Where augmented reality in our digitally charged environment has become a new pastime, creators reach new heights of imagination. Piper ZY is an award-winning featured artist, practicing as a futurist AR developer. In our recent interview we’ve got to know more in depth about her thoughts on current digital spaces.

Piper ZY, why and how did you choose this name? What is the story behind your inclination towards the digital world? Please take us through the phases of your explorations, the very first memory of digital art that instilled this futuristic vision to your programming, operations and researches.

I chose this name because I liked how it looks. The ZY is almost like a combination of chromosomes, it is also the last two letters of the alphabet, as if it started backwards. I love science fiction and its naming conventions, so this name fits well for the futuristic vibe. I have always loved fashion and I started digital painting and special effects in the early 2010’s. I started editing futuristic elements onto my outfits to push the limits of design and create fashion films and music video concepts. This morphed into using AR softwares to do it in real time.

Regarding the Art community thriving during Covid, tell us about your personal journey. How did it all start and how are you integrating with the digital space you’ve found yourself in? Was it planned or an accident?

I was working from home in a corporate job and creating at the same time, but I think the acceptance and lifestyle of working from home that came about through this unfortunate state of the world is a positive thing for certain types of careers. I think we would have started a shift to working from home eventually even without a pandemic, and I wish it had happened that way instead. It opens up a lot of flexibility to take jobs all across the globe, and that is what I’ve been doing with AR. A lot of my clients are in completely different time zones and a lot of times I do not have to commute at all to get their projects completed. It helps companies and artists connect based on style and vision and goals, instead of proximity.

Tell us about your thoughts on the Meta-verse. What do you like and dislike simultaneously? Is there any Software that you'd like to be different? And how would you describe your ideal AR/VR experience and environment?

I believe we have so much to focus on improving in our material world, and I hope the hype of the metaverse does not lead us to gloss over those issues and recreate a world that is just as flawed and that ignores the same issues. I hope that the metaverse can improve equality and opportunities across the board for creatives. I hope we also consider the impact on real life of every AR and VR experience. My favorite application of AR and VR is for education and mental health. I think we have amazing opportunities to use technology as an enhancement to the human experience, not an escape from it.

The City Nail NFT artwork, already quite famous amongst the NFT’s community, is dropping again soon. As people now have a set of excerpts from your creations, what do you expect from this release?

I am excited to design a collection. I never had the intention of being an NFT artist, and the nail was never meant to be an NFT. After I got so many comments about creating NFT’s and protecting my ideas, I decided to design a collection of wearables. They will be design-first and wearable in the metaverse, and I will be donating a portion of profit. That drop is coming 2.22.22, and I am excited to innovate in the AR wearable space with a focus on the original fashion design. I think it is crucial to create NFT’s for the sake of art – at least, those are the NFT’s that interest me. This is such a crucial time to structure value and the economy in the metaverse and I hope it values artists and developers above all, as we are completely necessary to build the space.

Please give us insights into the on-going artistic works that you’re looking forward to dropping. How did you eventually come up with such concepts and how much time does it take to realise the final renders?

Each concept floats into my mind and I try to realize it while I am excited about it. I look forward to fashion and music-related projects the most. I love to translate my concepts for the future into our current reality. I am so excited to design wearables, both for sale and for fun. I am a concept-first artist and I decide what to create based on the concepts that excite me. Anyone wondering about what will come next should expect dazzling wearables with a solid foundation in design and technology that has never been seen before. I love creating things I have never seen before and that seem to exist in another time-line or realm.

What extreme futuristic possibilities are expected for humans on Earth? What utopia or dystopia do you imagine and how do you see yourself in it?

I believe every prediction about the future has two possible sides, and we determine the overall picture of our future as the combination of the many decisions we make towards a positive or a negative future. I believe AR and VR could exacerbate our mental and physical health issues to a degree we have never seen before, if we aren’t careful. I also believe it can enhance our lives and connect people as we have never been connected before on a global scale. When I try to predict the future of AR and VR, I look at the progress of social media and I expect a similar outcome – we have concerns, addictions, and dangers, but we can also connect, share our lives, conduct business, and learn on a scale that was never possible in previous decades.