Adobe and Minnesota Street Project hosted a Virtual Reality, Artificial Reality, and emerging technology art show in SF (June 8-10, 2018) Here I am as seen through the lens of the iPad camera in order to show the digital, interactive, 3D artificial reality scene that I painted and was assembled by Eric Kimberly using Unity and Vuforia. The title of the piece is "World's Away."
Here is the digital painting I created that was inspired by the "Impossible" theme. When I heard the theme "Festival of the Impossible," my mind immediately drifted to the old photos and posters that I had seen from the World's Fair at the turn of the last century. They were celebrations that unveiled to the public the technological achievements of a multitude of countries for the first time.
Often what we believe impossible, like man flying, or man walking on the moon, becomes possible and, by consequence, redefines reality. With these thoughts in mind, I drew inspiration from Georges Méliès "Trip to the Moon" (1902) which itself drew inspiration from Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. All of these people saw man's ability to use technology as a means to accomplish fantastic things. Fantasies would become reality--it was just a matter of ingenuity.
Augmented reality is a remarkable vehicle for art and expression. It will push boundaries and reshape that which we used to believe was static. In World's Away, we employ the use of technology to create a perceived window into the world of the artist and make it come alive by creating space, depth, and dynamic movement without physical alterations to the original artwork.
When the viewer enters the gallery, they see a traditional painting of a hot air balloon which I made using acrylic paints, charcoal, and old maps. With an iPad in hand, the viewer has revealed to them a deeper world that tracks to their position to the painting, allow them to see inside it with depth. When the viewer taps on different elements, the painting reacts with animations. The moon makes a face, the mermaid and ship bounces, and the sun's rays rotate.
Painting Detail
Guests interacting with the work
More Detail. The mountains, fish, parts of the waves, and the castle were taken from The British Library's archive of free images and then edited heavily.