Digital Daimons: Algorithmic Rhetorics of Augmented Reality

This article develops a theoretical framework for studying the algorithmic underpinnings of contemporary augmented reality technologies. We delineate this framework through the rhetorical figure of the “daimon,” a greek mythological entity as well as a technical concept within computer science, to articulate an approach to AR algorithms as emergent, material processes that can create unpredicted, unintended effects. Ultimately, we argue that the conceptual framework of the “daimon” provides an interface through which writing and rhetoric scholars can better discern the algorithmic effects of emerging AR composing platforms.