Hudson Valley Muddy Waters: Using AR to Reveal Microscopic Life in the Macroscopic Forest

Abstract

Hudson Valley Muddy Waters makes visible the microscopic life that is key to the health of our forests and streams. The work demonstrates how Augmented Reality and creative imaging can expand the role of the artist in facilitating deeper public connections with the material of science and the macro/microscopic environment. The artist reverses the usual AR relationship of "real" to "aesthetically mediated" by presenting a painterly digital image as point of departure onto which "reality" is layered, rather than the other way around. Using the app Aurasma, the viewer is prompted to experience the thrill of discovering microscopic life in water via short videos of an actual stream and video micro-captures from the same site.