| AR-view of the construction of the SCI-building, seen inside the building |
The Living Building is a combination of an augmented reality application and a real-space installation. The project provides an interface to the recently constructed SCI building, the latest addition to the Cinematic Arts Complex of the University of Southern California. It gives access to numerous layers of information about the building, such as room and class or event information with times and locations; it provides orientation system to locate rooms; if shows other users of the app currently present in the building and enables them to enter into communication; besides these real-time functions, the Living Building also serves as a memory of the past of the building. It stores notes and images left by users and allows visitors of the building to roll back time all the way to the construction of the building. The construction is documented through a photographic and filmic record of the actions and stages of the building process as seen from the point of view of the workers.
To allow access to The Living Building system also to users who are not connected to the augmented reality app, the building provides "windows" to the system through screens installed across the building. The large format touch screens in the lobby provide an immersive interface to the documentary functions of The Living Building.
The prototype of the project was realized by Andreas Kratky and a group of students of the Interactive Media and Games Divison: Bryan Zhang, Thom Cross, Patrick Meegan and Richard Emms .