Enhancing Tremenheere's sculpture trail with augmented reality

An experimental collaboration between academics in augmented reality at Falmouth University and Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens is helping visitors to see sculpture through a brand new lens.

The project, which is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is exploring new ways for gardens and attractions like Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens to attract a range of diverse new audiences and enhance the visitor experience.

Using innovative augmented reality technology, Falmouth University researchers have developed a custom phone-based app and immersive digital experiences for Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens in collaboration with three artists. 

Named 'The Mystery of Art', the app showcases location-based digital sculpture using augmented reality, helping visitors of all ages to see sculpture in a new digital dimension. Using a phone, visitors can reveal the work in-situ as they travel around the gardens and view work by artists Penny Florence, Jonathan Kearney, and Seamus Moran. 

As part of their research, Falmouth’s researchers explored a range of recommendations for Tremenheere around their use of augmented reality, virtual tools and games-based methods to inspire and delight diverse new audiences. 

We hope that the inclusion of augmented reality sculptures will not only attract younger visitors to come to the gardens but will also provide another interesting and different perspective to viewing art for people of all ages and experiences.

Professor Tanya Krzywinska, who has been at the forefront of the collaboration with Tremenheere as well as the artists involved, said: “The project is a collaboration with professional artists, who have never worked with computer-generated imagery before. We have been exploring the potential for using augmented reality as an art form and exploring its potential to create unique artistic forms that occupy the newly carved space between the digital and the physical.

“This really is frontier work; bringing technology to bear in a fine art context, rather than a commercial one. Cornwall has always been at the forefront of new thinking and this collaboration involving the cutting-edge Games Academy at Falmouth University has been a rewarding process. We believe that our use of AR, MR and VR experiences could signal a new direction for art and culture and redefine the way we interact with, perceive and appreciate art as a form….” 

Ali Braybrooks, Tremenheere’s Garden Manager, said the experience will help boost the visitor experience and encourage more families and young people to interact with the attraction. She said: "We are excited to be involved with Falmouth University in this innovative way of exhibiting the works in such a creative setting.

"We hope that the inclusion of augmented reality sculptures will not only attract younger visitors to come to the gardens but will also provide another interesting and different perspective to viewing art for people of all ages and experiences."

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