July 27th, 2021: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

POPINS RELEASES NEXT LEVEL NFT: DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION AND AUGMENTED REALITY PAIRING

PROCEEDS BENEFIT SUMMIT ASSISTANCE DOGS

Combining the best of traditional and emerging worlds, Popins is introducing a multimedia NFT project utilizing AR and traditional media. Popins partnered with non-profit Summit Assistance Dogs to create a realistic augmented reality video featuring a highly skilled mobility service dog who is trained to assist people living with disabilities in the Pacific Northwest and tapped local up-and-coming artist Julian Peña to create an original work inspired by the dog. The result is Poppy, an NFT combining a unique and stunning digital illustration and avatar as well as an interactive augmented reality experience.

Summit Assistance Dogs is a nonprofit organization that creates life-changing partnerships by providing skilled mobility service dogs for people living with disabilities in the Pacific Northwest. By assisting with tasks such as retrieving items, opening and closing doors, and turning switches on and off, these dogs help their partners live with greater independence and confidence. These companions can also help diminish depression, anxiety, and loneliness. 

A service animal is a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Summit trains skilled dogs to assist people with disabilities that significantly affect their mobility, such as a spinal cord injury, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, and other neurological conditions. While it takes two full years of training and thousands of dollars to successfully train and place each service dog, Summit is committed to providing their skilled dogs free of charge to their clients, as many are already challenged by health care costs and sometimes loss of employment.

A service dog partnership can open the world by providing greater independence, renewed confidence, and unconditional love. Summit client Melissa says "My service dog takes care of dozens of tasks that save me energy that I can then apply to my work. He assists me carrying items, supporting me during transfers, helping me on and off with clothes, opening and closing doors, and retrieving items. Without him, I spent so much time and energy just trying to do the small stuff like getting out of bed and dressing and getting out the door, that by the time I got to work I was already exhausted. He makes it possible for me to work and be independent."

"Poppy" is a virtual representation of a typical Summit service dog. 33% of all proceeds will be donated to Summit Assistance Dogs. Visit summitdogs.org to learn more about Summit and how you can help create more life-changing service dog partnerships.

Julian Peña (1985, Okinawa, Japan) lives and works in Seattle, WA and is a two-time recipient of South Sound Magazine’s Best Artist of the Year. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions including “Fool’s Paradise" solo art show at Ok Hotel & Gallery in Seattle, WA and “Strength + Struggle” group art show at the Tacoma Art Museum in Tacoma, WA. Recently, he joined other talented, LGBTQA+ artists at the Skyview Observatory for the group show "Look How Far We've Come: A Queer Art Show 902 Feet in the Air." He studied for his Bachelor of Art in Painting and Drawing at the University of Washington and took an intensive course in Nihonga with Judith Kruger in Savannah, GA.

Peña is strongly influenced by Japanese graphic design and art. He explores many different decorative techniques and rich materials to create lavishly flat surfaces with bright and bold colors. He often draws from anime, manga, fantasy narratives, video game aesthetic culture, and Japanese art history as his source of inspiration. He aims to create fantastical narratives we can all relate to using color harmony, memorable characters, and decorative surface textures.

Currently, Peña (preferred pronoun he/him/his) owns a gallery and studio in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle, WA while continuing to bridge the gap between the community and art in partnership with Represent Resonate Resource 501c3.

Popins are next-generation life-like AR experiences that put real people, animals, and objects into your world and allow you and your friends to interact with them.

Powered by Omnivor, the world leader in volumetric video streaming, Popins ability to stream means users around the world can watch and interact with 3D experiences without the necessity of downloading an app. No other platform in the world has this capability. Popins are honored to be the first commercial product released on the Omnivor platform. Popins also partners with the team at Rarible, who share the belief that AR has the potential to reinvent the NFT market.

Popins are next-generation life-like AR experiences that put real artists into your world and allow you and your friends to WATCH performances, RECORD what your phone sees, and even jump in to create a personal MIX you can SHARE.

With Popins, all the world’s a stage. Play on.

#AugmentedReality   #VolumetricVideo   #NextLevelNFT

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