World’s Fair 2.0

World’s Fair 2.0 is an augmented reality (AR) interactive scavenger hunt that bridges Queens’ history past and present with the question: how did the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs shape the region’s geography and its collectively imagined future? What are the continuities between utopian visions from the past and today’s vision for Queens’ future?

For the installation at New York Hall of Science, REV- collaborator Marisa Jahn and I created an  augmented reality mobile tour accessible through cellphone and iPads that invites visitors to envision these questions. The tour utilized interactive digital print using the LAYAR Vision platform.

In addition, we facilitated a workshop with 14 teens who created their own interactive, mobile scavenger hunt where zombies thwart players in their time-traveling quest to explore the history of the future. The tour utilized the open-source platform ARIS GAMES.

Through its installation and new media tours, World’s Fair 2.0 stages interventions into the past and future, regenerating conceptual tools to interact with the present.

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ReGeneration is an exhibition curated by Steve Dietz and Amanda Parkes that explores the connection of cultural vitality to sustainability, immigration, and urbanization, through the intersection of art, science and technology. Ten contemporary artists present interactive works engaging in a dialogue around cultural sustainability through critical engagement and futuristic visions reflecting on the unique history and rich cultural diversity of New York City.

Support: Mozilla Hive Learning Network NYC, Robert Bowne Foundation, MOUSE, New York Hall of Science