An Augmented Reality moment was included during Irina Schrotter's collection presentation, a national premiere, which could be experienced by thousands of viewers during the fashion show using the RCW mobile app. These immersive experience was developed to enhance interaction and visual engagement, and was only available on-site through this innovative digital tool. It was developed in two months by the XR Centric team of 6 specialists. Technically, the app was created using advanced services from Google, including GPS and Visual Positioning System (VPS) for accurate location and effortless AR interactions. The UI/UX design facilitates a simple and intuitive user experience, prioritizing accessibility and user convenience. The RCW app was available for Android and iOS devices and was successfully accessed by over 4000 users during the event.
Transforming Creativity with Technology: Centric @RCW 2024
Romanian Creative Week (RCW), organized by the Federation of Creative Industries Employers (FEPIC), is a premier event that unites the creative industries in Romania. Recognized by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) as Europe's largest gathering of creative industries, the 4th edition of RCW took place from May 15-26, 2024, transforming Iasi into a hub of fashion, art, and culture. With over 200 events and more than 1,000 artists, the festival attracted over 1 million interactions.
This year's RCW event featured a new tech innovation, the RCW App, designed and developed by the XR specialists from Centric Romania. Along with the RCW App, Centric featured at the event with the MuzeAR and FURBAN Apps. In addition, we hosted and supported the Creative Talks interview series, with Irina Păcurariu in an exclusive dialogue with important actors on the Romanian creative scene.
Centric released a new interactive app for Romanian Creative Week, which not only transformed the public's interaction with the events, but also created a community united by technology. This app exceeded the concept of a digital booklet by integrating AR (Augmented Reality) technology, providing unique visual experiences accessible exclusively during the event. The app provided access to a customisable and detailed daily programme, spread across the seven sections of the event: Arts&Crafts, New Media, Design, Content Creation, Creative Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Digital, Sustainability and Creative Communities. Users also benefited from a virtual map that made it easy to navigate and participate in the various events, creating personalised routes for a fluid and intuitive experience.
FURBAN is a 3D collaborative design platform developed by the Centric team in 2019 that has been implemented in numerous community projects in the Netherlands (Rotterdam, Arnhem) and Romania (Cluj and Bucharest). FURBAN was present at the Romanian Creative Week 2024, in the Sustainability and Creative Communities section, with a public event launching the project in Iasi: "Real. Shaped. Virtual - Frumoasa Monastery", a project supported by the Municipality of Iași.
RCW participants were invited to visit Frumoasa Monastery where they had the opportunity to see a 3D printed model of the worship building and the perimeter green area. They could play with urban design pieces, printed to scale, generating on the spot a space design game. At the same time, there were also demonstrations of how the FURBAN app works in three different scenarios: real, modelled and virtual.
The Furban app is a modern tool that facilitates dialogue between authorities and the community, ensuring transparency and active participation. By collecting opinions and suggestions directly from users, design errors can be avoided and it can be ensured that the final result will meet the real needs of the community. The 3D Machete created during the event was donated and exhibited at the Frumoasa Monastery Museum, becoming an interactive showcase, where the municipality can have access to citizens' opinions and what most of them want.
At the beginning of 2024 Centric developed an interactive application using XR technology to enhance the heritage exhibited in the Palace of Culture in Iasi. The MuzeAR app represents a remarkable innovation in the field of museography and technology, bringing for the first time in Iasi augmented reality and 3D animation elements to offer visitors an interactive and immersive experience during their visit. Augmented Reality (AR) adds virtual or digital elements to the existing physical environment. These elements can be viewed through a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, which uses cameras and sensors to detect and display AR elements in the context of the user's physical environment.
AR technology appeals to young, tech-young generation members and improves learning by providing interactive and immersive experiences for visitors. During the exhibition route, using mobile phones, the public can discover the utility and use of three artifacts, large-scale rural installations in the museum's collection: the oil press with wedges and battering rams, the Ruginoasa Oil Press and the Fulling Mill from Volovat. Other artifacts of the Ethnographic Museum of Moldova will be available in the app throughout the year. In addition to 3D versions of the exhibits, witch are overlapped onto the real ones, and the interactive animations, MuzeAR also contains an audio guide that can be activated according to user preferences.
In the MuzeAR technical process, the Centric team started by storyboarding the visual sequences of the 3D scan. Then, the real objects were 3D scanned, defining the reference points in the virtual space for the correct alignment of the objects to the real environment, and three-dimensional digital models of the objects were created using specialized software. Finally, Kinect devices were used in the character animation process. Kinect devices are used to capture users' movements and gestures, while other equipment, such as 3D scanning cameras and modelling and animation software, are used to capture and process the data needed to create and animate objects and characters in the virtual environment.
By partnering with Romanian Creative Week, Centric demonstrates how technology can transform creative ideas into successful solutions, supporting companies and industries in their growth journey through innovation.