by David Cash

In this blog post, I want to talk about the development of AR, in tandem with NFTs, and how the future of exhibiting 3D artworks will be changed forever by apps like SuperWorld attempting to push the boundaries of experiences, art, and, of course, AR. Apps like SuperWorld enable audiences to see 3D pieces superimposed in IRL settings, hailing in a new realm of immersive experiences, being able to witness any forms of 3D art in real time through the power of AR on your cellular device in any surroundings. This is something that we will see a lot more of in the future, but as it stands, at this point in time, is still thought of as a ‘new age’ phenomenon.

With the recent meteoric rise of NFTs, it is obvious that AR is playing a more and more prominent role in many people’s day-to-day lives. And the world population at large is more accustomed to seeing 3D works on a daily basis; through Instagram filters, Snapchat filters, and videos on their social media feeds. Brands like RTFKT studios, have gone viral by creating AR exemplifications in moments of everyday life, and many other brands have followed suit pushing AR applications into the mainstream this past year.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ1jRFVKoIF/

While videos, like the one above, are far from high fidelity and still include glitches, there is still an intangible ‘cool factor’ about the use case of the technology which is difficult to ignore. Brands like RTFKT and others capitalize on these new technologies in order to help push toward normalizing the wearing of virtual fashions.

AR, in its current format, is somewhat limited– but in the future, apps like SuperWorld will be the extension of our VR metaverses into our physical surroundings once eyewear by Google Glass and other XR enabling technologies become more of an accessible reality. Once that comes to pass, we will be able to interact with AR elements on a daily basis, and in every aspect of our lives.

Though presenting AR art is incredible, the potential of this technology goes a lot further than simply aesthetics. We can view screens and buttons and options all throughout our daily lives that can be programmed to change as per our needs. These could all be integrated into our lives on a deeply practical level without having to physically build signage or alter physical infrastructure. Physical posters and billboards will, for the most part, be made obsolete because the most sustainable and cost effective option would be to perpetuate sharing messaging digitally via AR installations. And if we can integrate digital messaging into our surroundings through AR, we will have a far more sustainable way to promote in comparison to all currently existing forms of physical promotions. And though physical promotions could already be considered a dying industry with the boom of social media and Web2 over the past two decades, I believe the implementation of Web3 technologies will eventually kill most forms of print media; at least in terms of print advertising, billboards, posters, and the like. Within five years time, I would not be at all surprised if these formats will all shift to be purely digital/AR/XR.

Despite not being at a place in time where we can make this a cohesive reality for all people, based on recent trends such as the 3D billboard in Korea exemplified above, we see humanity seeking out another level of realism in their advertisements. The world is slowly but surely falling in love with 3D and immersivity, both of which are brought to an even higher level through the implementation of AR and XR integrations.

Though AR is still considered to be a bleeding-edge technology by many, as we are definitely still in the early days, it is encouraging to see so many artists integrating AR into their practices. By adding mixed reality elements into physical pieces, artists are able to bring a new level of emissivity and interactivity to their artworks. This is an exciting trend that we see happening a lot more, and hope to see a lot more in the near future.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVvLgL2g14Y/

One such recent successful example was a piece called “Block Universe” created via a collaboration by Don Diablo and Studio Drift. Their piece, sold for over half a million dollars at Art Basel, through Pace Gallery, just last month. This piece was a mixed reality innovation, combining a physical artwork on a wall with an application which added an AR component to the experience, completing the artwork. While Don Diablo has become a staple in the NFT space, it’s amazing to see Studio Drift and Pace Gallery step so boldly forward into the metaverse with this compelling XR multidimensional experience now owned by iconic NFT collector 33NFT.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVvLgL2g14Y/

While the future of AR is still relatively uncertain, what we can say is that there is a ton of innovation to come throughout 2022, and that the industry is definitely on the upward trend. Ever since Zuckerberg changed Facebook into the ‘verse that shall not be named,’ (I kid) we have experienced an exponentially growing and voracious interest in virtual, augmented, and extended realities.

For everyone reading this, we encourage artists to join us on SuperWorld and start experimenting with how you can add AR to your existing art practices. We also encourage anybody working within the realm of 3D to start uploading their assets to SuperWorld today, allowing you to sharing your AR links to collectors. No matter what marketplace you’ve listed your work on, you can share a link to view your artwork in AR on SuperWorld to anyone you’d like. We believe this is a great way to share art with collectors and allow them to experience your works within their own physical spaces.

I’ll leave it there for this article and look forward to sharing many more with this community.

About SUPERWORLD 🌎❤️

SuperWorld is a virtual world in augmented reality (AR), digitally mapped over the surface of the Earth. Plots of SuperWorld land are represented as 64.8 billion non-fungible tokens (NFT) corresponding to real world space. Any user in SuperWorld can explore and create AR content, engage in a virtual real estate marketplace, or buy and sell NFTs in the SuperWorld NFT Salon. To learn more, visit SuperWorldapp.com

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SuperWorld 🌎❤️ Inside Scoop: The Current State of AR & Mixed Reality was originally published in AR/VR Journey: Augmented & Virtual Reality Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.