Augmented Reality and Locative Media

Locative media communicates with your GPS and location services to locate you in time and space through your mobile device. Geospatial technologies are widely used, even if we barely take notice of them anymore. There are a few applications we took note of that leverage this technology in order to provide a safe space for women:

“Some apps, like the app Hollaback, allow women to track instances of assault or harassment. The central feature: communicate  GPS coordinates in case of an attack. Some apps aimed towards women runners, like Glympse and RunSafe, allow women to track crimes, contact loved ones, and track runs. Then there’s separate devices that link with a phone. Athena, for example, connects to users phones and when it is ‘activated by holding the button for three seconds, Athena sounds an 85db alarm – the same decibel level as a freight train– and sends a message to pre-determined friends and family automatically.’

These apps are some examples of the ways augmented reality is being combined with location-based media (locative media), to provide an important service.  How can locative media and augmented reality be combined in ways that are helpful or effective?” – Rhiannon Goad, “Mapping the Night.”