Augmented Reality is Growing Up
Disney, Crayola and student targeted AR Campaigns lead Augmented Reality growth in brand adoption. Disney Research just shared a walk up AR experience for its animations; using nothing more than a bench, cameras and a screen. ‘Magic Bench’ uses depth and RGB color sensors of a Kinect to create a scene in which 3-D animated characters ‘interact’ and sit on the bench with users. The Disney team is able to modify the 3-D construction to 2-D and use that as a ‘flat’ backdrop. The entire experience runs on a game engine. But what is exciting is that multiple people can sit on the bench and see the animations on the screen at once for a fun Disney moment. If you’re interested in AR for brands, join our Marketing Industry Committee.
Likewise, Crayola partnered with DAQRI to bring coloring books to life. The user (kids) colors and customizes the character, and then uses a smartphone or tablet camera to hover over the page using the Crayola Color Alive App to animate the characters on the page. Originally released in early 2015, Color Alive (2.0) now has 8 new versions that were released in 2016; including Disney’s popular Frozen. If you’re interested in AR and Publishing, Books, and Media, join our Committee on this topic here!
Finally, teens and students alike are engaging with AR via targeted AR advertising campaigns. The English Brand, New Look, with over 700 stores in the UK, Europe and Asia; launched an AR Campaign in the UAE. The brand hired Engine Creative, to create an experience which enabled students to scan their New Look Student Card and reveal special offers and ‘create their own look’ by overlaying New Look products using their phones. For Brand engagement, users spent an average of 6 minutes 53 seconds inside the app and had over 10,000 interactions in one month. And icing on the cake, the entire experience was integrated for social sharing and contextual metrics for the brand. If you’re interested in Advertising, join the VR/AR Association Committee on this topic here!
With Apple’s ARKit, expect to see more of AR experiences in traditional/existing apps, as well as new apps centered completely around experiences enabled with AR.
