Partnership Between Denver Art Museum, ARtGlass Will Create Augmented Reality Programming for Museum’s Youngest Visitors

ARtVenture uses tour-creation technology to prototype interactive art exploration game

DENVER, CO, USA, May 19, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — The Denver Art Museum (DAM) makes its first foray into gamified tablet-based experiences using the latest interactive, augmented reality (AR) interpretive technology from ARtGlass. Focusing on engaging its youngest visitors (ages 2-6 years old), DAM’s new ARtVenture experience will encourage children and their companions to explore DAM’s collection through play-based learning and interactive games with AR elements. The experience is now in the prototype stage but is expected to be fully available to museum visitors by late 2024.

The DAM team selected ARtGlass’ tour-creation technology TourBuilder to bring their “ARtVenture Kit” to life. The pilot program will be experienced through DAM’s fleet of tablets, available on loan to visitors. Through the tablet’s camera, visitors can see games, educational content, and videos layered over real-world views of art, which range from a 10-foot-tall clay sculpture to a 10-inch clay pot. The goal of this AR pilot is to encourage young children to discover how art was made, to learn what materials went into its creation, and to search for where else they see those same materials in the gallery.

Lindsay Genshaft, Senior Manager of Family and Community Programs at the Denver Art Museum, expressed excitement about bringing interactive children’s experiences into the modern era. She noted, “We always strive to create personal connections with art for our visitors, especially kids and families. Augmented reality is a way to support those connections. When people have insight, information, or even secrets about the art, they become more interested and invested.”

The ARtVenture project team is comprised of creators inside and outside the museum, including Michael Sperandeo, an interactive designer and former Artist in Residence, and Ashley Frazier, Lead Graphic Designer. Sperandeo and Frazier own and operate media production studio Open Arcana, which is among the first firms to be recognized as an official TourBuilder partner.

Ariana Robles, Coordinator of Family Programs, shared that the possibilities extend beyond the ARtVenture project, saying, “Now that we have [TourBuilder], we’re already imagining several other uses for it. The ARtGlass team provides both technical and creative support, and we feel well-supported.”

ARtVenture was created in ARtGlass’ web based TourBuilder app and deployed to a fleet of tablets through ARtGlass’ ViewAR app, available in iOS and Google Play stores. TourBuilder works across smartphones, tablets, and smart glasses models.

ARtGlass Chief Commercial Officer, Lauren Jensen, expressed delight at DAM’s utilization of TourBuilder, stating, “We are thrilled that the Denver Art Museum is finding TourBuilder so useful, and we can’t wait to see all of the creative ways they continue to expand their use of AR to enhance their visitors’ experience.”

DAM will host the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) conference, the largest US conference in the museum field, in Denver from May 19-22, 2023. Conference-goers will have the special chance to demo the prototype ARtVenture experience when visiting ARtGlass’ exhibition booth.

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The Denver Art Museum is an educational, nonprofit resource that sparks creative thinking and expression through transformative experiences with art. Founded in 1893 as the Denver Artists’ Club, the Denver Art Museum today is one of the largest art museums between Chicago and the West Coast. The museum’s global art collections represent cultures around the world, with more than 70,000 works of art in 12 collections, including African art, architecture and design, art of the ancient Americas, Asian art, European and American art before 1900, Latin American art, Oceanic art, modern and contemporary art, photography, textile art and fashion, Indigenous arts of North America, and western American art. The museum’s global collections also reflect work by artists from Denver and the Rocky Mountain region—and provide invaluable ways for the community to learn about the world. DAM completed a $150 million renovation of their 7-story building in 2021 to better serve their more than 850,000 annual visitors. Visit www.denverartmuseum.org

ARtGlass’ software and suite of services enables our clients to fully build and deploy visually stunning, unique, and engaging augmented reality experiences across a variety of hardware options. ARtGlass offers a range of products to help you build your next experience, from our do-it-yourself TourBuilder to a full package complete with production assistance and content creation. TourBuilder enables you to design and publish both guided and self-guided tours on any device, including smartglasses, tablets, and phones. Experiences can be delivered indoors and outdoors, with or without WiFi. The company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia with satellite offices in Milan, Italy, has helped clients thrill more than 4 million visitors to venues as diverse as fine art museums, presidential plantations, mountaintop castle ruins, World Heritage archaeological sites, product launches, and tradeshows. Now, through TourBuilder, ARtGlass is empowering cultural sites and attractions to distinguish and enhance their visitor experience, to thrill new and returning guests, and to increase revenue. Visit www.artglassgroup.com.

Open Arcana is a new media production studio. Open Arcana was conceptualized in 2015 by Michael Sperandeo and Ashley Frazier who were inspired to bring art into the digital realm. Without the constraints of existing in a geographic location, Open Arcana is able to create and collaborate on various projects that are not only otherworldly but also accessible. The name Open Arcana comes from the English word “open” meaning “allowing access, passage, or a view through a space” and “arcana” meaning “secrets or mysteries” – taken literally, Open Arcana means allowing access to secrets or mysteries. Visit www.openarcana.com

Gregory Werkheiser
ARtGlass
+1 703-408-2002
[email protected]