Take A Virtual Tour Of An Art Museum Right On Your Retina iPad
March 18, 2012
If there's one thing the new Retina iPad should be good at, it's showcasing real works of art. Good thing there's already an app that could do just that long before the high-resolution device was announced. All that is left to do is to rewrite it with Retina-compatible image assets. And that's exactly what has been done with Art Authority for iPad.
Timed with the official launch of the new iPad, the most recent update of Art Authority for iPad gives the famous works of art it exhibits the high-resolution treatment they deserve. The Retina rewrite renders these works as well as the rooms in which they are displayed with much higher definition. Open Door Networks, the maker of the app, claims that it's just like looking at works in a real art museum.
Art Authority still works like a virtual museum, complete with viewing rooms and center seats. It features over a thousand artists from numerous countries and artistic movements, including Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionist and Modern. And while it's only a 77-megabyte download, the app lets you view ten gigabytes worth of art, both famous and obscure, from the app's dedicated servers. The app also allows offline access for works that you have previously viewed.
The latest update also introduces a long-overdue iOS 5 Twitter integration and an "Art Like This" feature that lets you explore other works similar to the work currently in view. The update is free, of course, but a new download of Art Authority for iPad costs $9.99 in the App Store. There's also an alternative $4.99 iPhone version of Art Authority, but with the new Retina display on the iPad, why settle for something less "resolutionary" when looking at masterful works of art?
