If you happen to be in Boston this weekend, go by the Boston Cyberarts Festival; but don’t forget your Smartphone. You’ll need it to be able to see the art. The artwork has been done with Augmented Reality and blended in real-time with the surrounding physical buildings and objects. This festival promises an interactive illusion like no one has seen before.
Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real world environment that has been enhanced by computer generated graphics or sound. Artificial information is layered over or superimposed into the surrounding environment, making it interactive and capable of manipulation.
People who visit the Cyberarts Festival will need to download an AR app from Layer to their Smartphone (or tablet). The GPS or Google places locater will find their position and allow them to view the real surroundings on their phone.
The scenes on the phone will show the same scenes you’re looking at; except the phone will show the enhanced version of your actually surroundings. The visitors will see aliens invading the surrounding area and in another place, there will be a curtain of flowers falling all around you.
The art project allows the visitors to see the environment through different eyes. By adding visually stunning colors, themes, and images balanced with digitally inspired creations of dance, music, theater, film and more. The festival takes place once every two years in (Boston) Massachusetts, and lasts a week.
The festival was organized by Boston Cyberarts Inc, a non-profit arts organization. It was the first and largest Festival of digital art performance and film (using new technology), in the United States. Two hundred artists from around the world attended the first Festival, and over 22 thousand people attended to view and experience their work.
Dates for Cyberarts Festival are April 22 to May 8th or you can get more info at bostoncyberarts.org.
