Revealing Aspects of Hawai'i Tourism Using Situated Augmented Reality
Karen Abe, Jules Park, Samir Ghosh
TL;DR
This work addresses how colonial tourism in Hawai‘i erodes Indigenous voice by proposing a situated augmented reality artifact that foregrounds Historical Context, Contemporary Issues, and Identity Harm. The authors outline a prototype using VPS geolocation and the 8th Wall Lightship SDK, with content co-created from Kanaka Maoli communities to illuminate historically marginalized narratives in public spaces. By combining site-specific AR with community-sourced artifacts, the paper contributes a practical framework for culturally sensitive XR deployment and a set of workshop discussion prompts. The approach aims to educate visitors, empower local voices, and inform future design practices surrounding representation and heritage in tourism-rich environments.
Abstract
In this position paper, we present a process artifact that aims to bring awareness to historical context, contemporary issues, and identity harm inflicted by tourism in Hawaii. First, we introduce the historical background and how the work is informed by the positionality of the authors. We discuss how related augmented reality work can inform strategy for building augmented reality experiences that address cultural issues. Then, we present a mockup of the artifact, aimed to bring awareness to 20th century colonialism, recent Kanaka Maoli art exclusion, and cultural prostitution. We describe how we will share the app at the workshop and list topics for discussion.