A Request to Tech Bloggers: Please Actually Use an Augmented Reality App Before Reporting On It – You’re Hurting the Industry
I saw a tweet the other morning stating that “Augmented Reality Goes 3D,” which was a total shock to me, considering that I didn’t wake up in 1999. What shocked me even more was that it was the title of a post on a well known blog.
For a software engineer who spends most of his work day developing AR, I think I handle the hype of this tech pretty well – in that I don’t go in to a psychopathic rage every time I read a new, poorly researched article (Jack Benoff might disagree). So, why do I have such a deep seeded hatred for bad tech reporting? Because writing how an iPhone app you’ve never used is SUPER AWESOME makes people think that AR, in general, is a joke – at least it does when they actually use the app and find that it’s a gimmicky piece of you know what.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a list of some tweets that I picked up just this afternoon:
“I would say most augmented reality examples out there are defintely [sic] useless crap. Without a doubt.”
“Augmented reality blows, just like virtual reality did. Until people perfect the technology it shouldn’t be used in the main stream.”
“Technology is getting ridiculous – I don’t need augmented reality to find my car; I just need generic “normal” reality.”
“Is Augmented Reality overblown? Read this article and try to imagine a real use for #AR that isn’t a fad.”
“Yes, we have been here before RT @PSFK: Is Augmented Reality The Next Second Life?”
And, no, this isn’t just due to Twitter trolling. Here are some posts from popular blogs that say much of the same thing:
- Fast Company’s Chris Dannen thinks AR is Overblown
- Techdirt’s Mike Masnick is tired of gimmicky AR executions
- Business Week’s William Hurley laments on developers calling any application with a video feed AR
- Marshall Kirkpatrick theorizes that the AR industry is seeing a lack of venture capital because few people see the technology as useful
So is the blogosphere the only one to blame for this? Not really. Much of the blame is also with the fly by night companies that are so frantic to publish something they can label Augmented Reality solely to attract attention. Their products usually lack polish and reliability. Also, some developers say that their products are a lot more accurate/useful than they actually are (I won’t mention names) and proactively bring about user disillusionment.
I don’t want to come across as only complaining about the AR industry. There is REAL advancement taking place, but made mostly by developers who are:
- Too busy creating complex software to release post-production videos BEFORE an actual product exists.
- Working on mobile AR that can’t yet be released in the App Store, because of Apple’s restrictions (they don’t allow real time video access for image processing). In related news, NYARToolkit, the Java port of ARtoolkit, is now working on Android.
- Looking five to ten years in the future and developing hardware that will help alleviate all the current limitations of mobile AR.
So, to sum things up, here is a list of suggestions (admittedly snarky) that I have for folks who want to write about Augmented Reality.
- If you’re reviewing a mobile, location based AR app, actually take it for a test run to find a place and not just spin in a circle at your desk.
- Don’t trust YouTube videos. Many of them are just After Effects jobs (i.e., AugmentedID). If the app isn’t released yet, try to get a live demo, or just add a disclaimer at the top of your article.
- Ask hard (not really) questions like, “What service does this provide for the user?” and “Does this really need to be done in Augmented Reality?”
- Don’t use the MacRumors model. It works for them, because at least some of their wild assumptions actually have the chance of being true.
- Real advancements in AR will come once every few months or years, not days. Deal with it.
In all seriousness, there is long-term value in being a level head in a sea of hype. Please, be a voice of reason to your readers.
Follow me on Twitter – @blakecallens
Tags: augmented reality, hype
I predicted this months ago. The industry is also to blame. Hype generates business but also increases disappointment…
November 6th, 2009 at 2:13 amAntao
I think for the consumer it produces the wow factor but it doesn’t actually have any depth. Like any piece of new technology if your have a sound creative idea and a great execution you can pull it off at one-off campaign level.
It’s snowballing pretty quickly though isn’t it? I would love to know your thoughts on why AR is moving so quickly compared to other bit of tech. My feeling is that the pure richness of what you can do always makes people jizz in their pants and become a bit blinded.
The thing is although I know that making the consumer download a app to take part in any campaign is a bit shit and gives you large drop off rates, I never really advise it. This is in early stages and brands are all over it like a rash. We should just be happy they are embracing this kind of thing straight out the gate rather than spending 5 years trying to get them to try it. If it’s used correctly it can compliment a good ad campaign.
I love the tweet “Augmented Reality Goes 3D,” its a bit like “SMS goes mobile”
Great post
November 6th, 2009 at 11:12 am@Murat, I think that AR buzz is accumulating so fast, because people are really excited about what the tech offers for the future of computing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer very much on the mobile side right now, but that’s not stopping people from pretending that it does. The most eye opening uses right now, IMO, are happening on the web side of things.
At Zugara, we’re focusing on utility based executions of Flash AR, and biding our time until Apple opens up real time image processing on the iPhone. I can’t tell you how many blog posts I read that make AR seem like a mobile only thing.
My firm belief is that Augmented Reality will wind up being most frequently used as a melding with motion capture or body recognition to form something I like to call Convergent Reality. This expands upon the current popular thinking around AR, which is just to bring the digital into the real, to also bring the real back into the digital and make the two work together. You can see this type of application in our Webcam Social Shopper, as well as our latest project ZugSTAR (http://bit.ly/1L9QVO)
I think you hit the nail on the head with, “If it’s used correctly it can compliment a good ad campaign,” but how many times have you seen it used correctly. Almost everything I see is just eye candy. I think it’s most important to determine what you want to do before deciding if AR is right for the execution, and not the other way around, as it seems most firms are doing right now.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:35 pm@Murat For some reason people dream of having holograms working just like in Star Wars. That’s the most requested feature by our customers. We have to explain them, over and over again that it doesn’t exist. Long time ago I wrote an internal whitepaper to explain our sales team different solutions of how to fake it. I think people recognize some of it in AR…
@Blake I totally agree on your Convergence Reality. We at YDreams call it Reality Computing…
November 6th, 2009 at 1:32 pm@Blake
I’ve seen a couple of good uses,you have to bare in mind this is very new onto the scene.
You have the Wellington Zoo newspaper ad: http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2007/augmented-reality-at-wellington-zoo/
Won some awards for Hyperfactory
Then you have the Nike T90 Treasure Hunt, which also won some awards:
http://mobileinc.co.uk/2009/06/i-love-nikes-mobile-marketing/
BMW AR Screensaver + Social upload
http://mobileinc.co.uk/2009/09/bmw-expression-of-joy-campaign-awesome-augmented-reality-app/
You need to give time for agencies to know how to ultilise it and brands to want to take part. If you compare it to something like QR codes, it’s moving at a much faster rate. It’s already appeared on the front of Esquire. A lot of stuff just seems like proof of concept but the BMW piece was awesome, it tied directly into the above the line message.
I’m kinda mobile bias because of the field I work in but I can certainly see the benefits for the web using AR. That social shopper is EXACTLY the badass way it needs to be done. I bet ASOS would jump on that.
@Antão
I’m not gonna lie, I wanna see the Star Wars chest board just like everyone else
November 6th, 2009 at 3:20 pm[...] and Techdirt’s critique of gimmicky AR applications. Even Zugara has called on bloggers to cool down the hype. The best of its kind is BusinessWeek’s “Augmented Reality: Getting Beyond the [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 6:48 amI disagree with Antao Almada- Hype does not generate business- Hype is noise, Truth ala Word Of Mouth and Value Generates Business. In tight and competitive markets you must have compelling reasons, not just hype.
Augmented Reality is still razors edge- I myself have not had the chance to use any devices, but that did not stop me from tweeting the cool factor of the BMW example or from my own cognition of the values that can stem from it.
November 8th, 2009 at 10:42 pm