Augmenting Reality: Overlaying the Actual with the Imaginary in the Folkteller Universe

Albert Einstein once said, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

This persistent oscillation between fact and fantasy becomes a wonderful playground for storytelling, especially as new technologies foster the interplay between the two worlds.

Enter Augmented Reality (AR), described by Livewire Magazine as:

“Involving a scenario where virtual objects are overlaid and tracked atop real, physical objects to create the illusion that they’re in the same space…Augmented Reality is live, meaning that for it to work, it must allow the user to see the world as it is right now, and use that information to manipulate the space, pull information out of the environment, or alter the user’s perception of reality.”

So, how might this concept be relevant in storytelling?

In the Folkteller Universe we’ve created, we leverage a form of Literary Augmented Reality in an effort to deepen the storytelling experience for our audience. Literary AR is a technique that integrates real-world objects, places, and people with the fantastic and imaginary.

There is nothing new under sun. This technique has proven effective in many forms of fantasy fiction, giving us Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter or “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” to name only a few.

The reason this technique works is that it immediately grounds the story in the familiar, providing the audience with multiple reference points that pull them into the story quicker. Literary AR is a solid platform for storytelling, allowing the creator to establish characters, scene and setting before jumping off into the fantastic.

Grounding in reality is a critical component as stories become serialized in a never-ending universe. For there is great risk in zooming out into the unknown and imaginary. As a creator, the biggest danger is losing your footing and flying off into the ether untethered. At that point, you risk oblivion, losing your grasp of reality in a world so fantastic that it doesn’t make sense any more.

By augmenting the reality within a story, the creator gets the best of both worlds — the real and the imagined. As with AR technology, Literary AR’s goal is to alter the perception of the audience. Ultimately, the creator wants to take the audience away on a journey from the ordinary. By providing them with new concepts, images and objects within a familiar environment or space, storytellers foster exploration into the imaginary.

And isn’t that what we all want from our entertainment — a chance to escape, only to return safely and a bit more enlightened?