I'm over the moon because one of my newest collectors decided to commission me an artwork with augmented reality! When I introduced AR in my paintings, I knew that this feature would have been higly appreciated, because it adds a playful, unique dimension, and definitely enhances the possibilities to enjoy an artwork in many different ways.
For this new piece I decided to try a new AR app called Artivive (https://artivive.com) because as far as I know, the app I was using previously, HP Reveal, is now under exam by HP and I don't actually know if it will be available again in the future. Artivive is an app conceived specifically for artists and allows the users to experiment this technology in many ways: that's why I decided to test it to see if it can be the right option for my next AR paintings. The artwork I realized for my committent is a pop portrait of he and his wife, a super colorful rendition which magically animates with a colorful effect thanks to the Augmented Reality. In this short video down below, you can see how the artwork comes to life:
I must say that the experience with this new app has been very positive: the desktop version is simple to use, and creating a new project is quite easy and intuitive. The app's website offers many video tutorials and the first three projects are available for free (you can purchase the next ones with tailor-made paid plans according to your needs). The app allows also to add multiple video/image layers for a 3D effect, and I'm pretty sure that I will use this feature in my future projects (all my AR artworks are composed only with one video layer at the moment). Once the AR project has been created, the app allows also to capture a short video of the artwork animation as seen in the mobile device, and this adds even more fun to the experience, because it allows you to share the effect with your friends on social medias and on your blog. Here there is a short video captured with Artivive while the app did its magic job animating the artwork with AR:
In order to enjoy this special feature, the user has to download the mobile version of Artivive app, start it and point the mobile phone camera at the painting. As soon as the app recognizes the artwork, the magic begins! The committents displayed the artwork at their table during their wedding day, inviting all their hosts to enjoy the experience: as soon as the artwork came to life, the audience reacted with enthusiasm and curiosity. They had so much fun, everyone was pleasantly surprised by the effect and I'm pretty sure they won't forget it!
Even if this artwork has not been created intentionally within my Chroma Key Project, I decided to consider it as part of the series because the video animation has been realized using the same green screen technique, so that the green triangles on the portrayed people's suits “disappear” to show the abstract video under the surface. I'm very happy to say that the committents are super satisfied with their first artwork with Augmented Reality, and this is the most important thing for me!
