After a bit of a tight deadline getting the Artefacts app together for last night’s launch, Simon and Richard managed to pull it out of the bag and deliver a fantastic interactive presentation, that trials a new proximity based technology called iBeacons.
For the exhibition this has meant that each piece has been connected to a multilayered network of buried information that responds to your location within the gallery.
This stage is obviously a vital learning point for them as they try to navigate their way through the unforseeable glitches and snags that inevitably arise from any new technology, but at the end of it… out of nothing, we have something that mostly does what it’s suppose to do and is really exciting.
As an artist trying to fathom a new medium it has presented a wealth of interactive possibilities. As they’ve trialed the technology I’ve been able to trial the conceptual possibilities as part of developing my research. For the technology this is the first tentative step towards something more developed and accomplished and for me it has allowed things to move off into more unexpected avenues of enquiry.
Largely, iBeacons will be used to sell you 2 for 1 offers, but as Townhouse are working on developing, it will also hopefully provide possibilities for much more interesting interactions too. Providing a creative tool for innovative and thought provoking encounters to challenge our physical, virtual and imaginative landscape.
The exhibition is on until the 27th June at Letchworth Arts Centre (I know… it’s Hertfordshire and I know it’s a whole half an hour train ride from London but there’s a lovely coffee shop when you get here…and they even do food!)
