Immersive Art in Augmented Reality
In the context of the 2014 publication Augmented Reality Art: From an Emerging Technology to a Novel Creative Medium, this chapter serves as a pivotal investigation into the shift from technical spectacle to a nuanced creative discipline. Rather than focusing on the mere "suspension of disbelief" or the visual blending of the real and virtual, the text situates the medium as a platform for "social immersion". By exploring the cultural potential of mobile AR, it bridges the gap between art history, gaming culture, and contemporary practice. This positioning defines the chapter as a foundational study of how AR serves as an integrative work of art, where the "freedom" of the medium allows for a model of the world that is conditionally defined through participant interaction.
Relating to the Manifest.AR collective's ethos in 2014, the chapter reflects the group's radical move toward locative and socially-driven interventions. It highlights a specific turn away from purely sensorial technology toward a "new social form of immersion" that prioritizes the connection between people across distance and time. As the collective was known for its interventionist approach—often placing digital objects in physical spaces like MoMA or the Venice Biennale—this chapter provides the theoretical backbone for those actions. It argues that the true power of the medium lies in "collaborative locative media," shifting the focus from the artist's individual vision to collective, social outcomes within the shared digital-physical landscape.
About Todd
My research represents a formal inquiry into the friction between users and data. By architecting novel hardware and algorithms, these projects establish new benchmarks for how we visualize and interact with massive, multi-dimensional datasets.
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