Apple Hosting Augmented Reality Art Walk in Multiple Cities

[MacRumors]

Apple has teamed up with the New Museum in New York to create an augmented reality art experience called [AR]T that can be experienced in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.

[AR]T is a curation of augmented reality pieces that are being featured in a series of guided walks, where people can use iPhones to view the creations. The art walks were first announced in July, but are set to kick off tomorrow.

Image of New York [AR]T walk via The New York Times​

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Apple is hosting walking tours that are free and open to the public starting this Saturday. Each tour begins at an Apple Store location and features the same art work. Pieces are only accessible at certain points on the walk, providing multi-city open-air virtual exhibits. [AR]T includes pieces from Nick Cave, Nathalie Djurberg, Hans Berg, Cao Fei, Carsten Höller, Pipilotti Rist and John Giorno, artists picked by the New Museum.

A piece by Nick Cave called "Amass" will also be on view at every Apple retail location, and Apple will host a lab for those who are interested in learning more about augmented reality.

The New York walk starts at the Apple Fifth Avenue and then heads into central park, while the San Francisco walk starts at Apple Union Square and heads down Post street. Viewers are provided with an iPhone and a set of headphones (though you can also use your own AirPods). Each walk is approximately 1.5 miles, and attendees can sign up on Apple's website.

Details on each artist and the type of art you can expect to see on the [AR]T walk can be found on Apple's Today at Apple page for the experience.

Article Link: Apple Hosting Augmented Reality Art Walk in Multiple Cities

 

[MisterSavage]

I would love to do this!

 

[needfx]

here I am hoping some hacker uploads a mildly nsfw artwork unbeknownst to apple just to mess with them

 

[BootsWalking]

It's been a while since I've been wowed by an idea or technology but the notion of enabling art to be seen only at a particular location, overlaid with a specific backdrop/scene that the artist himself envisioned, is really innovative.

 

[Mac4Brains]

the key thing apple has yet to tell us is how to access the AugRealty. is there an app, what is the name of it? I spent all this time thinking that it was something that would come out with the next iOS.

 

[needfx]

the key thing apple has yet to tell us is how to access the AugRealty. is there an app, what is the name of it? I spent all this time thinking that it was something that would come out with the next iOS.

most probably on android for now

 

[code-m]

I would love to do this!

Yep, we will soon need AR to fool us that the world around us is not burning to the ground.

Wait for the full body suit AR experience.

 

[MisterSavage]

Yep, we will soon need AR to fool us that the world around us is not burning to the ground.

Wait for the full body suit AR experience.

Not if it's something scary like Resident Evil VR. I didnt' like that.

 

[citysnaps]

here I am hoping some hacker uploads a mildly nsfw artwork unbeknownst to apple just to mess with them

Why?

Sounds like something a high school student would do.

 

[ThirteenXIII]

I dont know much about AR, but this seems to be about as much as I would expect it to be useful in an ordinary user sense (art walks, museums, installations, historical points of interest, etc). Maybe more in clinical professions or purposes this would be very advantageous....still not sure the purpose of consumer accessories yet.

 

[needfx]

Why?

Sounds like something a high school student would do.

why so serious?

 

[AstroRob]

The link to the Apple page says you can view it in the [AR]T viewer in the app store but I don't see anything like that (and they didn't provide a link). I'd be amused to at least see the installation in 'all' apple stores?

 

[pdfontes]

The link to the Apple page says you can view it in the [AR]T viewer in the app store but I don't see anything like that (and they didn't provide a link). I'd be amused to at least see the installation in 'all' apple stores?

As per the official newsroom article from Apple a couple days ago, you should use the Apple Store app to experience it at all Apple Stores

 

[citysnaps]

why so serious?

It’s not a matter of being serious or not. It's more about not being juvenile.

 

[5105973]

Okay I'm beginning to see why they might be working on ar glasses. I would not like to try and view all that on my phone.

 

[needfx]

It’s not a matter of being serious or not. It's more about not being juvenile.

nothing wrong with the occasional juvenile joke, it was hardly distasteful on top of that

 

[japanime]

This sounds like a neat idea, and apparently the tours will have a guide, which might alleviate my concerns.

But I'm still going to be the cranky old man who says we don't need more people staring at their iPhone screens on the already crowded sidewalks of Tokyo. Alert pedestrians who are simply trying to get from Point A to Point B constantly have to zig-zag to dodge hordes of oblivious cell-phone zombies.

There's gotta be a better way to do this. Maybe have the group meet at the Apple Store and then — with instructions that they must leave their iPhones in their pockets until reaching the destination — walk to a park where the art could be observed?

 

[simonmet]

Can you keep the phone?

 

[Vjosullivan]

I don't know much about AR...

...but I know what I like.

 

[Glockworkorange]

So I can walk around with my arms outstretched, which after a few minutes gets very uncomfortable, and risk tripping over something on the ground.

If reaching up to touch a laptop screen is ergonomically uncomfortable, then what is this?

 

[diipii]

here I am hoping some hacker uploads a mildly nsfw artwork unbeknownst to apple just to mess with them

Spot on,something this pretentious needs a kick up the rear end.

 

[boodle]

the key thing apple has yet to tell us is how to access the AugRealty. is there an app, what is the name of it? I spent all this time thinking that it was something that would come out with the next iOS.

ARKit is built into iOS and several apps already leverage it.
There won't be an "AR App" as such except perhaps as a showcase for the technology.
[doublepost=1565639495][/doublepost]San Francisco: "Devices will be provided. Headphones provided or bring your AirPods. This walk is about 1.5 miles."

Sounds like they're using pre-loaded devices so they don't have to deal with people downloading/configuring apps before the tour. I suspect it'll eventually be self-guided; currently proof-of-concept and foot traffic draw for the stores.

They'll start pushing Augmented Reality hard once the iPhone 11's 3D environment scanning arrives in September.

 

[soaklord]

It's been a while since I've been wowed by an idea or technology but the notion of enabling art to be seen only at a particular location, overlaid with a specific backdrop/scene that the artist himself envisioned, is really innovative.

That's been proposed in fiction previously. William Gibson did it all the way back in 2006 (Spook Country) using geolocation and vr goggles to show things like the night River Phoenix passed away. Then again, in that book, he also predicted the state level surveillance of all communications long before it came to light.

Edit: release year of Spook Country

 

[djalice]

the key thing apple has yet to tell us is how to access the AugRealty. is there an app, what is the name of it? I spent all this time thinking that it was something that would come out with the next iOS.

I contacted Apple about this and they said that you should get an alert when you enter the store and then it is available inside the Apple Store app.