, taking place at Brock University May 10 to 11, offers a forum for scholars, students, educators, historians and members of the public to explore the important role played by African Canadians the last war fought on Canadian soil. It will also showcase a new web-based project to help children “virtually” experience the history surrounding the Underground Railroad, the first phase of which will be unveiled by Jean Augustine, fairness commissioner for Ontario.

The conference’s opening reception on Thursday will feature James Bradley, Ontario environment minister; Brian McMullan, mayor of St. Catharines; Paul Dyster, mayor of Niagara Falls, New 91��ɫ; Brian Merrett, chief executive officer of the War of 1812 Legacy Council for Niagara; and Bonnie Rose, executive vice-president of Niagara University.

Guest speaker Gareth Newfield of the Canadian War Museum will present "Free Men of Colour: The Coloured Corps during the War of 1812”, followed by a musical performance by Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whitely. The launch of Conestogo Bound: Black Pioneers of Wellington County, an original film by Queen's Bush pioneer descendant Diana Braithwaite, will conclude the evening.

Friday, workshop topics include the "coloured corps" stationed at Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake; the wartime experience of black women and children; African Canadian service in the battle for the Great Lakes and on the high seas; and the post-war migration to Canada Maritimes of the so-called "black refugees”, some 2,000 African Americans who fought on the British side in the War of 1812.

An important component of the workshop will be outlining directions for future research and providing suggestions for the development of educational materials for the new project of the Harriet Tubman Institute and Department of Fine Arts, 91��ɫ: We Stand On Guard for Thee: Teaching and Learning the African Canadian Experience in the War of 1812.

Also on Friday, Augustine will launch . The web-based project includes 24 original biographies of people who came to Canada in search of freedom before the American Civil War. Narratives, detailed essays, primary documents and historic images support a series of original lesson plans designed for Grades 3-12, enhanced by augmented reality segments created by 91��ɫ film Professor Caitlin Fisher, Canadian Research Chair in Digital Culture at 91��ɫ, and her team in the Faculty of Fine Arts .

Augmented reality allows students and teachers to engage with personal stories and photos of refugees from American slavery and free African American immigrants before the Civil War. Some of the materials were contributed by descendants of those profiled and have never before been shown in public. The segment is set in motion when an image card is held in view of a webcam; the program conjures three-dimensional digital images, video and audio in a number of vignettes. The person holding the card up to the webcam becomes part of the picture and thus part of the action.

Breaking the Chains was created by 91��ɫ's and the Augmented Reality Lab in the Faculty of Fine Arts at 91��ɫ with community partners from across Ontario. The project, carried out under the supervision of Karolyn Smardz Frost,��senior research fellow at the Tubman Institute,was tested in a number of Ontario schools over the past few months. It will be rolled out after its May 11 launch and offered free online through the Tubman Institute website as a resource for teachers to encourage students to interact with Canadian history.

Several 91��ɫ scholars will be involved in the We Stand on Guard for Thee workshop. History Professor Michele Johnson is conference chair. She is also moderator of the panel, Teaching and Learning the African Canadian Experience in the War of 1812, on which historian Hilary Dawson and education director Natasha Henry, both of the Tubman Institute, will speak. Welcoming workshop participants will be Paul Lovejoy, Tubman Institute director and Canadian Research Chair in African Diaspora History, and workshop organizer Smardz Frost,��author of  ,��winner of the 2007 Governor General's Award for non-fiction. Smardz Frost will also discuss the connection between the War of 1812 and the Underground Railroad.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The Everyday: Experiences, Concepts, Narratives is an upcoming Graduate Program in Humanities conference looking at the "everyday" as it relates to politics and ethics, power and knowledge, ontology and history.

Keynote speakers Professor (left) of the School of Geography at Queen Mary, University of London, and 91��ɫ film Professor Caitlin Fisher, Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture and director of the in the Faculty of Fine Arts, will delve into the everyday further.

The conference will take place April 14 to 16 on 91��ɫ’s Keele campus. Click here for the conference program and venues.

Ogborn, who won the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2001 for his outstanding contribution to the discipline of geography, studies the "everyday" from a global and local perspective within the context of cultural geography and cultural history.

He will be talking about how spaces become "everyday" and what that means for how the world works. Drawing on the work of Michel de Certeau, among others, and on a range of historical material from diverse geographical settings from 17th-century Madras to 18th-century London and Jamaica, Ogborn will explore the making and unmaking of everyday geographies of walking, writing and talking. He will argue that the everyday has to be actively made through its geographies and that the process of that making has to be forgotten or obscured. The historical geographies of the production of everyday spaces, however, mean they can always be unmade.

Ogborn’s most recent books include Global Lives: Britain and the World, 1550-1800 (Cambridge University Press, 2008) and Indian Ink: Script and Print in the Making of the English East India Company (University of Chicago Press, 2007).

Right: Caitlin Fisher

Fisher is working to construct and theorize spatial narrative environments and build expressive software tools for artists. Her current research interests include digital archiving, lifelogging, data visualization and experimental game structures for storytelling. She is an international award-winning digital storyteller.

In addition to the keynote speeches, there will be several panel discussions with graduate students from across North America and the United Kingdom presenting their research on the issue of the "everyday", visual artists Faye Mullen and Nathan Cyprys will unveil their work and poet Arun Nedra Rodrigo will perform.

The conference is organized by two 91��ɫ graduate students, Justin Derry and Martin Parrot, and funded by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, the Department of Humanities, the Humanities Graduate Student Association, the Graduate Student Association and the 91��ɫ and Ryerson Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture.

For more information, visit The Everyday: Experiences, Concepts, Narratives conference website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Papagiannis: “I began experimenting with AR in September 2005. When I saw AR for the first time, I was so entranced I think I entered a permanent state of wonder with the technology. And it was all very simple: a bare bones 3D virtual cube seemingly appearing in my physical space. It was completely astonishing! I went into mad scientist mode from there, tinkering, prototyping and dreaming of the creative possibilities for AR. Five-and-a-half years later, and I’m still riveted.

“I strongly believe AR is emerging as a new medium and it will come to play a large role in entertainment and information sharing…. I’d like to see more work move beyond the single-viewer experience in AR and engage larger audiences in a simultaneous viewing and even collaborative interactive experience. I think this is particularly relevant for museums in designing and producing AR experiences.”

is currently completing her PhD at 91��ɫ and is a senior research associate at the in 91��ɫ’s Department of Film in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Helen’s mixed-reality art installations were recently featured in a solo exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre, and at TEDx91��ɫu, where she was also an invited speaker. Prior to her augmented life, Helen was a member of the internationally renowned Bruce Mau Design studio, where she was project lead on Massive Change: The Future of Global Design, a touring exhibition and book published by Phaidon Press.

of the interview, Jan. 18. You can watch on youtube.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Papagiannis is an artist, designer and researcher specializing in augmented reality (AR). Hailed as being among the top 10 forces currently shaping the AR industry, has been working with AR since 2005, exploring the creative possibilities and theoretical implications for this exciting emerging technology. Recently, her interactive artworks were featured in an exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre. The Amazing Cinemagician: New Media Meets Victorian Magic was also featured at Tedx91��ɫu, providing an intriguing entrance through which attendees entered.

Papagiannis is completing her doctorate in communication and culture under the supervisor of Professor and Canada Research Chair Caitlin Fischer, and is a senior research associate at the . Prior to her graduate studies,��Papagiannis was a member of the Bruce Mau Design studio, where she was project lead on .

You can view all of the Tedx91��ɫu talks via the event's .

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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91��ɫ community members are invited to apply to be an audience participant for a limited number of available seats. Applications are due Friday, Oct. 22 and can be found online at the website.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to the concept of "ideas worth spreading". Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago to bring together the worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at . Past TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Richard Branson,��Isabel Allende and Gordon Brown, among many other luminaries.

In the spirit of "ideas worth spreading", TED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At TEDx91��ɫU, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including at 91��ɫ, are self-organized.

TEDx91��ɫU will explore the theme of "Ctrl-Alt-Delete", the ubiquitous computer command also called the “three-finger salute”.  Speakers and participants will be asked to ”reboot” their way of thinking as the event aims to explore how starting over is often the best way to discover something new. Dynamic presentations will be made by academic, business, political and community leaders, all connected to 91��ɫ, who have each hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete in their own way to create change and make the world a better place. TEDx91��ɫU is supported by 91��ɫ Alumni, Student Community & Leadership Development, the Division of the Vice-President Research & Innovation and Glendon College.

TEDx91��ɫU speakers announced so far include:

(left) is a business success story as former president of HMV Music and, later, BMG Music. In 1999, he became president of Strategic Business Units of MP3.com and helped lead the company through one of the largest initial public offerings in Internet history. After leaving MP3.com, had a “life-altering experience” while taking care of his mother, who passed away from breast cancer in 2002, and he became a key leader in the Canadian nonprofit sector. He is currently the president and CEO of , and recently served as the Board Chair of Covenant House. As a 91��ɫ alumnus, Alofs won the 2007 Redefine the Possible Bryden Award.

91��ɫ alumnus (right) is a music programmer, pop culture critic, author, broadcaster and journalist. He is also Canada’s foremost expert on hip hop culture. His latest book is , published by Groundwood Books/House of Anansi. As a print journalist, Higgins is a Canadian National Magazine Award recipient, and his articles have appeared in print and online mediums in the United States (Vibe, the Source,��Urb, amazon.com) and Canada (Saturday Night, Now Magazine,��Toronto Star,��Quill & Quire and many others). Higgins has hosted his own TV show, and has appeared on numerous Canadian television programs. His fourth book Fatherhood 4.0: iDad Applications Across Cultures spots trends across a newer generation of media-savvy, hip hoppy, multi-culti, Digital Dads influenced by everything from George Lopez and Bill Cosby to the Osbournes and Barack Obama.

(right) is an artist, designer and researcher specializing in augmented reality (AR). Hailed as being among the top 10 forces currently shaping the AR industry, has been working with AR since 2005, exploring the creative possibilities and theoretical implications for this exciting emerging technology. Recently, Papagiannis’ interactive artworks were . She is presently completing her doctorate in communication and culture at 91��ɫ and is a senior research associate at the in 91��ɫ's Department of Film in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Prior to her graduate studies,��Papagiannis was a member of the Bruce Mau Design studio, where she was project lead on Massive Change: The Future of Global Design.

(left) is one of Canada’s most respected scholars and commentators on issues of corporate law, securities law, corporate governance, and corporate and white-collar crime. Appointed to 91��ɫ’s Osgoode Hall Law School in 1997 at the age of 25, and a 2005 recipient of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 award, Puri is a prolific scholar who was appointed as one of two research directors of the Canadian Ministry of Finance’s Expert Panel on Securities Regulation, which is seeking input on the best way to develop and implement a model Common Securities Act for Canada. Most recently, .

With more speakers to be announced, buzz about the Nov. 6 event is growing on campus. Student volunteer groups are also promoting the event through “salon” events that discuss innovative ideas and view TEDTalks videos. Applications to be an audience participant and more information can be found online at . Follow TEDx91��ɫU at and on Facebook at .

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The exhibition features two interactive installations by new media artist and 91��ɫ PhD student Helen Papagiannis that use augmented reality (AR) technology, fog screen, and radio frequency identification (RFID).

AR – a layering of virtual information atop the physical environment – originated in the world of computer engineering but has recently emerged as a new trend in design, advertising and entertainment. Papagiannis is one of a handful of contemporary artists who have tapped into the creative potential of AR for interactive art. She was cited in the top 10 forces currently shaping the AR industry by leading AR news blog Games Alfresco, which named her “the new ARtist in charge” for her presentation last year at the International Symposium for Mixed and Augmented Reality in Florida.

"AR provides enormous opportunities for new modes of storytelling and visual experiences that can change the way we see and interact with the real world, but who is defining this new form?” asks Papagiannis, who is presently completing her doctorate in Communication and Culture at 91��ɫ, specializing in AR.“Now is a critical time for artists and designers to be involved as pioneers in driving this new technology and contributing to its creative future."

is a mixed reality work (merging real and virtual worlds) that projects film clips by Georges Méliès, the father of special effects, onto a fog screen. The audience can interact with the clips through RFID technology - the next evolution of retail bar codes, where small radio transponders emit a unique ID code. Each of the ethereal film clips is linked to a RFID chip embedded in a series of playing cards, which the viewer uses to activate the installation and display the images onto a translucent projection screen consisting of a thin curtain of dry fog.

Visitors to the exhibit can also interact with Papagiannis’ Wonder Turner, an AR experience where viewers physically rotate large cubes to reveal and create a new video composition. The cubes are equipped with black and white AR symbols which the software interprets and emits as video clips. Using the classic ‘exquisite corpse’ format with three interchangeable heads, torsos and feet, rotating the cubes allows the user to create a wild variety of creatures from a surgeon’s head, belly-dancing torso and penguin feet to a llama head, guitar-playing torso and trampoline feet, and other wondrous creations. An augmented video of the visitor with the transformed turner is simultaneously displayed on the screen.

“An important aspect of my work is the notion of play,” Papagiannis said. “Playfulness in the types of imagery you will see, and also in practice, in the physical involvement of play and exploring the work. I also love melding new digital technologies with older, analogue modes.”

Papagiannis has been exploring AR as a new creative visual force since 2005. She created The Amazing Cinemagician and Wonder Turner as part of her doctoral studies and her work as a senior research associate in the AR Lab, part of the interdisciplinary Future Cinema Lab research collective in the Faculty of Fine Arts at 91��ɫ.  She has exhibited her work at Interactive Arts festivals and conferences around the world, including the 2008 International Symposium for Electronic Arts (ISEA) in Singapore and the 2009 International Symposium for Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) in Florida. She is an invited presenter at the upcoming Augmented Reality Event (ARE) 2010 in Silicon Valley, the first global event dedicated to advancing AR. Prior to her work in AR, Papagiannis was a member of the Bruce Mau Design studio, where she was project lead on “Massive Change: The Future of Global Design”, an international touring exhibition and book published by Phaidon Press.

and Wonder Turner will be on view at the Ontario Science Centre to August 31.

The Augmented Reality Lab and Future Cinema Lab at 91��ɫ

Directed by Film Professor Caitlin Fisher, , 91��ɫ’s Augmented Reality Lab is at the forefront in working with both established and emerging technologies to produce innovative research methods, interfaces and content that challenge cinematic and literary conventions and aim to enhance the ways in which people interact with their physical environment and with each other. This work grows increasingly important for Canada's culture and entertainment industries as AR and associated technologies become more prevalent.

The AR Lab is part of the : New Stories for New Screens, a collaborative research initiative at 91��ɫ. The first dedicated facility of its type in Canada, the Future Cinema Lab (FCL) fosters interdisciplinary research on the ways in which new digital storytelling techniques can critically transform a diverse array of state-of-the-art screens. The FCL is enabling researchers to design new forms of storytelling, develop prototypes for urban research, and create innovative projects within networked and hybrid media environments.

About the Idea Gallery at the Ontario Science Centre

Part of the Weston Family Innovation Centre, the Idea Gallery provides the opportunity for talented young and emerging artists and researchers to display innovative projects that blur traditional boundaries between art, science, design and technology.

By Amy Stewart, publicist, Faculty of Fine Arts.

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Professors Caitlin Fisher, David Hood, Joel Katz, Steve Mason, Wendy Taylor and Peer Zumbansen will continue their respective research in digital culture, cell physiology, health psychology, Greco-Roman cultural interaction, experimental particle physics, and transnational economic governance and legal theory.

With the renewals, 91��ɫ maintains its total of 28 research chairs. “Federal research investments are crucial to attracting and retaining the world's best researchers,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. “The Canada Research Chairs program allows us to sustain 91��ɫ’s globally competitive research across health, the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. Our researchers’ findings help improve the quality of life, economic, and social well-being of Canadians and people around the world.”

Caitlin Fisher, Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Digital Culture and film professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts, investigates the future of narrative, interactive storytelling, and interactive cinema in the emerging area of virtual reality research. Her research develops techniques and narrative strategies for use in augmented reality (AR) environments, which is increasingly important for Canada's culture and entertainment industries as AR and associated technologies like smart phones become more commonplace.

Left: Caitlin Fisher

Under her direction, 91��ɫ’s AR Lab, part of the in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Fine Arts, is conducting research at the forefront of art and science collaborations. The lab makes use of both established and emerging technologies to produce innovative research methods, expressive tools for artists and award-winning content that challenges cinematic and literary conventions while enhancing the ways in which people interact with their physical environment and with each other.

David Hood, CRC in Cell Physiology and kinesiology & health science professor in the Faculty of Health, is an internationally-recognized authority in muscle health, exercise and mitochondria. His publications have expanded on the important role that mitochondria play in muscle, and the beneficial effect of exercise in enhancing energy production, preventing cell death and attenuating disease processes.

Right: David Hood

Hood operates one of the world’s most advanced laboratories in the cellular physiology of mitochondria. In January 2010,��he became the first director of the newly opened 91��ɫ Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC), which is unique in Canada. The MHRC integrates research in mitochondria with biomedical research across the University.

Joel Katz, CRC in Health Psychology and psychology professor in the Faculty of Health, is a world-class researcher in the study of pain. His research has significant impact on the way pain is understood and managed in both preventative and rehabilitative medicine.

Left: Joel Katz

His major accomplishments include using a preventative approach to advance the treatment of acute post-operative pain, increasing our understanding of neonatal pain and how to manage it, identifying factors that predict the transition of acute to chronic pain, and discovering previously unrecognized gender differences in the experience of pain. Katz is coordinator of the 91��ɫ health psychology Graduate Diploma Program, the only program in Canada offering specialized training in health psychology leading to a diploma.

Steve Mason, CRC in Greco-Roman Cultural Interaction and history professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, explores issues of cultural identity among the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean under Hellenistic and Roman rule (200 BCE to 300 CE). He focuses on Judea and the Jewish Mediterranean diaspora in the context of other diasporas.

Right: Steve Mason

The most important literary sources for these questions are 30 surviving volumes by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37 - c. 100 CE), and Mason is at the forefront of research into these works. He leads an international team of 14 scholars in supplying Josephus with a new translation and the first comprehensive . He has published five books and many articles on related subjects while editing and co-authoring another seven. He manages the popular online database, , and is completing a volume on the fateful Judean-Roman War of 66 to 74 CE.

, CRC in Experimental Particle Physics and physics professor in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, studies the high-energy particle collisions at the and at the accelerator. Her research aims to understand matter’s smallest indivisible components and the forces of interaction between them. Taylor is recognized by her peers as an expert in b-quark physics analysis and particle detector electronics development.

Left: Wendy Taylor

Her primary analysis found the first evidence of spontaneous matter-antimatter transitions of B0s mesons, composite particles that contain both a b-quark and an anti-s quark. She contributed to developing a new calorimeter trigger, which allows high-rate data collection. She is now developing low-noise radiation-hard readout electronics for a new particle detector and algorithms to search for the Higgs boson, the particle believed to be responsible for why matter in the universe has mass.

, CRC in Transnational Economic Governance & Legal Theory and professor in Osgoode Hall Law School, explores globalization’s impact on national political economies, concentrating on changing forms of production and on the politics of privatization and deregulation.

Right: Peer Zumbansen

Zumbansen's research is advancing the development of both a comparative and methodological perspective of globalization on national political economies. His work also explores broader questions concerning political sovereignty and the changing relationship between the state and the market, particularly in the European Union, Canada and the United States. Widely published in both German and English,��Zumbansen is the co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of the .

Gary Goodyear, minister of state (science & technology), announced the nationwide renewals in Ottawa on March 26. “Our government is investing in science and technology to create jobs, strengthen the economy and improve Canadians’ quality of life,” said Goodyear. “The Canada Research Chairs program is helping our universities develop and attract talented people, strengthening our capacity for leading-edge research, while creating jobs and economic opportunities for Canadians now and in the future."

The CRC program attracts the best talent from Canada and around the world, helping universities achieve research excellence in natural sciences and engineering, health sciences and social sciences and humanities.

For more information, visit the Web site.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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The Augmented Reality Lab in the Faculty of Fine Arts opens its doors to the 91��ɫ community March 10 for interactive demonstrations of augmented reality (AR) and GPS locative media research projects in development. From 11am to 3pm, visitors will have the opportunity to experience projections on FogScreen, immersive virtual environments and other innovative applications for AR technology.

Directed by film Professor Caitlin Fisher, Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture, 91��ɫ's is at the forefront in working with both established and emerging technologies. As part of the , it is dedicated to producing innovative research methods, interfaces and content that challenge cinematic and literary conventions and aim to enhance how people interact with their physical environment and with each other.

Left: Caitlin Fisher

The lab offers artists and designers the opportunity to explore new screen technologies, approaches and techniques through production and theoretical study of this emerging medium. Lab participants work interactively and across disciplinary boundaries, particularly film and computer science.

A wide variety of projects will be on display at the open house.

Handheld City is an online streaming experience developed by the AR Lab for the city of Toronto’s virtual museum project, which launched March 6 (Toronto’s 176th birthday). Using AR as a storytelling device, the researchers organized and animated the digital objects in the museum collection and created an interesting way to interact with the objects and access the accompanying text.

Right: Handheld City was developed for Toronto's virtual museum project

The Amazing Cinemagician is an interactive "rfid" (radio frequency identification – like a barcode) video project for the FogScreen by Helen Papagiannis, a PhD student in communication & culture. Digitized film clips by cinematic special effects pioneer Georges Méliès are tied to a series of rfid objects that the viewer can scan to access the video.

Papagiannis made major waves in AR circles last fall with her presentation at the International Symposium for Mixed and Augmented Reality in Florida. A leading AR news blog, , dubbed her “the new ARtist in charge,” awarded her its Most Beautiful Demo award and put her on its top 10 list of forces currently shaping the industry.

CommCult master's student Justin Stephenson showcases a new "procedural animation" (a form of computer animation generated in real-time) using Quartz Composer.

Master of Fine Arts film student Simone Rapisarda presents the ladybike test project: the first film to come out of the lab using the Ladybug camera. This spherical digital video unit comprises multiple cameras and records more than 80 per cent of the full sphere. Rapisarda’s video, filmed with the camera set in a bicycle basket, shows the scenery approaching, speeding by and receding simultaneously.

Above: An image from Simone Rapisarda's ladybike test project

Also experimenting with the Ladybug camera is graduate film student Cameron Woykin, who has created a time-based video installation using footage of himself shot inside the lab. Edited into a spherical image, the video shows multiple views of the researcher as he moves around the space.

Right: The Ladybug camera in action

Wormholes is another experiment in spherical storytelling, created by Fisher and Andrew Roth, the lab’s technology manager. Using the lab’s Intersense IS900 Inertial/Sonic Tracking "virtual reality" grid, participants wearing a virtual reality headset can literally get inside and explore simultaneous realities through spherical video clips shot by Fisher and Roth on various locations on campus.

Several projects use SnapdragonAR software, an innovative "drag and drop" AR interface developed in the lab in collaboration with computer vision researchers Andrei Rotenstein and Mikhail Sizintsev,��PhD candidates in computer science,��and Dr. Mark Fiala. Snapdragon allows people without computer programming skills to easily build AR experiences. This software is now available for sale through Future Stories, a spin-off company 91��ɫ’s AR Lab established to provide participants with the option of commercializing their lab developments.

The Snapdragon projects created in the lab by graduate students include Papagiannis' sound toy wonder turner; Boaz Berri’s Neighbours, which fills an image of an apartment complex with videos of life inside the building; Carter Bruce, Anne Koizumi and Claudia Sicondolfo’s The Underground Cave, which animates a model of an underground space; and a work-in-progress by Evelyn Tchakarov. Fisher will also be showing an AR tabletop theatre piece called Circle which was presented for the first time last December as part of the Digital Arts & Culture conference at the . Wallace Edwards, a Governor General's Literary Award-winning children’s book illustrator, will show some recent experiments with AR illustrations that come to life in your hands.

Above: A collection of images from the Snapdragon projects created in the lab by graduate students

Another computer program developed in-house is an iPhone GPS video-caching application created by Roth and Rotenstein. Akin to a technological Easter egg hunt, when the application is running, the iPhone will display a digital surprise – in this case a film clip – when it is physically located at a predetermined GPS coordinate. CommCult master's student Magda Olszanowski's Suivez Moi was built using the GPS software. An outdoor demo of her project is available now by appointment (call 416-736-2100 ext. 21077), but the lab hopes these locative film experiences will be available for download through the Apple app store in the near future.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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