The Merging AR Installation Nuit Blanche Augmented Reality Exhibit

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The Merging Exhibit

Nuit Blanche Toronto 2016

The sun set and undulating crowds wandered freely through Toronto. Every nook of the city became a new opportunity for memories, everyone felt part of an unspoken adventure. Pedestrians walked through streets holding hands, laughing, sharing ideas about which exhibit they were most looking forward to.

 

The Merging outside OCAD on 100 McCaul Street, just before nightfall.

The Merging outside OCAD on 100 McCaul Street, just before nightfall.
The Merging outside OCAD on 100 McCaul Street, just before nightfall.

Artists Take Over Toronto

Nuit Blanche Toronto 2016 was an enjoyable collective public experience where art took over the city. This was our first time participating in Nuit Blanche, and we were overwhelmed by the positive response The Merging exhibit received.

As a collaboration between SEED Interactive, Nicola Verlato and Quantum Capture, The Merging was part of the Militant Nostalgia exhibition held at OCAD University.

 

Sculptures pop out of the mural front-on.

Crowd gathered around interior mural as they use the AR app.

People using The Merging app to view AR elements of the mural painting.

Inside the Installation

The installation features an exterior and interior mural, as well as plinths with AR markers which can all be scanned with The Merging mobile app to see augmented reality sculptures in real-time.

 

Half of the interior exhibit features standing plinths with AR markers set on top for scanning.
Interior plinths with AR markers.
Toronto's own Marshall McLuhan in AR-bust form.
Toronto’s own Marshall McLuhan in AR-bust form.

Tech Meets Art

Here is a quote from Nicola Verlato’s Nuit Blanche Toronto artist statement:

Creating in the style of Renaissance masters, Nicola Verlato will use 3D scans to create a digital painting. The animation is content for an augmented reality app which triggers experiences when particular images are found in The Merging painting, and in the images on top of the plinths scattered throughout the indoor installation…

Through the use of [The Merging] app, the mural becomes an entity between our physical space and the space of the representations, inhabiting our world but also as a portal to infinite explorations.

This combination of augmented reality tech and fine art leads to a refreshing new form of collective experience. By gamifying galleries and museums, you can interact with art on another level and come away from the experience feeling like you’ve been immersed in something new.

 

Artist Nicola Verlato demonstrates app outside.
Artist Nicola Verlato demonstrates app outside.

Looking Forward to #nbTO17

Nuit Blanche was a really fun time and it felt great engaging with the local art community in Toronto. This was our first time participating and we encourage everyone to go next year. With so many new exhibits featuring technological innovations like The Merging, the future of installations is intriguing. Artistic experiences are transformed into something new through our everyday gadgets.

Click here to read our next post about the Making Of The Merging where we share insider-views on how this project came together.

 

merging_exteriormural_3

Two girls use The Merging app on a tablet to experience augmented reality.

Check out these other posts about The Merging:

rutvNEWSTop 4 Nuit Blanche Exhibits

Anthony BonatoMath Art: Nuit Blanche intersects Coxeter

SEED Interactive Blog[Making Of] The Merging

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