Augmentation of the ‘real’ The project ‘living-room2’ intends to explore different realities that have emerged as a result of digital technologies. ‘living-room2’ takes the concept of augmented reality, or augmented space as a starting point. Media theorist Lev Manovich describes augmented space as overlaying layers of data over the physical space. Coined around 1990, the concept of “augmented reality” is opposed to “virtual reality” (VR). With a typical VR system, all the work is done in a virtual space; physical space becomes unnecessary and its vision is completely blocked. In contrast, AR system helps the user to do the work in a physical space by augmenting this space with additional information. (Lev Manovich, Poetics of augmented space. Learning from prada, 2002) The augmented reality system allows the user to see virtual objects, which are embedded in the physical environment. While "virtual reality" completely immerses the user in an illusionary synthetic world, "augmented reality" adds synthetic elements to the user’s perception of the real world. Integrating different realities, Augmented Reality could also be interpreted as ‘mixed’ or ‘hybrid’ reality.
Perceiving plural realities Transparent interfaces According to Mark Weiser, Human Computer Interaction should be natural and seamlessly fit into our daily life activities and gestures. In an era of ubiquitous computing, interfaces are becoming more transparent and embedded in daily life objects, supporting the users' acceptance of digital technologies embedded in our daily life. Wearable vision Tangible interfaces |