Bompas & Parr, Augmented Reality with Becks

Beck’s is doing a pretty elaborate and strange art endeavor with their Green Box Project. Basically, they have created a mobile app that allows you to point your phone at something you see and another thing comes out, like more complicated 3-D glasses. Beck’s calls this “augmented reality” and explains it in superfluously complex language:

“Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one.”

To mark the launch, a 200-foot high digital sculpture by Belgian artist Arne Quinze was unveiled on top of the Statue of Liberty in New York and 30 further pieces of art have been commissioned from different creative disciplines. The commissions span seven cities and the artists involved include UK food scientists Bompas & Parr, US illustratorSage Vaughn and Toronto-based opera trio Austra.

To view the works, simply download the free app for iPhone, iPad and Android phones from iTunes and locate the 30 or so green boxes placed around the mentioned cities. Then, view the box through the installed software and the hidden assets of art in each comes alive. As the project gain momentum, Beck’s plans to place around 1000 Green Boxes all over the world as well as open submission for any artist to participate in the sponsorship and exhibit of their works.