Through the process of applying augmented reality (AR) filters to herself as researcher-cum-participant and recording the process, Lauren A Miller’s research grounds the ephemeral form of augmented reality (AR) filters into more stable artefacts.  

Using 12 distinct AR filter types before the platform is discontinued, this Screen Walk criticized AR filters of digital beauty standards, through a feminist lens. The discussion explored the legitimacy of using filters as a content creation or artist expression to subvert beauty ideals, while also considering the effects of Meta’s decision to remove this technology from its platforms from January 2025.

Biography

Lauren A. Miller is currently a confirmed PhD student at Swinburne University of Technology. Prior to returning to study, Lauren spent almost a decade working in marketing and social media management. Lauren's PhD project examines Instagram’s augmented reality filters through a socio-technical lens, with a focus on how the technology impacts beauty and surgery culture. Lauren's research interest include feminist approaches to social media, digital privacy/ surveillance, digital beauty cultures, theories of the technology user as cyborg, and digital embodiment praxis.

Screen Walks is a new series of live-streamed artist/researcher-led explorations of online spaces and artistic strategies designed to illuminate a thriving – often overlooked – digital cultural scene. A new online collaboration between The Photographers’ Gallery, UK and Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland.