Category: Apps

Augmented reality shows tech-savvy consumers how bourbon is made

| August 12, 2015

Beam Suntory has used AR technology as a part of a new smartphone based experience for customers.

Beam Suntory, the bourbon maker, has now launched a new augmented reality experience that has been designed to show its customers how its bourbon is made, in a new, interesting, and innovative way.

The company is now using the BlippAR app as a part of its “The Bourbon Revival” retail program.

This program and the augmented reality experience are available to customers at liquor stores, featuring the Knob Creek, Maker’s 46, and Basil Hayden bourbons. According to the Beam Suntory senior director of commercial marketing, Michelle Cater, “The liquor store is a saturated environment, so we need to truly stand out in order to reach new consumers and educate shoppers on bourbon.”

This augmented reality experience has been created to work with any smartphone, regardless of operating system.

Augmented Reality - Bourbon MakingCater stated that “Based on our research, we know that new bourbon drinkers are eager to learn more about what makes bourbon unique. With augmented reality technology, we are able to engage shoppers in an immersive and interesting way.” This particular The Bourbon Revival promotion requires the BlippAR free app to be downloaded by people who wish to participate and view the AR features.

Once the app has been installed, the AR technology codes that are posted on bourbon bottles and retail displays can be scanned. The mobile app them launches the 3D content that will appear on the user’s device screen, displayed overtop of the user’s actual environment. This makes it possible for the user to be able to interact with the bottle and create hologram-like versions of recipes and cocktails that are based on the product that they have scanned.

The primary goal of this augmented reality experience is to work as an introduction for the consumer to the different bourbons from Beam Suntory. This AR technology based experience also allows users to be able to understand the history of bourbon, learn how it is made, and to know the difference between this drink and whiskey. In fact, it even provides a “Bourbon Matchmaker” feature, which matches an individual’s own flavor and drinking preferences with the bourbon that they are likely to enjoy the most.

Geolocation used by Blockfeed to dish out local news

| August 11, 2015

The company is now working location based news opportunities into its offerings for mobile users.

The last decade has been just as defining as the one before it in terms of changing the way that people consume news and media as a whole, and Blockfeed is now jumping onto the latest trend that uses geolocation to ensure that people are receiving the stories that are relevant to them.

A large number of major news publications are already offering online alternative options, but this is another step up.

The new Blockfeed app has now launched for Android devices and is marketing itself as a new way for people to be able to consume news media. This is because it works with geolocation data from within a smartphone or tablet. It uses that data to be able to “hyper localize” its experience in order to generate a relatively precise one. In some cases, the experience can be brought right down to a city block from the user’s actual location. The mobile app then curates stories that have been aggregated from a broad spectrum of different sources and presents them to the user in a list.

This geolocation based list of stories can then be viewed by the user who can select the story that interests them.

Geolocation Technology - NewsWhen the story is selected, the user is directed to the actual source page where it was initially published, so that they can continue to read as much of it as they’d like. The Blockfeed app also uses a type of algorithm that allows the popularity of a specific story to be recognized. That algorithm takes into account a number of different factors, such as the number of times the story has been shared over social media. Those factors also help to decide which stories will be at the top of the list when the app is opened up.

Equally, it also ensures that there is a full spectrum of news media available to the reader, as smaller blogs are placed right along with the major publications.

The initial launch of Blockfeed has made its geolocation capabilities available only to users who are in New York City, which is where the headquarters of the company are located. That said, the company did report that it intends to bring the news app to other “dense urban areas” and “high-quality local journalism scenes”. For the time being, New York City suits that need perfectly and is the home of the initial launch, but it will be expanded and rolled out in other areas over time.