Reimagining Places, Reconstructing Histories: Augmented Reality Art and Heritage Apps as an Ultimate Display

Abstract This article employs Ivan Sutherland’s 1965 concept of the Ultimate Display to discuss the experience generated by augmented reality art and cultural heritage. Analyzing projects that reimagine or reconstruct reality, the author discusses the social impact and cultural workings of these apps. The article shows how such apps can facilitate kinesthetic performances that intervene in established cultural narratives and open a window to new social realities. In this context, the author also introduces her project CHAR, an online collection of AR art and cultural heritage apps, which illustrates how Sutherland’s vision has been materialized through the mapping of AR-reconstructed realities.