There couldn’t have been a better time for Cuseum to introduce its new augmented reality experience. It brings famous artworks into people’s homes. It gives you an immersive museum experience, without crowds of tourists obscuring your view of the art.
Cuseum also published groundbreaking research on the way the brain perceives art. They studied how we perceive art in digital forms and immersive technologies. Then, they compared it to how we perceive the original tangible piece.
We wanted to learn more about Cuseum’s revolutionary work in augmented reality. Hence, we got in touch with Brendan Ciecko, CEO and founder of Cuseum.
Art in Augmented Reality
Ciecko, we learned, is an art enthusiast. He is immensely passionate about art and culture. Prior to founding Cuseum, he worked with several museums and cultural institutions. He quickly learned that they had inadequate and outdated technology. Although they actively sought to improve the visitor experience and access, their efforts were mostly impeded by their tools.
He founded Cuseum to address these problems.
Their latest innovation is Museum From Home. They worked long and hard to develop a digital solution to the closure of museums. Through this augmented reality feature, you can place famous paintings and artworks on the walls of your home.
“The artworks that are available are public domain works from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Getty, Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Art, Rijksmuseum, and other museums that have committed to Open Access.” He added, “This includes famous artworks like Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night and Edvard Munch’s The Scream.”
However, if you prefer contemporary works, you can also view them using Cuseum-powered partner apps. Through this AR feature, you can admire art pieces that you would only be able to view inside a museum.
How the Brain Perceives Art
Cuseum published breakthrough research on the way the brain perceives art. According to their study, the aesthetic experience isn’t denigrated by digital representation. In other words, our brain doesn’t differentiate between artworks in digital forms and their physical, tangible originals.
We asked Ciecko how their findings will affect future Cuseum apps. According to him, they were originally focused on enhancing on-site experiences for museum visitors. However, that changed when art and cultural institutions closed due to the pandemic. In the future, they will also focus on addressing at-home use and viewing of art. With travel bans and restrictions on museum viewings still in place, they are excited to provide solutions for everyone at home.
“We’re not just here to help museums survive in the digital age,” he said. “We’re here to help them flourish as an integral and transformative part of it.”
Ciecko and his team are excited to be the leading provider of digital and immersive solutions to museums and cultural organizations. Moreover, his team is looking forward to providing them with greater and more inclusive access to wider audiences.
The Future of Augmented Reality in Art
Cuseum’s breakthrough research highlights the immense progress of immersive technologies. That, of course, includes augmented reality. When asked how it would affect AR.
“As the world increasingly moves to embrace remote experiences of art and entertainment, as well as personal and professional encounters, we believe our study will help serve as a baseline for validating the quality and power of augmented technology,” he said.
“We believe it will showcase the role neuroscience and other interdisciplinary approaches can have on our understanding of technology’s impact,” Ciecko added.
As we stay indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, companies such as Cuseum are empowering us to deal with lesser evils such as stress, anxiety, and boredom. With Museum From Home, they hope to keep us connected to art and culture in these trying times. According to Ciecko, they intend to roll out new AR features and experiences in the future.
