In an article by Rupert Deans (2017), an idea is discussed that augmented reality will help graffiti artists show off their work without the worry of police or people who consider it an eyesore. Despite it being illegal, graffiti is still a major art form in populated areas of major cities, it is an important part of cultural conversation.
With a phone and virtual spray can, artists will soon be able to leave hidden marks for others to find in the urban environment. This virtual graffiti will allow aspiring artists to be safely creative and push boundaries, all within the public domain and without creating an eyesore. Allowing governments to worry about the bigger issues, as well as clean the streets of traditional graffiti.
This type of graffiti could be on every surface, including art exhibits, available to anyone who chooses, but hidden from those who consider it to be visual pollution. This type of creative technology has already been used. In late 2016, a digital sculpture was placed inside the Bellevue Arts Museum in Washington State to demonstrate the potential of Microsoft’s HoloLens. The sculpture consisted of moving words and phrases, only visible to those wearing the headset.
As always with new technologies like this, the legal systems will have to adapt to it. Asking questions such as ‘is graffiti still a crime if it exists only in the virtual world?’ If an image is doodled onto the side of a building, but it is only visible to those who wish to see it, is it still counted as defacing public property?
Graffiti artist raised another question Sebastien Errazuriz, after a group of New-York based artists mocked up a “vandalized” version of Jeff Koon’s Snapchat AR dog. He asks ‘should corporations be allowed to place whatever content they choose over our digital public space? Central Park belongs to the city of NY.’ He suggests that for corporations to advertise using this technology, they should pay rent. As it is after all a public space and in normal circumstances this type of advertisement would need to be approved.
As augmented reality is growing to become more monetizable, advertising in public spaces could grow to become a major industry.
Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook, has stated that he prefers AR to virtual reality. He feels that VR could isolate users, whereas AR involves mixing graphics and the real world together. This view is becoming evermore popular within tech circles.
“I’m incredibly excited by AR because I can see uses for it everywhere,” Mr Cook replied.
“I can see uses for it in education, in consumers, in entertainment, in sports. I can see it in every business that I know anything about
“I also like the fact that it doesn’t isolate.
“I don’t like our products being used a lot. I like our products amplifying thoughts and I think AR can help amplify the human connection.
“I’ve never been a fan of VR like that because I think it does the opposite.
“There are clearly some cool niche things for VR but it’s not profound in my view. AR is profound.”
We have already seen Apple put huge investments within this new technology, their latest mobile system, with iOS11, has made it easier for augmented reality features to be added to apps via the ARKit.
References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41590323
https://qz.com/1072528/the-next-trend-in-street-art-will-be-graffiti-in-augmented-reality/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/08/jeff-koons-augmented-reality-snapchat-artwork-gets-vandalized/
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