ARt | Devpost

Inspiration

ARt gives communities powerful tools to express themselves digitally in public spaces, amplifying voices that are often silenced. With just your phone, anyone can project visual art on walls and buildings that advocates for change, celebrates cultural identity, and challenges inequality. This democratizes artistic expression and creates a new platform for social justice movements that remains free for all to experience.

What it does

Users can upload their sketches, drawings or images and project them in real space. They can then save these pieces with a title, artist, and description to allow other people to view their powerful pieces in space how they were meant to be seen. Users can view peoples work on a map and visualize their powerful messages and emotional expression.

How we built it

We primarily used Xcode and Swift to implement the Augmented Reality features and camera integration with iPhone. We needed to use Swift to interact with ios's native AR features. We used a mySQL database and a python backend to handle the persistence of the art pieces and retrieval when viewing a new piece.

Challenges we ran into

Swift and Xcode is super confusing and doesn't have the best documentation. All of us only had experience with one other swift project before, so this was challenging. We also had to learn how to use AR features as none of us have worked with it before.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am proud of the fact that we were able to implement the app in Xcode as it was challenging to setup and get rolling. We set out with a lofty goal, but were able to condense it and come up with a manageable MVP in the given 24 hour timespan. In the end we were able to come up with an ambitious goal and working product.

What we learned

We learned how to utilize ARKit and RealityKit to transform the real world into interactive AR experiences. This was our first time working with AR technology, and while there were definitely challenges, especially around scene understanding and anchoring digital objects in physical space, it was incredibly rewarding to figure it out. We gained a deeper appreciation for how spatial computing works, from tracking user movement to rendering 3D assets in a way that feels natural. It opened our eyes to the creative and technical possibilities of AR, and we’re excited to keep exploring this space.

What's next for ARt

We’re excited to take ARt even further by integrating augmented reality more deeply into the experience, especially with the rise of AR glasses like Meta’s. Imagine a world where digital AR art exists seamlessly alongside physical art, visible as you walk through a city or gallery with just a glance. This opens up an entirely new medium for artists to express themselves and for people to interact with the world in immersive ways. We envision ARt becoming a platform where digital creations are just as impactful and present in our environments as traditional pieces, transforming how we experience art and space.