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April 18, 2012
www.pacepress.org
ARTS
Fine Arts Professor receives award for merging art and technology William Pappenheimer garners attention in the world of digital art
photo by Mark Skwarek all other photos from manifestarblog.wordpress.com DAMIEN MORGAN Creative Intern As a founding member of the artist collective Manifest.AR, Fine Arts Professor William Pappenheimer was recently awarded the ARtSENSE Commission at The Foundation for Creative Technology in Liverpool, England. Prof. Pappenheimer was awarded the grant by the foundation known for creative art and technology to films and new media for his proposal entitled, “Invisible ARtaffects.” “Invisible ARtaffects” is, in a sense, a new type of media for the art world that gives viewers a completely new experience. Imagine entering an exhibit and being greeted with an eight-foot tall red painting. If that piece were to make the patron uncomfortable, through the Invisible ARtaffects experience, as soon as any sense of discomfort is felt, the red painting would simply change to a soft blue right before the viewers eyes. To make this new experience even remotely possible, “Invisible ARtaffects” offers a device for all to wear. Before entering a museum or gallery, patrons would receive a set of glasses that would allow them to see the art work in their own way. Through bio-sensing, this technology would be able to not only change a canvas
into something pleasing to the viewer, but also receive information about it to be displayed on the lenses. Prof. Pappenheimer stated that the technology, “involves sensing the viewer biometrically. It senses where the viewer is looking, how they’re experiencing excitement and how they’re moving in space. With eye-tricking and transparent screens giving you information, this is the definition of augmented reality.” Not only would this new genre of art be able to change a drawing or painting purely to one’s liking through their feelings, but it would also capture the space of the exhibit like no other. By overlaying images or colors over what we see in the real world, or fluctuating the dimensions to create a 3D experience rather than the 2D experience that a painting simply hanging on a wall offers, the new genre promises to entirely reinvent the way art is exhibited. With “Invisible ARtaffects,” it may be seen as though art is taking a turn towards the future and pushing for a science fiction appeal, but it is merely a new form of art. Prof. Pappenheimer is just one of many artists working on projects and exhibits closely related to this one involving augmented reality. Just like an airplane flying across the open sky to write or draw a message for those on the ground to see, augmented reality art provides something very similar
that anyone can do from the safety of the ground. Prof. Pappenheimer talked about this project as a type of canvas in the air. Pappenheimer said, “visitors would come in wearing the special glasses and they would be able to draw with a cursor. When finished they can sit and see their creation in the sky as a collection of sky writing.” The collection of sky writing would give the public a way to draw in the sky high enough that the creations would sit above buildings. With the GPS tracking that this technology requires, if one were to turn off their glasses and booted them back up, their pieces of work would still be where they last left them. Even though this new genre of art could be used for artists and the public to express their emotions through virtual creations, it could also be used to help us see what we’ve lost. Prof. Pappenheimer said that another project that he was working on was one that could rebuild trees that have been torn down. In this virtual world, someone wearing the glasses would be able to see the vast rainforest towering over them, giving a person the feeling of sitting under the trees that have been torn down. This virtual experience could help viewers better understand about an environment that was once there. With “Invisible ARtaffects” only being constructed in a FACT building
scheduled to go on exhibit in 2013, anyone can have a taste of augmented reality to supply them for the meantime. On an iPhone or BlackBerry, one can download the app developed by Prof. Pappenheimer called Pyrite. Through the phone’s camera, the real world is presented on the phone where the handler is able to craft it to their liking. With a flick of a finger, an arrow can be shot to shatter the sight of reality on the phone that can then be morphed to look how the artist wants. In addition, no matter how many times the user turns the phone or shuts it off, the creation once made will always stay in the same space to be revisited. This new genre of art will surely bring a great influence to the art community. The idea of an augmented reality in museums for everyone to see brings no surprise that FACT acknowledged Prof. Pappenheimer and his work at Manifest.AR with the prestigious grant.
Use your smart phone to scan the QR code above and download Pyrite.