Mobile applications have become the new way to increase interaction between museum visitors and the art hanging on the walls. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta joins this trend with their new mobile app, ArtClix. Produced by Second Story, ArtClix was designed for the High’s modern art exhibition (from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York), “Picasso to Warhol” which runs through April 29^th of this year. ArtClix is flexible, however, and content can be updated for future exhibitions.

Check out this video on ArtClix from Second Story on Vimeo:

Much like The Warhol: Art app, ArtClix allows users to unlock new details about the works of art, including curatorial details for art buffs. ArtClix also has tools to allow users to share the piece to their friends on Twitter, Facebook, or email, similar to MoMA’s Talk to Me app.

Then ArtClix gets really cool, employing image recognition technology to allow users to do all this with just a photo of the image, just like Google Goggles at the Met. Users don’t have to be in the museum to enjoy the app, I downloaded it my Droid and played around. Lots of great artworks with little blurbs on each. What really fascinated me was the “Add Your Voice” feature to each work, allowing every user to post a comment on the work. This creates a community within the application, and a unique opportunity for discussion, as opposed to showing your friends on Facebook and receiving their feedback. The potential of interacting with users you may never meet is fascinating to me, and shows the global possibilities of mobile applications .

Image recognition technology could be the future of how every smart phone user attends a museum, and it will be an interesting trend to watch. In the mean time, ArtClix is ahead of the game, and a great addition to the High’s modern art exhibition.