How can we create co-presence in augmented reality?

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Glowshrooms started as an experiment in shared play. Created by Brett Gaylor during an internship with Hololabs Studio in Victoria, BC, the project asked a simple question: how can technology help people feel like they’re together in the same place, even when interacting through their phones? Visitors could scan a QR code to join either Team Glow or Team Grow, then use their voice or their touchscreen to make virtual mushrooms either light up or grow in a shared digital forest. The first version appeared at the City of Victoria’s Winter Arts Festival, where the windows of an old auto garage were transformed into a luminous woodland. Over a long weekend, about 150 people stopped by to play and explore the interactive forest.

As we watched players experiment, we realized that some struggled to understand how their actions affected the glowing mushrooms on the screen. They weren’t always sure whether their taps or sounds were doing anything, or how much influence they had. The delay between their input and the mushrooms’ reactions made the experience feel less immediate, and that weakened the feeling of “being there together.” These observations gave us a clearer picture of what was missing: people could see and hear the same virtual world, but they didn’t yet feel connected through it.

So we went back to the lab and began adjusting how players interacted with the mushrooms. We gave each person a specific mushroom to “care for,” and tied its reactions to the way they moved their phone — turning the interaction into a kind of dance. We added music, faster response times, and clearer instructions to help players understand that their actions were part of a shared goal: reaching “maximum glow” or “maximum growth.” Later versions were installed at the Bay Centre and the Victoria Public Market, where these changes made the experience feel more playful, social, and alive. Each new installation helped us get closer to the project’s aim: building digital spaces that foster real connection and a sense of co-presence through art and technology.