Mixed Reality As An Art Form

First a homework assignment and then a request. Please watch a few of these http://kogonada.com/ video essays on cinema.

I’d like to put together something like this for AR and VR. The basic idea is to take something small in [AR | Cinema | Sci Fi television] and then develop the topic into a conversation. But I need your help with ideas.

For instance, consider the flick in Sci Fi movies but also in Hawaii Five-Oh and in the Avengers movie used to send a piece of digital media from one screen to another. Where did it come from? How did it develop as a gesture? Has it changed over time? Where is it used in real world apps? Does it make sense as good UX or is it pure Sci Fi stuff?

Alternatively, what is the the relationship between John Carpenter’s They Live (long overdue for a big budget remake), The Matrix and spatial computing?

Alternatively, what does Beaudrillard’s ‘desert of the real’ tell us about VR?

Alternatively, what sort of H-C interactions do we need before head-mounted-displays could begin to compete with smartphones as portable computers and begin to fulfill their financial promise.

So I need help with ideas to explore, in essay style, with suggestions for media that can be used to explore.

Once we have enough, and if there is enough interest, I’ll work with you on producing these essays as video essays and we’ll put together an online book about MR, with each of you as an essay author and providing narration.

It’s at minimum a six month project but something I feel the world needs and we are uniquely positioned to create. I’m a little tired of both book writing and recording technical videos when good design thinking around MR is what we’re most lacking in right now.

So, my dear readers, have you got any ideas that you have been keeping to yourselves about the design and philosophy behind MR but needed help expressing?