*openmargin dialogue

‘You cannot be a specialist in Augmented Reality (AR), you can only be a collaborator’. These words were spoken by Jan Misker of V2_, at the beginning of the first meeting of the AR-ecosystem. And according to this statement, organizers Kwela and Carl, did a great job in bringing together collaborators from different backgrounds. Artists, developers, entrepreneurs and educators. They were all present in Rotterdam on December the 4th.

You could say that Augmented Reality has always been present; it’s in our human nature to augment our reality by the use of tools. But at this moment, the meaning of AR lays in the mixing of our physical world with the digital realm. This doesn’t mean the definition is a fixed definition, on the 4th different interpretations were heard. Right now this reality is in its unfoldment, and it goes rapidly.

Layar was present and they are an example of one interpretation. A very tangible one, because they already made a phone application. It shows the user a visual layer on top of the footage from his camera. It augments his vision.

Layar is a platform that is open to developers, who already brought graffiti, art and UFO’s into the physical space. There’s even a layer with a Beatle Tour across London. Now, when you visit Abbey Road, you can point your camera at the zebra crossing, look into the past and see the Beatles walking there.
Layar is a cool application, but only a glimpse into the future possibilities. As Will Schroll – futurologist from Berlin – pointed out, any sense of you body sphere can be augmented by these future devices. Not just seeing, but also hearing, touching and tasting. We can make the invisible visible, but also the unbearable hearable. This is an important statement, because it broadens the definition and opens up the discussion.
Gijs Burgmeijer – designer at Dada labs – illustrated this idea by giving a historic example. For ages people got their information about events, by the clinging of a church bell. They heard the information, but it was still possible to ride a bike at the same time. A layer of sound is not as obtrusive as a visual layer and can be very useful during tasks where visual attention is needed.
From these perspectives, we can look at AR the same as we look at the design process, where form follows function. Depending on the function we want, a choice between one of the five senses can be made.

AR gives us the opportunity to understand our information abundant world, by living our every-day life. We don’t need to go to our computers and search the internet for the information we want, because the relevant information comes to us.
This makes AR closely related to *openmargin. Because by actively reading and highlighting a book, you’re saying something. You’re leaving your marks. Wouldn’t it be cool if you get relevant information around these meaningful marks? Not afterwards on the computer, but in the moment, in the margin.

The ideas behind Augmented Reality can enhance the reading experience. Luckily there’s no definitive answer on how to do it. There’s still a lot to dream about. Schroll provided the beautiful metaphor of the magic mirror. A mirror that stretches our senses into the past, future and other realities.
Let this trigger your imagination and share your views in the AR-ecosystem.