Page 270 - AC/E's Digital Culture Annual Report 2015

AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2015270The tour designed by Timo de Rijk, who lec- tures in Design, Culture and Society at the Delft University of Technology and at Leiden Univer- sity, takes visitors beyond the museum’s walls out into the city of Amsterdam, allowing them to enjoy the design of urban furniture. The route goes from the central station to the museum’s doors, and can be explored in both directions.Jan Rothuizen is an artist known for his hand- drawn maps; in 2010 he created a tour using augmented reality, inspired by his childhood memories (instead of going to church on Sundays, Rothuizen’s mother would take him to the museum) and his emotions after spending a night in the museum.147This museum has also developed a novel app148 that takes visitors on tours tailored to match their moods; these can be shared and used by other visitors.The application offers tours tailored to moods such as sadness, fear, love and happiness and includes free headphones for enjoying them. Users thus discover works that are new to them and to which they have been led not by aes- thetic or chronological concerns but by feelings or sensations. Young members of the museum’s staff can help visitors create their own route after choosing a mood, and impressions can be shared in audio form with the next users of the app.At the DLD conference in Munich in 2014, technical experts of the Metaio firm presented their augmented reality project in collaboration with the Bavarian National Museum.149 The idea was to create a valuable cultural experienceusing this technology, but with a balance between physical and virtual content.For this purpose they selected five pieces on show in the museum, adding virtual content. This content was designed to be viewed on the sides of the piece so that at no point would the visitor lose sight of the work itself. By adding 3D indicators and graphics with semi-trans- parent backgrounds, they hit on a simple and discreet way of viewing virtual content. To the chosen pieces – mostly sculptures – they added multimedia content such as 3D photographs, mapping, sketches of the works, audios and explanatory texts.The Japanese artists Kei Shiratori, Takeshi Mukai and Younghyo Bak have developed an applica- tion that creates real-time virtual animations using very well-known artworks, through a 3D model and augmented reality. This application was launched at the exhibition in ATTIC, Sapporo, in 2012, where audiences were able to experience it first-hand. Several means of expres- sion, such as paintings, illustrated novels, CDs and LPs come to life through the smartphone screen.Since then several artists, in collaboration with ARART,150 have produced works designed to be enjoyed on our electronic devices. This innova- tive app encourages participation and play with artworks in a surprising way.In October 2014 the V&A Museum in London launched a game called Strawberry Thief.151 It was devised by Sophia George, a videogame designer who enjoyed a residency at the museum from October 2013 to March 2014.Focus 2015. Museums and New Technologies