TEXTILE - Augmenting Text in Virtual Space

Abstract: Three-dimensional literature is a virtually non-existent or in any case very rare and emergent digital art form, defined by the author as a unit of text, which is not confined to the two-dimensional layout of print literature, but instead mediated across all three axes of a virtual space. In collaboration with two artists the author explores through a bodystorming workshop how writers and readers could create and experience three-dimensional literature in mixed reality, by using mobile devices that are equipped with motion sensors, which enable users to perform embodied interactions as an integral part of the literary experience.For documenting the workshop, the author used body-mounted action cameras in order to record the point-of-view of the participants. This choice turned out to generate promising knowledge on using point-of-view footage as an integral part of the methodological approach. The author has found that by engaging creatively with such footage, the designer gains a profound understanding and vivid memory of complex design activities.As the outcome the various design activities, the author developed a concept for an app called TEXTILE. It enables users to build three-dimensional texts by positioning words in a virtual bubble of space around the user and to share them, either on an online platform or at site-specific places. A key finding of this thesis is that the creation of three-dimensional literature on a platform such as TEXTILE is not just an act of writing – it is an act of sculpture and an act of social performance.