Sotheby’s and Saatchi Art show augmented reality’s growing usefulness to art world
Sotheby’s auctioned off Botticelli’s Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel for $92.2 million on Thursday. But before it did, the auction house gave everyone the chance to virtually hang the artwork on their walls.
Thanks to an Instagram filter Sotheby’s created with Poplar Studio, a creative platform that builds 3D and AR experiences, users could see what the Old Master painting would look like in their living rooms. The filter is available to Sotheby’s 1.3 million Instagram followers.
The filter was used 145,000 times, and was videoed or photographed 4,300 times, as of Thursday evening. The post announcing the sale currently has an engagement of 1.07%, which is slightly higher than what is considered an average engagement rate.
...But Sotheby’s filter is part of the art world’s broader embrace of the technology especially amid the ongoing pandemic keeping prospective art buyers home. Home art print suppliers including Saatchi Art and Etsy introduced in-app AR art viewings in 2018 and 2019, respectively, hoping to drive sales, and both made significant improvements to their app user experience this year as consumer interest in art skyrocketed.
See the full story here: https://digiday.com/media/sothebys-and-saatchi-augmented-reality/
