Hidden Costs

Augmented Reality app for the photo exhibition “Hidden Costs”.

We refuel our cars at filling stations, recharge our cellphones and notebooks by plugging them into the next power socket and reenergize with a coffee to go in between activities. We are used to paying the going price for fuel, electricity, drinks and so on. But what is it we actually pay for – and what are the real costs of our behavior?

The photo exhibition “Hidden Costs”, curated by the Museum für Naturkunde and the New York based photographer J Henry Fair, coalesces photography, environmental science, and technology and stimulates a reflection of our own behavior in everyday life.

J Henry Fair's aerial images are stunning abstract compositions, full of organic forms and graphic patterns. They are strikingly beautiful, but behind the beauty lies the unexpected – the aerial images show environmental damage caused by human activity.

The “Hidden Costs” app is a companion for any exhibition visitor that is curious to know more about the images they see. The app uses AR (Augmented Reality) technology to let hidden information come to light and provide additional information for each image in the exhibition. The content is only available in the exhibition gallery.