Art Authority Blog
Five years of the iPad, and Art Authority
Five years ago today Apple shipped the iPad, and Open Door Networks shipped Art Authority for iPad. And the rest is history. And art.
The New York Times called the iPad “a completely new experience — and a deeply satisfying one.” And it called Art Authority “an experience unlike any other.” In our day-one announcement we said the two were clearly made for each other, and we were right. Within the first few days, the app was in the top 100 grossing app list, just below Angry Birds!
Over the past five years, Apple has made numerous enhancements to the iPad, and created a family of devices. Likewise we have evolved Art Authority, and created a product line. Here’s some of what we’ve done:
- The app (and the iPad) proved an immediate hit in schools. Seton Hill University, among many others, has been using the app since 2010.
- Our age appropriate K-12 version, specifically requested by teachers, has been popular as well. We also have a free iBook, “Exploring Art with Art Authority.”
- We have nearly doubled the number of works the app provides access to, from 40,000 five years ago to over 75,000 now.
- When Apple introduced the retina display, we not only added a number of high-resolution images to take advantage of it, but also introduced our new SmArt Resolution technology so the larger images wouldn’t slow things down.
- We’ve added link to articles on thousands of individual works, and videos for hundreds more.
- We’ve added major new technologies and features such as Art Like This, Art Real Size, and Art Near Me.
- We’ve sponsored a summer intern program for art majors, year five of which will be starting shortly.
- The app was twice named best iPad reference app of the year by Apple. It has often been in the top 10 on the App Store, and was number one in Japan at one point for a whole week.
Not bad. So what will the next five years bring? Well, to start with, how’s this: today only, Art Authority for iPad is FREE!
Introducing Art Authority for iPhone
We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of an iPhone version of our award-winning Art Authority for iPad app. Of course, some of you may be wondering: isn’t there already a version of Art Authority for iPhone? Well there was, but that version was not based on Art Authority for iPad (an experience unlike any other, according to the New York Times).
The original version of Art Authority for iPhone did use the same database of over 70,000 paintings and sculptures as the iPad version, but other than that it was quite a different animal. Long-time Art Authority fans may remember that the previous iPhone version was derived directly from our original day-one iPhone app, iEnvision. The iPad app, on the other hand, was a from-scratch re-design, specifically targeted for Apple’s new, magic iPad, and also available on day one of that device.
We have been quite busy since the iPad’s introduction over four years ago now. With help from our summer intern program, we’ve nearly doubled the number of works in the database, and added thousands of article links. We’ve pioneered many ground-breaking features, such as Art Real Size and Art Near Me. At teachers’ requests, we’ve come out with an iPad version specifically for the K-12 environment. Not to mention a Macintosh version and our related Art Alert app. And we’ve received many awards 🙂
We have not, over that time, devoted much effort to the original iPhone version, beyond minor updates for iOS 4, 5, 6 and 7. The iPad just seemed so much the better platform for looking at great works of art. Things changed significantly, however, with Apple’s recent introduction of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Although not quite a retina display iPad, these two phones are getting close to the iPad mini in terms of display and capabilities. And they clearly surpass the iPad in terms of mobility (one of the main focuses of the new Art Authority for iPhone).
To bring the iPhone app up to snuff, and to enable the addition of new mobility and iOS 8 features, a complete re-write was needed. The new Art Authority for iPhone app is based on Art Authority for iPad, with added mobility features mainly from our Art Alert app.
Here is an overview of what to expect:
- Access to the same 70,000+ works from 1000+ artists
- The same 8 periods, period highlights and shuffle by period
- The same access to in-depth information on each artist
- An improved gallery-like, scrolling thumbnail view
- NEW: Access by location (museum) as well as by period and artist
- NEW: Detailed location maps, address and other info on over 800 locations
- NEW: Art Near Me: find art wherever you find yourself
- NEW: Art Real Size: instantly see and understand the actual size of works
- NEW: Thousands of articles on specific pieces, and on all locations
- NEW: Search by title
- NEW: Save works to Favorites
- NEW: Keep track of works you’ve seen in real life
- NEW: Share works through AirDrop, mail and social networks
- Major speed improvements. including caching
Of course Art Authority for iPhone 4.0, which requires iOS 7.1 or later, is a free upgrade from the previous version, and is available immediately in the App Store (80%-off for the introduction this Thanksgiving weekend!). And we’re certainly not done yet. The new code base gives us plenty of room to grow. Art Authority for iPad fans may notice a few features still missing from the iPhone version. Look for these and other additional items in the months ahead.
Size Matters
Today we’re introducing a new feature in Art Authority for iPad. We think it’s a meaningful and groundbreaking one. It’s called “Art Real Size.”
Traditionally, when works of art are reproduced in books, posters, Web sites and yes, even apps, they’re usually displayed as large as possible. Art Authority, as well as some other sites and apps, have supplemented this type of display with, for instance, a grid of small images (thumbnails) that includes similar works by the same artist or from the same period. Art Authority for iPad also displays the works framed and hanging on the walls of its professionally designed rooms, one of its most popular features.
Until now however, all these different ways of displaying the art overlooked one key fact: different works of art have different sizes. We all showed each work of art at essentially the same size as all the other works. Art Authority for iPad’s 65,000 paintings and sculptures all showed up at about 7 by 5 inches on an iPad in “full-screen view”, 5 x 4 when hanging on a wall, and less than an inch square when in a thumbnail grid. We just haven’t been showing you the whole picture!
It’s true we, and many other sites, have a caption, which might say a work is 182.9 x 243.9 cm, or 9 1/8 x 6 7/8 in. But that really doesn’t mean anything to most people looking at the image, does it? “Art Real Size” gives real meaning to the real size of a work of art.
So how does Art Real Size accomplish its magic? It would be quite a feat to display most works of art real size on a 7 x 5 inch iPad screen (where is that holographic technology from Star Wars when you really need it?). But by adapting an old trick to a new device, we can do almost as well. In this case a picture is probably worth even more than a thousand words, so here are some examples:
We’ve also created a video, worth a thousand pictures.
See how well it works! You now “get” the whole picture. The people viewing the art provide the context needed for our brain to immediately understand the real size of the works. You can see what you’ve been missing! If you had gone to the Louvre and looked at the Mona Lisa, and then walked down the hall to The Raft of the Medusa, you couldn’t have missed this HUGE difference. But if you hadn’t, with just about any other presentation, you wouldn’t have had a clue. That’s what Art Real Size is all about.
And that’s what Art Authority is all about. Making a difference. As the #1 classic art app out there, we’ve been doing that for five years now. Art Real Size is just our latest and greatest.
Art Real Size is available in Art Authority for iPad 4.8, in the App Store today. And it’s on sale for half-price to celebrate! Updates from previous versions are of course free. Check it out, and see how size matters.
Art Authority Summer Intern Program, year 3
Today we announced year 3 of our very successful summer intern program. As we discussed last year in this blog, the Art Authority Summer Intern Program offers art and art history majors a 21st century alternative to traditional art docent internships. By working on our cutting-edge app and database, technology-focused students gain experience with and exposure to a set of tools they’ll need as “art goes digital.”
We here at Art Authority have learned a lot over the past two years, both as far as how to run the intern program and as far as what’s needed to keep the app line on top. And it’s been working, as exemplified in Apple’s current Celebrate the Arts campaign.
Students have learned a lot too, gained credit towards their major, and even found jobs as a result of the program (one of them works here!). And of course it’s not just the Art Authority app now, but also Art Authority K-12, Art Alert and community.artauthority.net. Even an iBook. So we’re really looking forward to another great and meaningful summer for all concerned.
If you or anyone you know is curious about the program, please check out the Summer Intern Program Web site for more information and an application form. The number of spaces are limited, so anyone interested should apply as soon as possible.
By request: Art Authority K12
A perfect fit for the iPad mini: Announcing… Art Authority K12
Art Authority has been very popular in the education world, from universities to high schools and even lower grades. The iPad version of the app was adopted over two years ago by Seton Hill University’s art department, mentioned by Phil Schiller in Apple’s big education event last January, and featured as part of Apple’s Back To School promotion last summer. We also just concluded a very successful summer internship program.
We have received tremendous feedback from professors and teachers, including our favorite quote that “Art Authority has really changed Art History.” We have also added a number of the features that these educators have asked for, such as simplified “Highlights” shows for each art period, and for the app overall.
We have, however, until now, struggled with the most requested feature from K-12 teachers: removing nudity from the product. These teachers know their students, and we have certainly believed them when they said that many of their students were too immature to not get distracted by the significant amount of nudity that permeates much of Western art.
We had two problems with meeting the teachers’ request however. First, Art Authority provides access to over 55,000 western painting and sculptures, so there are, quite literally, thousands of nudes. Not just classic nude portraits, but other major works like the Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Second, many of these works are so essential to the study of western art that we felt we just couldn’t leave them out of the product. Can you imagine Art Authority without the Venus de Milo?
Art Authority K12 for iPad, a new app, solves both problems. Using automated, computer-aided and manual methods, we meticulously went through the whole Art Authority database and flagged every work that contained nudity (or other similar objectionable material, such as rape). These works are neither downloaded nor displayed by the new app.
For each major work we eliminated, we then added, where practical, a detail view of the work that we felt would be “age appropriate” for K-12 students. So, for instance, Venus’ head from Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, and the classic fingers from Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam.
Problems solved! No worries about nudity, no loss of the most important works of western art history. Art Authority K12 for iPad is 99.9% as complete a study of the western art world as the full version. All the same features, all the same artists, and nearly all the key works. And of course it’s a perfect fit for the new, education-focused iPad mini. It took us a while, but we really think it’s been worth the effort. We hope you, and your teachers, think so too!
International Museum Day 2012
This Friday, May 18, is the 35th annual International Museum Day. As indicated in their press release, the theme of this year’s event is “Museums in a Changing World. New challenges, New inspirations.”
We think that theme is particularly appropriate. As you may know, we feel that Art Authority’s collection of 50,000+ works of western art, free iBook, and our related activities, are a big part of that changing world and those new inspirations. And, yes, some of those new challenges as well. Making a difference in this changing world was the major impetus behind our new summer intern program, as well as a major theme in the “World’s Biggest Art Museum” talk we moderated at Macworld/iWorld.
An Internship at the Intersection of Art and Technology
Today we announced the Art Authority internship program, with space for up to 100 art majors to help us enhance the database behind the Art Authority app line this summer. We’re very excited about this program, because it’s a win-win-win situation:
- We get to increase the size of the database (50,000+ works) by up to 50% while at the same time enhancing its quality with additional information on current works and higher-resolution images for the new iPad’s retina display.
- Art students get ahead-of-the-curve experience as key parts of their field transition into the digital realm. Plus they get to work on a way cool app 🙂
- Users of the app around the world, including other students, get an even more comprehensive, up-to-date version of the app.
Traditionally, an art internship would consist of moving to a big city like New York and working as a docent or other volunteer at a museum. Such an internship certainly still has its place for a certain set of students preparing for a certain set of jobs. But for others, who are already more focused on technology, getting a jump on the part of their field that they’re more likely to go into could well prove invaluable.
At the iPad 2 introduction in 2011, Steve Jobs said “It’s technology, married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing.” Art Authority is quite literally the intersection of Art and Technology. And we’re looking forward to meeting a whole lot of art students there.
Art Authority marries technology and liberal arts at Macworld/iWorld
Here is a copy of our press release that went out on the wires today:
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Art Authority marries technology and liberal arts at Macworld/iWorld
Celebrates award-winning app becoming much more
San Francisco, CA – The creators of the award-winning “Art Authority” app line announced that they are re-branding their partnership under that name at the Macworld/iWorld trade show here. Previously known as “we-envision.com,” the creators of over 100 iPad/iPhone apps are becoming “Art Authority” to highlight their current focus at this intersection of technology and liberal arts. Art Authority’s “coming out party,” in the Mobile App Showcase, booth 818-P19, January 26-28, will include:
- The iPad version of the app, one of the seven “Amazing applications” highlighted by Apple at their recent education event at the Guggenheim Museum.
- In concert with the world-renowned Bridgeman Art Library, demonstration of “buy-a-print.” Users viewing selected works in the app will be able to use the app to order framed high-quality prints of those works directly from Bridgeman’s collection. Buy-a-print will be active worldwide for all app users during the show timeframe.
- Recently-added features such as “Art Like This,” which magically displays works similar to the one a user is looking at.
- Special show pricing, with versions of the app available through the iTunes and Mac App Stores for $4.99, up to 50% off the normal price.
- A sneak preview of the under-development Art Authority social network.
- Celebration of the app’s selection as “Best iPad Reference App of 2011” in Apple’s Rewind 2011 and “Greatest 25 Apps of All Time” in Macworld’s Appalooza contest.
Alan Oppenheimer, president of Art Authority partner Open Door Networks, Inc. will also moderate a panel discussion on “The World’s Biggest Art Musuem,” featuring noted art authorities from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Placer County, California school system. Details are available at http://www.macworldiworld.com/techtalks/friday-overview/friday-agenda/#975
“Steve Jobs said ‘It’s technology, married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing,'” said Oppenheimer. “That’s what Art Authority the app, Art Authority the community, and Art Authority the partnership are all about.”
“We’re not just focused on art apps,” said Jim Teece, president of Art Authority partner Project A, Inc. “We’re focused on the art community. Part of our re-branding, and our plan for the show, is to connect with people who know and love art, and to involve them in a way that helps us all add to that art community.”
Art Authority for iPad is the only iPad Reference app to be named to both Rewind 2011 and Rewind 2010. It brings over 50,000 high-resolution classic works of art to users’ fingertips. Hailed as “an experience unlike any other” and “visually dazzling,” the app stunningly displays paintings and sculptures by over 1000 major western artists from ancient times through current-day. The app is in use by Seton Hill University and a number of other educational institutions worldwide. Art Authority for Macintosh, iPhone, and Kindle Fire bring similar functionality to these devices.
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Art Authority, #1 Classic Art App, Now Available for Kindle Fire
Open Door Networks Inc. and Project A Inc. (“We-Envision.com”) today announced that their #1 classic art app, Art Authority, is now available for the Kindle Fire, through the Amazon Appstore for Android.
Art Authority has been a top seller for Apple’s iPad, and was recently named Best iPad Reference App in Apple’s Rewind 2011. It is also popular on iPhones and the Macintosh, and the companies expect similar success on the Kindle Fire.
“The Kindle Fire provides users with great access to books, movies and other media,” said Alan Oppenheimer, president of Open Door Networks. “Art Authority couldn’t be more perfect for that focus. It’s in many ways one of the best art books of all time.”
The first release of Art Authority (Kindle Fire Edition) includes all the core features of the product line:
- Access to over 50,000 paintings and sculptures from over 1000 western artists
- Nine professionally-designed rooms, including Early, Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, Impressionism, Modern, Contemporary and American
- Ability to search for works by artist, period, title, subject and the work’s physical location
- Shuffle options to explore works at random
- Full-screen slide shows and scrolling thumbnail arrays
Future releases are planned to include other Art Authority features such as:
- The magic of recently-announced ‘Art Like This,’ which displays works similar to the one the user is currently viewing
- ‘Art Near Me’ which helps users find great art near wherever they find themselves
- ‘SmArt Resolution’ which downloads higher resolution versions of works when additional detail is desired
Art Authority is the only iPad Reference app to be named to both Rewind 2011 and Rewind 2010. Hailed as “an experience unlike any other” and “visually dazzling,” the app stunningly displays paintings and sculptures by over 1000 major western artists from ancient times through current-day. Art Authority for Mac and Art Authority for iPhone bring similar functionality to these Apple devices.
The price of Art Authority (Kindle Fire Edition) will be $9.99 through the Amazon Appstore. Until January 2, 2012, however, the app will be on sale for the introductory price of $4.99. Details of the app line, including a complete artist list and FAQ, are available from <a href="http://we-envision.com/artauthority.
http://we-envision.com/artauthority.</p>
We-Envision.com is an innovative collaboration of two separate software companies (Open Door Networks and Project A). The mission of We-Envision.com is the design, development and deployment of the best independent software solutions for mobile devices.
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