30a Underpass Augmented Reality (AR) iOS
The new pedestrian underpass in Inlet Beach, Florida features murals by ten local artists coordinated by the Cultural Arts Alliance. If you're in the area, check it out!
This experimental, augmented reality app captures that experience in a couple of ways and allows someone to experience it anywhere in the world on an iPhone or iPad.
What is it?
I had been studying augmented reality for a while, and I was keeping an eye out for a subject to create a project with. One night, I visited the 30a underpass. I absolutely loved it! That's when I had the idea: what if this was memorialized as digital experience?
So it began: to create an artist and mural centric digital experience that was free to access and educational in nature, sharing information about the artists, murals, and underpass project.
What did I do?
I used photogrammetry methods to capture the underpass with over 800 photos. I initially recreated a full-size replica that you could walk through in augmented reality (point cloud seen below).
It was nice, but this was a study project, so I had to push the idea further into more interactivity.
I asked myself these questions: what if this is an archival tool for the murals? Further, what if this was the future, and we wanted to preserve this art? We would excavate it, cut it into slices, and present it in a gallery.
So, I created an interactive digital experience around that concept. I modeled and textured the murals as individual slices.
Collector's Gallery
I also made this little gallery for all of the desktop models, but since you can interact with the desktop models individually in their own AR session I would probably cut this gallery from the final version. Plus, to keep the fidelity needed on each model, the poly count when viewed in full is kind of pushing the recommended limits. Even though it mostly displays fine.
User interface
Here's a look at the app design itself. Kept it simple, though the AR session buttons do have a gyro driven holographic-ish effect.
How did I get here?
I didn't realize it at the start of this project, but a one as involved as this actually requires you to wrap it with a full application.
So, when I started developing the iOS app to simply test this project, that's when it dawned on me that this could be a neat marketing tool for the underpass project and artists.
The above 3d model is an example of what I call the Collector's Desktop Models. This beautiful mural was painted by the talented Katherine Boggs
Dear Artists,
You can download your Collector's Desktop Model below. The model is yours, and you may do anything you'd like to do with it.
Collector's Desktop Model download:
What's next?
Well, I wasn't planning to do anything with this project. It was just something for me to learn and burn with. However, I thought the end result turned out kind of cool. So, I will pass it along to the Cultural Arts Alliance to offer it as a gift or donation.
The app is currently live in beta on iPhone (update: beta closed). If you would like to test it out, sign up below, and if approved I will send you the TestFlight information for download.
Updates:
Update: I emailed the Cultural Arts Alliance to see if they might be interested in teaming up on this.
Update: I have reached out twice to the Cultural Arts Alliance with no response. Which is somewhat disappointing.
Update: I made multiple attempts to communicate with the Cultural Arts Alliance and they have been non-responsive. Oh well, on to the next project we go! This one is shelved.
Update: Beta is closed.
If you are an artist involved with the underpass project and would like to see us team up and launch this app, please contact your favorite person at the CAA and let them know.
