MIT Augmented Reality Experience

1 to Infinity in the Infinite

Proof that the infinite is infinite.

by Danny Goldfield

Idea

“1 to Infinity” is a portrait series featuring one person from every age—1, 2, 3, and so on—ascending to infinity. The portraits shown here are from an earlier version and will not appear in the upcoming exhibit.

For the Spring 2025 MIT Artfinity Festival, a new 1 to Infinity series featuring members of the MIT community is being created. This augmented reality experience, powered by the Hoverlay Spatial Publishing Platform, will debut in the MIT Infinite Corridor at 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA.

Using your phone as your visual diplay, as you approach the portraits they will vanish, drawing you further along the Infinite Corridor.

End

The experience concludes on the second-floor balcony, where you can view ages spiraling up into the skylight and observe people entering and exiting the main lobby.

Floor plan

Is your phone an optimal visual display?

Phone screens share a vertical aspect ratio similar to the height-to-width ratio of the Infinite Corridor.

Professor William Uricchio, Founder and Principal Investigator of the MIT Open Documentary Lab noted, “Visual display is the missing link, the barrier between augmentation and success. Solve it with non-intrusive glasses, and the sector will explode.”

Is your phone the optimal visual display for this exhibit? Why and why not? 

Other Questions

What makes a person a member of the “MIT Community”?

Will the portraits be still photographs or live photographs ( ≈1 second looping videos)?

How will the features and limitations of the AR tools impact/improve the exhibition design? How do we push the capabilities of these tools? 

How will the exhibit be triggered to start?

What is the simplest system of waypoints?

How does this AR experience avoid interfering with everyday walking in the corridor?

What is better audio than the natural sounds of the Infinite Corridor? As of now, there will be no added audio component.

How can the exhibit be accessible to as many people as possible?

What interactive elements might be added to the installation to enhance the user experience?