[ISEA2011] Paper: Margriet Schavemaker & Hein Wils – AR(t) in the Orient

Abstract

In 2009 Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam started the project ARtours. This project aims at investigating and producing augmented reality tours around the collection of the Stedelijk and modern art in general. The project aims at both indoor and outdoor applications:

–       Indoor as a replacement or addition to the classic audio tour.
–       Outdoor as a new experience and new interactions with modern art

In both instances not only the current collection is used but also new developed art forms and new narratives will be incorporated in the project.

The project focuses on a wide range of aspects such as technical, user experience, creation and management of information, indoor and outdoor, young and older audiences

The presentation will cover three subjects:

1. Introduction to the Stedelijk Museum and why the innovative and suprising AR-project was started.  How do we engage the audience into new user experiences and how is it changing the museum space itself.
2. Explanation of the platform we are currently building. This platform will be used to create tours in and around our museum and also to commission artists to come up with  original AR artworks. During the process of platform development we will create and evaluate business models that will suit the public, the art community and its business partners.
3. Presentation of the following ARtours projects:
– Me on the museum-square: a virtual exhibition of original 3D art on Museum Square in Amsterdam.
– The ARtotheque as shown at Lowlands festival and PICNIC: an art-library where the public can borrow (virtual) masterpieces from the Stedelijk’s collection and place these themselves.
– The Design Tour: a: a walk through Amsterdam with design artifacts in historical context. b: Active participation redesigning the city’s beauty by covering up construction sites.
– Two AR exhibitions in the museum space itself. These are commisioned ARt tours.
– Newly developed tours that are currently in concept phase.

  • Margriet Schavemaker is art historian, philosopher and media specialist. After a career as lecturer and assistant professor at the art history and media studies departments at the University of Amsterdam, she currently holds the position of head of collections and research at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Schavemaker has written extensively on contemporary art and theory, (co)edited several edited volumes (for example Now is the Time: Art and Theory in the 21st Century (2009) en Vincent Everywhere: Van Gogh’s (Inter) National Identities (2010)) and is an acclaimed curator of discursive events and public programs. The past years new media have been high on Schavemaker’s agenda resulting in a.o. the ARtours project; the creation of an augmented reality platform for smartphones which can be used by museums to present their collection in innovative and interactive ways both inside and outside the museum.  margrietschavemaker.nl   stedelijk.nl/en
  • Hein Wils is an old school new media professional operating in the field of immersive and innovative media. He is currently the project leader of ARtours, in which the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam explores the possibilities of augmented reality on mobile devices with AR browsers like the LAYAR browser. The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam has a world famous modern and contempary art collection consisting of more than 100.000 works. The ARtours project utilises this great content, and the stories surrounding these works, in order to make compelling tours in- and outside the museum.

Full text (PDF)  p. 2159-2164