Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Augmented Reality Activism
Mark Skwarek
1.1
Introduction
Arguably two of the most important activist events in recent U. S. history were that
of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the whistle blowing by Edward Snowden
(see Fig.
1.1
). The two events highlight differences between physical and virtual
approaches to activism and their end results.
Many, including some of the mainstream media, argue that the physical presence
of protesters in the streets of the Occupy movement accomplished very little if
nothing at all. Yet Occupy created a movement which organized and inspired a new
generation of activists, sweeping across the globe. In contrast, Snowden's leaked
information shook American society to the core. Although both actions utilized
technology, Occupy was largely an effort that took place by taking over the real
world with people on the ground. Snowden's action was accomplished largely
through the use of technology and courage. The implications of his actions have
changed the way we think about communication and the political elite. Does the
impact of technology give activists the upper hand in the effort to create change
in society or does it remove people in the street from the equation? An emerging
technology called augmented reality has the ability to combine both the physical
experience of the streets and digital experience of the Internet. AR has the power to
take net based activism such as blogging or even hacktivism (hacktivism is activism
with hacked electronic equipment. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacktivism
)
and turn it into a real world experience. AR allows activists to place their messages
at specific locations anyplace on the face of the earth and share those messages with
others either physically at the site or online.