Apple to launch augmented-reality art tours in six global cities, including Hong Kong
- Three years after Pokemon Go popularised augmented reality, tech giant to begin guided walks whose participants view sites enhanced by computer-generated art
- A separate AR work will be visible to iPhone users in Apple stores worldwide, and stores will offer hands-on lessons in how to create augmented-reality art
![Carsten Höller's augmented-reality creation is among the seven artworks participants in Apple's [AR]T Walk will see in Hong Kong and five other cities around the world from August 10.](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/methode/2019/07/30/4ae748c8-b27e-11e9-8f9c-a6398a9f90a9_image_hires_192757.JPG?itok=-k1en2k1&v=1564486085)
Fans of augmented reality will soon be chasing after more than monsters on the streets of Hong Kong.
Apple on Tuesday announced a series of immersive public art experiences based on its augmented reality platform, with the highlight being a two-hour walking tour available in six cities from August 10 until the end of the year.
These [AR]T Walks will be held daily in Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Paris, New York and San Francisco for groups of up to 10 people at a time.
Here’s how it works: a docent issues participants with iPhones and earphones and takes them along a route where they will come across new AR works created by seven international artists through a phone app. This will be familiar to anyone who has played Pokemon Go or other mobile AR games, but [AR]T Walk is also an interesting way of expanding the definition of public art – these works are site-specific but exist only on participants’ phones.
![Cao Fei's augmented reality creation is among the seven artworks participants will experience during Apple's [AR]T Walk, to be held in Hong Kong and five other cities around the world.](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/07/30/4a3522d8-b27e-11e9-8f9c-a6398a9f90a9_972x_192757.JPG "Cao Fei's augmented reality creation is among the seven artworks participants will experience during Apple's [AR]T Walk, to be held in Hong Kong and five other cities around the world.")
Cao Fei, a Chinese artist born in Guangzhou, is one of the seven artists chosen by curators from New York’s New Museum for the project – selected because they are not known for working with AR and also because they all use very different media.
Cao’s AR work for Apple is a cross between an amusement-park ride and factory assembly line, and reminiscent of her anti-utopian videos about labour and automation. The tour participants will be able to manipulate levers and boxes using their phones in order to create an orderly flow or total chaos.
