Gowanus AR: The Persistence of the Marsh

As Augmented Reality tools and platforms (AR) achieve ever greater visual integration of media images with the physical locations that they overlay, this presentation considers contemporary AR projects that function as experimental documentary. The presentation focuses on an augmented reality walking tour of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY. The Gowanus—the famous post-industrial Superfund site—was recently re-zoned for highrise development. Still, the former marshland bubbles up, intensified by rising sea levels and storm surges. The 3D animations and sonic layers of this walking tour are seen in the real locations that the walker is traversing, showing a mash up of past, present and speculative, restorative futures for Gowanus's instantly rising skyline. In the Gowanus AR App, several 3D characters walk the streets with the lively voices of those who persist in their hopes of equitable design, lending their visionary eloquence. The tour follows a map of underground waterways that persist, signaling their presence through haptic vibrations and watery sound design.

This AR tour includes a 3D animated models of buildings past and present: a colonial tidemill, rewired as a film projector; wireframe skeletons of planned highrise buildings; a 3D model of the Community House at the housing project, designed in collaboration with residents to meet their intergenerational needs. Avatars of residents appear in the streets, sharing personal tales and textual insights, historical and contemporary.

The presentation will show a "flythrough" of the app experience, because the live experience of the app can only be viewed on location.