An immersive augmented reality public art installation created by John Craig Freeman and SOUND MADE PUBLIC, Produced by Lava Mae and ZERO1
September 7th–15th 2018, Proxy
Coming Home, is a virtual public art project connecting the people of San Francisco across the housing divide. A portico doorway acts as an access point to augmented reality experiences, a portal to help ease people in the transition from their physical reality to an alternative, virtual reality.
Today San Francisco finds itself embodying both the best of human capacity and the worst. Our unrelenting crisis around housing insecurity and the houseless has come to define us as sharply as our innovation and entrepreneurship.
Most of us know little about our unhoused neighbors – those we see and the many more who are invisible – their stories or what’s required to navigate these challenging circumstances. In Coming Home, you’ll meet a full range of people and hear their stories – from life on the street to holding a job, as a student or an elder, and from the point of view of those who have successfully moved beyond what is, for most, a temporary situation. And you’ll experience how we are more alike than we are different.
- If the user has an iPhone 6S or later or iPad (2017) or later, running iOS 11 or later (or simply late model iPhone or iPad), a version of all eight episodes of Coming Home can be downloaded at Apple’s App Store.
- Search ‘Coming Home Lava Mae’.
- If the user’s device does not meet these minimum requirements, the apps will not show up in the App Store.
- Coming Home iOS is not geolocated. It can be viewed anywhere, although it is best viewed outdoors in a public space with ample room to walk around.
- Unmute audio or use earbuds listen to the stories.
- Teleport directly to key locations by tapping the link.
- The best time to experience the project is in the late afternoon or early evening when the light softens and screen glare is minimal.
Download the apps at Apple’s App Store:
- Coming Home, Box City
- Coming Home, Civic Center
- Coming Home, Haight & Masonic
- Coming Home, Hayes Valley
- Coming Home, Painted Ladies
- Coming Home, Pit Bull Alley
- Coming Home, Tenderloin
- Coming Home, Van Ness Inn
Press
- Augmented Reality Brings Art and History to Life for Nonprofits,
Calvin Hennick, BizTech, July 12, 2019. - Hayes Valley augmented reality project aims to build empathy for homeless locals, by Teresa Hammerl, Hoodline News, August 30, 2018.
- Check Out PROXY’s Augmented-Reality Exhibit on Homelessness, by Peter Lawrence Kane, SF Weekly, September, 8, 2018.
- SF art installation tells untold stories of the homeless through augmented reality, by Andre Torrez, KTVU 2, September 14, 2018.
- Augmented Reality Art Project Sparks Compassion For The Homeless, by Betty Yu, KPIX 5, September 17, 2018.
- Augmented reality tells stories of homeless in San Francisco, by Michelle Kingston, KRON 4, September 15, 2018.
- Augmented Reality Exhibit, App Aim to Bridge Housing Divide, by Jenna Lane, KCBS Radio, September 15, 2018.