LIKE BEAUTY IN FLAMES is a new work by renowned artist Jenny Holzer that presents her signature text-based art through the medium of augmented reality (AR). This unique artwork, made exclusively for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and accessed through a standalone application for mobile devices, provides three distinct AR experiences—two site-specific works that engage the Guggenheim Bilbao’s architecture and a third that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. LIKE BEAUTY IN FLAMES harnesses new technology in a continuation of what Holzer does best: placing thought-provoking texts in the public sphere in a democratic and accessible way.

For over four decades, Holzer has experimented with the written word, constantly innovating strategies for the display of her works. Texts—sometimes the artist’s own, other times quotations by writers she admires—appear in bold fonts chosen for their direct, approachable quality. Since 1996 she has projected words in light onto landscapes and architecture, an act of ephemeral graffiti that recalls her early practice of pasting anonymous Truisms posters on the streets of New York City. The Truisms, comprising over 250 single-sentence declarations, embody a range of voices and viewpoints, eliciting diverse responses. The artist has a long-standing interest in appropriating the modes and media of official communication, presenting compelling messages on news screens, bronze plaques, and stone benches as well as T-shirts, condom wrappers, and pencils. Her work has long occupied an important place in public art, often through temporary offerings such as arresting large-scale projections and roving digital billboard trucks emblazoned with her texts. Her voice remains resonant and courageous, inviting viewer engagement through the simple act of reading.

At the Guggenheim Bilbao, an AR version of one of Holzer’s signature LED signs glides through the central Atrium, the column bending and spiraling as Truisms in English, Spanish, Basque, and French scroll past. Each of the museum’s three floors provides a different experience, as the LED’s interaction with the building’s architecture shifts depending on one’s vantage point. Outside, AR projections appear on the museum’s facade from five locations around the campus in a virtual echo of the artist’s monumental 2019 work For Bilbao, which was presented in conjunction with her retrospective exhibition Thing Indescribable. The texts selected by Holzer for the AR projections are by other authors; the work’s title, LIKE BEAUTY IN FLAMES, is borrowed from Polish poet Anna Świrszczyńska’s poem “Beauty Dies,” one of the many arresting texts that Holzer has made into immaterial spectacle. The artwork’s final component can be accessed from anywhere in the world and enables users to see Holzer’s Truisms take form in space over any live view. This new possibility embodies the spirit that has informed Holzer’s practice throughout her long career of placing language in the public domain to spark reflection and contemplation.

THE IMPACT ON PUBLIC SPACE

The public space surrounding the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is the setting for one of three augmented reality experiences designed as part of the app LIKE BEAUTY IN FLAMES. Bilbao residents and visitors can look for the QR codes at five points around the museum, open the app and enjoy virtual light projections on the facade.

ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY

This immersive and dynamic artwork is made possible by a mobile app that uses AR to provide unlimited access to three virtual experiences. Harnessing augmented reality, advanced image-recognition technology, 3D spatial positioning and cutting-edge graphics features, users can watch the AR version of the LED sign move through the museum’s atrium. They can also see a recreation of Holzer’s nighttime projections, facilitated by their devices’ GPS and gyroscope features, which direct them to various points around the outside of the museum. Combining digital technologies with the real-world, this innovative mobile app developed by London-based digital agency Holition brings Holzer’s practice to users’ own mobile devices.

LIKE BEAUTY IN FLAMES demonstrates a commitment on the part of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to technology in the arts. This project marks the beginning of a three-year plan to present pioneering projects in which technology is central to the artwork.

fonte: https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/la-coleccion/obras/like-beauty-in-flames

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are transforming many industries, including healthcare. Here we explore the different ways these technologies are used for things like improving wellbeing, visualize medical data, and improve therapeutic treatments.

read more…

From www.forbes.com

Le loro opere in 18 Comuni delle Madonie.

Una nuova call internazionale per selezionare 50 artisti digitali che saranno chiamati a produrre opere digitali nei 18 comuni partner (Alimena, Aliminusa, Bompietro, Caltavuturo, Castelbuono, Cerda, Geraci Siculo, Gratteri, Lascari, Petralia Soprana, Petralia Sottana, Polizzi Generosa, Pollina, San Mauro Castelverde, Sciara, Scillato, Sclafani Bagni, Valledolmo) del progetto “I Art Madonie”, dopo il via alla prima “call for artists” aperta agli street artists, pubblicata lo scorso 10 maggio e con scadenza il prossimo 18 giugno, da parte di So.Svi.Ma., soggetto capofila del progetto “I Art Madonie”, ideato e diretto da I WORLD e finanziato dalla Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri nell’ ambito del Bando Periferie.

Gli artisti potranno proporre opere digitali in 3D oppure semplici immagini, purché siano ispirate al patrimonio culturale immateriale del territorio madonita, cogliendone ogni aspetto che ne caratterizza la più profonda e autentica identità, che sarà restituita dagli artisti secondo loro libere interpretazioni. La Call prevede l’assegnazione di 50 premi in denaro così distribuiti: €2.000 per il primo classificato; €1.000 euro dalla posizione 2 alla 5 in graduatoria; €420 dalla posizione 6 alla 50.

Info: http://www.iartmadonie.it/news/online-la-call-for-digital-artists-di-i-art-madonie/ .

La “Call for Digital Artists” sarà aperta fino al prossimo 26 luglio e si rivolge a “Digital Artists” senza limiti di nazionalità. Le opere digitali realizzate saranno fruibili in realtà aumentata, attraverso un’App prodotta appositamente per il progetto I Art Madonie. In tal modo, esse appariranno nella realtà nella modalità di una sovrapposizione in tempo reale nella videocamera dello smart phone, o tablet. Le opere selezionate saranno geolocalizzate e fruibili spazialmente nelle piazze o altri spazi altamente simbolici, dei comuni partner, dando vita ad una vera e propria mostra itinerante di arte digitale nei “borghi immateriali”.
Ogni opera potrà essere selezionata dagli utenti finali e dislocata nello spazio di fruizione – o in un altro luogo anche al di fuori del territorio delle Madonie – a proprio piacimento, in tal modo essi potranno agire da “curatori” della mostra di arte digitale aumentata. Inoltre l’App consentirà di effettuare degli screenshot di immagini composte, realizzate inquadrando l’ambiente circostante con soprapposte le opere digitali. Queste “fotografie aumentate”, realizzate da utenti finali, potranno essere raccolte, pubblicate e diffuse su tutti i social.

Tutte le proposte saranno valutate dalla commissione di valutazione composta da: Lucenzo Tambuzzo, ideatore e direttore generale progetto I ART Madonie; David Diavù Vecchiato, curatore dell’attività di arte urbana del progetto I Art Madonie; Chiara Canali, Marco Miccoli e Laura Barreca. Gli obiettivi del progetto sono: rigenerazione urbana dei borghi aderenti e creazione del sistema culturale integrato e diffuso dei Comuni delle Madonie; miglioramento della qualità del decoro urbano;potenziamento delle prestazioni e dei servizi di scala urbana, tra i quali lo sviluppo di pratiche del terzo settore per l’inclusione sociale; realizzazione e messa in rete di centri culturali polivalenti allestiti con attrezzature multimediali e contenuti immersivi; creazione di reti e networking, come la piattaforma Milleperiferie per la messa a sistema di progetti di rigenerazione urbana delle periferie; laboratori e attività di orientamento per l’animazione territoriale e lo sviluppo di competenze; realizzazione di interventi di street art e arte urbana con il coinvolgimento di centinaia di artisti internazionali; sviluppo di azioni di comunicazione e marketing territoriale.

Il progetto I Art Madonie capitalizza una metodologia ideata da I WORLD e attuata in circa 100 Comuni in Sicilia e altri Paesi del Mediterraneo che ha già visto l’organizzazione di un primo rilevante programma internazionale di residenza di artisti. I ART ha già prodotto quella che è stata definita la più grande opera di street art in Sicilia, presso i Silos del Porto di Catania e oltre 300 eventi multidisciplinari in 30 Comuni in tutta la Sicilia, tra cui: festival di teatro, musica, arti visive, cinema, letteratura, grandi eventi, conferenze, tutte impostate sulla reinterpretazione delle identità territoriali e del loro patrimonio culturale immateriale.

Altri eventi sono in corso di preparazione nei siti Unesco di Petra (Giordania), Byblos (Libano) e in selezionati siti Unesco di Sicilia

fonte: https://www.rainews.it/tgr/sicilia/articoli/2021/06/sic-madonie-chiamata-artisti-digitali-opere-00ca5141-73ed-4023-8d9f-c8f3df0d7cc2.html

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

European energy company EDP has deployed a technology to enhance operational efficiencies, to better resolve customers’ issues, and to carry out remote site surveys prior to the installation of solar panels.

The technology to be deployed is Vodafone Visual Assistance. It will be provided to consumers and field technicians in multiple EDP subsidiaries and will be powered by Portugal’s TechSee.

The technology will enable consumers and technicians to receive augmented-reality based visual guidance through their smartphones using patented browser-based technology. This will decrease technical dispatches, enhance the customer experience, improved margins with increased sales, as well as reduced service costs.

The technology allows users to instantly stream their mobile device camera or screen via web connection, for real-time, interactive visual engagement between customer and technician. This will reduce repetitive customer inquiries such as meter readings, billing queries and troubleshooting, while reducing customer effort.

EDP is exploring the possibility of expanding Vodafone Visual Support to additional subsidiaries and other geolocations in the future. Jorge Simões, EDP’s Head of Digital Factory, said: “We are excited to launch this new and innovative service, providing visual assistance to our end users for more efficient operations and enhanced customer experience.

“Vodafone Portugal is committed to providing EDP with an innovative contact center technology to further enhance an optimal customer experience. With Vodafone Visual Support our agents will be able to provide a more complete and efficient service that will lead to greater customer satisfaction.” according to Mafalda Alves Dias, Vodafone Portugal’s Head of Large & Public Sector.

fonte: https://www.smart-energy.com/industry-sectors/customer-services-management/edp-employs-augmented-reality-to-improve-customer-experience/

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Think about this: Facebook is dedicating one-fifth of its staff to augmented and virtual reality—that’s about 10,000 people.

More importantly, they are building a reality that will shape our reality in the near future.

Our ability to “function” in and throughout the virtual and augmented world is advancing and this is establishing a new domain for our engagement in the digital world.

From the days of the punchcards, to the keyboard, to touch screen, and even voice, we are both detaching and attaching to this technological reality. Gaming may be the best example of that “other” reality that sometimes looms larger than our own world—whatever that reality may be.

One aspect of human engagement—gesturing, remains an essential and enduring component of human communication.

From a simple “come here” to other more vulgar signs, a gesture can be a very powerful, effective, and powerful tool. And now, the electronic gesture is taking shape.

As the mouse takes a backseat to touch screens, the interactions of the user—with the device and others who may be watching—yield a new aspect of e-body language.

Reaching, pointing, touching, and grasping will no longer be part of our physical world, but will be part of the virtual construct that will be central to the user experience and live alongside that “point and click” reality that defined the early days of our computer engagement.

The gesture—in open air—will emerge. As funny as we may find someone walking down the street seemingly talking to him or herself while on a call, soon we will find those animated talkers gesturing with abandon as they navigate the technological world that consumes them in both time and space. The digital gesture or gesticulation has emerged.

Enter eticulate, the e-version of gesticulate.

Gesticulation is the act of gesture and now this notion of the computer gesture is emerging and living in and with technology. Touch, push, move, stretch, and point are now becoming part of the “body language” of the computer.

The interesting thing is that this new method isn’t just a step forward in technology, but a step back to humanity. It integrates the device with the individual. It’s the internet that you hold like a pet or shake hands with.

It’s a very real an extension of yourself and establishes a direct neural connection with the way your brain functions. It’s your chance to include a “hug” in your technological engagement. And that may even drive your body’s creation of powerful chemicals such as oxytocin, sometimes called the “cuddle hormone.”

The new techno-gestures bring us closer to technology itself and expands our participatory role in a very human way. It’s called eticulate, and it touched you here first!

fonte: https://www.bbntimes.com/technology/advances-in-ar-and-vr-will-make-human-gestures-the-new-computer-interface

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