Augmented reality or AR as it’s become known blends the real and the virtual. AR is not a new idea. Back in the 1970’s Myron Krueger pioneered technologies to explore the space and interaction between human beings and computers. He established an artificial reality laboratory called Videoplace. It used projectors, video cameras, special purpose hardware, and onscreen silhouettes to place the users within an interactive environment.
Tried, tested and developed over the years, and with the advent of new technology AR has now been integrated into everyday technology. The arrival of powerful smartphones and computers with built-in video capabilities means that the possibilities are endless.
The fashion world has been one of the first sectors to realise the potential for using AR to enliven their brand and increase interactivity between the brand and it’s followers. Hugo Boss invited shoppers to play a game of virtual blackjack. Shoppers were invited to pick up a trigger card instore which, when held up against the window display (with integrated webcam) revealed whether they had won £250 worth of Hugo Boss vouchers. Adidas, too, has launched trainers with AR symbols in the tongues: hold them to a webcam and you are taken to interactive games on the Adidas site.
Naturally where advertisers go the publications that house them will follow. Esquire Magazine; In addition to featuring an AR cover, where Robert Downey Jr. came to life and introduced you to the issue, contained a fashion feature where if you tilted your magazine to different angles the weather changed and the model adjusted his clothing accordingly. And of course AR content can be fluid. In this instance there was a time based joke where if you revisited the AR component after midnight the content was different to what you would have found earlier on during the day.
A terrifying and exciting element to bedtime stories; Carlton Publishing released a book in May, featuring dinosaurs that pop out of the pages when viewed through a webcam. Future releases include war, sport and arts titles which will also have extra AR elements. A designer’s dream for increasing a books dynamism and fantasy.
The most famous app; Layar, uses the phone’s camera and GPS capabilities offering up local area information; history, services, restaurant recommendations and reviews. You can even point the phone at a building, and Layar will tell you if any of the companies within, currently have job vacancies.
Facial recognition has yet to be perfected but it is certainly a work in progress. Currently a prototype application is being worked on that would allow you to point a phone at a person and if it can find their details, it will pull them off the web and attach details; Twitter username, Facebook page and other facts all displayed circling around their head and on your phone screen of course.
Palaeontologists working over a period of time to assemble a dinosaur skeleton could leave virtual “notes” to team members on the bones themselves, and doctors could overlay a digital image of a patient’s X-rays onto a mannequin for added realism.
The future of augmented reality is clearly bright, with the scope for interesting and worthy application only being capped by imagination. If you would like to consider using augmented reality as part of your marketing or promotional campaign give us a call as we can make it work for you.