Tag: ar technologies

Google’s new video offered a mixed-reality style environment to bring digital and physical objects together.

Trixi Studios recently released a video that brought the new BB-8 Star Wars droid into a fun new augmented reality based environment in which digital objects were brought into the physical environment.

This experience was meant to provide Star Wars fans with a fun glimpse into what AR technology can do.

Despite the fact that Project Tango at Google and Hololens from Microsoft are both considered to be in the early phases of development, they are both working at full tilt to try to make the augmented reality experience more broadly available. Some of the recent releases have include the Hololens development kit from Microsoft that comes with a price tag of $3,000, while the development kit from Project Tango is a notably more affordable $512. The release of the Star Wars simulation was only one of a range of AR technology based teasers that have been released over YouTube in recent weeks.

There have also been several other players that have been strutting their augmented reality stuff.

Among them was the rather mysterious Magic Leap, which has been quite secretive about what it’s been up to. That said, it didn’t hold off releasing its own AR technology based video recently. With each new release, it becomes more clear that the tech has quite a bit to offer in terms of a unique and fascinating experience for users.

When it comes to the more recent Star Wars video, while the BB-8 droid was featured, it wasn’t the only character that made its way into the spotlight. In fact, there were several character interactions available as the creator of the video made it possible to provide digital representations of Boba Fett and Stormtroopers to be fought off.

While it is clear in the videos that the animations remain in earlier forms, the point wasn’t to show how accurate and detailed the animations could be. Instead, it was a fascinating demonstration of the type of features augmented reality could have to offer. The fact that top Star Wars characters were brought into the mix showed that there is some meaningful potential on the fun side of the spectrum.

Esquire campaign combines augmented reality with mobile commerce

Augmented reality is widely used as entertainment for tech-savvy consumers, or as a marketing tool to engage these people. These are not the only uses for the technology, however, and it is beginning to gain traction in the realm of mobile commerce and shopping. Popular magazine Esquire has taken note of the capabilities of augmented reality, both in terms of marketing and commerce, and has decided to introduce the technology into its November 20 issue.

Mobile app lets readers participate in mobile shopping

Using an iOS application called Netpage, Esquire readers can scan every photo, advertisement, and article that is found in the latest issue to initiate an augmented reality experience. When scanned, a PDF version of the content will be saved to a reader’s mobile device. This content can be easily shared and, in some cases, can be used to initiate shopping experiences. Though Esquire boasts of a digital edition made for the iPad, this marks the first time the publication has chosen to make use of augmented reality as an integration medium for smart phones and other mobile devices.

Augmented reality used by retailers for similar endeavors

This is not the first time augmented reality has been used for shopping. Retailers have been using the technology, sparingly, as a way to engage mobile consumers. Augmented reality mirrors — applications that allow consumers to try on virtual clothing — have been used by some retailers that specialize in fashion. The technology has proven somewhat popular in terms of shopping because of its ability to provide consumers with dynamic, context sensitive information.

Esquire campaign may boost interest in mobile commerce and augmented reality

The mobile shopping implications of the new initiative from Esquire could help bolster interest in augmented reality and the technology’s use in the field of mobile commerce. For now, however, the technology is likely to remain within the realm of marketing and entertainment, though that may change at some point in the future.