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of displacement whereby the physical world is supplanted by an alternate reality.
Sensorial immersion can be applied to Augmented Reality in a manner that
bases this reality on the nearby physical world, but adds virtual objects into that
world. Technically speaking, Tobias Höllerer (2004) defines an AR system as “one
that combines real and computer generated information in a real environment,
interactively and in real-time and aligns virtual objects with physical ones” (Höllerer
and Feiner
2004
). This form of mobile AR has been typified in science-fiction film
and literature with examples such as Princess Leia's holographic avatar, William
Gibson's AR tableau of River Phoenix in Spook Country and the user interfaces in
Minority Report and Iron Man, to name a few. AR interfaces would know your
physical position and head orientation so that an onboard microcomputer could
determine how to correctly “insert” objects into your visual perception in such
a manner as to convince you that they are as real as the physical objects they
are next to.
8.2.2
Social Immersion
Margolis et al. (
2012
) expanded upon Jonathan Steuer's (
1992
) definition of Virtual
Reality (Steuer
1992
) to describe an emerging form of Social Immersion used in
mobile AR as “the social richness of a mediated environment as defined by its
interactive features, that is, the way in which an environment layers networked
information via real and virtual means” (Margolis et al.
2012
). This form of media
is not simply virtual object overlays, but of stories that connect these objects to the
people and places that imbue their meaning. This new view of immersion enables
us to describe participatory practices within contemporary culture that use mobile
social media networking applications which give us an unprecedented ability to
share information with social groups and the world instantaneously. For example,
Wikitude streams information about nearby events, tweets, Wikipedia articles
and user reviews into the live camera view on smart phones. Also, transmedia
storytelling creates a sense of social immersion by unfolding elements of a fictional
story across different platforms to create an interactive narrative over time and space.
8.3
Socially Immersive Art
8.3.1
Head Mounted AR (Wearable Smartphones)
Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) have been used as a means of displaying Virtual
Reality content for decades. These systems present 3D computer graphics by placing
small screens very close to the eyes. There are several devices that have come to
