Copyright in an Augmented Reality

Copyright in an Augmented Reality | Wassom.com



Augmented Reality has recently become the golden child of many technology sections in newspapers. But the implications it holds for copyright and the way in which information flows has changed dramatically. This article neatly sums up some basic points on how virtual reality has altered the way in which we perceive information/data flows. The term augmented itself means 'add to, alter'. Augmented reality is meant to change the way we see the world around us, contextualizing material that we previously understood and transforming it into "something else for which it may not have been intended" (Wassom, 2012).



With Virtual Reality encouraged and welcomed up by major tech corporations such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple and so on, do you feel we are almost forced into accepting remix culture? Food for thought.

The Sims - machinima

The Sims is a computer game that is designed to mimic life. In essence it is a virtual dollhouse. Game play is open ended and there are no defined goals. The game itself consists of a base game and multiple expansion packs. However, the game is constantly remixing itself. There have been four generations of Sims games: The Sims (first released in 2000), The Sims 2 (first released in 2004), The Sims 3 (first released in 2009) and The Sims 4 (first released in 2014). The release of each new version of the game marks the end of official content releases for the previous version. In releasing these different versions of the game the theme and nature of some of the content is adapted between versions. For example, The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 have all had expansion packs that focus on Pets and The Sims 3 Wold Adventures remixes some elements of The sims 2 Bon Voyage which in turn remix from The Sims Vacations.

Aside from the mechanics of a game that continues to be updated and reinvented is what the community has done with it. Remixes using the game to provide the graphics are numerous as players have used the mechanics of the game to create and recreate stories and events. There are Sims remixes of a wide array of material from Fairy Tales to reality TV Shows. To accommodate this plays have also created their own clothing and hairstyles to create a sims version of the characters they need.

At one time there was a community for the Sims 3 which actively encouraged these type of remixes. Although it has faded since the release of the Sims 4, the creations for it continue to exist. This is an example of the Sims told fairy tale Tam Lin, that I created. This recreation was for a fairy tale contest
entries were very diverse from Snow White to Theseus and the Minotaur to the Wizard of Oz. 

On YouTube  the Sims based machinima is well represented and I'll finish this post of with a few of the more interesting examples I found:
 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - (Sims 2):

Big Brother - (Sims 2):

 Fairy Tales - (Sims 3):

 Survivor Theme Song - (Sims 4):