When Augmented Reality Met Art: Lessons Learned from Researcher–Artist Interdisciplinary Work

Abstract

Abstract:Over the last few years, Augmented Reality (AR) technology has quickly evolved and today there is commercial software and hardware that allow the creation of AR experiences. However, it might still be cumbersome to create rich AR experiences without a deep knowledge of the technology. Artists have collaborated with IT experts during the last few years in order to enhance artistic pieces embedding AR technology, leading to the emergence of interesting collaborations between artists and engineers, computer scientists, architects, etc. The resulting works can be referred as AR Art. However, the interdisciplinary work behind these collaborations is usually not addressed. The aim of this paper is to review some of the reported AR Art work since the AR term was first coined in 1990, focusing on collaborations between different disciplines, especially during the early years, where art and technology became one. Additionally, the author reports her own experience in contributing to AR Art from an interdisciplinary perspective.

AKN_Regie: bridging digital and performing arts

“…Also noting a "need for a common ground for dialogue", the authors of [3] propose "to use a "proxy", a person who has both artistic and technical abilities." [33] points out that a collaboration between art and technology "is more than the sum of the individual parts; interdisciplinarity does not consist of doing isolated work and then putting some glue between the results, but really finds a way of working together, mixing methodologies, expectations, dissemination channels, etc. of different disciplines."…”

“…Conversely, the programmer must integrate requests that originate outside the programming field. Finally, the circulation between the two perspectives favors the emergence or consolidation of the "proxy" function, as proposed by [3] and [33] as a guarantee of success for an interdisciplinary art, technology and science project. We emphasize the importance of an environment such as the Blueprint visual language developed by Epic Games in UE.…”

The Use of Mixed, Augmented and Virtual Reality in History of Art Teaching: A Case Study

“…The combination of art with AR, VR, and MR opens up a whole range of possibilities for the user. In this sense, as explained by Portalés [53], artists and experts in computer technology have been collaborating in recent years with the purpose of creating new experiences that revolve around art from various fields. By way of example, Aldridge and Bethel [54] investigated the feasibility of patients with brain injuries participating in virtual art therapies.…”

TinajAR: An Edutainment Augmented Reality Mirror for the Dissemination and Reinterpretation of Cultural Heritage

“…The mix of real characters and cartoons in movies such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) or Mary Poppins (1964) is an early example of this [3]. However, AR implies interaction, and therefore it can bring the user into the artistic element, opening endless possibilities to the artistic expression, such as activism, environmental awareness, aesthetics, narration, perception shifting, etc.…”

“…Furthermore, as AR requires interaction between the user and the application, this feature has been utilized to create interactive art, a form of art in which the spectator is part of the artistic element, either because they trigger part of the artwork or because they provide meaning to the work. Although art and science are disciplines that are constantly looking in different directions with moments of proximity and moments of distance [3], the intersection of art and science through interdisciplinary contributions could lead to unexpected artistic contributions.…”