Our newest Augmented Reality project is now live. It’s a Motion Capture based Augmented Reality game we concepted and developed for Nestle called “Nesquik Factory”. “Nesquik Factory” puts people in the role of being a new hire that’s put to work filling Nesquik bottles. To be successful at the job the player must keep the production line flowing by making sure the right flavor of milk goes into the right bottle.

By utilizing our proprietary Motion Capture Augmented Reality Software, “ZugMO”, we are able to turn a standard webcam into an input device that translates a person’s motions in front of the camera into data that casual Flash games can utilize.  And since the software was developed in Flash, not a proprietary platform, players won’t be turned off by a bulky download or the like.  ZugMO enabled us to create an immersive experience for Nestle’s customers by turning their webcam’s video stream into the Nesquik Factory. Now, rather than using a mouse or keyboard to play the game, people are actually in the game itself and using their motions to fill the Nesquik bottles.

“Motion based gaming is already popular, but it’s really poised to explode over the next six months,” said Matt Szymczyk, CEO, Zugara. “The Wii is the fastest selling console in history, and both Sony and Microsoft are launching their entries into the motion based gaming market this year. People will be clamoring for these types of experiences, and with ZugMO, brands can meet that demand by creating incredibly dynamic and engaging online flash games. The great thing about creating online games to engage your audience is that people won’t need to purchase any expensive hardware to play. All they need is what they most likely already have, a computer and a standard webcam.”

“Nesquik Factory” was developed to be a social gaming experience. To help players share the fun with friends and family a “snapshot” is automatically taken at that exact instant they lose. Then, if they choose, players can easily share their snapshot (and their score) on Facebook.

“It was a fantastic experience working with Nestle, and quite frankly they really challenged us to ‘up our game,’” Matt said. “It was incredibly important to them that an actual bottle of Nesquik be recognized by the application to initiate the experience. In the past, this type of execution required that the client put a marker on their packaging, or the consumer downloaded a proprietary plug-in. Neither option was acceptable. As you’ll see when you play the game, we were able to meet this challenge and have the application recognize the iconic Nesquik bottle without a marker or a consumer download.”

Brands and agencies looking to either purchase the ZugMO Software Development Kit (SDK), or couple the SDK with our interactive marketing services like Nestle did can contact us at: info (at) Zugara (dot) com.

ABOUT ZUGARA
Zugara is an employee owned Los Angeles based Augmented Reality Software developer. Founded in 2001 Zugara is the only Augmented Reality Software developer with an expertise in consumer engagement strategy, user experience design, and interactive production. This is because prior to restructuring as an Augmented Reality Software Developer in 2009, Zugara was an interactive marketing agency that created award winning work for Fortune 500 Brands like Reebok, Sony PlayStation, Toyota, Lexus, Casio, Red Bull and the U.S. Air Force.

To play “Nesquik Factory”, click here.

To learn about a motion capture game we created for AT&T, click here.

Copyright 2010 ZugMo Motion Capture Augmented Reality Software

Copyright 2010 Zugara Inc.

I’m going to test out most of the standard techs while there such as Livestreaming with Qik, Ustream and maybe even Twitcasting.  Pretty sure there will also be quite a few campaigns from bands and brands using QR Codes, Stickybits, and other mobile marketing efforts. And of course, I’ll update this post after the fest with any pictures/videos from the event itself.

With all that said, I did want to take a chance to list out many of the ‘new media tools’ you can prepare yourself with before heading to the fest (or to interact with from home):

MOBILE APPS

Pretty standard but always helpful – especially the Interactive Field Map, Band Chooser and Find My Car functionality.

iPhone app can be found here.  Android here.

FACEBOOK WEBCAST

Can be found here.

TWITTER

Easy enough – #coachella

Happy Coachella also has a feed aggregating band tweets here.

VIRTUAL TOUR (360 degree Interactive Panormas)

2010 Virtual Tour is not live yet, but you can view it (and 2009) here.

WIDGET

After the event, I’ll post some of the emerging media and tech from the event in a post-event update.  Until then, if you’re heading to the show, hit me up on @kobrakai – you can probably find me wandering about or close to the beer tent