This independent shop has worked hard to design creative augmentation for their physical space. They love to see their customers enjoying their store and allow customers to post content on their premises.
Each version of reality is bounded within a particular location. Movement through physical space is the way to discover something new.
Owners of physical space determine the virtual experience of everyone within their boundary, meaning that content is likely to be tailored and contextually relevant.
Some spaces are held by absentee landlords who allow the spaces to become filled with low-quality content
This boutique is part of a global high-end fashion chain. Their new augmentation campaign has been created by a celebrity guest and they do not want to allow any user changes to the store’s tightly curated design.
Virtual rights to popular locations could become as costly as physical property rights and be out of reach to many members of society. Communities who struggle to hold on to gentrifying physical properties could face similar challenges with the virtual realm.
Everybody in the same physical location shares the same experience

Festival

Different worlds slip in and out of being as Sadia walks down a street lined with fashion boutiques. Elaborately constructed, self-contained environments bloom for a moment and then fade as she crosses the boundaries of each individual business. Each is a highly curated work of art; an immersive, beautiful, weird or clever experience designed to draw people into the store. While some store owners give visitors freedom to post images or play games on their premises, others impose tight restrictions, keeping their expensively created environments controlled and pristine.

She passes by a small unclaimed zone in an alleyway, crammed with AR content competing for attention. Until a few years ago, all the streets around here were struggling under the constant flotsam of AR content. Her family’s neighbourhood and their unique community was disappearing under a stream of unrelated apps, ads and art pieces, often posted remotely by ad-bots, or people who had never been there in person.

As she turns a corner out of the Fashion District, Sadia sees the familiar streets of her childhood emerge from behind the glossy visions of fast fashion. This place is a vibrant celebration of a culture, tied to its Bengali roots but knitted into the fabric of East London. She spots her Aunt Ashni, inspecting a gigantic tiger for the upcoming Pahela Baishakh parade. Ashni and her group of community leaders were instrumental in grouping together to gain the right to control permissions in their neighbourhood. Usually involving a costly licensing agreement, their argument as an area with unique heritage and culture eventually won special recognition.

Sadia helps Ashni place waypoints in the street for the huge tiger to follow. Their local Pahela Baishakh has grown into an internationally renowned festival and a three day highlight in London’s event calendar. Exuberant virtual decoration fills the streets, bright garlands of flowers and animated creatures mixing with the smell of good food from the restaurants has led increasing numbers of tourists to pin this area as a ‘must see’ for their friends and followers. While other parts of town have become a canvas for any transient virtual experience that can afford to rent the space, this is a place that is uniquely and distinctly its own.

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