Before ITP graduate student Ziv Schneider created the Oculus Rift-accessible Museum of Stolen Art, halfway across the world another institution—also called the Museum of Stolen Art—was debuting its gallery exhibition of works currently reported stolen or missing. Works could be viewed through the screen of a tablet or phone. Through smart devices, lifted in front of framed markers, the power of augmented reality revealed lost paintings including Monet's Waterloo Bridge and van Gogh's Poppy Flowers, among other works whose "true loss could never be expressed in dollars or euros."
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"The exhibition emphasizes the feeling of loss by showing empty canvases in frames, which only come to life when visitors look at them through their smartphone or tablet," explained the agency behind the project, Wijdoendingen. Their idea was to have the markers be transferable, so you could admire the stolen works and more in 3D glory from the comfort of your own home. Wijdoendingen also used Museum of Stolen Art to demonstrate forthcoming app that would allow collectors to purchase, rent, borrow, and hang augmented reality art from galleries all over the world.
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