‘Actuality’ (2020), augmented reality (AR) app, AR cinema screen and embedded film
‘Actuality’ was an augmented reality (AR) app incorporating a two-minute looped film, commissioned as part of a creative technology residency in emerging technologies for the Invisible Arts Network at Rural Media. It was supported by Arts Council England, Borderlines Film Festival, Hereford College of Arts and Rural Media.
Since the mobile game ‘Pokémon Go’ brought AR to a mass audience, creatives have been experimenting with this emerging technology as the development software became more accessible. Employing the virtual screen’s ‘frame’ as a meta-reference, ‘Actuality’ encourages contemplation of technology’s all-pervasive, mediating effect in our lives. The work challenges the convention of the ‘fourth wall’ – an invisible barrier that separates an audience from a film’s action. In breaking that wall, it calls into question how we process what is real in a digitally saturated world, raising viewers’ awareness of what it means to be ‘present’ as we move through the 21st century. Recalling the subtle and tactile beauty of celluloid, ‘Actuality’ explores the physicality of both old and new technology.
Read the Hereford Times article on ‘Actuality’.
As part of the residency I also programmed ‘Step Up Your Game’, a technology and gamification event at The Left Bank Village, Hereford.
The general public engaging with ‘Actuality’
Image: Gabriella Karney Photography
Hereford College of Arts students engaging with ‘Actuality’
Image: Gabriella Karney Photography
‘Actuality’ poster
The ‘Actuality’ app