German automaker BMW continues its digitisation drive with augmented reality (AR) tools from the WebAR application Acute Art.
The established firm is using WebAR technologies to advance it’s ‘Art Car Program’ featuring a modern artist rendering of a signature BMW vehicle.
Since 1975, the initiative has seen prolific figures such as Andy Warhol translate the BMW M1 into several Pop-Art style masterpieces. 45 years later, BMW chose Cao Fei as its first AR car artist.
The Chinese multimedia artist has built a reputation among contemporaries for representing the cultural transformation of China stemming from internet culture and western influence.
Cao Fei first premiered the 18th BMW Art Car on May 31, 2017, but following AR’s rise in popularity, BMW has chosen to re-debut the design as a WebAR digital twin.
The BMW group are turning the 2017 exhibition into a WebAR digital asset that smartphone users can place anywhere in the world with the ‘Acute Art’ app.
The WebAR platform is collaborating with leading contemporary artists and brands to deliver next-generation immersive campaigns.
Cao Fei’s Original AR Exhibition
Originally, Cao Fei redesigned a BMW Model 6 GT3 as a multimedia exhibition in 2017, creating various different components for the exhibition.
In 2017, BMW and Cao Fei took advantage of AR technologies to develop an application that presented a colourful light show to surround the GT3.
The Bejing-born artist projected the film and AR features on the car’s original carbon black coat, paying tribute to the vehicle as well as possibilities of the digital world.
BMW Digitising Automotive Production
The news comes after Californian headset providers Pico Interactive recently partnered with BMW and Engage to deliver a virtual reality (VR) engagement workshop for its Formula E Motorsport range.
Dubbed the “i-Virtual Garage Experience,” the workshop presented the new motorsport lineup with X-ray visualisations of all technical specifications along with a social bar space for attendees to mingle.
Before this, BMW debuted The BMW Virtual Viewer, an application developed by AR leaders 8th Wall, to showcase a full-scale BMW PHEV X5, X1 or 3 digital twin to customers on their driveway.
