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Art Platform Wescover Partners with Google Lens AR App

Google Lens has to get its information from somewhere. Wescover helps to provide that information.

 

Wescover has been around for a couple of years now. Their goal is to help individuals find deeper meaning in unique art. The AR app Google Lens has a similar objective so it makes sense that they would work together.

That’s why Wescover is making their catalog of thousands of artists and art pieces available on Google Lens. The move expands Google Lens and moves Wescover into the AR space.

The Wescover Platform

Wescover was founded three years ago. The platform serves to give credit to artists who might otherwise not be associated with their work. It also gives artists a place to post more information about their works.

“With Wescover, we’re making it easy to connect with the creator of the item that you just fell in love with,” said co-founder and CEO Rachely Esman. “Wescover allows visitors to visit those spaces and gives credibility to the creators.”

Users can search the Wescover page by location to find art that they discovered in the real world. They can also browse art and creators like on most social media sites.

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The page is populated by artists and designers who create profiles on the site. They can then share their art, including background information about the pieces and about themselves.

“Any creator can come and list their items on our site,” said Esman. Wescover is also open to working with “any municipalities that want to come to us to showcase art in their communities.”

The platform makes it easier for users to learn about and buy art that they love, as well as find other pieces by those artists. It also keeps artists and designers from being anonymous just because their name doesn’t appear on a piece.

Wescover and Google Lens

wescover + google lens AR app

Google Lens is a new kind of search engine from Google. Currently only available for Android devices, the AR app allows users to search through their world by pointing their phones. The information has to come from somewhere, however.

“Google Lens wants you to start using this new search engine that allows you to search by image but to do that they need the information and that’s what we feed to Google,” said Esman. “It was a great alignment between what we think our companies represent.”

The only problem with moving content onto the AR app is the size of Wescover’s constantly growing catalog.

“We are slowly publishing our content to Google so that all of the content on our site is available through Lens,” said Esman.

Wescover created a special experience to launch their presence on the AR app. The page includes an interactive map of public art in San Francisco and includes instructions on downloading Google Lens.

Discover Art Where You Are

It’ll be a while before Wescover’s entire catalog finds its way onto the Google Lens AR app. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth taking a look at the Wescover catalog. Search for a city near you or one that you’re going to visit. Who knows, art in the area may already be waiting for you to discover through Google Lens.

Jon Jaehnig
the authorJon Jaehnig
Jon Jaehnig is a freelance journalist with special interest in emerging technologies. Jon has a degree in Scientific and Technical Communication from Michigan Technological University and lives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. If you have a story suggestion for Jon, you may contact him here.