ZugSTAR Combines The Interactivity Of Augmented Reality With The Immediacy Of Live Video Conferencing
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February 4, 2010, Los Angeles – Today Zugara is introducing “ZugSTAR” (Zugara STreaming Augmented Reality), a technology that allows people in different locations to have shared Augmented Reality experiences from within their video feeds. Picture a web based video conferencing system similar to Skype*, but with the added functionality of being able to see one another’s “augmented” experience in real time. With ZugSTAR, Augmented Reality becomes a technology that facilitates collaboration, and physical distance becomes less of a barrier.
As a proof of concept, Zugara has already integrated this prototype within their Webcam Social Shopper to create a more engaging, and social, online retail experience. Whether its two lifelong friends attending different Universities, or a mother in NY who wants some quality time with her daughter in Dallas, online shopping can now be a more emotionally satisfying experience. And with the effectiveness of traditional forms of advertising in steep decline, what brand wouldn’t want to facilitate that type of branded experience for their consumers?
The video below demonstrates both the Webcam Social Shopper integration, and a few potential use cases that are currently in development:
“While integrating ZugSTAR into the Webcam Social Shopper is a natural extension of the tech, it’s certainly not the full extent of our vision.” said Matt Szymczyk, CEO, Zugara. “Gartner predicts that by 2015 200 million people will be paying for desktop video conferencing. Now, I don’t want to sound hyperbolic, but this tech has the potential to impact virtually every single industry. Anywhere distance is a barrier to real-time collaboration, ZugSTAR has the potential to provide a tremendous amount of value.”
To illustrate Matt’s point, here are a few potential use cases for ZugSTAR:
EDUCATION (DISTANCE LEARNING): A science teacher can field questions and twist and turn a DNA helix as he/she explains their answers.
MEDICINE: 3D models of an fMRI will allow a Dr. to either consult with other Dr.’s, or explain the test’s results directly to a patient.
PUBLISHING: Augmented Reality Pop-Up Books can enable a parent that’s on the road to help their child to learn how to read.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: A 3D model (e.g. of a shoe or a building being developed) can be shared, and discussed, with colleagues, clients, vendors, and partners.
CASUAL GAMING: Augmented Reality based casual games can now be multiplayer.
So, what do you think? What other industries can this technology impact? We’d love to get your thoughts in the comments below.
About Zugara’s Proprietary Augmented Reality Technologies
The Webcam Social Shopper
For more information on the Webcam Social Shopper, click here.
Cannonballz, A Casual Game Using ZugMO Motion Capture Technology
Zugara, a member of the Augmented Reality Industry guiding “AR Consortium”, is an interactive marketing company focused on emerging media and technology. Zugara’s main areas of expertise include interactive video, social media, mobile marketing and website / application development. In addition to the strategic marketing based services we provide for our clients, Zugara also creates proprietary Augmented Reality technologies and products, including The Webcam Social Shopper, and a web based motion capture interface, ZugMO. Founded in 2001, and based in Los Angeles, Zugara is currently in the process of expanding and opening a second office in New York.
www.zugara.com
www.zugarastudios.com
Copyright 2010 ZugSTAR Technology
Copyright 2009 ZugMO Technology
Copyright 2009 Zugara Inc.
Patent Pending
*Skype is not affiliated in any way with ZugSTAR, and was just used to give readers a frame of reference.
You can find all of this week’s Augmented Reality news on the Facebook page we manage (http://www.facebook.com/augmentedreality). Normally we post the top three most popular stories of the week, but there is a tie, so this week, we are posting the top four:
About a month ago, I wrote an op-ed for Adweek entitled “2010: The Year of Augmented Reality“. What I was trying to convey in the op-ed is that while Mobile will be the key component of AR in the future, right now there are many different advertising and marketing channels that can actually utilize AR in creative and innovative ways. Though I won’t republish the article here (you can read it on Adweek’s site), I did want to include embedded video examples below of how channels such as Interactive Storefront Displays, Digital Billboards, Event Marketing and Point Of Purchase are currently using AR. Web, Mobile and Print get all the press but these examples show how brands should think of AR as being adaptable to pretty much any marketing or advertising channel. If interested in even more examples than below, check out the Facebook Augmented Reality Page which has just about every recent AR example out there. So, without further adieu…
POINT OF PURCHASE
POP might be the most advantageous channel for AR given that a well-planned and executed AR initiative can easily turn consumer purchase interest to intent in a matter of seconds. Kiosk format provides little to no barrier of entry for consumer.
Developed by Metaio
INTERACTIVE DIGITAL BILLBOARDS
Numerous brands could leverage the unique participatory interaction of an interactive billboard.
Developed by Chris O’Shea
EVENT MARKETING
Event Marketing, like point of purchase, is also a great channel for AR, given most consumers will likely already have interest in your brand. Though most of these executions are gimmicks, this channel is maturing.
Developed by Total Immersion
Developed by Metaio
INTERACTIVE STOREFRONT DISPLAYS
AR-based storefront displays can be used in myriad ways to help drive consumers into your store.
Developed by Simon & John
Developed by Jim George & Karolina Sobecka
MUSEUM / PUBLIC WORKS
The binoculars or viewing mechanism mimic how optical AR can function in the future. For now though, AR helps museums become interactive by making history come alive.
You can find all of this week’s Augmented Reality news on the Facebook page we manage (http://www.facebook.com/augmentedreality), but to follow are the three most popular stories of the week:
So, your agency is pitching you on an Augmented Reality (AR) execution. And as much as you’d love to move forward with something, the fact is you might not know that much about AR. And why should you? It’s rather “cutting edge”, especially in terms of its marketing implications, and you have a ton of other things to worry about.
As a marketing agency (Zugara) that also develops our own proprietary AR technologies (and seeing as how it’s the holiday season and all that jazz) we thought it might be nice to arm you with some important questions to ask your agency. This way, you hopefully don’t end up paying for an agency to simply have an AR execution that looks great on their reel, but never actually engages a consumer. Noted below, are a few questions/issues you should be cognizant of, and the reason they should be included in your thinking. HAPPY FESTIVUS!
The Question: Will this be built in Flash (if online)?
The Reason: One word: “Downloads”. We’ve harped on this before, proprietary technologies require downloads and a significant number of consumers drop out of a process when faced with one. So why do it? Flash’s install rate is nearly 100%. If you’re going to put your budget and time into AR, the least you can do is give your consumer the opportunity to enjoy it. Below, you’ll see a tweet that was sent to me. I track the term “augmented reality” on Twitter, and whenever someone tweets that term, I see it. @woscholar tweeted about an unpleasant experience he was having with a Avatar cross-promotion that McDonalds is running. I engaged him in a conversation, and here’s his feedback regarding the download that AR execution required:
The Question: Why aren’t we just creating this experience within the browser (i.e. Why isn’t this just a traditional web site?)?
The Reason: Is the idea you’re being pitched to just have a 3-D model pop out of a marker and essentially push your message to the consumer (be it via a key-ed out video or the like)? If the AR doesn’t truly add anything to the experience, why put the budget against it and limit your campaign’s potential reach (due to the need for a web cam)? Ask your team if you’re using this technology just to use it. Think about your goals. Think about your objectives. Think about your consumers. If AR can be a natural extension of the story you’re trying to tell, then perfect! If not, just keep it in your arsenal/thinking.
The Question: Will you walk me through the entire consumer experience?
The Reason: Taking the time to answer this question can expose fundamental flaws with the concept. Sometimes an idea can sound fantastic on the surface, but when you go step by step through the consumer experience you begin to realize something: no consumer would ever do everything it takes to participate (e.g. you may realize that the user would need to put their computer or web cam on the floor to get the necessary camera angle). Seeing as how you want consumers to “do stuff”, this can be a good way of vetting ideas.
The Question: Why do you think a consumer would do this? What is their payoff?
The Reason: Obviously, the days of the consumer sitting there patiently listening to your entire message/ad are long gone. It’s the consumer’s world, and we’re just living in it. They need a compelling reason to interact with your engagement… to give you their time. One good litmus test is to put your “consumer hat on”. Odds are (unless you’re working for Nike, Apple, or a few others) most of your consumers “like” your brand, but aren’t passionately fanatical about it. So, think about a brand you “like” (not yours), and think about whether or not you would interact with it if they launched an execution similar to the one you’re contemplating. If the answer is “no”, then think about what it would take to make you participate. If you can’t find anything to make the offering compelling, perhaps this execution is not “the one”.
The Question: Why are you pitching me a mobile idea, versus an online idea?
The Reason: A mobile execution would be cool and cutting edge, granted. But for the near term, it’s limited in its reach (do more people have computers or iphones/blackberrys?), and functionality. Although not widely publicized, the fact is the hardware running on smartphones is not ready to deliver the consumer experience you’re expecting (I wrote more about this back in June), and the much beloved iPhone’s API still remains mostly closed to developers (which means you can’t have an iPhone read a marker like online unless it’s been jail-broken – which most consumers would never do). Not to mention, there’s apparently no rhyme or reason as to how Apple accepts/declines apps for the app store… so there’s the potential for your investment to never see the light of day. To be clear, in our opinion mobile AR will be huge in the future, it’s just not there yet.
The Question: What’s the experience for the consumer that doesn’t have access to a webcam?
The Reason: There aren’t any publicly available, industry standard metrics on web cam penetration rates. This much is certain though, as of today, a significant number of your audience doesn’t have a webcam and you can’t ignore them because they will come to the site looking for an experience.
The Question: Are you sure this is even possible?
The Reason: Odds are, you’re being pitched by someone who’s not an expert in the technology. They’re creative, and smart, but most of the time their ideas just flat out aren’t doable (either in the near term or without a ton of R&D). Before you get your boss excited about the idea, it’s probably prudent to make sure that it’s technologically feasible.
So, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Are there other questions that brand managers should be asking their agency? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
About 2 weeks ago, I was on a panel at Web 2.0 on Augmented Reality with some of the thought leaders in the Augmented Reality space – John Havens, Robert Rice, Ori Inbar, Jack Mason and others. Erik Manley and Michael Eisenreich from GE had a great presentation and case study on the GE Plug Into The Smart Grid Augmented Reality Campaign from earlier this year. This was a great use of Flash and Papervision to create a very compelling Augmented Reality execution that helped usher AR into the mainstream.
I embedded the case study below as there are some great stats from the campaign (more than 1 million Augmented Reality users!) Definitely worth checking out below:
Since Augmented Reality (AR) is pretty much everywhere right now, I thought it might be time to point out some actual ‘useful’ AR that falls under the Utility category. Brand awareness and word of mouth has it’s place for AR, but Utility is where AR will make it’s greatest impact. Utility-based AR is in a very unique position where (if used properly) it can drive innovative and sustained engagement between a brand and a consumer.
The following list is by no means all inclusive, but these are a few examples of Utility-Based AR currently out there. Not just a video or concept, but a working example you can use right now. I also often cite these examples when asked how AR can rise above the current gimmicks being used in the marketing and advertising worlds…
This execution is quite simple. Print out the marker, tape it to your wall and see how the Samsung TV will measure out for placement on that same wall.
This application uses AR to overlay images of clothing on an individual to enhance the online shopping experience. Motion capture also adds ability to stand from computer and navigate controls. (Disclosure: Zugara created this application…)
Not an example of AR you would initially think of but brilliant once you understand how it works. This mobile AR app allows you to see how the sun is positioned at any time during any day of the year. This then shows you how sunlight would fall into your bedroom (for new home shoppers), where to plant a garden, etc.
HONORABLE MENTION
LEGO
Though this is technically not utility-based it’s still very effective and great use of AR at retail. How can any father resist purchasing this for their child after seeing the Lego’s build out?
Those are my top 5. If you have any others, add them in the comments and we’ll post them on the site (if they’re actually utility-based or you can make a strong enough argument for it
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:
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.
We Are Organized Chaos (WAOC) is Zugara’s (www.zugara.com) interactive marketing and advertising blog where we’ll be featuring some great projects and discussing upcoming trends in the digital world. Work — good and bad — will be critiqued. Hope you’ll enjoy reading our insights and thoughts on interactive.
