Tech startups that are investigating new technologies such as AR, or space as a whole, are enhancing ads.
According to a new report, tech startups that are branching into entirely new areas such as virtual and augmented reality, drones, and space, have been generating tremendous financing through investments since 2014 and are also contributing into far more creativity n the ad industry.
A recent report indicated that since last year, there have been $3.15 billion in 183 deals in these areas.
The report was on an analysis conducted by CB Insights and it was released on Friday. What it indicated was that the types of tech companies – including everything from augmented reality to satellites and space – are a considerable draw for investments and are revealing a notable shift in the way that imagers are created. This allows ads to be delivered in an entirely new way and style.
In this way, augmented reality and other tech are starting to have a spreading impact on many industries.
Since 2014, companies that are focused on AR and virtual reality have managed to raise $1 billion. This tech reached a peak of $623 million in all of last year. During the first quarter of this year, that figure dropped to $114 billion. However, brands have now started some serious experimentation. Discovery, for example, which is working with AR technology and with virtual reality, will bring about the very first videos meant specifically for this type of tech.
The main launch worth discussing in this area, at the moment, is Discovery VR, which will be the very first virtual reality network. This service is being designed to be able to test the boundaries and capabilities of this tech. The first videos debut Thursday and are posted on the DiscoveryVR.com website, as well as on Android and iPhone apps, and on YouTube.
Virtual and augmented reality startups that have a specific focus on commercial uses represented 40 percent of all of the funding that has been received in this category since 2012, said the report. Some of the largest brands in AR, Blippar and Augment, for example, are among the examples of the businesses within that sub-category that received some considerable funding within that time.
A growing number of museums are working mobile technology into their storytelling options.
Museums have traditionally struggled with the challenge of being able to tell the story behind the objects and exhibits within a limited amount of space, but the use of augmented reality could be providing them with the chance to accomplish this goal with greater ease and effectiveness.
The struggle has been with the limited amount of space and resources in which to provide information.
For instance, little plaques may offer the ability to identify an object or provide a line or two of background, but they don’t offer any real depth of discovery. Moreover, if too much text is provided, the majority of people who visit the exhibit will not read the entire thing, negating its value. While attempts have been made to provide audio and video, or to give actual guided tours, there is some expense involved – and museums are notoriously cash strapped – and not everybody is interested in this type of fixed experience. Augmented reality is now offering an entirely new option and museums are taking notice.
Augmented reality allows a smartphone or tablet user to aim the device at a designated point and watch a scene come to life.
This AR experience provides a type of interactive, digital storytelling, which brings together the participation of the visitor with the automatic generation and narration of a story, in order to concentrate on providing the museum guest with a more personal and mobile version of the story. It is a convenient, fun, and educational form of entertainment. It is highly adaptive and provides the user with an experience that is more enjoyable, overall, than the button-activated or handheld audio tools that are much more standard.
The British Museum has managed to use this form of augmented reality storytelling for a very effective result. The technology was used, in this case, to bring children through a form of story puzzle that was displayed through the use of a dedicated tablet app that was designed in the form of a game. The “A Gift for Athena” game provided the visitor with rewards for having found certain statues based on their outlines, and, upon each discovery, gave the child more information about that exhibit before providing him or her with guidance to move on to the next stage of the game.
