What is Hidelight?
Hidelight is a new app that will help artists showcase their work while connecting to the local creative scene. It allows you to post and contribute your photography, paintings, music/sounds, video and poetry anywhere outdoors, using Augmented Reality. The AR experience will allow you to bring the art gallery outdoors, and help you reach and interact with new audiences. You can also collaborate with other artists to increase your exposure and strengthen the local art community. You will be able to watch as people discover and experience your work while it is showcased around Ottawa.
Why use Hidelight?
The pandemic forced us to find new ways to stay safely connected with our friends and family. For some artists, the pandemic pushed them to channel their creativity to help manage through the difficult times. Others had issues staying focused or motivated to keep going. Using Hidelight you can create your own public art spaces, or discover what other local artists are doing. Visitors to your work will also be able to send you tips when they feel inspired. You can do all this while safely getting exercise and exploring the outdoors. We hope that by seeing the work of your community it will help to inspire you and give hope for the future.
Who Made Hidelight
My name is Paul. I am a artist and I have recently become a mobile application developer. I have been working in the arts sector around Ottawa as an arts administrator and a professional artist for the last fifteen years, and I am passionate about the city, the artists that live here and the galleries where we usually gather.
An Example of the Future
You and a friend go for a walk to a park where a local Business Improvement Association commissioned a group of artists to fill with hundreds of unique photos of people from the community. You spend an hour walking through the park and enjoying the community art through your phones. Of course, it’s all augmented Reality, but there are hundreds of other people also enjoying the space. Folks around you are posing for photos with the art and strangers are chatting with each other about the experience. You snap some selfies, both of you tip the artist for their work and your friend connects with an artist all through the app. Since you’re in the neighbourhood you grab lunch from one of the businesses that sponsored the show. While eating you connect to one of the artist’s Shopify stores where your friend orders a tee shirt and you decide to buy a small original work for your wall.
What can you do?
Connect with artists, creatives and friends to make the local community come alive by sharing creative content using Augmented Reality (AR). Communicate privately or leave a message in the middle of the busiest part of town. Using Hidelight makes becoming inspired about your local easy. Explore, feel inspired, and collaborate with other people who also want to surround your area with lights.
Take part in events, exhibitions, and festivals through the app or leave a review and a message outside your favourite local business. You can be the most important person in town or quietly engage your creative side by adding your style onto the digital layers that everyone can experience.
Create something new and share what’s on your mind by interacting with artists and their work through their posts and celebrate the moments by interacting and reordering your experiences with AR. Then share the memories to your favourite social media sites or stay in touch with your friends within Hidelight.
Help create the social strata in your city over the years while voting amazing content up so it stays where it deserves to be seen. Hidelight will help you leave your mark on the world for generations to come.