Playful and humorous interactions in urban environments made possible with augmented reality technology

Abstract

There is more to humor than jokes. Humor can be created in jokes, in cartoons and animations, in products, commercials, and movies, or in stand-up comedy. However, also during our daily activities, we often smile and laugh because we experience interactions and events as humorous. We can experience such events; we can also initiate such events. Smart environments offer us tools that allow the customization of urban environments to potential and personalized playful and humorous experiences. Sensors and actuators in smart urban environments can be addressed and configured in such a way that they initiate and facilitate playful and humorous events in the real world, but it is also possible that without physical changes in the real world, our imaginations are triggered to give humorous interpretations of events in the real world by observing or imagining how they could be different. In this paper, we look at humor that can be experienced by imagination, by suggestions, by changes in the environment, and by changing the environment using digital augmented and diminished reality tools. The views expressed here can help to add humor to urban play, urban games, and daily activities in public spaces using augmented reality technology.