You Can Now See BMW Art Cars in the Real World with Augmented Reality
BMW’s Art Cars are world famous, even for those who aren’t fans of the brand. The collaboration between BMW and various artists, to create stunning works of rolling art, has been going on since 1975. Artists such as Andy Warhol, Alexander Cabot, and even as recently as Futura 2000, all worked with BMW to paint various cars. However, they typically only paint one-offs that don’t go on sale, so seeing one in person is next to impossible. Until now.
Acute Art collaborates with artists and uses the latest tech to realizes said artists’ visions. Using the free Acute Art app (available on Apple and Android), several different BMW Art Cars can be digitally placed into your surroundings using augmented reality.
“The BMW Art Cars are an essential part of the DNA of BMW’s 50-year-long cultural engagement. Finally, they are entering the digital realm and can be accessible everywhere and for everyone. I am excited about the collaboration with Acute Art as we both strive for innovation and cutting edge technology. I can‘t wait to place the Art Cars in my living room and get behind the wheel of these exceptional masterpieces!”, says Pieter Nota, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands and Sales.
Not every BMW Art Car is available in the app just yet but most of the important ones are. As of right now, these are the artists and their Art Cars you can see in augmented reality from the Acute Art app: Alexander Calder (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975), Michael Jagamara Nelson (BMW M3, 1989), Ken Done (BMW M3, 1989), Matazo Kayama (BMW 535i, 1990), Esther Mahlangu (BMW 525i, 1991), Jeff Koons (BMW M3 GT2, 2010) and John Baldessari (BMW M6 GTLM, 2016).
To get the cars in the app, Acute Art took each of the rear Art Cars and scanned them from all angles using a photogrammetry methodology. Then, the cars were digitally assembled and can now be seen in AR.
If you want to see an Art Car in reality, BMW will have the Alexander Calder BMW 3.0 CSL on display at the Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland on September 21. There, BMW will also have a special augmented reality area, where guests can use this app to see all the other BMW Art Cars.