After a couple flash mob cancellations and some misunderstandings I suppose – nobody gave the signal for the Edinburgh’s Big Freeze – there’s something new in the area: the first augmented reality flashmob! Simply by downloading an application for the iPhones and Android devices, anybody could turn up in Dam Square, Amsterdam, on Saturday the 24th of April with his virtual statue (or, is it, his imaginary friend?).
Simple (well, as long as one possesses the proper device), fun and unique, this flash mob attracted indeed a large turnout. Throughout their mobile devices, participants and viewers had a completely new view of the well-known square: Spiderman, Batman and Darth Vader were also there! Sander Veenhof is the person who conceived and realized this fantastic idea, after teaming up with TAB Worldmedia , a company that specialises in GPS based virtual outdoor media applications.
So, to sum up, if flash mob is the digital community that becomes real (since a forwarded email activates a digital community to perform a fun action in the city), what is the Augmented Reality flash mobbing all about? The digital community turns up in Dam Square and thus becomes physical and real. But the fun is, once again, through digitization: the viewer/participant has to look through his mobile device to realize that we are not alone after all.
Does this form of urban play indicate that we are experiencing too much connectivity and too much information at the moment? Do we really need all these digital aids in order to have fun in the city? Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. But it looks like our eyes are currently trained to accept this new reality.
Simple (well, as long as one possesses the proper device), fun and unique, this flash mob attracted indeed a large turnout. Throughout their mobile devices, participants and viewers had a completely new view of the well-known square: Spiderman, Batman and Darth Vader were also there! Sander Veenhof is the person who conceived and realized this fantastic idea, after teaming up with TAB Worldmedia , a company that specialises in GPS based virtual outdoor media applications.
So, to sum up, if flash mob is the digital community that becomes real (since a forwarded email activates a digital community to perform a fun action in the city), what is the Augmented Reality flash mobbing all about? The digital community turns up in Dam Square and thus becomes physical and real. But the fun is, once again, through digitization: the viewer/participant has to look through his mobile device to realize that we are not alone after all.
Does this form of urban play indicate that we are experiencing too much connectivity and too much information at the moment? Do we really need all these digital aids in order to have fun in the city? Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. But it looks like our eyes are currently trained to accept this new reality.
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