When Worlds Collide: How Augmented Reality Encourages Change
The rise of digital media has allowed us to create worlds within worlds. It has allowed our perception of reality to become as fungible and transient as reality itself. From Pokémon Go to Snapchat filters, augmented realities, or views of the world that have been enhanced or seamlessly manipulated, invade life in the modern day. Amnesty International, a non- governmental human rights organization, exploits this concept of augmented reality in its ad campaign titled, “It’s Not Happening Here. But It Is Happening Now.” The Amnesty International ad creates a unique kairotic moment, invokes civic commonplaces, and employs pathetic appeals to spread awareness about global injustice. Another nonprofit organization, Crisis Relief Singapore, utilizes similar rhetorical techniques within the context of another augmented reality in its ad campaign titled, “Liking Isn’t Helping.” In both advertisements, the respective organizations illustrate overlapping or colliding worlds to awaken western societies from their first-world complacency. By forcing this breakage from complacency, Amnesty International and Crisis Relief Singapore hope to encourage civic action and spread awareness about global injustice.

Both Amnesty International and Crisis Relief Singapore seize kairotic moments to persuade audiences to become aware, action-oriented citizens. Amnesty International published its print campaign in 2006 on street corners, bus stop shelters, and other public areas throughout Switzerland. Large, translucent posters featuring life-sized images taken by conflict

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photographers force everyday Swiss citizens to stand side by side with victims of human rights abuses. These augmented realities feature bomb attacks in Syria, childhood hunger in Africa, and brutal treatment towards prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. These scenes, chosen for their modern- day significance, become purposefully intrusive, invading heavily trafficked public spots. The large, often disturbing, graphics are crafted to look as if they are part of the surrounding city. This technique allows distant worlds to become part of Switzerland’s native urban environment. By overlaying foreign characters onto Switzerland’s cityscapes, Amnesty International can create its own unique moment for persuasion. The images scattered across the city help frame human injustice as a current issue that needs urgent and immediate attention. The strategic placement of these images sparks reflection in places where citizens would normally not confront these atrocities. Through the creation of this kairotic moment, the organization can awaken citizens from the complacency of their comfortable first-world lives and encourage civic engagement to end these tragedies.

Crisis Relief Singapore similarly seizes a kairotic moment to convey its message against Facebook “liking” as an effective means of civic engagement. This Facebook campaign, much like Amnesty International’s poster movement, creates a digitally manufactured reality. Crisis Relief Singapore’s 2013 campaign features images of starving children, natural disasters, and people without proper medical care to ultimately emphasize the meaningless nature of using a “like” on Facebook to change a life. Each augmented image displays photoshopped “thumbs-up” signs circling the suffering individuals. Crisis Relief Singapore presents this public service announcement at an extremely opportune time: the pinnacle of social media usage. While Amnesty International develops an augmented reality that invades western worlds to create a kairotic moment, Crisis Relief Singapore creates a manipulated reality that draws upon kairos

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that has already been established. By posting this message on Facebook, Crisis Relief Singapore directly confronts Facebook users who are active “likers.” The seriousness of struggling Singaporean individuals juxtaposed with the careless thumbs-ups signs develops the absurdity of “liking” as an effective form of volunteerism. Crisis Relief Singapore forces viewers to put themselves alongside the struggling people in distant regions. Viewers of “Liking Isn’t Helping” begin to question the appropriateness of carelessly pressing their thumbs-up buttons when human lives are at risk. Ultimately, both Crisis Relief Singapore and Amnesty International create a manipulated reality to frame global action and awareness as a civic responsibility.

In order to encourage awareness and action among citizens, both campaigns must draw on civic commonplaces and preconceived notions already established within first-world societies. Both ad campaigns create an augmented reality to criticize the western world. In Amnesty International’s case, the company draws on the potentially self-centered nature of western worlds. The company is implicitly suggesting that western citizens are uneducated about global abuses, and selfishly preoccupied with their own mundane daily struggles. The company seeks to create a platform for education to break these stereotypes. By integrating graphic photos into daily life, these distant, struggling people become community members and neighbors. Crisis Relief Singapore utilizes similar commonplaces about western culture, specifically opposing the preconceived notion that western citizens can become engaged global activists with the simple touch of a button. Both campaigns assume that there is a disconnect between humanity. By forcing distant worlds to become one, these agencies humanize foreign peoples and ultimately encourage western citizens to civically engage in worlds they have previously ignored.

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Both Amnesty International and Crisis Relief Singapore utilize digitally manipulated world visions to evoke emotional responses from viewers. One of the “It’s Not Happening Here. But It Is Happening Now” advertisements features a young African boy hunched on the ground picking at meager grains of food. The underfed and ill-clothed child covered in dust becomes the epitome of vulnerability and isolation. The image evokes feelings of sorrow and sympathy. Passer-byers stumble across this child and immediately become reminded of the traumatizing nature of abandonment and poverty. The image is minimalistic, simple, and almost gets lost within the natural Swiss backdrop. Despite its skillful camouflage into the city streets, the image still clearly illustrates childhood hunger as a global human injustice. In arousing sadness within the audience, Amnesty International hopes that this sorrow will translate into anger and anger into action to combat these global crises.

Crisis Relief Singapore presents similar imagery to construct pathetic appeals and spark effective forms of civic action. In one “Liking Isn’t Helping” post, Crisis Relief Singapore features a vulnerable young girl trapped in devastating flooding. Much like in Amnesty International’s campaign, this image draws on the commonplace of childhood innocence and vulnerability. This girl’s disappointed expression—almost judging the likers around her—elicits feelings of guilt from viewers and reminds audiences of the ridiculousness of using “liking” to save her life. The campaign features images entirely in black and white, which creates a bleak mood and evokes mournful and sorrowful feelings from viewers. Ultimately, these juxtaposing realities can elicit an emotional response from audiences by ejecting other worldly scenarios into everyday life. By seeing and emotionally responding to these foreign realities, viewers become personally connected to the human suffering and feel responsible to combat these injustices and crises.

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A businessman in Switzerland is forced to stand beside the skeletal frame of a starving child. Augmented reality has suddenly collapsed the considerable distance between the first and third worlds. For a brief uncomfortable moment, the desperate life of a Sub-Saharan African refugee and a prosperous European middle manager overlap. In this moment the fortunate are asked to face the less fortunate and to answer—if only for themselves—what debt is owed to humanity. This is how the “It’s Not Happening Here. But It Is Happening Now” and “Liking Isn’t Helping” campaigns become powerful social tools to educate society and promote action. Both develop an augmented reality to establish a unique kairotic moment. Both campaigns also evoke emotional responses from their audiences. Western-world stereotypes and commonplaces about distant cultures and community become central points within their arguments. The ads effectively bridge the gap between two worlds to force western society from its first-world complacency. Ultimately, both Amnesty International and Crisis Relief Singapore frame mindful and engaged global citizenship as a necessary civic responsibility shared by all of humanity.

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Works Cited
“It’s Not Happening Here. But It Is Happening Now.” D&AD, Design and Art Direction, 28

Sept. 2017, www.dandad.org/en/global-creative-design-advertising-association/. “Liking Isn’t Helping.” HuffPost UK, HuffPost, 26 June 2013,

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/26/do-not-like-this-facebook-campaign-crisis-relief- singapore-_n_3502844.html.