Interactive art museum made possible by Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) utilises computer-generated graphics to enrich our real-world environment. In the framework of the IST project ARTNOUVEAU, AR technology was employed to create interactive art exhibitions for museums and/or art galleries. The interaction between the museum or gallery visitor and the artwork is governed by special glasses as well as a system that records and analyses their hand movements using pointing gesture tracking. The hands-on aspect of the system elevates the user's experience of the artwork to a new level, bringing them closer to these masterpieces than ever before. Virtual exhibitions are created by digitising the paintings and other artwork. It is important to note that these virtual exhibitions are intended to complement, not replace, the traditional exhibitions. The system was designed to be as intuitive as possible. ARTNOUVEAU brought together experts in both the arts and Information Technology in order to demonstrate the potential of AR for cultural and artistic applications. Following the success of the project, the ARTNOUVEAU consortium is orchestrating its implementation by a number of museums, galleries and other content providers across Europe.
