Middle School Marketing: Augmented Reality

Jen Krupey, Former Viget

Article Category: #Strategy

Posted on November 18, 2009

This morning's Middle School Marketing discussion centered on Augmented Reality. For those unfamiliar, I found this definition on Augmented Reality from Gary Hayes helpful:

Information, 3D models or live action blended with or overlaid onto the physical world around us, in real time. A camera & attached screen is used to view the combination of real world and metadata or rich media. Devices or systems commonly used for AR include:

Mobile devices with inbuilt cameras such as iPhone, DS Lite, PSP or Android
A head mounted display HMDs (eg: glasses or futuristic contact lenses) attached to a wearable networked computer
A PC or Mac with webcam
A games console with camera accessory
A large TV screen with advanced Set Top box and Web cam
Others in development

While the technology is not new, Augmented Reality (AR) seems to be generating a lot of buzz these days - in large part thanks to advances in smart phone and webcam technology. As marketers it's important to not only be familiar with various use cases of AR, but to also be prepared to have conversations with clients on how they may be able to utilize the technology.

While there are a lot of cool applications, there doesn't seem to be a silver bullet quite yet. We walked through a couple of recent examples of AR technology, including a live demo of the December issue of Esquire Magazine. Several industries are making major headway, but we all agreed that the technology still has a way to go. The examples we took a look at this morning, included: