|
Posts Tagged ‘augmented reality’
blake - Thursday, November 5th, 2009
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.
Follow me on Twitter – @blakecallens
jack - Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
For those of you tracking the Augmented Reality (AR) space, I thought that this might interest you. Today our CEO (well my CEO, not yours), Matt Szymczyk, gave a presentation on AR at the IAB conference in Poland and demoed (for the first time) a new piece of technology that we’ve built called ZugSTAR.
ZugSTAR (Zugara Streaming Augmented Reality) allows for multiple people to share an AR experience via their video stream. In essence it’s a live video conference where you can see the data (or the image) that the other person is interacting with. The rest of the web is social, and now AR is too. It’s no longer a solitary experience.
This tech has potential for numerous verticals, but for the purpose of the demo, we’ve coupled it with our existing online AR shopping application, The Webcam Social Shopper. As you can see in the picture below (via @deandonaldson), Matt is onstage in Warsaw giving the presentation. Behind him (on the large screen, which is just a duplicate of what Matt is seeing on his laptop’s screen), my colleague Aaron is in his home in Los Angeles (at 3 in the a.m. local time mind you, so props for that) “modeling” a shirt. If you look at the bottom right corner of the video area in which Aaron is standing, you’ll notice the picture in picture, where you can see Matt with the image of the shirt he was “modeling” still up. AR is now two way, and it’s social.
Think about the opportunity that this presents for just the online retail space alone. Moms can shop with daughters away at college; Grandparents can shop with grandkids in another state; teenage girls can shop together on a weeknight; men can get articles of clothing “approved” by their girlfriends/wives while on their lunch break… etc. etc.
Admittedly, this blog post is just going to serve as a bit of a teaser. In a few weeks, we’ll have more details and more to show you then just a picture, but we’d love to know your initial thoughts on the tech below.
jack - Monday, November 2nd, 2009
(NOTE: The following post originally ran in Agency Spy as an OpEd on 10/30)
What’s the buzzword du jour?
It’s the buzzword of the day…
Mmmmmm that does sound good. I think I’ll have that.
So, as most of you are aware, the buzzword du jour is actually Facebook Apps Twitter “Augmented Reality” (AR). And this week, a Wall Street Journal article regarding Esquire Magazine’s use of AR in an upcoming issue was getting passed around. In essence, they are taking what Popular Science and GE did this past summer and attempting to turn it up a notch by integrating several interactive videos as well as an ad from Lexus.
I applaud Esquire for the effort, for getting their hands dirty. It’s no secret that the print industry (like the music and movie industries) is getting absolutely turned on its head thanks to the digital landscape and consumer media consumption habits. They have to try something to garner interest and maintain revenues. I don’t think that this is going to help out their January sales, but maybe December’s will see a bump. And to be honest, their execution and the subsequent WSJ article is for the most part par for the course if you follow the AR space. But there are two elements of this article that I felt compelled to weigh in on, here’s the first:
“It is a gimmick, but we’re an entertainment medium,” says editor-in-chief David Granger.
Now, this is a first. Someone had the stones to admit that their execution is gimmicky, let alone be proud of it. So kudos for that but let me say this: AR doesn’t have to be a gimmick. In fact, it shouldn’t be. Your executions should be providing real value to the people that read your magazines and buy your goods your consumers. Now, I’m not saying that the “value” provided can’t be entertainment in nature, but I am saying that it should provide value outside of what a person can already do in their browser. Otherwise, why put the barrier of needing a webcam between a person and your content/offering? All you’re really doing is giving people a more complicated user interface.
Of course it’s easy to sit here and rip on someone else’s work without providing any real value, so here’s an idea: what if Esquire’s “fashion spread” allowed people to overlay images of an article of clothing on themselves ( for example ties) so that they could match (or in my case, learn how to match) them with their existing wardrobe. Editorial content could provide tips, tricks and insights. Now, that might provide some real value to consumers looking to make a purchase (not to mention the brands that sell those articles of clothing) and would be an execution that could be updated and utilized all year long (that is, Esquire could sell the space to various retailers each and every season).
Now, on to the second item that I wanted to address:
“Mr. Nordstrom says that Lexus could do AR ads in other places but that consumers have to download a piece of software to make the technology work.”
People do not like downloads. It’s just another barrier between them and your content, and people will drop off. Now, I don’t want to get too techy, but if you are advising a client to do an online AR execution you should seriously consider building it in Flash (at the very least, you should have a compelling reason why Flash is not the proper solution). Flash 10 has a 93.5% penetration rate (Flash 9 is at 99.6%) in mature markets, and Flash development is relatively fast and cheap. When you throw on the consumer benefit of no downloads, it becomes a pretty compelling solution. Now, the counterargument may be that Flash does not allow for the sort of rich 3-D image modeling that a proprietary plug-in will allow for (I’d argue that it doesn’t matter how beautiful the image/asset is if people aren’t seeing it, but that’s just one man’s opinion). Well, that’s all about to change in 2010 when Flash 10.1 hits the streets.
So, what do you think (note to trolls: please keep the ripping of my grammar and spelling to a minimum)? What are some of your favorite AR executions? How do you wish the technology was being used? Would you be willing to download a proprietary plug-in to experience an AR execution you’ve never seen before?
If you want to take this conversation to twitter, you can find me at http://twitter.com/jack_benoff
Zugara - Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
matt - Thursday, October 15th, 2009
(This article originally appeared in the WebAward October Briefing Newsletter on 10/13/09)
3 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Using Augmented Reality In Marketing And Advertising
(If you are already familiar with the basics of Augmented Reality, please skip this paragraph)
Augmented Reality is a technology that has to be seen to be believed. In its basic sense, Augmented Reality is just what it sounds like – Augmenting One’s Reality. For a more detailed definition per Wikipedia, Augmented Reality (or AR for short) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery thereby creating a mixed reality. AR on a computer usually requires a webcam and a marker where a person can hold a unique marker (usually a symbol on a sheet of paper) up to the webcam and an animation will appear on the marker within the feed of the webcam. This is augmenting your ‘video reality’ by adding additional information to your live video feed. You can view examples of Augmented Reality on http://www.facebook.com/augmentedreality or alternatively, search YouTube for video examples.
Augmented Reality (AR) has quickly become the buzz word du jour for those of us in Interactive Marketing and Advertising. Like every other emerging media or technology that becomes flavor of the month, agencies and marketers are rushing to launch an AR execution to show that they’re hip and down with the latest interactive technologies. To say this is becoming a problem is an understatement. Most of the AR executions coming out lately are one-off executions that don’t seem to be part of any well thought out strategy and don’t make any sense for the brand. AR is here to stay so it’s important that brands and their agencies start looking at the utilitarian aspects of AR that can help promote their product or service in a meaningful and engaging way for the consumer.
Unfortunately, utility based AR examples are few and far between. Listed below are some recent AR initiatives that are utility focused and based upon a simple objective – using AR to solve a problem for the consumer or end user:
- AKQA launched an AR based shipping solution for the U.S. Postal Service
- This IKEA Prototype focuses on using AR markers to measure out how furniture would look in your living room
- The Webcam Social Shopper by Zugara uses AR and Motion Capture to let consumers view digital apparel on themselves as they shop online
However, these are the exceptions to the flood of recent AR executions. Most current AR examples are really nothing more than animated 3D demos that are exploiting the novelty of this new technology. As a result, the AR space is quickly becoming overcrowded and it won’t take long for the novelty of AR to wear off.
Over the next year, more consumers will be exposed to AR based initiatives, so it will be critical to rise above the current ‘gee whiz’ factor of AR and develop well thought out AR initiatives that provide a benefit or enhancement for your consumers. For AR to be effective for both your brand and your end consumer, you should be asking yourself 3 questions before getting started:
1. Is this something I can already do on my site within a normal browser?
Too often, we’ve been seeing AR executions that are AR just for the sake of using AR. Do you really need to launch a video in AR? Or a 3D asset? Too many recent AR executions are guilty of this and scream, “WHY!!!” Why are you making your consumer go through unnecessary hoops when they can just as easily view the video or 3D asset in a standard player on your website? An AR initiative should not be exempt from Best Practices online, so it’s always important to put usability before the ‘experience’. AR is already asking a lot of the consumer – that they have a webcam and, in some cases, will need to print out a marker to view the AR itself. In addition, there are AR platforms or technologies that will require an additional Internet browser plug-in or will only work in Internet Explorer so doing your research beforehand will be vital to the end consumer experience.
2. What am I trying to communicate or accomplish with AR and what is the experience I’m providing for my consumer?
Gimmicky executions of AR are not the way to go so if you are going to use AR effectively you should first outline your objectives for using AR. Are you using AR to show how your product can solve a problem for the consumer in a way they might not have seen before? Will AR help enhance an experience for your consumer that they otherwise would not experience through other interactive channels or technologies? In regards to the Webcam Social Shopper above, we focused on the aspects of AR that we could use to help bridge the gap between offline and online shopping. This specific AR application would not have been possible without AR so it’s important to focus on the utility based aspects of AR and how it can potentially solve a scenario or problem for your consumer, and subsequently your brand. One brand (that shall rename nameless) was guilty of doing AR just to do it and suffered from severe backlash on the web. The AR had nothing to do with their product and in fact, targeted a demographic that was least likely to be engaged by AR technology. If you’re not careful, the AR experience can hurt your brand or product rather than help it.
3. How will Augmented Reality interact with or enhance other aspects of my Integrated Campaign?
It’s very easy to get caught up in the hype and amazement of viewing AR for the first time. I know we all did the first time we saw AR in person. However, that should not stop you from asking the hard questions about any AR initiative that might be part of your campaign. Will your AR effort tie into any other integrated efforts or are you only looking at the ‘cool’ aspects of AR that function as a one-off for your product or campaign. Many well thought out integrated campaigns lately are using print and AR together to provide a unique experience. Mobile AR has also become much more prominent on smart phones like the iPhone and Android and can be leveraged with retail or OOH components of a campaign. There are even examples of AR integrated with Social Media that help transform AR from an individual to community focused experience.
Augmented Reality is not only here to stay but is the future of how we will view and access virtual information in the real world. However, in the marketing and advertising worlds, it’s going to take some restraint by agencies and marketers to not rush out multitudes of gimmicky, non-utility based AR executions that will quickly turn off consumers and overhype the technology. AR has the potential to be a unique technology that can enhance the product or brand experience for the consumer – especially when paired with other emerging media and technology. It’s an exciting time right now watching AR evolve into a science without the fiction.
For the AR examples mentioned above and more, please visit the Facebook Augmented Reality community – http://www.facebook.com/augmentedreality. If you have any questions related to AR, please feel free to reach out to me at Matt@zugara.com.
Zugara - Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
jack - Thursday, October 1st, 2009
For computer based Augmented Reality to work, people need webcams. The question is, how many people actually have them? We searched the interwebs for reliable data, but everything we found was several years old. So, that’s where you come in. Please answer the question below and circulate it (that last part’s important) OR visit this link to vote: bit.ly/cVC85
Also, feel free to post any reliable data that you’ve found in the comment sections below. Thanks in advance for your help!
blake - Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
It’s a strange position, being a software engineer for an interactive marketing agency at the dawn of augmented reality. I paid my initial dues in the traditional software and web markets, where the products I helped create were made to be the focus of the type of online campaigns that I now take part in developing. From an engineering standpoint, both worlds have their mannerisms (good and bad), but specifically with augmented reality and marketing there exists a peculiar situation that brands, looking to implement an emerging technology, would be wise to take into account.
I love the excitement over augmented reality. This is not to be confused with the hype over augmented reality, but the general feeling, among those that follow the tech, that we are entering a new chapter in human/computer interfaces. This feeling is spreading to brands who, having the right mindset about marketing, always want to show themselves as being on the cutting edge of new interactive user experiences. This is one of the good effects that the marketing world is having on AR, because the advertising dollars are funding research and development.
With the pro of major brand interest and funding, though, comes the con of many in the marketing world misunderstanding the technology, due to its hype and those riding it. Couple this with the fact that a large number of interactive agencies are selling AR (read: riding the hype), when in reality, only a handful of companies are actually producing the product. Rather than be any more didactic with this, I’ll break down the situation to a metaphor.
Imagine that you want a filet mignon. You’ve never had a filet mignon, and you have a general idea of what it actually is, but no idea how it’s made. Yet, you know that everyone is raving about it, so you decide to go out to a restaurant and get one.
The Production/Tech Company
You drive by a fast food place with a big sign that says “Home of the Original Filet Mignon.” Thinking that, if they have the “original” filet mignon, this should be the place to go, you step inside. No one greets you at the door and you have to walk up to the counter to order. You place your order for one filet mignon and the cook gets started. While this restaurant has the right steak in stock, they’re just a fast food place and have no knowledge of how to present it, so they just grind it up, grill it, and put it in a bun. If you didn’t know any better, you might think this was pretty good, but someone who had a filet mignon before would look at you with contempt if you said so.
This, from a marketing perspective, is what happens when a brand goes directly to a production/tech company for an AR execution. The brand has an AR product in the end, but it winds up completely lacking in presentation and preparation. It doesn’t tell a story, and therefore, doesn’t sell the product.
The Traditional Interactive Agency
You drive by one of the most popular restaurants in town. You’ve received good food there in the past, so you think that they might have good filet mignon as well. Stepping inside you’re taken to your seat by a pleasant hostess and handed your menus. You notice that filet mignon isn’t actually on the menu, but when the waiter comes, you ask him if they make it. He says, “of course we do. One filet mignon coming up!” What he didn’t tell you is they actually don’t make filet mignon, the restaurant down the street does. He runs down to the other restaurant, in a frenzy, to act as a middleman between you and their filet mignon. When you ask questions about how the steak is prepared, he doesn’t know and takes fifteen minutes to run down the street, get the answer and come back. Eventually he brings you a filet mignon, properly prepared, if not a little cold. Also, since his restaurant needs to make a profit, he jacked the price up twenty five percent.
So it goes with most interactive agencies, which have plenty of people on site to do traditional online campaigns, but not much R&D. Times are tough and they don’t want to lose your business, so often, even though they don’t have anyone on staff that fully understands the tech, they will sell a complete AR campaign to a brand. In many, if not most cases, the AR execution is either obsolete or, oppositely, pitched with functionality that won’t be technically possible for years.
The Interactive Agency specializing in Emerging Technology
You go to an online restaurant review site and get directed to the restaurant that, in the last example, actually made the filet mignon. Upon entering, you find that their hosting staff is just as pleasant as the other restaurant and that it functions on standard fine restaurant procedures. Filet mignon is on the menu and your waiter is knowledgeable in its preparation and presentation. If he isn’t sure about something, there’s no worry, because the chef is fifteen feet away. You receive a filet mignon exactly as it was meant to be at the price it should cost.
An interactive media agency specializing in emerging technology not only understands how to tell a brand’s story through successful, traditional online campaigns, but also has in-house staff that can create the cutting edge interactive experiences brands want to give to their customers. In the end, that means a more effective overall execution that actually sells the product.
Augmented reality is such a new technology that, when looking for an agency, it’s easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. Just ask detailed, project specific questions, from the beginning, to determine off hand knowledge. Most importantly, don’t trust agencies that say anything is technically possible. Some day we might be able to all have Terminator vision, but right now, we’re just playing with wooden blocks.
Metaphors aside, what I hope to get across is that, when it comes to augmented reality for marketing purposes, it pays to make the right friends.
matt - Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
I previously wrote about the ABC series Flash Forward’s interactive marketing efforts in a blog post entitled – A New ARG Or Standard Integrated Entertainment Marketing Campaign. I was wondering if Flash Forward would be a standard ARG or raise the bar for interactive storytelling. After watching the series premiere (which looks promising btw), I went back to see how Flash Forward’s online efforts have evolved. Needless to say, they have a good handle on how they want their fans to interact with the show online and have created a compelling experience using the latest emerging media and technology tactics. This is by far one of the best integrated marketing efforts I’ve seen in quite some time.
If you want the overarching strategy and insight into the campaign from ABC, you can view it at AdAge here. And I would also suggest checking out Liz Miller’s breakdown of the Flash Forward tactical executions over at NewTeeVee. The campaign utilizes some of the newer emerging media and technology components for Interactive Marketing including:
Though most of these components on their own aren’t mind blowing, it’s the sum of all the parts that makes the campaign a very integrated experience. However, one component that stands out is the Mosaic Collective as it holds the most promise to make the weekly viewing of Flash Forward a more personal experience.
(VERY SMALL SPOILER ALERT BELOW)
In the series, the FBI has setup a site where people can post their Flash Forwards with the hope that the FBI can then start to link clues together through people that are common to each Flash Forward. The Mosaic Collective site functions in the same way allowing people to sign up and upload information. On the surface, this is standard UGC content being uploaded to the site but the various methods of connecting content (through data visualization) is engaging and worth checking out. This is also where there could be a potential tie-in to the show with UGC content slowly being integrated into the show through essential storylines or secondary characters. This is obviously difficult to pull off but it would help break the boundaries between how these entertainment support sites interact with their viewers by taking the reality and integrating it with the fantasy.
The overall campaign borrows quite a bit from Lost, but that is a good thing as Flash Forward is targeting the same fanbase. I’m hoping this campaign evolves some more especially with the Mosaic Collective. It’s definitely worth checking out though to see how interactive can be leveraged to create a compelling integrated interactive campaign and enhanced story driven experience.
Zugara - Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
|
|
-
Most Viewed
-
Most Commented
-
Categories
-
Popular Tags
-
About
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.
-
Authors
-
Must Reads
Interactive Marketing and Advertising
Social Media
Gaming/Entertainment
Technology
Website Design/Dev
Cool/Weird Stuff
Analytics/Stats
Mobile
Video
Automotive
-
Archives
-
Our Tweets
|