If you’re going to be following the posts on this site lets go ahead and break the ice on augmented reality and virtual reality right now. This week we will be looking into and thinking about the future of art and emerging trends to watch out for.
Before we can discuss any augmented reality apps for artists, you should probably know what augmented reality is.
This is when you take digital information and images and overlay them on the real world using smartphones, tablets, and even glasses!
So when it comes to the world of art there are smartphone applications beginning to emerge that will enable artists to leave their digital artwork throughout the world. Be it at home on your own walls or in the middle of a park, the world of art is about to get bigger.
For my painters out there, there is actually an application you can try called KUIO that you can get for your smartphone or tablet. Using this app you can digitally try out locations of where you might want to hang your paintings.
This requires you to print something out in order to do it which is a bit of a drawback but we are at the very beginning stages of this movement. Which obviously is not nearly as good as what the Mark AR App will be based on.
It was recently brought to my attention by a friend of mine that The Verge just published an article titled “Is the world ready for virtual graffiti?”. Certainly worth a read if you’re interested in some of the potential concerns with virtual graffiti or public digital art in general.
The application they are covering is called Mark AR. Mark AR is aiming to be a social platform that allows its users to tag real-world objects and walls with digital graffiti.
With Mark AR being one of the first platforms of its kind, I’m sure we will begin to see many others start to emerge over 2020. It is built using google’s new cloud anchors.
More specifically its ARCore Cloud Anchor API. This basically allows you to put virtual objects in the physical world that other people will be able to see using their devices. Storing them right where you put them just waiting for others to discover.
No need to print anything up!
I personally am skeptical of the platform as it is difficult to find any actual screenshots of people using it and what it looks like for the user. I have found a couple of things from their twitter feed here where you can see some images through a phone. Check them out.
Finding villains better than Batman 🦇#HarleyQuinn #nycc19 @DCComics pic.twitter.com/HJv7WaI9yF
— Mark AR (@markar_app) October 6, 2019
Where will you go with #MarkAR? You can tag any corner or building in your city as you please and no one in the “real world” would suspect a thing 🤫 pic.twitter.com/GihIMfnnNM
— Mark AR (@markar_app) October 16, 2019
I’ll admit it is a cool idea and I can’t wait to see more of it! I really wish they would show someone actually using it though. I feel like it would be awkward to try and use a virtual spray can on one’s smartphone.
Without having more information it is hard to say if this will be the groundbreaking platform on which digital street art springs from.
One thing is for sure, there definitely will be some interesting applications and useful ones for artists to take advantage of.