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| Panic in a Painting |
Okay, friends, time for my trimonthly confessional (here it comes): Every since my visit to Virtual Room in Brussels a year and some months ago (you can read all about that experience here), I've been slightly obsessed with virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D, and all that good stuff. I mean, is it just me or is this stuff completely out of this world? Don't you just look at the tech we have today and think, "Yo, we're actually living in Back to the Future II! Marty McFly, where art thou?"
To answer my own question, yes, I think it is, in fact, just me. You know how in the 19th century they showed the first ever film featuring a train, and, allegedly, the audience got so afraid thinking "the little engine that could" would burst off the screen that they ran panic-stricken to the back of the theater? Well, I'm kind of like the modern version of that (although I'm not afraid the train is going to leave the screen - even I'm not that stupid), as my past experiences with AR have had me over-using phrases such as "But all this AR stuff looks so damn real!" or "It's like... I'm inside the video! How can it be?" while my fiancé next to me goes, "I know, honey. I know" (with a condescending tone, which, by the way, he has no business having considering he's an older fart than I am and thus even less exposed to the wonders of AR and VR than Yours Truly).
So, imagine my excitement when I heard about a museum dedicated to AR and other types of optical art right here smack-dab in the middle of Mexico City (CDMX for us "locals" 😛). The place is called Trick Eye Museum, and, after talking about it with Fiancé, last month I finally managed to drag him with me to this wondrous world of eye-trickery!
To answer my own question, yes, I think it is, in fact, just me. You know how in the 19th century they showed the first ever film featuring a train, and, allegedly, the audience got so afraid thinking "the little engine that could" would burst off the screen that they ran panic-stricken to the back of the theater? Well, I'm kind of like the modern version of that (although I'm not afraid the train is going to leave the screen - even I'm not that stupid), as my past experiences with AR have had me over-using phrases such as "But all this AR stuff looks so damn real!" or "It's like... I'm inside the video! How can it be?" while my fiancé next to me goes, "I know, honey. I know" (with a condescending tone, which, by the way, he has no business having considering he's an older fart than I am and thus even less exposed to the wonders of AR and VR than Yours Truly).
So, imagine my excitement when I heard about a museum dedicated to AR and other types of optical art right here smack-dab in the middle of Mexico City (CDMX for us "locals" 😛). The place is called Trick Eye Museum, and, after talking about it with Fiancé, last month I finally managed to drag him with me to this wondrous world of eye-trickery!
What is Trick Eye Museum?
Originally a Korean concept, Trick Eye Mexico City is the first Trick Eye Museum in Latin America. The way it works is that you take your smartphone or tablet with you, download the Trick Eye app, interact with the different installations implemented with the museum's very own Augmented Reality Technology - AR:T for short (cute, huh?) -, and take photos and/or short videos, making art where you yourself are the hero.
But since a picture is worth a thousand words (and I suspect a video is worth even more), why don't you just click on the video below to see what I mean?
So, what do you think? Pretty cool, eh? Well, I thought so, anyway.
By the way - for the sake of those of you who've never met me in person - that Pegasus-rider-extraordinaire in the video there is, in fact, Yours Truly. One thing I should warn you about, though, is that the Trick Eye app adds ten to fifteen kilos on the subject being photographed or filmed (hard facts!). They don't tell you that beforehand, though - you only find out after the damage has already been done (i.e. the pictures have already been taken) 😜!
By the way - for the sake of those of you who've never met me in person - that Pegasus-rider-extraordinaire in the video there is, in fact, Yours Truly. One thing I should warn you about, though, is that the Trick Eye app adds ten to fifteen kilos on the subject being photographed or filmed (hard facts!). They don't tell you that beforehand, though - you only find out after the damage has already been done (i.e. the pictures have already been taken) 😜!
Before you go
Here's a good tip: If you plan to visit Trick Eye Museum during school holidays, I've got one word for you:
Don't.
Or do, but know that the place will be so packed with kids that you're bound to get some serious Chuck E. Cheese flashbacks (unless, of course, you are one of us poor unfortunate souls who never had a Chuck E. Cheese in your country growing up, in which case you'll get Sara's-10th-birthday-party-at-McDonald's flashbacks). Not that I have anything personal against children, of course. It's just that they make me feel pathetic and old, and like they have more of a right to ride the Pegasus than I do.
Also, I happen to think that the museum is completely wasted on kids. I mean, come on now. You think the Pokemon Go generation will be even remotely impressed by some Pegasus flapping its AR wings? I think not. For them, all this new tech is pretty much the status quo, whereas we thirty-somethings (who should totally be the target demographic, by the way) are a much easier bunch to impress (Hello? The movie, the screen, the train?).
Despite this, it did seem to me that the museum was in fact intended for a younger audience. I came to this conclusion the hard way as the props at the place that were supposed support my Academy Award -worthy acting got me twisting my body into positions it was never intended to be twisted into. Let's inspect the picture below, for instance:
There I am as a ballerina. Don't I look serene?
Well, I can assure you that it's all smoke and mirrors (or, should I say, "eye-trickery?") as behind that fake brick wall I was quite the opposite of serene. The pedestal was just too high for me (the story of my life 😜), so I had to twist all 170+ centimeters of myself into a very awkward position while Fiancé took his sweet freaking time snapping the picture.
But I guess you just have to suffer for your art, don't you? And on the bright side, at least I got a pretty decent Facebook profile picture out of it 😉!
While there
We arrived at the museum early in the morning (to avoid the crowds) and bought the tickets, after which it was time to gather downstairs with the other early birds. There we were given a demonstration on how everything worked, instructed on how to download the app (make sure your phone/tablet battery is full) and given a chance to test it.
Here's a quick demonstration:
Jaws without the app:
Jaws with the app:
This gathering downstairs was also when I experienced my mandatory "rage against the machine" phase. Helplessly I watched as one person after another announced that their app was working fine, while my phone was taking forever to download the data.
We did finally manage to make it work, though, but, unfortunately, the technical issues didn't stop there. We took the elevator upstairs to the museum, and when we tried the app again, it got super slow (we even decided to skip a few installations just because we really didn't need any additional white hairs, plus an old-age-beard is not exactly a good look for me). Finally one of the employees told us to hold a hand in front of the phone camera when we were walking from one room to another so that it wouldn't download all of the data at once. After that, things became a little easier.
Anyway, let's talk about the different installations. The museum is divided into five different rooms:
We did finally manage to make it work, though, but, unfortunately, the technical issues didn't stop there. We took the elevator upstairs to the museum, and when we tried the app again, it got super slow (we even decided to skip a few installations just because we really didn't need any additional white hairs, plus an old-age-beard is not exactly a good look for me). Finally one of the employees told us to hold a hand in front of the phone camera when we were walking from one room to another so that it wouldn't download all of the data at once. After that, things became a little easier.
Anyway, let's talk about the different installations. The museum is divided into five different rooms:
There's Aquarium,...
...Masterpiece,...
...Winter,...
...Halloween,...
...and Jungle.
Each room at Trick Eye Museum has a lot of stuff to film/photograph. Sometimes, though, you have to wait your turn for a while and then end up snapping a hasty, disappointing photo because you don't want to hold up the line. (Again, I can't emphasize enough the importance of choosing an off-peak time to avoid the crowds.)
My fiancé was my camera person, but if you want to go alone, I'm sure you can ask the museum employees to film you, too. You will have to be filmed, though, unless you want really generic and boring videos and pictures, so if you (like me) are camera-shy, well, then get over yourself! More than being filmed, however, you'll have to get comfortable feeling a little silly in front of the camera as you can't see the AR stuff your camera guy/gal sees (so, basically, when I was petting that polar bear, I was petting air). But that's the price you'll have to pay for these memories, and, at the end of the day, it's not only worth it, it's actually pretty fun 😊!
It took me and my fiancé 1.5 hours(ish) to see and experience all the installations, and the time just flew by (At least for me. Not so much for my fiancé, whom I heard muttering the word "Finally!" on the elevator ride back down)!
Closing words
Okay, so, should you visit Trick Eye Museum in CDMX if you get the chance? (BTW: I should mention that I'm not being paid to say anything about Trick Eye Museum, so whether you go or not is no skin off my nose 😊)
Let's recap:
I would recommend Trick Eye Museum to you if
- you are interested in augmented reality
- the word "interactive" doesn't make you gag
- you are not camera-shy (or you are, but you're willing to let it go for one afternoon)
- you don't mind making yourself look silly in front of a camera
If you check all these boxes and decide to go, make sure that
- you have your smartphone/tablet with you
- your smartphone/tablet battery is full
- you choose an off-peak time to go
And there you have it!
I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please use the comment section below!
Next time we'll be talking about something else altogether, so, until then...
...hasta luego 😊!
