CONCEPT / UNITY / MR
2038
OVERVIEW
Visualizing the near future of augmented New York City
Role
Research
Ideation
Photography
Visual Design
Tools
Photoshop
SketchUp
Duration
10 hours
How is Mixed Reality going to affect our visual landscape in 2038?
2038 is a speculative photomontage study to envision plausible near-future scenarios about mixed reality, nature, and urban life. I believe Mixed Reality will be transformative for how we consume everyday reality and the media surrounding us. Each image is an investigation of futures ( good, bad, and ugly) that are entangled with Mixed Reality technologies.
SPECULATIVE FUTURES
Glitch!
Glitch! represents an unfortunate moment of an augmented reality advertisement. Technology is infamous because of minor malfunctions, temporary but unpredictable setbacks, and unexpected updates. In 2038 old tech giant Dropbox decided to use the Manhattan Bridge for a spectacular ad campaign but things went wrong. It created temporary damage to New Yorker's visual interface for hours.
Verizon Winter
Verizon Winter is an example of how mixed reality can infest atmospheric events. In 2038, marker-based QR MR ad systems became deprecated and skies are dominated by high-fi Mixed Reality advertisements, announcements, and other media-related action. At first, using skies as a medium was a good spectacle but in a few years, it turned into flamboyant shows of huge corporations. Verizon waited for perfect cloud formation to use a pixel-sorting shader for this ad.
Urban Wildlife
Urban Wildlife focusing uncanny animal encounters in the city and how mixed reality can be part of these moments. In 2038 wildlife population around NYC deteriorated drastically. To prevent the loss of further wildlife assets Department of Parks & Recreation took draconian measures and use carbon-based integumentary enhancements and a Mixed Reality warning system on selected species.
Shelter
Shelter is a plausible prediction of the high-tech homeless/immigrant problem of the near future. In 2038 wearables and implants are the only option to sync with the other realities. Without them, it is almost impossible to sustain online life and you can become a problem for others' augmented visual landscape. In this photo, we are witnessing how an illegal homeless/immigrant distorts the common reality with his ill technological presence. This distortion is caused by a pirate reality hack which allows him to travel without getting caught.
" We are living in a wholly synthetic environment where it is very difficult to separate the strands; very difficult to define what is real. A major advertising campaign for a new kind of motorcar, hair-spray, or washing powder may be the only kind of reality we have now. What you and I do as we walk around our living rooms or make scrambled eggs in the kitchen, how we carry on relationships with other people, might be fantasy by comparison... might be a kind of illusion of reality. The media is now the reality that most people inhabit. "
JG Ballard
Augmented Dawn
Augmented Dawn is another example that shows how Mixed Reality spectacles emulate natural events and are utilized for media. In 2038, special days like the summer solstice are celebrated worldwide with geo-located mixed reality events. In this image, the summer solstice dawn is augmented with a digital sun on the New York City skyline. The digital sun will be tracking the sun the whole day along with special broadcasts and sponsored shows.
Air Rights
Air Rights are the property interest in the "space" above the buildings. It is based on medieval Roman law and heavily relied on in NYC real estate scene. In 2038, after several "great real estate bubbles", property owners found creative ways to utilize property air rights with the help of Mixed Reality. "Time Square of the skies".
RETROSPECTIVE
Potential next steps
With the help of new mixed-reality headsets and AR systems, I can create a working prototype of some of these imaginations.
Expanding the scope
This project can focus on other parts of the world, especially Eastern countries.