When I first read the term, augmented reality, it didn’t strike me as something that would be relevant in advertising. I had to explore further to discover that this is one of most engaging forms of interactive advertising. So what is augmented reality (AR) and how is it relevant to advertising? AR is the act of taking a 2D physical object and then using a digital interpreter (computer equipped with a webcam) to create a 3D experience. Who’s using this technology? big brands such as General Electric, interactive agencies such as Poke and soon iPhone applications.
Let’s take a deeper look at some of these applications.
General Electric has done some very innovative advertising campaigns around their ecomagination initiative. Ecomagination has a very lofty goal, which is to help solve the environment’s biggest challenges. It’s not surprise that they are pushing the limits in the advertising space as well. Enter augmented reality. This campaign allows the web site visitor to take a physical piece of paper with an image on it and then place it in front of the web cam to “sprout” a wind farm of turbines or a solar panel array. Watch the demo below to see the end-user experience.
Another campaign using AR was created by a London-based interactive agency, Poke. The client was Coca Cola for their non-carbonated bottled soft drink, Oasis. Oasis is perceived as an alternative to water and Poke was tasked with creating an experience that drove this idea home. The final product was an “Oasis Gaming System” coupled with augmented reality to a create an experience where the gamer avoids the water drops as a rubber duck. I took a screen capture of the gameplay.
It doesn’t end there, in this Ars Technica article, it is rumored that the iPhone API will soon support the ability to add a form of augmented reality into 3rd party applications. This is the tip of the iceburg when it comes to innovative engaging advertising technologies. What is your favoritve augmented reality technology (advertising campaign or otherwise)?
Leave a response