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This online art marketplace is creating VR rooms designed around artwork

This online art marketplace is creating VR rooms designed around artwork

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Twyla

Design showcase Sight Unseen Offsite kicks off today in New York City, and among the featured exhibitors was Austin-based startup Twyla, an online marketplace specializing in licensed art prints. For first-time buyers who are intimidated by art auctions, or put off by dropping an insane amount of cash for an original painting, Twyla offers limited-edition prints individually numbered and signed by artists.

Inside the Twyla booth were artworks featured on the site, and in front of each print was a Samsung Gear VR. Upon putting it on, the viewer can enter a room designed around the concept of the artwork, each of them highlighting one of this year’s top interior trends chosen by Sight Unseen curators.

The virtual reality rooms were created by artist Tom Hancocks, whose art prints are also exclusively featured on the marketplace. Here’s some stills of the 360 experience:

Interior trend #1- Color-Blocking, featuring artwork by Anne Senstad
Interior trend #1- Color-Blocking, featuring artwork by Anne Senstad
Twyla
Interior trend #2- Global Minimalism, featuring artwork by Tom Hancocks
Interior trend #2- Global Minimalism, featuring artwork by Tom Hancocks
Twyla
Interior trend #3- Muted Scandi Pastels, featuring artwork by Carolanna Parlato
Interior trend #3- Muted Scandi Pastels, featuring artwork by Carolanna Parlato
Twyla
Interior design trend #4- 80’s Japan, featuring artwork by Yorgos Stamkopoulos
Interior design trend #4- 80’s Japan, featuring artwork by Yorgos Stamkopoulos
Twyla
Interior design trend #5- Mies 2.0, featuring artwork by Esmeralda Kosmotopoulos
Interior design trend #5- Mies 2.0, featuring artwork by Esmeralda Kosmotopoulos
Twyla
Interior design trend #6- 70s Chic, featuring artwork by Tim Biskup
Interior design trend #6- 70s Chic, featuring artwork by Tim Biskup
Twyla
Interior design trend #7- Classical Remix, featuring artwork by Winston Chmielinski
Interior design trend #7- Classical Remix, featuring artwork by Winston Chmielinski
Twyla

Of course, any print looks good if imagined in an ultra-cool virtual reality room that doesn’t exist in real life. These swanky VR rooms can’t substitute the actual experience of living with the artwork in your own home, which is just fine — Twyla offers $30 trials where you can live with their print for 30 days, with some cities even offering professional installation. If you decide to keep the artwork, you can just pay off the remaining balance of the piece.

If you’d like to check out the VR rooms for yourself, in addition to some incredible design displays from independent studios, Sight Unseen Offsite is happening Friday, May 19th to Monday, May 22nd at 100 Avenue of the Americas. Admission is $10. For our first-hand experience of the exhibition, check out our Instagram Story!