[-empyre-] empyre Digest, Vol 77, Issue 7

[Jo-Anne Green]

Hi All,

In reading Alan's post, specifically his questions "how does one break the enclave - the sense of privilege AR implies" and "Is there a technology that doesn't require technology" -- I immediately thought about a project that I posted on Networked_Performance (http://turbulence.org/blog/2011/04/09/these-walls-could-talk/) yesterday: "These Walls Could Talk." 

The author of the call for participation, George Bixby, wrote:

"These Walls Could Talk is an attempt to reinterpret the historical narratives found in our history museums, through alternative audio-tours of the the American Museum of Natural History. These original audio-pieces are inspired by specific dioramas in the Culture Halls of the museum. These halls contain depictions of people throughout history and from around the world. However, as the “cultures” which they purport to represent continue to change, the dioramas remain static. These Walls Could Talk is a collaboration in which contributors from diverse backgrounds give new voices to these characters through approaches including fiction, auto-biography and archival sound."

I was drawn to the project because it involves dioramas -- an "old" 3-D technology that is meant to transport us to an "other" time, place, and /or culture -- and because it's one of the few AR projects I've come across recently that superimposes an alternate narrative in sound rather than in images.

Dioramas and audio recordings are old technologies that may or may not "break the enclave": that is, museums are a privileged spaces and, despite the ubiquity of audio recording devices, many still do not have access to them. Thus, the smartphone enclave is one amongst  many when it comes to AR.

Warm Regards,
Jo
 
On Apr 10, 2011, at 12:12 AM, Alan Sondheim wrote:

> 
> 
> I was fascinated by the link Paul Brown sent in,
> 
> http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/04/new-augmented-reality-app-unle.html
> 
> - because of the creativity unleashed; the iphone, whatever, becomes an active tool instead of a receiver. I have two questions, occasioned in part by my relative poverty in relation to this discussion (I can't see my own pieces!) -
> 
> 1 - What, if anything is being done to eliminate the various headgear or even smartphone receivers that are current necessary to receive AR and its extensions? The last issue of Lusitania, Beyond Form, Architecture and Art in the Space of Media, focuses on the physico-inert-kinetic constructs of situated responsive liquid architectures, some of which have been realized. But even these require an over-emphasis on things. I was taken in this regard by Newstweek which runs interference on a wide variety of platforms, augmenting inscription.
> 
> 2 - A vast number of people already carry smartphones etc., constantly use them on the move (too many walks/hikes with people staring at the screens etc.); for them, the media environment is already amalgamated, physical reality already augmented simply by the presence of the screen. So there's an enclave set up in the midst of the practico-inert, one occasioned by surplus income, local/technological accesspoints, etc. The second question is related to the first and my previous post - what can be done to extend this, breakdown the enclave? The uses are tremendous - think of a device that might be employed around Fukushima, directly outlining radiation levels as AR. This would have application for all sorts of pollutions; one might use it in a firefight, for example, in order to avoid oncoming.
> 
> Sorry, I'm writing blurrily at the moment. ... What I'm asking - how does one break the enclave - the sense of privilege AR implies - how does one make the creative version of the $100 or $10 laptop here?
> 
> Why is this important? It's not in a lot of places, but in the US at this point, 1% of the country owns 95-99% of the wealth (depending on the stats) and the relative income of the poor is decreasing quickly: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110408/ts_yblog_thelookout/off-the-charts-income-gains-for-super-rich and http://l.yimg.com/a/i/ww/news/2011/04/08/inequality.jpg - these are people who would socially benefit from AR, and yet it's totally out of reach. I might add that the elderly obviously fall into this category as well, etc.
> 
> So is there a way for AR to reach out? Is there a technology that doesn't require technology? Or an AR-technological equivalent, say, of the old Bread-and-Puppet Theater?
> 
> Finally I want to thank everyone for an fascinating discussion, and it's really heartening to see so much amazing work, so many directions! I particularly want to thank Patrick here, and Mark Skwarek, who has nurtured me to some extent.
> 
> - Alan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ==
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> ==
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Jo-Anne Green
Co-Director
New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.
New York: 917.548.7780 Boston: 617.522.3856
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