Six photo immersive innovations, products that blend fine art and future tech

By Melissa LeGates

Will cameras without lenses ever get mass-manufactured? Who knows. Will AI take over photography? Who knows. One thing is for sure with photography, it will be expensive, and two, it will be rad. Let’s take a moment to check out the following six inventions and products that remind us the future is now and will only get better.

Immersive photography blends fine art in 3D viewing spaces

Van Gogh’s Starry Night (James Herndon, 2020)

A great example of immersive photography blended with fine art is the Van Gogh The Immersive Experience, which is shown in cities all across America, Europe and Asia. The above image shows a woman with virtual reality glasses enjoying a photographic rendition of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. At the immersive art gallery of sorts, flowers come to life and fly all around you. Stars swirl and sparkle, and farmers drive carts full of hay towards you on rustic country roads. You are also taken on a virtual walking tour of the town Van Gogh lived and died in.  

Artechouse NYC

Artechouse NYC is a type of new digital art gallery that features gigantic room-sized VR photos of the galaxy. Artechouse has paired with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the James Webb Space Telescope Mission team at the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Johns Hopkins University’s William H Miller II Department of Physics and Astronomy to create a cutting-edge experience that combines education with photographic and immersive technology.

AI and the future of cameras

Google Pixel 6 with AI technology

In the battle of the phones for AI coverage, it appears Google is edging out Apple and Samsung. The Google Pixel 6 camera now comes embedded with automated tools for smart blurs, object removal, skin tone exposure and more, according to the Pixel website. So now, photographers don’t even need to reach for their fancy DSLR or open their costly Adobe software. They can just pull their cell out of their pocket and delete a pimple or freckle or two, which makes blogging a breeze.

Vuzix Blade 2 (Wareable, 2023)

In the future, maybe some of the best cameras won’t be cameras at all. Check out these Vuzix Blade 2 glasses. They are not exactly MI6 standards, but James Bond might have been able to pull them off. They come loaded with waveguide technology to project a full-color HD display over the right lens, with an 8-megapixel camera, 40GB internal memory, head tracking, stereo speakers, and Vuzix’s voice control support for the low price of $1300. Future decision: camera or glasses? Now, they just need to have progressive lenses inserted that turn into sunglasses, and consumers can enter the spy game, too.

Is the DSLR on its way out?

With Google Pixel and wearable cameras already pushing the envelope, how much longer is the once indispensable DSLR going to hang in there? Here are two future inventions that are camera-ish.

Paragraphica camera (Wioin, 2023)

In the land of funky new cameras exists the paragrphica, which uses GPS to triangulate an image. What is really odd about the sci-fi camera is it doesn’t even have a lens – just this funny red octopus-looking device hanging off the front. How accurate it is might be debatable, but it is definitely pushing technology forward.

360 camera (Uknown, Forbes)

In its infancy is the 360 camera. According to Digital Camera World, a 360 camera is a device with 180-degree forward- and rear-facing lenses that captures everything around itself at once. Most brands are currently an application or a stand-alone 360 camera, but, in the near future, they may be plug-and-play attachment to cell phones which still begs the question why would the average consumer buy an uber-expensive DSLR or specialty camera?

New materials to print images on

Regardless of what type of camera we take pictures of in the future, we still need to print our images.

(Bayphoto)

Scrapbooking is not exactly a thing of the past, but it has certainly been made a ton easier by photo sites like Shutterfly or Bayphoto.com that will print your photo in specialty photo scrapbooks. No messy glue is needed, and the final product is sent right to your mailbox. They also print on wood, metal or ceramic tile to give you that professional yet homemade look.

(pictorem)

For those wanting a more sophisticated look with photos, Pictorem printers offer you paper, canvas and vinyl options that keep up with the style and flavor of fine art. No more stacking photo collages together to make the same impact as a framed canvas would make behind your sofa. Now, you can buy sizes up to 48 x 36 inches or 60 x 40 inches.

Now, that is progress – at least in the art sector. What the photography sector will call progress in the future is limited only to our imagination.

References

Bayphoto. (n.d.). bayphoto. Retrieved 09 8, 2023, from bayphoto.com: https://bayphoto.com/photo-gifts/ornaments/

James Herndon. (2020, May 14). Equal Entry. Retrieved 09 08, 2023, from Equal Entry.com: https://equalentry.com/audio-descriptions-for-360-degree-video-recap/

pictorem. (n.d.). Pictorem. Retrieved Sept 8, 2023, from pictorem.com: https://www.pictorem.com/fineart-print.html?width=48&height=30&mount=&option=&priority=suggestedsize&mount=Vinyl

Uknown. (n.d.). Forbes. Retrieved 09 8, 2023, from http://www.forbes.com: https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/fit-in/1200×0/filters:format(jpg)/https:%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fgeoffreymorrison%2Ffiles%2F2018%2F05%2FGeoff-in-Hawaii.jpg

Uknown. (Uknown). Artechouse New York City. Retrieved 09 23, 2023, from Artechouse.com: https://www.artechouse.com/location/nyc/

Unknown. (2023, 06 6). Wareable. (C. Allison, Ed.) Retrieved Sept 8, 2023, from Wareable.com: https://www.wareable.com/ar/the-best-smartglasses-google-glass-and-the-rest#:~:text=They%20pack%20dual%205-megapixel%20cameras%20to%20capture%20and,a%20tap%20and%20hold%20will%20snap%20a%20picture.

Unknown. (unknown). Back Market. Retrieved Sept 8, 2023, from backmarket.com: https://www.backmarket.com/en-us/p/google-google-pixel-6-128-gb-black-fully-unlocked-gsm-cdma/9257268d-5c3d-423d-a09e-4073f75c32d4#l=12

Wioin. (2023, June 1). Wion. Retrieved Sept 8, 2023, from Wion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkGJDsUvywY