TUFTED-AR

TUFTED-AR __ Elevating Tufted Rugs and Augmented Reality to a Medium of Creative Expression.

OVERVIEW

Digital worlds are huge and constantly changing. As a design student, I've been interested in this new world since my third semester. I've been working digitally, using AI and AR, and moving from 2D to 3D designs. But now I'm exhausted and need to catch up with my creations. Most of what I make is enjoyed visually and audibly but not physically touched. This feeling of not being satisfied keeps growing as I create more digitally.

Working only digitally has problems, like the undo function, which can stop my creativity. To overcome this, I've been reading books and exploring new ideas. Two things that inspire me are a book by Austin Kleon and the internet trend of making illustrated rugs. This makes me want to explore the old-fashioned way of doing things. Rugs have been an art form for thousands of years, and I learned about William Morris, a British artist who thought they were more than just something you put on the floor.

With the digital boom and my knowledge of William Morris, I want to mix both digital and analog art. I want to create art that looks good and serves a purpose beyond just decoration or providing warmth. I want to show that analog art can still be relevant in the digital age. I want to find a balance between digital and analog design. I want to overcome my burnout and dissatisfaction with only working digitally. By exploring analog methods, mainly using rugs as my creative medium, I want to combine digital and analog elements to create visually appealing and functional art.

In the theoretical part of my project, I'll talk about how rugs have been used as creative mediums throughout history. I'll mention ancient rugs like the Beni Ourain and how modern artists explored tapestry. I'll also explain how rugs are made. I'll also briefly explain augmented reality and how it's used as a creative medium. In the technical part, I'll explore the current possibilities of augmented reality. These theories inspired and guided me in creating the Tufted-AR project.

In the practical part of the Tufted-AR Project, I'll make a big wool rug with simple shapes and graphics. These graphics will be visible on the flat rug. I'll also create digital 3D versions of these graphics. By using their smartphones, people can see the 3D digital graphics floating above the rug. This idea shows how these two creative methods can work together. The 2D graphics on the rug establish the limitations of using a rug as a creative medium, while the 3D pictures in AR demonstrate what AR can do that a rug cannot and vice versa. Rugs can be touched and felt for their texture, whereas AR can only be enjoyed visually without the ability to touch it. These two methods complement each other.