Intermediary zones: augmented space between real and digital

This paper starts from the premise that, although augmented reality (AR) proposes a new perceptual experience situated at the limit between the actual and the virtual, when one sees it in the larger context of contemporary art practice one can observe its strong connections with previous artistic forms. Installation art and virtual reality (VR) are the two important reference points in the genealogy of AR art, their specific ways of using space having a particular relevance in AR's own spatiality. In this sense, I see AR mainly as a spatial paradigm situated at the confluence between installation-type physical space and the digital spatiality of VR. I would suggest that AR creates a new species of space, an 'augmented space' in which physical reality and digital images coexist. The present essay focuses on this intermediary zone, discussing the problems of interactivity, virtuality, illusionism and representation following two seminal artworks in the field of AR.