Augmented Reality Narratives: Homunculus: A Story at the Threshold Between Physical and Virtual Worlds

This thesis investigates the creation of site-specific augmented reality (AR)narratives. AR is a complex medium comprised of both physical and virtual worlds, employing a screen space where the two are synthesized. As a nascent technology, the methods and language for the creation of AR content are still developing. This paper analyzes elements that come into play when creating an AR narrative, including learned behaviours within specific architectural zones. I consider architecture as a medium and frame for AR narrative, as architecture engages with the mobile device and screen where the story unfolds. My research is informed by different disciplines and theories, including the concept of the architectural fold introduced by Bernard Cache and Elizabeth Grosz. Through the fold, virtual architecture interrupts physical space by annexing it into a new form. My research also applies cinematic language as a means to articulate the on-screen story, and to apply the concept of montage to physical space in real time. All of these elements and concepts inform Homunculus, an AR Narrative in the Gladstone Hotel