HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MESSAGES FOR CHANGE WITH AUGMENTED REALITY
29 June 2020
Our worlds are burning.
The protector became the killer. Peaceful protests and adjacent riots have emerged nationwide. The sense of helplessness in America is only exacerbated by the number of unemployed climbing to over 44 million and confirmed cases of COVID-19 to over 2.5 million confirmed cases with over 125,000 deaths.
To incite change and reinvent the broken systems that discourage progress, we must individually assume responsibility. The right to make a change is not reserved for one privileged or disadvantaged group, we share the same obligation.
With art, we can reimagine and improve the existing organizational structures of society. Historically, artists of various disciplines have served as a vehicle for awareness and change. Authors, musicians, painters, playwrights, photographers, and directors have all helped to shift public opinion and drive meaningful impact.
While studying the organization and design of cities and towns, we realized an opportunity to spread awareness of relevant messages using their existing skeletons. Universal street signs are posted throughout the United States. Augmented reality will allow us to create hundreds of millions of micro-billboards, each spreading messages of change across the nation.
Peaceful Protests in Los Angeles on May 30. Photo: Quinn Matthews
The idea will be developed under the name “Street Signs of Change” as an AVONNI Global creative initiative. We will begin in June 2020 with the intention to provide support in the fight for racial equality. Black members of our communities should not have to live in fear of the police, the government, or their neighbors. We recognize that everyone deserves but is not provided the same opportunities and want to actively be a part of the solution.
Our first piece reimagines the omnipresent red ‘STOP’ sign. When viewed through an augmented reality lens, the sign will transform in appearance and message. The primary color will shift from red to black and the text will read ‘STOP KILLING US’ in the traditional Highway Gothic font. Simultaneously, red and blue lights will flash on the sign illuminating the raised text and message. Additional messages and signs will continue to be developed and released in support of the protests and future movements.
The responsibility to create a better world must be held by everyone. The choices we make in the present can liberate the future from the past.
To innovate, you must deconstruct and rethink.