How Augmento Began: Bridging Art and Technology with Augmented Reality
The story behind Augmento, two co-founders, one belief that art should be active, and the early bet that became a platform.
From Idea to Innovation
Augmento was sparked in 2022, a year that marked a real shift in how people interact with art thanks to augmented reality. Our founders, Wesley Pabis and Remy de Klein, are tech builders with a deep love for art. They kept arriving at the same observation: galleries, museums and public art were full of beautiful work, and full of audiences who never quite got to interact with it.
That gap was the opening. Wesley's background in technology and Remy's blend of engineering and creative arts gave them complementary skills, and a shared mission: make art accessible, interactive and engaging, for everyone, everywhere, using the power of AR.
Early Days and Initial Challenges
Like any startup, the first months were full of hard problems. Perfecting the AR pipeline so it ran in a browser. Building a recognition model that worked on real artworks, not just textbook examples. Hiring the first engineers and curators willing to bet on a new category. Every step was a learning experience, and every step kept reinforcing the original conviction.
One early milestone stood out: our first AR application, which let visitors see beyond the frame of traditional artworks. It wasn't a tool, it was a new lens, and watching the first audiences use it told us we were onto something real.
What That Origin Still Shapes Today
Three commitments came directly out of those early days, and we still hold them:
- Friction kills magic. Every Augmento experience has to work without an app install. That's why our AR runs in the browser.
- Artists are the customer. The platform exists to help artists reach more people, not to put a tech layer between them and the work.
- The world is the gallery. Public space, festivals and cultural sites all deserve to host great work, see our ArtSpaces project in Zanzibar for what that looks like in practice.
Where the Journey Goes from Here
The genesis of Augmento isn't just the start of a company, it's the start of a longer arc, one we're only a few chapters into. We've grown the team, expanded into events and brand work, and welcomed advisors who help us think bigger about where AR is going next.
If you're an artist, gallery, festival or brand who shares the belief that the next great audience experience deserves an AR layer, we'd love to hear from you.
