themselves or do they have to exist as augmentations to more analogue approaches?
The technologist and writer Adam Greenfield in his book Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life, has this to say:
If nothing else, reality is the one platform we all share, a ground we can start from in undertaking the arduous and never-comfortable process of determining what else we might agree upon. To replace this shared space with the million splintered and mutually inconsistant realities of individual augmentation is to give up on the whole pretense that we in any way occupy the same world, and therefore strikes me as being deeply inimical to the broader urban project. A city where the physical environment has ceased to function as a common reference frame is, at the very least, terribly inhospitable soil for democracy, solidarity or simple fellow-feeling,
Whether or not you agree with Paulina or Adam, AR is here to stay. So dive in, read, and become part of the debate.
Political and social changes have repeatedly resulted in societies protesting against them. Activism can take various forms: creating posters, writing letters to newspapers or politicians, social or political campaigns, demonstrations, or strikes. People often create transparents with powerful slogans that present their concerns and demands. New technology is a great tool in the hands of masses in terms of activism. Nowadays, in order to experience Augmented Reality, we only need a smartphone. The number of smartphone users worldwide amounted to 3 billion in 2018 and is said to reach 3.8 billion in 2021. Therefore, it is a powerful tool that can impact the effectiveness of activist movements.
In September 2011, a protest movement named Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was created in New York City. The main issues raised by this movement were economic and social inequality, corruption, and political influence on government. Is started in Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street financial district, as protesters were unable to enter anywhere near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Wall Street area. The protesters camped and lived in the Zuccotti Park, which was possible due to good organization and many donations of food and other necessities. As the OWS was unable to protest in the Wall Street area, the movement transformed into #arOCCUPYWALLSTREET (#arOWS ), and it was the first mass protest to use Augmented Reality and give voice to the global community. Over 25 artist from around the world took part in creating 400 augmentations.
#arOWS was created by Mark Skwarek. He is an artist whose work is largely based on activism and Augmented Reality. His goal was to get more people to participate in the OWS movement, even those who lived far away and weren’t able to join the camp physically. That is why Skwarek created the ProtestAR app, which used pictures and audio of protesters at Zuccotti Park and placed them in front of the NYSE . Protesters would go to the forbidden zone and show the augmentations on tablets and phones to the public. This way, they had the opportunity to be seen and heard at the specified target place.
In 2010, a British Petroleum oil pipe broke in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, around 3.19 million barrels of oil had leaked into the ocean. This event is considered the worst oil spill in U.S. history. In response to this Mark Skwarek and Joseph Hocking created an app called “The leak in your home town,” which resemebled the BP logo and overlaid it with a 3D image of a broken pipe and oil spilling from it. This app was the first activist work that used mobile AR. Both apps mentioned above show that AR can be a crucial tool when fighting for social or political change. Especially today, when technology is far more developed and accessible. The #arOWS movement shows how easy it was to deliver the message at Wall Street’s doorstep using Augmented Reality. Even though the police and FBI controlled the area, AR made it possible to overcome surveillance and patrols. The leak in your hometown app is considered as “logo hacking,” even though at the time there were no laws concerning this kind of actions. Nevertheless, the trademarked logo was used without the owner’s permission. The app conveyed a powerful message every time a smartphone was pointed at the yellow, green, and white sun logo.
Activism focuses on spreading an important message (and fighting for it), and AR is definitely a tool to do it. Augmented Reality quickly engages people and lets them see what cannot be seen with the eye itself. Mobile AR allows activists to convey an important message using just a computer and Internet connection to create an app. Augmented Reality reveals the unseen and can be used to influence social or political changes. Given the simplicity of launching an AR app and how it can quickly “go viral” on the Internet, spreading the word around the world seems easier than ever. It’s a way of showing ideas and demands using virtuality, and thus having easier access to large groups of people no matter where they are.
AR applications such as ProtestAR or The leak in your hometown raise many questions considering the legal terms of such project: Who owns virtual space? Where does the activist’s responsibility lie? At what point should the creators be held accountable for their actions or if something gets out of control? The first problem is creating augmentations in places that are private property or forbidden to enter and the second — changing a popular image to create a strong and cynical message. Given the quick pace of technological progress nowadays, such issues will have to be legally addressed sooner or later.
With AR development kits available today, it is easier than ever to create the desired app, and the possibilities are endless. The goal for AR activists in the future should be creating a stronger community and real social change. If used right, Augmented Reality has the potential to make a real difference in the modern world.
In Conclusion.
When Ivan Sutherland described the idea of immersive display for the first time back in the 1960s and a few years later built a prototype of a head-mounted display, he probably had no idea that he set foundations for Augmented Reality. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, his work was a breakthrough. No one back then could have imagined, how this invention would evolve over the next 100 years. In the 21st century, Sutherland’s and Bell’s legacy paths crossed in the field of Augmented Reality.
AR can overlay any object, character, filter, or effect to the world around us. What is more, this technology is exciting and easy to share with others and shows something that is seemingly impossible. In real life, it is beyond the bounds of possibility to see precisely where human veins are before a blood test or see through complex engineering machines when trying to fix them. Nor can you see a new BMW on your driveway, Pokemons running around your garden or a hotdog dancing on your desk while you’re working. Augmented Reality has entered such fields as engineering, medical sciences, navigation and of course gaming and advertising. AR is a tool that enabled huge progress in terms of technology. Progress that would not be possible without an augmentation of reality, as what we can see solely with our eyes is limited, and that limitation has just been overcome.
This writing was taking from Paulina Kowalska’s thesis How Technology Influences the Modern World: a Short Study on Augmented Reality, published in 2019 at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology. The work was overseen by dr hab. Ewa Satalecka, mgr inż. Marcin Wichrowski and dr. Paulina Duda.
Paulina Kowalska is an Economics (Warsaw School of Economics) and Media Communication Design (Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw) graduate. Mostly interested in publication design and illustration.
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Thank you to the designer Elina Pyrohova for her illustrations and gifs.
