Virtual reality systems Oculus Rift and Microsoft’s Hololens have been getting plenty of attention recently. And while it remains to be seen whether humans will be happy to strap something to their face (or whether they’ll plug technology straight into their DNA, as is being predicted), what’s clear is that they are willing to give augmented reality a whirl. And retailers from Walmart to Freedom Furniture to New World to Lego are all trialling it.
Browsing: augmented reality
Monteith’s new augmented reality app designed to show consumers how they can match beer, cider and meat dishes, was part of a wider campaign that brought a hunting experience to downtown Auckland. And it’s a chance for the brand to attract new people to its category.
Augview’s augmented reality app opens a whole new view of utility infrastructure under our city streets, but the makers also see big possibilities for creative marketers and outdoor games. The company has already has interest in virtual universes in outdoor spaces.
Directories group Yellow’s first foray into augmented reality in its app is all about entertainment, but it has plans to get serious with the technology as part of its transition from print to digital.
Canterbury development shop Mogeo – run by a trio that came together shortly after the February 2011 quake – has followed in Ikea’s footsteps with an app similar to one recently released by the European giant to help furniture buyers.
Google’s Glass project makes us go “wow!” and “whoa!”, but could augmented reality also make us go “wtf?” in the future.
APN is claiming to be the first New Zealand publisher to launch an augmented reality app, with The Herald’s TimeOut section being made into an interactive print product through the use of regularly updated virtual content.
Vodafone and Smudge Apps launched what being called New Zealand’s first large-scale augmented reality smartphone app recently to celebrate its sponsorship of the upcoming Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. We’ve got two of the fancy e-shirts to give away and all you have to do is invoke the spirit of Keanu Reeves and tell us which part of reality you’d most like to augment in the comment wall.
42BELOW is the latest company to jump on the augmented reality bandwagon with a new point of sale project it’s calling Fat-boy. And spokeshuman Jacob Pearson says the vodka gang is pretty proud of its new toy.
This week I had the pleasure of doing a repeat performance at the Marketing Association’s network of executive marketers event. Last year I gave my take on some of the things I thought were about to be big in the technology space (it’s interesting to look back on one’s predictions). And the task was just as daunting the second time around. How do you pick out just a few interesting trends from the plethora of new things available? Well, I just turned to what’s being talked about, not just things we’re on about at the moment, but things we can see a good body of evidence for internationally.
Esquire magazine recently released its new ‘augmented reality’ December issue. Readers were implored to download an app and then hold their magazine up to a webcam to make Robert Downey Jr (an appropriate subject given his well-publicised penchant for reality augmentation in the past) come to over-excited life. There’s also a weather-dependent fashion portfolio, a time-sensitive updated Funny Joke from a Beautiful Woman and a few other slick features on offer.