Locative Media Interventionism: A Conceptual Framework for Critical Review of Augmented Reality Applications in the Participatory Spatial Design Context

This paper offers an analytical framework for a critical review of augmented reality visualisations in the domain of participatory spatial design in general and Participatory Architecture in particular. By offering this framework the paper aims to respond to the concern in published discourse that augmented reality visualisations are insufficient on their own to accomplish participation’s ultimate objective of social inclusion. To derive this framework the paper turns to augmented reality itself, that is, the realm of locative media practice as a whole. Illustrative examples have been reviewed to identify an overarching commonality of purpose, namely proactive spatial intervention for social inclusion. This common underpinning concept has been labelled as Locative Media Interventionism, or LMI. Finally, this compact framework has been used to evaluate augmented reality applications in participatory spatial design. A cursory evaluation of micro as well as macro scale examples indicates that the usage of this visualization technology has yet to undergo the process of maturation that locative media in general has undergone. It has yet to evolve out from being a mere novelty to becoming a politically charged platform for delivering social inclusion

architecture; participatory spatial design; augmented reality; locative media