Augmented Reality

Emtri

Well-known member
Drupa has a page on Augmented Reality and I was wonder what sort of uses (if any) people have come up with for AR based print/marketing.
 

I don't think that Documobi will achieve much of a market share due to its pricing model (subscription plus click/view charge) and being in competition with free systems like QR codes. Google Goggles may be the winner over Documobi especially if GG becomes a fully developed marketing system.

Lego has installed augmented reality kiosks called "DIGITAL BOX" in many of their stores worldwide. It really shows what can be done with the technology - especially as it becomes deployed into smart phones. Here is a video showing how it looks: LEGO DIGITAL BOX - augmented reality kiosk system - YouTube


best, gordo
 
The lego thing is pretty cool. Id like to see something like that with say business cards, check it out with your smartphone and see a list of services or something to that effect. QR codes are getting pretty common now, but they lack the interactive element that I see AR having the potential for.
 
QR codes are getting pretty common now, but they lack the interactive element that I see AR having the potential for.

The AR equivalent to QR codes is Blippar ( Mobile Augmented Reality Advertising | blippar ). What I mean by that is that both use an easy to identify mark that tells the viewer that what they are looking at has another dimension which they can access through their smartphone. So I think that each is useful depending on the needs of the marketeer. Google goggle goggles bypasses the need for any codes or the scan/store/subscription/pay per view click charge business model of Documobil. Instead, goggle goggles links image recognition technology with its existing and growing data base of websites, streetview, images, videos, personal information etc. to turn any viewed item or location into an immersive experience. And right now it's free. Once the GG technology is more mature and is fully linked into Google's vast information systems - then I think that it will begin to dominate as the solution of choice for most consumers and marketeers.

But first we'll likely go through a confusing period of consumers needing to have the 15 or so different readers loaded on their phones and trying to figure out which one they should use in any given situation.

best, gordo
 
Drupa has a page on Augmented Reality and I was wonder what sort of uses (if any) people have come up with for AR based print/marketing.

Is this the sort of thing you were talking about?: StuPrint.com offers Augmented Reality Print service

We just had a write up about this in printweek.

(Im sorry for the links straight off- I know its bad form in forums but I think they are actually quite relevant here.)

Emtri, I thought this might be the sort of thing you were referring to. My company has just started packaging up cheap print products with Augmented Reality technology. Essentially, the customer processes his or her order like before, but now has the option to upload or email across a video or 3D model that we can virtually pair with the artwork so that when it is viewed through our free smartphone app, the whole thing comes to life. Behind the scenes, we simply take a section of the artwork and reduce its size so that it contains less than 500k pixels, then use that as the trigger image for the video, i.e. the app/smartphone camera recognises the artwork it is looking and subsequently overlays the video. No need for a QR code or anything else...just a little icon that states that this print work contains AR. The flyer, poster, newspaper, whatever, essentially becomes a real life digital display. Its all very nifty

I personally think this is interesting because my company is primarily aimed at students, small-businesses and amateur dramatics troupes so there tend to not be massive marketing budgets flying around. As it stands, this technology only seems to be used by massive companies (check out the mercedes AR campaign on youtube...v cool). We're now offering it for £39 so making it a really affordable option for pretty much everyone. Our first augmented reality print campaign went out last month with a student drama group from Cambridge University. They sent 10k A6s out with a video from their rehearsals trained to the artwork. The campaign went down really well.

I reckon there is plenty more of this (the pairing of retail printing and affordable AR). It gives people an interesting new way way to communicate with their customer base. I also think this tech is only set to get bigger with further technological advances, especially 4G networks and increasing processing power in smartphones and tablets. As well, the google goggles aspect that gordo mentions is very interesting.

By the way, this is definitely worth a look if you're into this sort of thing. Make sure you watch it to the end!: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology

Thanks,


Chris
 

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