Physical and digital public spaces are increasingly merging. The use of augmented reality (AR) via glasses, contact lenses or smartphones is expected to increase. Niklas Gudowsky-Blatakes of the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences has investigated how this development could be shaped politically and socially as part of the project "Augmented Reality in the Park."
Already, countless pieces of information on almost any place in the world are available by using smart phones, smart glasses or other applications. Tech giants often provide us with information that is not objective but commercially driven, ie. which restaurants to visits, or which shops to buy in. If this trend continues, public space could evolve in a number of ways, not all of them favorable. In the new ITA Dossier "Augmented Reality in Public Spaces" Gudowsky gives as a glimpse as to what to expect in the future.
Augmented Reality in Public Space - Download ITA Dossier No. 66