Recently there has been a rash of cautiously critical opinions in the advertising blogosphere about augmented reality. Commentators at Advertising Lab, and Supercolider all believe augmented reality to be this year’s “Second Life”: over-hyped, under tested, and, at worst “disposable eye-candy”.
We fully acknowledge the potential for this technology to be merely an addition to the marketer’s arsenal of gimmickry. And, also see that there are still many kinks to iron out with it: the process of getting AR to work with your home computer/webcam can be cumbersome, and even when you’ve got it to work properly, you’re oftentimes peeking around a sheet of paper to see the generated image. Yet, in the right context, AR executions can add an incredible layer of interest.
We previously reported on Mini and Lego whose AR ads enable a more intimate experience of the products’ scale.
Ray Ban and Coraline’s AR endeavors allow for a personalized experience of product communication.
Furthering personalized experience is a campaign Adverblog points us to that Doritos has launched in Brazil to promote their Sweet Chili Flavor: A Pokemon-style online critter collection game that is activated through AR.
Is augmented reality doomed for crashing the hype cycle? The verdict is still out. At present we’re still seeing a handful of interesting applications for the technology.
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Hi Ruben,
Thanks for the reference, great to see the conversation spreading.
As I said my post on *supercollider, I think AR “is going to be pervasive. It’s not a gimmick.”
I think AR has massive potential and I’m one of it’s biggest fans as a concept.
My issue is not with the technology but rather with seeing some brands rushing in simply for the PR value, without looking to see how to use the technology in a meanginful way, as your examples prove it’s possible to do.
This is the same thing that happened with virtual worlds and Second Life. Virtual worlds are also going to be pervasive, but with Second Life the hype outpaced the reality and the pointless and gimmicky executions have distracted from the real potential on virtual world platforms and caused many to dimiss them entirely.
I love the promise of AR, which is why I’ve been urging brands to exercise some caution and not pile on the PR train and create another ‘Second Life’ out of a truly useful technology by overhyping and underdelivering.
But if brands have great ideas for AR, then by all means they are worth pursuing regardless of the hype cycle. AR is an exciting and promising territory to explore, and I’m sure 2009 is going to produce some amazing applications. We just need to be doing things for the right reasons.
Cheers,
Geoff
June 4th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Check out this augmented reality concept for IKEA. There is also a live demo: http://robinwestergren.com/myikea/
June 4th, 2009 at 8:08 am
I’m typically a cynic about bright shiny objects and digital gimmickry, but I too can see great potential for AR – especially when (not if) AR is incorporated beyond the webcam -mobile cameras/devices, video billboards, jumbo trons, etc.
Could you image walking into retail and seeing packaging serve as platforms for 3d demos, promotions, etc.?
June 4th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Guys thanks sharing your thoughts.
Yes Tom, mobile, retail, ambient / outdoor have the potential of making the technology more user friendly, reducing that as a barrier.
The key here is, and I would agree here with Geoff, at the end of the day it has to do with finding the relevance technology in conveying the message.
June 4th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
i think from hereon out companies will try to get a slice of the AR pie.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Webcam-computer based AR is now at the peak of the hype cycle. Here is a complete overview of all AR and AR like technolgies and their place in the Augmented Reality Hype Cycle.
http://www.sprxmobile.com/the-augmented-reality-hype-cycle/
Soon SPRX will be releasing Layar, worlds first mobile augmented reality browser. Its a platform where brands and later also individuals can add their own layer on top of reality. Not a gimmick but a real added value service for its users. http://www.layar.eu
June 5th, 2009 at 3:36 am
http://www.peepthehole.com
June 5th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Regardless of the fate of Second Life (which incidentally today has more than double the active userbase as it did at its so-called peak), I’m bullish on both virtual worlds and augmented reality.
Here is an article of my own from a few weeks ago that you may find interesting:
http://tinyurl.com/augmented-iphone
June 5th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Augmented reality is in its infancy. The term has kind of been hijacked to refer only to this paper-with-pattern-held-up-to-webcam thing, which is cool, but in reality augmented reality will prove to be vastly more engaging than that; for instance, the prospect of glasses that will instantaneously overlay location-based data, facebook information, etc into one’s vision. This is also augmented reality, and it will be here within the next decade.
June 8th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
@Greg Western – It will not be here in a decade, it will be here by this fall:
http://www.vuzix.com/iwear/products_wrap920av.html
(Which was precisely the culmination of my article linked from my comment above.)
June 12th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Chris I can’t believe you twittered a wad of crap.
June 12th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
very uncool and a blemish for spfk!
June 12th, 2009 at 1:54 pm