Title: Intermediary zones: augmented space between real and digital

Authors: Horea Avram

Addresses: Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University, Arts Building, 853 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T6, Canada

Abstract: This paper starts from the premise that, although augmented reality (AR) proposes a new perceptual experience situated at the limit between the actual and the virtual, when one sees it in the larger context of contemporary art practice one can observe its strong connections with previous artistic forms. Installation art and virtual reality (VR) are the two important reference points in the genealogy of AR art, their specific ways of using space having a particular relevance in AR|s own spatiality. In this sense, I see AR mainly as a spatial paradigm situated at the confluence between installation-type physical space and the digital spatiality of VR. I would suggest that AR creates a new species of space, an |augmented space| in which physical reality and digital images coexist. The present essay focuses on this intermediary zone, discussing the problems of interactivity, virtuality, illusionism and representation following two seminal artworks in the field of AR.

Keywords: augmented space; augmented reality; real space; digital space; installation art; virtual reality; representation; technology; interactivity; virtuality; illusionism; digital spatiality; spatial paradigm.

DOI: 10.1504/IJART.2009.029237

International Journal of Arts and Technology, 2009 Vol.2 No.4, pp.297 - 310

Published online: 11 Nov 2009 *

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