Tag: augmented reality technology

The hope is that ereading will receive some attention and more people will give it a try.

Kobo has just announced the creation of game that uses augmented reality in order to promote ereading, which is an appropriate theme considering that this is the central purpose of the device.

The game is the first of its kind for the device and is meant to specifically promote an upcoming book.

The augmented reality mobile gaming experience is called The Descent. The inspiration for the experience is from Dante’s Inferno, as well as from additional authors. This includes Dan Brown and his upcoming book release which will be entitled Inferno, as well as J.F. Penn, and the self-published works of that author. The books that have been created by Penn were themed on a basis of the nine circles of hell and Dante’s Inferno.

This unique augmented reality promotion is meant to draw attention to the books and ereading as a whole.

The promotion that is complimented by the augmented reality game is meant to encourage readers to download two of Penn’s ebooks, for free, so that they can read their digital copies. These two books are Kobo exclusives and are entitled Sins of Violence and Sins of Temptation.

The books must be read in order to obtain clues for the online augmented reality game, so it is not only meant to encourage the download of the books, but it is also meant to have readers actually read the ebook versions on their Kobo ereaders.

This augmented reality marketing promotion is meant to be an advertising campaign for Penn, as well, who could stand to benefit from it if the books turn out to be popular. While the first two books are free, there will be a third book in the series that will be released in September. That book will be called Sins of Treachery.

Moreover, readers have even more encouragement to play the augmented reality game and read the books in order to arrive at the end, as the first player to make it as far as the game’s final step will receive a $5,000 award, in addition to an ereader device that has been autographed by Dan Brown.

The promotion with the augmented reality game will be a short one, as it is running only through May 14th, at which time the Dan Brown book will be available for sale.

Though it is probably coming, it is still likely another five to ten years away.

Having first debuted at CES in 2013,  is the latest Microsoft experiment that brings augmented reality into the living room of a home using a combination of a projector and a Kinect camera.

The purpose would be to enhance the environment in which consumers live every day.

The introduction of the augmented reality technology explained that it was meant to “blur the lines between on-screen content and the environment we live in.” There were a series of different proposed applications for this type of technology and experience. However, the most commonly noted was its potential for integration with gaming in order to generate an exceptionally exciting playing experience.

Augmented reality would allow imagery to be projected around the entire space, not just on the screen.

The result of this augmented reality gaming projection would be an expansion of its boundaries, for an added layer of game playing immersion. This would allow features to be seen all around the individual, not just straight ahead. In theory, this could mean everything from wildlife to projected weather effects.

Microsoft explained that the augmented reality tech would be made possible through one of its “next-generation gaming console” devices. That hints that it could potentially be present in one of the next versions of the Xbox. At the same time, Microsoft has been repeatedly saying that “it’s purely a research project,” so consumers might not want to get their hopes up, quite yet.

Hrvoje Benko, from Microsoft Research, explained that IntelliRoom and the related reference to next generation consoles are not necessarily an “explicit reference” to the company’s Xbox. However, it is more likely to be a statement regarding augmented reality technology that could come available in “five or ten years.”

At the same time, Benko did say that Kinect and Xbox teams have been partnered in a number of different IllumiRoom related projects. He did state that “there’s a dialogue going on continuously there.” Equally, though, he also pointed out that the augmented reality experience still has many issues that need to be resolved before it would come close to being ready for sale to consumers.