A London Dealer Is Launching a New Platform for Galleries to Create Virtual-Reality Exhibitions Using 3D-Scanning Technology

As more and more galleries shutter worldwide, an art world
insider is launching a timely new extended reality platform for the
art world. Called Vortic, the venture offers galleries customizable
virtual gallery spaces wherein they can show their art using
virtual and augmented reality technology.

Vortic’s founder, Oliver Miro, tells Artnet News that it is a
“strange coincidence” that his technology became ready for launch
at this troubling moment for the art world, but hopes that
galleries who are missing their physical spaces will find it
useful. “Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that all of our
galleries around the world would be closed,” Miro says. The idea
for the platform actually emerged out of a different set of needs
for the art world; a desire to offer galleries a way to show art to
collectors in different cities at a lower carbon footprint.

Miro is the son of art dealer Victoria Miro, and has worked on
the gallery’s sales team for a decade, but the entrepreneur
stresses that Vortic is a completely separate entity to the
gallery. Miro explains that he wanted to find a useful way for
collectors to visualize a work to scale in their own homes without
having to physically ship it around the world at a hefty carbon
footprint. He explains that the trigger point came after he had to
ship a Yayoi Kusama painting from Japan to London and New York,
then back to London, and then to Hong Kong before the collector
decided that it wasn’t quite right for them. “I was thinking, ‘how
could we put that in front of someone in Hong Kong that avoids that
having to happen,’” Miro says.

He also wanted to find a way to ensure that busy collectors were
able to see the exhibitions at Victoria Miro’s main London space on
Wharf Road, which is outside of the main gallery thoroughfare in
Mayfair.

Inspiration struck when he discovered virtual reality, and he
saw a way that galleries could both bring people into the space
without their physically being there, as well as provide a way for
collectors to visualize artworks in their own homes.

The platform has been in development for the past three years.
The main service is Vortic Curate, a subscription-based service for
galleries to create virtual exhibitions. The idea is for a gallery
to have its own physical gallery space captured photogrammetrically
using high-resolution 3D-scanning technology. Dealers can then
choose whether to replicate their existing hangings or to create
XR-only exhibitions within the space, which includes the capacity
to create custom exhibitions tailored to specific collectors.

There is also the option for galleries to mount exhibitions in a
generic virtual gallery space, which will be the most likely option
used at the moment. “At a time like this it is tricky because we
can’t actually go to the physical gallery spaces to scan them,”
Miro says, adding that he hopes to be able to send out their
capture teams in a few months. Similarly, in lieu of having access
to scanning individual works, they are reproducing them based on
high-resolution images. “It is an exciting way to keep collectors
engaged until we are all back in action.”

The client-facing sides of the platform are two apps, Vortic
Collect and Vortic VR, which will be available to download on the
App Store and the Oculus Store, respectively.

Vortic Collect is an AR app available for smartphones and
tablets through which collectors can virtually attend private
views, art fair previews, and bespoke exhibitions. They will also
be able to make direct enquiries with the galleries, and they will
also be able to place works using augmented reality to see how they
would look in their own homes.

Vortic VR is the virtual reality version of the app that allows
audiences to fully immerse themselves in the digital exhibitions
through VR. The app is supported by Oculus headsets, and will let
audiences explore exhibitions in 3D from any angle.

While Miro stresses that the optimal experience is in VR, they
decided to make the AR version available too so that those who did
not have a VR headset can also use the app. (The supply of VR
headsets also dried up due to the situation in China, but Miro is
hoping that the supply of headsets will be freed back up by
May.)

The company is working to get the AR version available as soon
as mid-April, and they plan to continue adding functionality over
the coming months. “We are hoping that galleries find it an
incredible tool in this difficult moment,” Miro says.

The full capacity of the platform will be showcased in its first
exhibition, a co-presentation of artists from David Zwirner and
Victoria Miro, including Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Stan Douglas,
Chris Ofili, and Alice Neel. Miro explains that both galleries have
been working on the exhibition for the past six months. It was
initially intended to be shown at Art Basel Hong Kong before the
fair was cancelled, and then plans to debut it as an in-gallery
experience were also dashed amid the gallery closures.

While the full cost of the service will vary depending on the
gallery, Miro estimates that scanning a large gallery space will be
around £12,000 ($13,800), although he stresses that the initial
gallery scan is a one-off cost, explaining that from then on a
gallery would only pay a monthly subscription fee. These will be
available at different tiers depending on how many renderings are
included. As a comfort to galleries worldwide in the current
situation, Vortic has decided to offer the first three months to
galleries for free, including a one-month demo.

“It’s really nice to be able to do it at this time,” Miro says.
“Everyone is a little shocked right now so it is good to be able to
offer them something they can do from the comfort of their own
homes.”

The post A London Dealer Is Launching a New Platform for
Galleries to Create Virtual-Reality Exhibitions Using 3D-Scanning
Technology appeared first on artnet News.