MEMORY PALACE: AUGMENTED REALITY APP
The Memory Palace AR App was created to further augment my exhibiiton, “Memory Palace” at Latitude 53 gallery in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The exhibition features WebAR which allows users to simply activate augmented reality through their browser (click here to activate the webAR experience). Though a webAR experience was made available in order have the biggest possible reach, the app was designed to allow for expanded Augmented Reality capabilities with improved tracking functions and upgraded effects, including to scale and persistent 3D models which allow the user to walk around and see, to scale, the old house in which I used to live.
The Memory Palace AR App can be found on the Google Play Store. The app is currently only available for Android though an iOS release is forthcoming. The app will also respond to the future exhibition catalogue that will be published by Latitude 53 next year.
Built using the Unity engine and Vuforia, the app uses image tracking, (requiring the use of the device camera) to reveal videos and 3D models associated with objects in question. The scannable objects include Layka’s Bed, her boots sitting on the bench, and her harness and sweaters hung up on the wall, as well as three prints the “Sunlit Backyard”, the “Summer House”, and the “Winter House” prints. Layka’s things as well as the Sunlit Backyard all play videos which will start as soon as the object is tracked, floating in space in front of the object.
The two 3D model prints, “Summer House” and “Winter House” each spawn a 3D model and use the device’s pose tracking to create a model that can be walked around and explored, even when the print is not in view. This allows the user to be immersed in the 3D model and explore the exterior space of the house as though it were actually in the art gallery.
I developed this app by myself and it will always be free. The app will be updated in the future to interact with the exhibition catalogue as well as any future exhibitions of this project as it continues to evolve and grow.
Production of the Memory Palace app as well as the Memory Palace project and exhibition were all generously funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Edmonton Arts Council.
MEMORY PALACE AR APP PRIVACY POLICY
The Memory Palace mobile app (known as “Memory Palace app”) is completely free and contains no advertisements, collects absolutely no user data, and requires no log in, payment information, or account to be made. The app will request permission to use the device Camera, and will use information taken from your device, such as pose tracking information, and will request use of the device camera, but will not require access to any media files or other documents, or any other information.It is purely to provide an augmented reality experience for the Memory Palace art exhibition. The app may receive updates in the future in order to be compatible with future exhibitions and uses, such as exhibition catalogue compatibility but it will always remain absolutely free and collect no user data.