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Paper short abstract

This talk reflects on the artistic research project "Geography of Ghosts", which used digital LiDAR scanning and social science methods to explore spatial dimensions of refugee health. It involved intensive collaging of re-enacted interviews and self-recorded scans in a real-time game engine.

Paper long abstract

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanning processes (i.e., using laser light to create distance maps between a transmitter and spatial objects) are used for land surveying in geography and for producing precise 3D models of existing buildings in architecture. This talk shares insights from the artistic research project “Geography of Ghosts” (GoG), which created audio-visual collages centered on refugee health. GoG combined empirical findings from ethnographic social science research conducted in Vienna, Austria, with theoretical perspectives on visibility and invisibility, as well as self-recorded LiDAR scans.

We documented large spaces, such as the exterior of an asylum accommodation and the waiting room of a doctor’s office, using a FARO LiDAR scanner. For smaller objects, like medical equipment, and more detailed interior scenes, we employed a photogrammetry application. Utilizing digital compositing techniques drawn from a spatial design approach, we created a cinematic collage that combined re-enacted interview quotes from refugees and healthcare providers with visual representations of the lucid, spectral, and fragmented materiality of these LiDAR scans, all integrated within a real-time game engine.

This talk proposes that combining LiDAR scans with empirical social science research data holds epistemological (what kinds of knowledges can be created?), communicative (how to communicate research insights through LiDAR scans based collages and discuss them with different publics?), and dialogical potential (what possibilities emerge for participatory research?).