Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
and AR interpretations of the intervention. Could the effect have been duplicated
with AR? Yes
Margolis and Thiel could have linked their AR money to actual
currency like Bitcoin that viewers could have collected. This could have generated
the similar excitement and personal investment of Hoffman and Rubin's work. Both
approaches received news press largely because of their novelty. In the end it was
the press which brought the events to the global public's attention.
:::
1.10
Augmented Reality Flash Mobs
At the height of the #arOWS protest a call went out on the internet for the general
public to converge on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of an AR Flash
Mob (see Fig.
1.11
). Critics of the #arOWS movement said that the people who
needed to see the AR protest in front of the NYSE [those working in the NYSE
and the general public passing by] were basically unaware that it was even taking
place. The protest was invisible to the naked eye. To view it one needed to have
a mobile device with the correct app installed. The goal of the flash mob was to
overcome the AR technology barrier and get it seen and in the hands of the public.
On Nov 12, 2011 a group of seemingly ordinary citizens converged on the NYSE
armed with smartphones and tablets. Participants were asked to dress in plainclothes
which would not identify them as members of the OWS movement because of the
heightened police security. Participants were told to find a spot along the metal
NYPD barricade that surrounded the NYSE. The goal was to surround the barricade
and NYSE with AR flash mobbers. Participants were told to face their smartphone
or tablet displays so that the public walking by could see and hear the AR protest. At
exactly 4:00 [the beginning of quitting time for NYSE workers] around 30 people
had surrounded the NYSE. With their displays facing the public they loaded the
arOCCUPYWALLSTREET app and turned up their volume. Hundreds of people
able to see and hear the #arOWS protest on that day (many of whom were NYSE
workers) because of the high volume of foot traffic and timing.
Fig. 1.11
#arOCCUPYWALLSTREET, Augmented Reality Flash Mob at Wall Street,
AR flash
mob in front of the NYSE, (2011) (Images reproduced courtesy of the artist)
