Hitchcock's Rear Window Reimagined in Augmented Reality

Hitchcock's Rear Window Reimagined in Augmented Reality

Rear Window is the thesis project of artists Mike Lawrie and Jon Friis for the New Media program of the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University (Canada). It's a re-imagining of the classic Hitchcock film where viewers will take the part of the film's protagonist.

Rear Window – Documentation from Copp_Studio on Vimeo.

The installation takes the form of a telescope, installed near a window in the gallery space. Participants are invited to take the role of Jeff in the film, observing and scrutinizing the neighbours and neighbourhood of the gallery. However, the image through the telescope does not wholly coincide with what is seen by the naked eye. Instead, utilizing augmented reality techniques, portions of the image are replaced. Specifically, windows of neighbouring buildings become silver screens, presenting participants with footage from Hollywood films which utilize the Rear Window cliché.

Now, I'm too much a techie to understand their motivation in creating such an installation, but I do like the idea. Read more about it on Mike Lawrie's site.