Meet yourself As you really Are.

Extended Reality and Embodiment in the Mirror World.

Abstract

This article is an abridged version of an independent research module taken whilst studying for an M.A. in architectural and urban design, which builds on previous work I have done looking at augmented reality (AR) and how this new technology might affect our understanding of our lived environments. The emphasis here being how AR might extend our sense of personal embodiment as we cross the threshold between the physical and digital realms. As many artists have done before me, I focused on my own body’s form, trying out different ways of capturing my likeness in three dimensions. Although this empirical research did not set out to necessarily provide fully formed ideas for new artworks, it turned a few concepts worthy of future development, including a piece of video art that allowed me to meet my digital twin in "the mirror-world." Using a combination of commercially available apps and by repurposing the Kinect for Xbox sensor camera, I was able to produce several digital versions of myself. Then by placing my avatar into augmented reality, I was able to experience the sensation of meeting myself and, through my own unmediated corporeal experience, consider the underlying questions: Firstly, how can technology, particularly augmented reality, affect our experience of embodiment? And secondly, is it possible for a physical space that I once inhabited to have a memory of me?

Note: The title "meet yourself as you really are" comes from a 1936 psychology book of the same name by Prince Leopold Loewenstein and William Gerhard.