+Andscape is an extension of the augmented reality (AR) sandbox developed in University of California (UC Davis 2015). The original AR sandbox was designed to create topographic models with sand. When one shapes the sand, a motion capture camera perceives changes in the shape and the image projected to the surface changes accordingly. Furthermore, the application comes also with a virtual rain where the water rains and flows in the landscape.

+Andscape is an AR sandbox designed for small children. The installation is design study of pedagogical environment using AR. With +Andscape children can explore digital world through touch and embodied experience. Children are able to paint and to create soundscapes by digging and piling the sand.

+Andscape installation is produced in co-operation with City of Helsinki (Insights into Early Childhood Education project) and Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Concept design Jaana Brinck & Teemu Leinonen; Execution Labbers Oy Niklas Pöllönen & Jason Selvarajan. Acknowledgements for the participant children and educators in the design workshops.

The Augmented Reality Sandbox was developed by the UC Davis W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in the Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES, http://www.keckcaves.org), supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL 1114663. For more information, please visit http://idav.ucdavis.edu/~okreylos/ResDev/SARndbox.

Research article of the project:

Leinonen, T., Brinck, J., Vartiainen, H., & Sawhney, N. (2021). Augmented reality sandboxes: children’s play and storytelling with mirror worlds. Digital Creativity, 32(1), 38-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/14626268.2020.1868535

+Andscape installation was part of California: Designing freedom exhibition in Designmuseum Helsinki 10.11. 2017 – 4.3. 2018

California: Designing freedom