Live Video Editing App Turns the World into Op Art

by @mike_n5 // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Jan 4, 2016 at 11:22am PST

Instagram has its limits. You can retro-fy photos and images, but can't remix them into arty geometric abstractions. With GeometriCam, by Giuseppe Capozzo, you can.

Rather than just being able to apply the effects retroactively after you've taken an image, GeometriCam uses the iPhone's camera as a live video source and generates a range of effects, like a vortex, pixels, triangles, diamonds, turning your world into abstract compositions in real-time. You can also change the parameters, shape settings, colors, the brightnesses of the primaries, saturations, and even the parameters according to byte size, ranging from 1-bit upwards.

It works on both images video, and your camera roll, meaning you can create a short, glitchy video just by pointing your camera at, say, a coffee cup, refine it as you see fit, and then save the video for further tinkering.

The app's immediacy becomes addictive—once you've figured out how to use the patterns, variations, and filters, you feel like a master of augment reality. One can easily imagine this being fed into VR goggles, allowing you to dive into a world straight out of a Philip K. Dick story.

Look into my eyes by @mike_n5 // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Feb 21, 2016 at 7:00am PST

Capozzo says, as well as wanting to add a touch of surrealism to the everyday, he also took inspiration from the Op art movement of the mid-60s, artists including Victor Vasarely, Bridget Riley, and Josef Albers. "The true pioneers of modern computational design, but without computers," Capozzo calls them. "One cannot deny the influence of this aesthetic on the new generations of 'creative coders' and I wanted to pay my humble tribute, given that I’ve often wondered what these artists would have made with an iPhone as their creative tool of choice."

Capozzo uses Albers' quote "Abstraction is real" on the PR copy for the app. It's taken from the line, "For me, abstraction is real, probably more real than nature. I'll go further and say that abstraction is nearer my heart. I prefer to see with closed eyes."

Which is apt, because the fizzing real-time patterns on GeometriCam are reminiscent of those closed-eye hallucinations you get with eyes shut in a darkened room or staring with lids closed at bright lights.

To see what kind of compositions you can create, check out GeometriCam's Instagram where users have submitted some inspired creations. We've featured a few examples below:

Wreck it now by @hivanfuentes // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Feb 2, 2016 at 6:59am PST

Geometric Woof-Woof!!! by @pink_lab_power // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Feb 3, 2016 at 11:15am PST

•Malfunction• by @ferver_clothing_co // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Jan 22, 2016 at 7:00am PST

BB-8 by @mmartinkkinberg // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Jan 25, 2016 at 7:02am PST

GeometriCam vs @pixiteapps by @lulutanata // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Jan 30, 2016 at 11:01am PST

S ku ll by @leftfield_corn // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Jan 15, 2016 at 7:10am PST

goodbye horses v2.0 // @elliepritts delights us with a dreamy, otherworldly mix of fat pixels and bold colors. #geometricam #geometricamapp

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Dec 2, 2015 at 8:28pm PST

•da funk• by @ncesardsgn // always tag #geometricam #geometricamapp for a chance to be featured here

A photo posted by GeometriCam (@geometricamapp) on Jan 8, 2016 at 11:09am PST

You can download the app here.

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