When the entire world went into isolation in 2020 and 2021, the digital world played a significant role in bringing people together through technology. Not only with Zoom and Skype but also with augmented and virtual reality. Since 2014, the world has been experiencing more usage and demand for modern technology utilizing 3D components. Companies like echo3D were born out of this need for innovation. echo3D allows users to host their 3D assets on the cloud and build quick AR apps. In fact, echo3D is so user friendly, it’s the perfect tool for artists. See for yourself. 😉
Click on this link https://go.echo3d.co/KQBm or scan this QR code to see a fun painting in augmented reality ⛰️☀️☁️!
Official Recognition of XR as a “Medium”
The Art Newspaper launched an XR Panel in July 2020 due to the growing need to consider XR a medium. This medium is interesting because it’s digital but requires a real world component to be experienced. Art is intended to be an intimate and vulnerable in person viewing experience but it is often inaccessible as much art is hosted in galleries and museums, which requires travel to experience the art as intended. Presenting art through a kaleidoscope that’s half here in real life, and half digital, can make it all the more interesting and certainly puts it in a category of its own.
For example, the Sol LeWitt estate, Lindsay Aveilhé and Microsoft created an immersive app that exhibits an AR series, much of which was produced during the early years of the pandemic where many people were unable to visit inspiring galleries and museums. Aveilhé and Microsoft curated the late artist’s works into this standalone AR app. In this specific case, it revived the original decades-old stylings of LeWitt’s work and brought it into the present with modern technology.
Elaborate Indoor/Outdoor AR Experiences
For many people, the most they’ve experienced with augmented reality and AR is when Pokemon Go made a comeback and nearly every single millennial downloaded the app and caught at least one. Like The Art Newspaper, agency-like platforms are popping up to further house these AR works of art and promote their accessibility and messaging.
Acute Art is an AR app that lets viewers discover and collect interactive artworks in AR. The app is available on the Apple and Google Play stores. Acute Art also partnered with Dazed Media to create Unreal City, London’s biggest festival of AR art that featured 36 sculptures organized as part of a walking tour along the River Thames. There were 24 different sites the works were “displayed” at. Vancouver hosted an outdoor art festival with a section entirely dedicated to augmented reality, including works by Saida Saetgar.
Platforms Incubating AR Creatives
In person incubators have been popping up to support this crossover of art, interactivity, utility and tech. For example, AR House LA in Los Angeles hosts quarterly cohorts with up to 30 creators at a time for AR-centric creatives to create interesting experiences.
Google has spearheaded their own initiatives with art with Google Arts and Culture. They created an accessible platform to allow people to view multiple exhibits in AR with a wide range of artists to pick from, both old and new. For example, users can fit a classic painting onto their wall or see what a sculpture would look like on their coffee table. Google appropriately refers to this feature as a pocket gallery where viewers can wander gallery rooms and see some of the best art in 3D from their phone.
AR provides opportunities for the audience to explore these interesting experiences they can’t experience any other way which makes this medium entirely its own. echo3D is looking forward to being a part of this artistic journey for emerging AR artists.
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echo3D (www.echo3D.co; Techstars 19’) is a cloud platform for 3D/AR/VR that provides tools and network infrastructure to help developers & companies quickly build and deploy 3D apps, games, and content.
