philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Could virtual reality be the future of art exhibitions?

Popov, formerly the chief executive of a video-game production company, originally designed Cappasity to help businesses make digital presentations in augmented reality. However, after finding commercial success in this sphere, Popov decided to reappropriate the software in order to make it compatible with the curation of art galleries.

“The partnership between Cappasity and the New York Academy of Art began with a shared conviction that fast and qualitative production of virtual museums, galleries, and exhibitions is possible,” Popov tells me. “The experience was meant to help convert online visitors into physical ones.”

Next level

Cappasity is pushing this to the next level. “The ongoing, multi-year partnership is aimed to showcase the Academy’s Cast Collection, on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as sculptures created by faculty, students and other artists,” Popov says. Because Cappasity exists in a virtual space, this collection will be made available to anybody with a VR set-up.

“We also plan to offer virtual and augmented reality tours of the Academy’s major exhibitions and galleries, allowing viewers all over the world to ‘virtually’ visit the Academy,” he adds. At present a basic version of this tour can be accessed as a demo on Steam.

“We expect Cappasity to become the industry standard for art schools’ student digital portfolios in the next few years.” As the partnership with the New York Academy of Art continues to blossom, the Cappasity for Art initiative will gain momentum, hopefully becoming a widely recognised curation tool in the near future.

See the full story here: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/could-virtual-reality-be-the-future-of-art-exhibitions-1.3905993