Augmented reality as a thirdspace: Simultaneous experience of the physical and virtual

Eagle, Rob

Abstract

With the proliferation of devices that display augmented reality (AR), now is the time for scholars and practitioners to evaluate and engage critically with emerging applications of the medium. AR mediates the way users see their bodies, hear their environment and engage with places. Applied in various forms, including social media, e-commerce, gaming, enterprise and art, the medium facilitates a hybrid experience of physical and digital spaces. This article employs a model of real-and-imagined space from geographer Edward Soja to examine how the user of an AR app navigates the two intertwined spaces of physical and digital, experiencing what Soja calls a ‘Thirdspace’. The article illustrates the potential for headset-based AR to engender such a Thirdspace through the author’s practice-led research project, the installation Through the Wardrobe. This installation demonstrates how AR has the potential to shift the way that users view and interact with their world with artistic applications providing an opportunity to question assumptions of social norms, identity and uses of physical space.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 3rd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Images and Imagination: IMG 2021
• Start Date: Jul 4, 2019
• End Date: Jul 4, 2019
• Acceptance Date: Apr 7, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 6, 2023
• Publication Date: Apr 6, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 17, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 7, 2025
• Publisher: Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Volume: 631 LNNS
• Pages: 355-363
• Series Title: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems
• Series Number: LNNS, volume 631
• Series ISSN: 2367-3370; 2367-3389
• Book Title: Proceedings of the 3rd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Images and Imagination
• Chapter Number: 39
• ISBN: 978-3-031-25905-0; 978-3-031-25908-1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25906-7_39
• Keywords: Augmented Reality, Thirdspace, Practice-based Research, Geography, Media Studies, Human-Computer Interaction
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10574909
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-25906-7_39
• Related Public URLs: https://link.springer.com/conference/img; ; https://www.springer.com/series/15179