When you have to choose between truth or legend, print the legend. In the legend of L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat, audiences at the Lumières Brothers’ first public film screening ran from a train moving towards them on screen. The only problem? This did not happen. Audiences did not run - in fact, the film was not even shown that day. Nonetheless, this enduring image from 1895 is still used today to describe the immersive power of film. The closest we get to this mythical effect today is with technologies like Virtual and Augmented Reality. When experiencing these new, imagined realities, the audience member ducks and dives, trying to touch or avoid virtual objects that their brain tells them are physically there.
Throughout the spring and summer terms of 2023, the Royal College of Art and Snap Inc brought together a diverse group of student-researchers from twelve RCA Masters programmes to explore how Augmented Reality might impact our world. Students worked with artists, researchers and practitioners in the fields of social activism, critical thinking, performance, politics, ecology, accessibility and technology. The students used this learning to create eight projects that imagine potential futures for Augmented Reality using Snapchat’s open-source software, Lens Studio and wearable Augmented Reality glasses ‘Spectacles’.
During July and August 2023 Snap Inc and the Royal College of Art also held the first UK-based Snap Lens Lab. The lab consisted of sixteen young people that worked with artists, designers and engineers to explore what Augmented Reality is and can be, and how it can impact our world. Documentation of the projects created during the Snap Lens Lab will be displayed alongside the The Arrival of a Train activation.
Project Leads: Stacey Long-Genovese, Jack Hardiker, Tom Simmons, Katrina Preston
Work created by: Sofia Xenia Economou, Kristina Kapilin, Shaye Thiel, Cyan D'Anjou, Madhavi Bhagwat, Nikita Raina, Mary Lucas-Afolalu, Junyi (Jocelyn) Shi, Matt Dixon, Haoyu Wang, Shivani Yadav, Shravni Sangamnerkar, Ye Zhang, Banita Mistry, Shiyi Chen, Shanden Almutaq, Melody Chan, Ojasvani Dahiya, Katie Weitzmann, Beth Williams, Yu Chen, Fanrui Sun, Jing Xu, Nora Hou, Jeanyoon Choi, Sabrina Tian
