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Current Action In Augmented Reality

Guest post by: Rob Lawson

Article Overview: Augmented reality (AR) is not a brand new technology. But it is technology that has most commonly been used in gaming - more so than for general business or social media applications. This is changing rapidly as businesses and developers work fast to work out how this technology can help people experience the world in new and improved ways. Getting a handle on the basics of AR feels a bit like attending SciFi Class 101 – as the heart of AR is holograms (that bastion of great science fiction moments from Star Wars to 2001: A Space Odyssey) …

Current Action In Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is not a brand new technology. But it is technology that has most commonly been used in gaming - more so than for general business or social media applications. This is changing rapidly as businesses and developers work fast to work out how this technology can help people experience the world in new and improved ways. Getting a handle on the basics of AR feels a bit like attending SciFi Class 101 - as the heart of AR is holograms (that bastion of great science fiction moments from Star Wars to 2001: A Space Odyssey) ... At its basic level, AR works like this: You hold a printed piece of paper (with an activator image on it) up to the video camera on your computer. Software creates a hologram image out of the piece of paper - transforming it into an object or objects. So on your screen, you see yourself holding or interacting with this object (a box, a pair of sunglasses, a car) rather than the piece of paper.

You can see a couple of neat examples of how companies have used AR technology as an interactive marketing tool - for a consumer sitting at their laptop or computer. The USPS Priority Mail Box Simulator BMW Z4 in 3D are two particularly good examples which can be viewed on You Tube.

But obviously sitting at a computer is only one, quite limited way for users to interact with AR. The next step, and the one with real buzz at the moment, is developing ways to use AR with mobile phone devices such as the iPhone and Android.

This is where the potential and the fun of AR really comes it into its own. Remember when those virtual reality goggles and suits were all the rage at supermarkets back in the 1990s? Well, AR takes that, simplifies it, and allows users to have a virtual reality experience at the tips of their fingers - wherever they are whatever they are doing.

Of course some smart brands have already jumped on this as a marketing engagement tool, creating activities for consumers. In this recent initiative from ice-cream giant Ben and Jerry's (watch it on You Tube by search for Ben & Jerr's Moo Vision), you can see that the product is now acting as the print out (with an activation image on it) and your phone is acting as the computer. Your own mobile AR device.

Probably of much greater interest to users though, are the companies developing applications designed to assist social media - not just sell product. The leading exponent of this would have to be Dutch company Layar. A simple way to describe what Layar offers is kind of Google Earth meets iPod. You know how you can hold an iPod up to a radio station and it will tell what song is playing, who it's by, and let you download it there and then?

Well Layar acts in a similar way, but with everything from houses for sale, restaurants, live music in the area and best shopping sales. You download the apps you want, then simply activate them and point your phone at the world around you. A new ‘layer' appears on your screen, showing you all this information that is ‘hidden'. This quick example video from Layar gives you some idea of what is possible with AR. You can view this videoon You Tube by searching for "Layar. worlds first mobile phone jobs, work on the move".

The potential is huge, the possibilities are exciting and it's all only just beginning. AR represents a whole new world of interaction between people, place and brand - that can be exploited in powerful ways.

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Article Tags: Augmented Reality



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