German artist Aram Bartholl has been traveling around various cities of the world and installing giant 20-foot-tall Google Maps icons. The installations, found in Tapei, Taiwan, Berlin and Szczecin, Poland are intended to illustrate the way that life online and life offline have blended into one another so as to become almost inseparable.
Google Maps is a particularly poignant example of augmented reality as it is a digital recreation of the world in which people live; its purpose is to help people navigate the real world by providing them with a virtual one to explore. Of course, humans have been making maps since time immemorial, but the degree to which life is lived in virtual worlds of man's own creation and the natural, physical one, has never been so blurred.
Reality-Rendered Google Maps
Aram Bartholl Augments Reality in Three Cities
Trend Themes
1. Augmented Reality Installation - The trend of large-scale physical installations that incorporate augmented reality to blur the lines between the digital and physical world.
2. Digital Mapping - The trend of utilizing digital maps to help people navigate the real world, whether through traditional methods or through augmented reality.
3. Online-offline Blending - The trend of acknowledging the blurring of lines between the physical and digital worlds, and using art and technology to explore this concept.
Industry Implications
1. Art - The art industry can leverage augmented reality technology to create unique and immersive installations that challenge conventional notions of space and time.
2. Navigation - The navigation industry is being transformed by the use of digital mapping technologies to provide people with more efficient and personalized ways of getting around.
3. Technology - The technology industry can explore the intersection of physical and digital worlds to develop new products and services that integrate seamlessly into people's daily lives.