Augmented reality (AR) has been around for a while in the art world, but I recently was asked to investigate it and do some demos for a local organization. Here are those experiments.
To view the AR part, scan the QR code or download the Artivive app (free) here, then run the app and point it towards one of these images below. Some have audio. Interestingly, many famous artworks have AR attached to them. Start scanning!
I shot this video from a Dash 8, thank God they have all been retired, a real rattle trap of an airplane. I rode them many times from Williamsport to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. This sequence caught my eye when I saw the shadow of my own plane passing over so many different textures.
Sound is natural, recorded aircraft sounds and some public domain music.
Modeled after an Italian wooden toy that allowed you to spin 3 segments to combine various things in different ways, ie legs of a cat with body of a whale with head of an ant.
Fish images here are IFOs (Internet Found Objects) – in this case fish illustrations from 1785–1797 by Marcus Elieser Bloch, modified and manipulated in Photoshop. The wood cubes and animation were created in Cinema4D and VideoProc Vlogger software.
Sound effect provided by https://pixabay.com/vi/sound-effects/gear-spinning-loop-6981/
I like to use photo collage to juxtapose everyday items in unusual ways. Since I discovered AR after I created this image, it left me with only a few options. But adding this kind of interactivity to galleries is intriguing. We’ll see where it goes.
Sound effects provided:
https://pixabay.com/vi/sound-effects/rusty-gears-62898/
https://pixabay.com/vi/sound-effects/missile-explosion-168600/
I designed this robot in the early 1990’s using a DOS version of 3D Studio. I animated it that time at the incredible resolution of 640×480 and 256 colors. In about 2015, I remodeled my “propbot” in Cinema 4D. I could now render fully raytraced frames at 1920 resolution in a few seconds. It completely changed how fast production of such images could happen. And the animation tools are now stupefyingly robust (and hard to learn).
Helicoptor sound provided by https://pixabay.com/vi/sound-effects/helicopter-129052/
My reborn propbot visits a world of metal mountains and icy water where floating energy rubies float, ready to be tasty morsels. This AR features a true 3D model embedded in the piece, with animation.
Florence Fiats – Ric Jones, 2023
Both the shot of the Uffizi and the shot of the Fiats came from a trip to Florence. I again juxtaposed them in an unusual way. Fiats like these zoomed all over Florence and Tuscany.
The sound for this piece: “Passenger car braking on asphalt, tyres screeching // Henkilöauto, jarrutus asfaltilla, renkaat ulvovat by YleArkisto” — https://freesound.org/s/454687 — License: Attribution 4.0
Roman Fish Bowl – Ric Jones, 2022
Near the Spanish Steps in Rome, I saw a lively fountain with carved fish. In my version, the fish, from an 18th century color lithograph have left the fountain for the sky.
Typo – Ric Jones, 2024
I had to include a graphic design piece in the show and this is it. My homage to Garamond. Type designers are known as the poets of graphic design and this font shows off a lot of poetry. The sound is a throwback clip of my old Atari 800.