Developing communities are a true artist’s dream. They are a blank canvas upon which creativity can be carved from nothing. The essence of public art especially fosters creativity in ways other art forms do not. Digital design, sculpture, and architecture can all create the groundwork for a community thriving in culture. However, planning and investment of creative resources must be utilized carefully to create public art that has meaning and impact.
What is Public Art?
Public art, simply put, is architecture, murals, sculpture, or digital designs that are created in the public domain. They are accessible to all and are used to create beauty and culture within an otherwise purely pragmatic space. Public art has been an important part of community development since the early 20th century. It can encourage collaboration and community involvement that provides a sense of pride to area residents.
Public art can include city sculpture, architecture, wall art, and other mediums accessible by the public. Traditionally, public art has included sculpture, murals, ecological design, and occasionally digital displays. However, in the digital age we are seeing an influx of interactive public art designed for user interaction, or experiential design. This trend is slowly but surely gaining traction in areas where community development takes on an innovative approach.
The Problem with Public Art as a Part of Community Development
Public art can contribute to culture and residential satisfaction, however in most community development projects, it is taken very lightly. Oftentimes the limited budget for public art is taken from the same budget that provides for affordable housing or roadway improvements. When residents see an eyesore art piece coupled with potholes and underdeveloped residential areas, public art can quickly turn into the lowest priority for community members.
Developing communities have the opportunity to make public art more than an afterthought.
Many developers don’t pay attention to the inclusion of public art, but it can make an impact on community areas if done correctly. An art piece that has cultural meaning, modern relevance, and interactive elements will be cherished by residents and worth the time and investment.
How to Make Public Art Valuable to the Community at Large
Instead of going the traditional route, many developers are leaning towards digital, interactive public art to include in their community projects. Experiential designs and digital media displays are modern, unique, and engage community members to give them experiences, not just stagnant aesthetics.
Creations of installation art, interactive architecture, interactive film, and interactive storytelling through digital landscapes all offer communities more to experience and enjoy. An interactive public art piece where residents can make memories, tell their own stories, and unleash creativity adds exponentially more value than a static piece commissioned by one local artist. With experiential design, community members become the creators. When this happens, public art matters.
These digital interactive pieces can transform an area into a more modern community. It attracts community members to otherwise declining economic areas, offering a springboard of inspiration to make more out of a community development project.
For examples of experiential design in community development projects and other public spaces, check out some of AltEthos’ current and past projects.
AltEthos works with community developers, landscape designers, and local artists to bring visions into interactive experience landscapes that can transform communities. Change the way people see, feel, and live in your community by adding real value in the form of public art. The change starts now with AltEthos.
Welcome to 2018. We’re on the verge of self-driving cars, holodecks, AI assistants, jetpacks, and drone pizza delivery. The shift in digital technologies is happening at such a staggeringly rapid pace that it can be difficult to keep up if you are not constantly watching the trends. In this post, we are going to take a closer look at one emerging trend – augmented reality (AR), and how it is being applied to marketing and brand recognition in the physical realm of trade shows.
Why Trade Shows Still Matter
Trade shows act as an important tool for sales generation and business development across many industries. In fact, the Center for Exhibition Industry Research reports that attendees spend an estimated $44.8 billion and exhibitors spend an estimated $24.5 billion at events annually. The challenge for organizers and exhibitors is finding ways to stand out from the hundreds of other booths on the floor. More progressive companies are looking at creative uses of augmented reality that drastically transform their trade show booth and create the buzz necessary to get people into the sales funnel.
While AR is still relatively new in the arena of virtual reality technologies, it made headlines back in 2016 with the release of Pokemon Go. Today, consumer uses of AR are becoming more commonplace (Google is working on an AR update to the Google Maps mobile app!), the B2B market has plenty of room to grow when it comes to utilizing this technology. Companies that recognize the potential stand to gain a huge edge over their competition in the trade show environment.
Utilizing AR in the Trade Show Environment
Below are just a few examples of how augmented reality can be used in your trade show booth.
Have a new product with something special that you don’t want anyone to miss? Let your guests zoom in and spin around a 3D model that places your product on a pedestal in your booth and creates a lifelike representation.
Do you operate around the world? Create an application that drops guests into exotic locations and let users get a taste of your global appeal.
Need better ways to convey key information? Augment traditional displays to uniquely display diagrams and infographics, videos and photos, and FAQ’s about your product in an interactive and engaging way.
Engage attendees. Expand your space. Create interactive product demos and infographics. Take ALL your products with you. Increase leads. Drive frictionless sales. Need we say more?
Today’s B2B companies need to leverage technology to get the most out of their trade show experiences and avoid becoming just another face in the crowd. If you aren’t using tools like augmented reality to create a more compelling and interactive booth and drive engagement, your competitors will be and that means fewer sales and new clients for you.
Contact Alt Ethos today to talk about your ideas about using augmented reality at your trade show booth.
Join us as Alt Ethos and other immersive creators teach 360° workshops for the digital dome and VR. Our sister organization, Denver Arts + Technology Advancement presents the MORPHOS 360° Workshops. This is your opportunity to learn 360 techniques for the digital dome and VR from some of the top creators in the industry. We deliver a comprehensive hands-on learning experience in spherical design from live capture and virtual integration to live performance and sensor integration. This five-day hands-on intensive training in Colorado runs April 9 – April 13, 2018.
Use code: ALTETHOS360 For a TWO for ONE discount. Register Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ4g6rsXfAM
List of Courses:
Basic Fisheye Capture
360° Stitching
Dome 101 – Do’s and Don’t
360° Images and Texturing on a Virtual Dome
Blender Basics
Unity Basics
Live Content Demos – Unity3D
Live VJ Real-Time Visualization
3D Audio
Production Pipeline for Fulldome Pre-Visualization
Massive Format Multiplayer Interaction
Rendering Best Practices for 360°
Production Resources
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Alt Ethos: Experiential Design Studio creates disruption at Denver Startup Week by melding various forms of light, sound, interactivity and creative technology into memorable interactive experiences. Alt Ethos will showcase four exhibitions and participate in one panel discussion during the sixth annual Denver Startup Week. Alt Ethos has come a long way since last year’s Denver Startup Week. Events will take place September 25 – 29 at various locations in Denver, Colorado.
The Commons on Champa has been the home of Alt Ethos since its inception. The support of this public hub for entrepreneurship serves as a platform for Alt Ethos to give back to the community during Denver Startup Week (DSW) where The Commons serves at Basecamp. Alt Ethos will showcase three exhibitions; “Gateway”, an interactive LED Hallway; “Social Wall”, where members of a community get their photo taken to create a mosaic of self-portraits to form a larger symbol logo of DSW; and “LED Clouds” illuminating the event space with ethereal lights. The Commons on Champa is located at 1245 Champa Street.
Pon Pon is the late night hangout of Denver Startup Week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, nights, 9pm to 1:30am, during Denver Startup Week and is located at 2528 Walnut Street. Free beer, wine & wells with DSW wristband with DJs and dancing. Alt Ethos fills the ceiling with a balloon surface sculpture and audio interactive visualization mapping in the gallery to entice late night socialites to fill their heads with wonderment.
Win a cloud! Come drop your business card into the fishbowl in the events space at The Commons and be entered in a drawing to win your very own LED Cloud.
Alt Ethos’ Paul Elsberg shares his expertise as a regional representative for Hackster.io for the panel entitled, “From Idea To Production”. Come and hear from the experts at Hackster.io and the Hardware Studio – a joint initiative from Kickstarter, Avnet and Dragon Innovation. Learn about the essentials of creating a compelling story that launches your idea into the marketplace while preparing yourself to scale! The panel is sponsored by AVNET and will be held at the Alliance Center in Denver from 2-5PM on Tuesday, September 26.
Alt Ethos is seeking contractors for hire and will be at this year’s DSW Job Fair and Showcase. Come visit the Alt Ethos booth to find out more about positions in creative technology. The Job Faire will take place on Wednesday, September 27th, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, at the McNichols Building in Civic Center Park at 144 W Colfax Ave.
At last year’s events, Alt Ethos was listed as “Companies to Watch from Denver Startup Week” from Denverite and participate in DSW with a presentation entitled, “The New Dispensation: Virtual Reality” presenting a VR experience. They also introduced the Denver audience to “the Cube” a 6’ tangible interactive projection cube. The cube has since shown up at events around Denver such as 5280 Magazine’s Top of the Town. Since last year, Alt Ethos has proven themselves as a viable local company working with museums, local businesses, and public institutions.
Zac with the new Alt Ethos t-shirt and a sneak peak at the Social Wall.
Please join the celebration and education of Denver Startup Week, September 25 – 29 at various locations in Denver, Colorado. Help Alt Ethos celebrate their successes by visiting the disruptive experiential design on display at The Commons on Champa and Pon Pon.
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Alt Ethos is an experiential design studio specializing in creative technology. We are a group of dedicated creators, designers, and engineers creating innovative projects for the modern world. We meld various forms of light, sound, interactivity and creative technology into memorable interactive experiences. We create a variety of custom creative technology solutions with an emphasis on storytelling, hands-on participatory learning, and user experience design to amplify interactions with various media in the physical space.
Alt Ethos donates a portion of its revenues to its sister organization, Denver Arts + Technology Advancement (DATA), a nonprofit organization striving to create a vanguard community center for public engagement, cultivating and strengthening local community by putting research, education, creation, and exhibition together under the same roof.
Win a cloud!