Art in the cloud

The MeasureOn app helps transform a 10m-high industrial wall riddled with pipes into art.

Light in dark times

In a bid to keep art alive in times of the pandemic, an artist in Berlin uses our high-visibility green laser technology and latest measuring tools to cast new light on an old industrial wall. From planning to execution, our state-of-the-art laser measure devices and cloud connectivity make site-measurement so intuitive and easy, even the process is a work of art.

Read on to see how the MeasureOn app and GLM 50-27 CG laser measure are used to transform an old industrial wall into art.

The Bosch Professional MeasureOn web app is being used in a standard desktop browser for easier planning

The wall

It's dark in here – and cold. Roberto Rivadeneira walks up to a huge industrial wall inside an old Berlin distillery and looks it calmly over. The wall towers nearly ten meters over him and is riddled by a complex of pillars, pipework, and cabling. The industrial wall belongs to the Monopol arts and community centre and looks dilapidated – much like the arts scene since the pandemic began. Rivadeneira's goal today is simple: To paint a colourful mural over this surface of almost 30sqm with two unlikely helpers – a brand new laser measuring device and a smartphone app. As he unpacks his tools and gets to work, the space starts to lighten up already.

The measurements from the Bosch Professional GLM 50-27 CG laser device are being synced over the MeasureOn app on the artist's laptop

The plan

The colours chosen for this particular wall hold special meaning for Rivadeneira in times of the pandemic. “I've conceived the mural so that it moves from darkness to light,” says the Ecuador-born and Australia-educated artist. The final mural will measure seven by four metres and he only has one day to complete it. Not a lot of time and impossible to manage alone. But part of the challenge – or the fun – for Rivadeneira today is to get the job done with our latest measuring Bosch Professional technology. Namely: the GLM 50-27 CG laser measuring device and the MeasureOn app, which he has already downloaded on his smartphone.

The GLM 50-27 CG laser tool saves me a lot of work. It eliminates the kind of mistakes you get when jotting measurements down on paper.

Roberto Rivadeneira, Contemporary Visual Artist

The Bosch Professional GLM 50-27 CG laser device is being held up against a wall for measurements

Robust measuring

Rivadeneira already has a computer sketch in mind that he needs to translate onto the wall, but first he needs to take the wall's precise measurements. With the GLM 50-27 CG laser measure in hand, he gets to work. He starts noting unusual surface features and sketches outlines on the wall. Once, he almost drops the device, but he doesn't look worried at all. With its shock-absorbent IP65-certified rubber casing, the device is jobsite-ready and can withstand falls from a height of up to 1.5m, even on hard concrete. Together with its long battery life, the laser measure is turning out to be a huge advantage for Rivadeneira. Thanks to the highly visible green laser dot, which stays visible even in broad daylight, he's done measuring the wall in no time.

The Bosch Professional MeasureOn app being used to take photographs of a jobsite

Saving the measurements

When he's done measuring, he sends the dimensions taken on the laser device directly to the MeasureOn app via Bluetooth®. The data can now be accessed via the mobile app on his smartphone – or the web app on his laptop. “The laser saves me a lot of work and helps eliminate the kind of mistakes you get when transcribing measurements that have been jotted down on paper,” says Rivadeneira. He calls up a draft of his mural, which he describes as semi-graphic, on his laptop and starts mapping his design to the measurements of the wall. “Digital tools help me a lot,” he says, “even when it comes to painting.”

The Bosch Professional MeasureOn web app displays an industrial wall on which a mural is being painted

Synced in the cloud

At this point, the measuring data is automatically synced via the MeasureOn cloud in real-time and across all devices. Uploaded via an encrypted connection to the cloud and hosted by a German data centre, the data is stored in encrypted form. As MeasureOn is available as a web app that runs on all standard browsers, Rivadeneira is able to easily edit the site-measurement sheet on his laptop. The notes and photos that he has taken of unusual features on the wall can be called up on any device he has at hand. Typically, to complete a work of this size would take Rivadeneira much more time. But he says things are moving quickly today: “The laser and the app drastically reduce the number of steps involved – and therefore the amount of time I need.”

The GLM 50-27 CG and MeasureOn app drastically reduce the number of steps involved – and therefore the amount of time I need.

Roberto Rivadeneira, Contemporary Visual Artist

Artist Roberto Rivadeneira uses a paint roller to work on a wall mural

Great for teamwork

If he were working in a team, his team-mates would be able to use the MeasureOn app for a status overview and plan out their parts of the job. Thanks to online documentation, all workers on the jobsite and in the office can easily stay on the same page. As the app can measure surfaces interspersed with doors and windows, it can even calculate required materials such as the volume of paint. The digital site-measurement sheet allows the whole team to carry out further calculations, satellite projects, and sample images. Even the final status of the project is easy to document and share. Like the most popular apps, MeasureOn is available free of charge on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Basic cloud functions are accessible at no extra cost, while advanced cloud functions are available via a subscription model.

Artist Roberto Rivadeneira stands proudly beneath his finished mural

And it's done

It's been a few hours and the space looks quite different. Rivadeneira takes a step back to reflect. “It's a huge challenge to get the computer sketch onto a wall of this size,” he says. “For an industrial environment like this, my idea was to incorporate elements that were here to begin with, such as the shape of the windows, which now reappear in the mural.” By using the GLM 50-27 CG and MeasureOn app, he was able to calculate dimensions and sketch out his design on the wall in the correct proportions much faster than usual. Would he use them again? “The laser and the app are a great asset to my art,” says Rivadeneira. “Each project is different: the area, the setting, and the surface of the wall interact with the design. The more time I have, the better it gets. The MeasureOn app saves me valuable time – and gives me more scope to be creative.”

It's a huge challenge to get a computer sketch onto a wall this size... the MeasureOn app saves precious time and gives me more room to be creative.

Roberto Rivadeneira, Contemporary Visual Artist

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Art in the cloud

Light in dark times

The wall

The plan

Robust measuring

Saving the measurements

Synced in the cloud

Great for teamwork

And it's done

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