Marco Tempest: Augmented Reality Magician

Marco Tempest takes a wonderful creative leap in taking one of the oldest of magic tricks - the everday card trick - and combines it with some very cutting edge technology - real time 3d graphics through augmented reality. Marco is known as a "virtual magician" or a "multimedia magician" for he continuously uses new technologies - from cell phone cameras, to stop motion, 3d graphics, and iPhone applications to betray our expectations in new and creative ways.

The story he tells is wonderful. The trick is very well planned out and structured, yet it feels as though he is telling it to you around a campfire. We are wowed by the realtime graphics, yet he couterbalances this quite complex technology with a simple story with a meaningful message. Yet ultimately, it is from a magicians old box of tricks in which he truly catches us when we least expect it.

If find it ironic, for much of Marco's magic uses the "magic" of digital graphics to give the trick depth and interest, yet it is still the old-style slight of hand magic from which he successfully performs his magic. All immediate rationale, would assume that he, like most magicians that use camera trickery, editing, and graphics, is using at a crutch to complete his task.

Marco realizes how to embrace new technologies, while simultaneously holding firmly to his past interests. He uses these technologies to capture his ever-evolving target audience's wants - and in doing so has found his niche in the entertainment community.

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