Are You Ready for Augmented Reality? Tunnel Vision NYC



Want to know when the next train is coming?

Or how many people are crossing through the subway turnstiles in Times Square?

What about rent and income data for various neighborhoods in NYC?

Thanks to creative coder William Lindmeier there's Tunnel Vision - "an augmented reality app that uses the subway map as a canvas for displaying public data about the city's residents."

Tunnel Vision was developed as Bill Lindmeier's thesis at ITP - "a two-year graduate program located in [NYU's] Tisch School of the Arts whose mission is to explore the imaginative use of communications technologies — how they might augment, improve, and bring delight and art into people's lives."

As described in a May 21st, 2014 post to Mashable, "Once you download the app (iPhone only) you just open it up and point your phone's camera at any subway map. It doesn't matter if it's a full-sized map in a station or a PDF on your computer screen, the app will recognize it and automatically display a stunning array of visualizations based on MTA and Census data and pegged to the various subway stops. From turnstile activity to rent prices to the real-time positions of trains, you're able to explore the city through the subway."

Filmmakers may want to consider the storytelling possibilities of interactive maps.

Would a similar map (maybe including elements from a fictional world?) work in another city - say Beijing - allowing users to get useful information about the real life of the city but also perhaps tracking fictional characters (e.g., what neighborhoods are currently under attack?)?

Selections from Bill Lindmeier's Portfolio: wdlindmeier.com 
Email: bill@wdlindmeier.com 
Twitter: @wdlindmeier

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