The Arts' Aura in Laguna Beach Gets a New App Powered by Aurasma

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A city known for bringing art to life is about to see the frames of aesthetic experience multiplied and expanded yet again, as three local artists tap mobile media technology to transcend gallery walls and take their art virtually everywhere.  In "A Moment in Time," Southern California's first "Augmented Reality" art show, Roark Gourley, Robert Celecia and Michelle Lance will explore the potential of a new app-driven artistic medium to allow the public to interact with their work in the gallery and all over Laguna Beach. 

"A Moment in Time" opens this new chapter in living art with a reception at [seven-degrees]™ on Thursday, July 5, 2012, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM.  The evening includes a special encore presentation of Gourley's Liquescent, in 180 degree projection.  The art show continues at [seven-degrees]™ through August 31, 2012, and all around town through the Roark Studios App powered by Aurasma, the world's leading augmented reality platform.

Using familiar Laguna Beach locations, Gourley, Celecia and Lance have created "Auras" - visual touch points that trigger the display of video and images from the exhibition on a variety of hand-held devices.  Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play, the Roark Studios App illuminates these disseminated Auras (with locations identified on a map), as well as Auras that are integral to each piece of art in the show.  These videos, slide shows, animations, or 3D objects are available to anyone, anywhere in the world, who has the Roark Studios App and associated artwork. 

To see a short video of this unique art exhibit click here.

"New technology has always inspired new forms of artistic expression and Augmented Reality is just one new medium that we are beginning to explore," said Gourley. "My work has always invited the viewer to become a part of the piece and the Roark Studios App takes that concept to a new level. This is art with no physical boundaries, aesthetic limits, or expressive constraints, taking multiple forms and tapping many media for a multilayered, many-faceted, and, ultimately, mobile experience.  Of course, a gallery space right across the street from Laguna Beach's iconic Pageant of the Masters, which has employed the tableau vivant, or "living picture," technique to bring art to life for 80 years, is the perfect place to premier Augmented Reality."

Lauren Offers, Aurasma's director of marketing, added, "'A Moment in Time' is a stunning art exhibition that is further enhanced by the augmented reality experience.  It is inspiring to learn how artists like Roark Gourley, Robert Celecia and Michelle Lance are adopting Aurasma's platform to tell a richer story that stretches beyond a moment in time.  We are looking forward to what they will unveil next!"

The Roark Studios App leverages Aurasma's dynamic and scalable augmented reality platform to merge the physical world with the virtual.  Using advanced image and pattern recognition to identify real world images and objects in much the same way as the human brain does, Aurasma seamlessly blends the real world with rich interactive content, such as video and animation, called "Auras." The Roark Studios App illuminates Auras created exclusively for the original art pieces in this exhibition.   Aurasma was developed by Autonomy – an HP Company.  For more information please visit www.aurasma.com.

More information about "A Moment in Time" is available from [seven-degrees]™, 891 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, CA, 92651, 949-376-1555, www.seven-degrees.com.

SOURCE Aurasma