If you’re looking to freshen up your Christmas decorations or festive fashions effortlessly, we’ve got you covered.
Dodds is one of the most prolific and famous augmented reality (AR) artists in the world—yes, you read that right.
Instead of traditional painting and sculpture, Doddz has amassed a following and client list that includes some of the biggest names in fashion, entertainment, and sports, as he deals in digital creations that have taken the internet by storm.
Use the QR code below (useless if you’re reading this on a phone), or this linkyou can point your phone at your tree and invite a special holiday guest into your living room.
Or if you like Snapchat, Click here to get a very unique new hat.
Traditionalists may cry, but the 28-year-old’s six-figure salary is proof of a whole new style of art that fans can take anywhere to show to anyone — as long as they have a cell phone.
“AR makes it sound a lot more complicated in terms of what you’re talking about,” he told Sky News, perhaps reminiscent of older sci-fi films like Minority Report.
“But it’s becoming part of the everyday experience at every level — everyone knows how to use social media filters, which are essentially AR, and of course younger audiences are more open to it.
“They’ve grown up in a social media world where their online presence is just as important as their offline presence.”
Other companies Dodds has worked with include fashion house Dior, sportswear giant Adidas and Netflix.
He teamed up with Facebook to create a virtual art gallery to showcase his favorite pieces — and it attracted 100,000 visitors.
Some of his projects include interactive costumes for stars such as boxer Anthony Joshua and American basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal that come to life when viewed on a mobile phone.
He also showed off an interactive AR poster based on the Pixar classic Toy Story, designed to allow kids to peer inside as if it were a 3D object on the wall.
“When I touched AR – the response was unbelievable”
“The art you can watch online on their phone is just as important as the art you watch in real life,” Doddz said.
“The creative possibilities of what you can do in AR are so exciting, you see the real wow factor.
“From an accessibility perspective alone, AR could bring more attention to an artist’s work.”
It’s this struggle for exposure, to which many creators can relate, that pushed Doddz to AR in the first place.
Struggling at school and failing A-levels due to dyslexia, he took up graphic design.
Keen to carve out his own niche and recover from the feedback and rejection of traditional galleries, he ventured into the world of AR about three years ago.
“For a while, I was making art using many different mediums, trying to find that style,” he said.
“When I got into AR, the response was unbelievable.”
Doddz taught himself how to create AR artwork through YouTube tutorials and has devoted himself to it full-time during the pandemic.
Just a few years later, he’s earning a six-figure salary — and he thinks we’re only scratching the surface of technology’s potential to reshape the way we experience art and entertainment.
“For museums and galleries, AR is something of the future that complements what’s already there,” he said.
“What I’m most excited about with AR is how it can impact live events – like music and football.”
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After helping Sky News refresh your home, could such an AR creation soon find itself under people’s trees?
“We’re not quite there yet in terms of artwork,” Dodds said when asked about the potential of someone opening a QR code one day at Christmas.
“But I think we’re in a transition period and that’s going to be part of the future.
“I think a lot of kids have been asking for Fortnite skins for Christmas, so I’m excited to see kids asking for digital Doddz paintings!”