#18in2018 (in 2019)

During mid-2018, two special murals appeared — one in Phoenix and the other in Tucson. These “augmented reality” murals were designed to encourage people who were turning 18 before the November 2018 election to register and vote. By using a smartphone app, visitors could make a video and a photo showing themselves with angel wings. (The wings would be added electronically.) We introduced the mural in our May 21, 2018 blog entry New "augmented-reality" mural on 191 E. Toole but didn't have photos yet. The mural is long gone, but now we do have photos. I took them on July 27, 2018:

The mural and its
“sidebar” with instructions

Close-up of instructions

How does it work? The YouTube video #18in2018 Augmented Reality Mural in Downtown Phoenix shows how:



In case that video has been deleted by the time you see this blog entry, below is a screen shot I took as the video played. (To see the wings flap, you'll need to watch the video.)

Cell phone screen showing
visitor with angel wings

The details, and some examples, are currently on the Citizens Clean Elections Commission website at azcleanelections.gov/en/18in2018. (You can also search for the hashtag #18in2018.) In case that website doesn't survive, here are the instructions that people had:

How it works:

1. Open the Shazam app (download on Apple Store | download on Play Store)
2. Press the camera icon immediately below the Shazam button in the app.
3. Scan the QR code next to the mural on the wall.
4. Have a friend stand between the wings to see the augmented reality animation and snap a photo of them to share.
5. iPhone users are able to video screen capture to record the wings in flight! Click here to learn more. Android users are also able to video screen capture but you will have to download an app for that purpose.

I didn't have a chance to fly try the mural before it was gone.

New "augmented-reality" mural on 191 E. Toole

Here's one of the most intriguing mural ideas I've seen. It’s in the Arizona Daily Star article Tucson's first 'augmented reality' mural used to encourage young people to vote. The article begins:

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission is making a push to sign up millennials to vote ahead of the November elections with the help from a special mural that was placed on a downtown Tucson building popular with young people.

The commission is betting young adults will want to take videos of themselves in front of the “augmented reality” mural that — when viewed through a smartphone — adds animated colorful wings to their bodies while birds fly around them. Once using the app, the commission hopes users will then take a few minutes to follow a link on their smartphones that registers them to vote.

I'll try to figure out a way to take a photo of someone there and update this blog entry to show it. There's a photo in the story, though… and more photos if you search Twitter or Instagram for the hashtag #18in2018. That hashtag will show similar murals around Arizona — especially, of course, in the Phoenix area.

Update (January 11, 2019): Today's blog entry shows the mural and examples of how it works.