Explained: Augmented reality, and how artists and institutions used it to make culture an at-home experience during the pandemic

If visitors could no longer go the artworks, maybe AR could help bring the artworks to them. Apple’s [AR>T initiative, curated by the New Museum, saw it conduct public art walks in Central Park, New York City, where viewers were led to various locations around the park where specific artworks had been installed, and used their phones to experience the AR elements such as speech bubbles, animated sequences, text and audio elements like a poetry reading. For instance, the Apple [AR>T initiative required users to visit an Apple store, use an iPhone and Apple’s wireless headphones in order to experience the public art walk around Central Park. For instance, the National Museum of Singapore crafted an interactive AR experience around images from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings, rendering animations in 3D: An innovative use of AR tech was demonstrated by Art Gallery Ontario and the digital artist Alex Mayhew. Dedicated apps, and how the pandemic changed AR use in art While fixed installations, public art tours and museum/gallery exhibits had been making use of AR for a while, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns, social distancing and self-isolation presented a new reality for the art world to grapple with.