Augmented Reality Activists

The Activist Technology Demo Day was a total geek-fest of new and creative ways to use media and other technologies as a vehicle for social change. I particularly enjoyed the augmented reality iPhone/iPad app. When activated and pointed at an Apple device, the app brought up on the screen an image of the worker who made the product. The idea here is to get the user to actually think about the origins of their technology. The app can also be used to leave hidden messages for other activists (example: sky writing “Occupy” over Congress.)

Technology like this can actually serve to break down the walls of the ‘spectacle’ DeBord writes about. By layering an image of the Apple worker over the screen, it actually peels back a little layer of the spectacle to reveal the alienated worker underneath.