Storytelling with Augmented Reality

Paolo Tosolini’s work with emerging technologies and particularly with AR is something I never really considered as being a big interest to me personally, but after seeing all the possibilities for storytelling through these new technologies it’s really changed my perspective and opened my eyes to all the things made possible when you use the technology as an art form.

In today’s lecture I was most drawn to the content Paolo shared that involves 360 virtual tours, and how augmented reality can be used as an alternative to travel. Especially during a time where most of us are stuck indoors and left only to daydream about the places we’d like to visit, this is such an exciting use of technology that I’d never really considered much!

I dug a little deeper into Paolo’s website and found myself falling down the rabbit hole, watching a few of his highlighted 360 VR/AR tours. The portal to Italy in particular is so interesting to me, and I love that it’s not just 360 footage of popular sightseeing spots. The user actually is able to step through a portal and be “transported” into these new locations. The storytelling element here is so appealing, and I’d love to work on a project incorporating a similar concept.