Herford’s town center can now be experienced in a unique manner with this smartphone-based tour. Developed by Marta Herford and Austrian artist Martin Walde, “Cyber Dust” is the second case study in the joint project “Offene Welten” (Open Worlds). The existing modules in the interkit system – the map element and the media library – have been supplemented by a new feature for augmented reality (AR) objects.
Martin Walde roamed extensively through Herford in search of unusual facets, recording his discoveries in a series of poetic and bizarre narratives. What characterizes the town of Herford? How did its appearance come about? What are the origins of its shapes and smells? This interactive exploratory tour opens up possible perspectives and reveals surprising views of the seemingly familiar town. In the app, virtual phenomena are used to bring these snapshots to life. Reality and digital, fiction and fantasy merge into each other.
Users find their way around the town with the aid of the map. As they do so, they discover QR codes that can be used to unlock and view AR phenomena. The associated narratives are available as texts and also audio files spoken by the artist himself. Afterwards, the AR objects can be used at any other location because the score is saved in your browser and secured with a session ID, ensuring that the collected phenomena aren’t lost. They can be recreated by users in other places and even shared under #cyberstaub, meaning they can even be transmitted from Herford to anywhere in the world.
“Cyber Dust” is available until summer 2023. Since it’s a PWA (progressive web app), it needn’t be downloaded; instead, the app can simply be accessed via this link or the Marta Herford website. However, we recommend saving the app on the home screen of your smartphone.
NB: This tour is only available in German.
