Hologon Technology Helps Brand Marketers Blend Physical and Digital Worlds

Fusion92 LogoFusion92 is a Chicago-based independent marketing innovation agency. The company helps growth-stage and Fortune 500 companies with marketing, media, creative services, innovation and consumer engagement.

One of the newest marketing innovations from Fusion92 is the “Hologon,” a brand-engagement technology that allows consumers to experience holographic videos with a mobile device and Fusion92’s patent-pending viewer.

When the mobile device is directed to a designated URL and the viewer is placed on the surface of the horizontally held tablet or smartphone, the hologram comes to life before your eyes.

Hologen - Fusion92Because the “Hologon” viewer is designed to pop-up and self-assemble, it can fold flat for insertion in magazines, direct mail, or product packaging. To optimize the user experience across various mobile devices, Fusion92 also developed a custom video player.

“We’re extremely excited about the launch of Hologon. It’s a great representation of our skills, and we believe it has enormous market potential,” said Matt Murphy, Fusion92 president and CEO. “Creating innovative products and solutions is what we do. Hologon™ is another tangible example of how we help our clients break through the clutter ahead of their competition.”

“While the concept itself isn’t unique, the amount of R&D that went into this product to make it user friendly, scalable and accessible across all mobile devices was immense,” said Jacob Beckley, VP technology and innovation. “This product further demonstrates Fusion92’s commitment to the convergence of the digital and physical worlds.”

Since 2013, Fusion92, has been filing one to two patents a year. Those patents have focused mostly on advertising and marketing technologies that blend well with Fusion92’s integrated agency services model.
Learn more at www.fusion92.com

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Metaio Offers Augmented Reality Creator Plug-In for Adobe InDesign

DESIGNERS. If you are looking for ways to make printed displays, packages, or posters more interactive, try adding a layer of augmented reality (AR). Metaio’s new plug-in for Adobe InDesign makes it easy to do.

Metaio Augmented Reality Creator plug-in for Adobe InDesign
Metaio Augmented Reality Creator plug-in for Adobe InDesign

With the new plug-in you can build and deploy augmented-reality experiences without leaving InDesign. You can construct tracking markers, then augment your InDesign layouts with AR content.

Metaio is a world leader in augmented reality research and technology. The company develops software products for creating visually interactive experiences that bridge the physical and virtual worlds. Users view the layer of AR content through the camera on their smartphone or tablet. Companies such as IKEA, Lego, Macy’s, and Toyota are a few of the brands that have used Metaio AR technology to make their marketing communications more engaging.

“By providing easy-to-learn AR functionality right inside Adobe InDesign, we are giving millions of creative professionals the ability to create original Augmented Reality experiences,” said Michael Kuhn of Metaio. “It is extremely important to Metaio that when users enter the world of Augmented Reality compelling content is waiting there for them.”

With the plug-in, you can not only create tracking marker,s but also evaluate them for tracking stability. A 3-star rating system lets you know whether your page design is suitable for AR. Once the page is optimized, you can insert images or embed videos and live hyperlinks. The images, videos, and web content that have been added to the augmented-reality layer then become visible when viewed through a tablet or smartphone.

You can also launch your project directly into Metaio Creator, a powerful, dedicated AR authoring tool.

You can deploy your work for free through the Junaio AR browser (iOS and Android) or even as a standalone app.

In October, Metaio gave live demonstrations of the plug-in at the Adobe Max conference in Los Angeles and InsideAR Munich: The Augmented Reality Conference.

The Metaio AR Creator Plug-in is available through the Adobe Exchange Store.

LINKS

Metaio

Adobe Exchange Store

 

Images in NY Photo Exhibition Look Livelier When Viewed with Augmented Reality App

Two major printing conferences this fall (PRINT 13 and SGIA Expo) featured dozens of examples of how printed magazines, catalogs, packages, and signs can be linked to additional content designed to be immediately viewable through an app on a smartphone or tablet.

 KENNETH WILLARDT SIZE DOES MATTER“Size Does Matter,” the debut solo exhibition of photographer Kenneth Willardt,shows how all sorts of prints can be imaginatively enhanced with mobile-device-activated content.

When exhibit viewers download the 4D Viewer App onto their mobile devices, they can scan the 4D QR codes throughout the gallery and experience the printed art in an augmented-reality mode.

The “Size Does Matter” exhibition opened November 8 and runs through December 8 at the 558 Gallery in Chelsea, NY. It features large-scale, boldly colored nude shots of Wilhelmina plus-size supermodel Robyn Lawley posing with a menagerie of creatures. The images juxtapose size, shape and color to explore concepts of femininity, power and the natural world.

The exhibition is the first presentation of the non-commercial work of Danish photographer Kenneth Willardt. For the past decade, he has shot a wide array of actors, musicians and high-profile models (such as Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Claudia Schiffer and Julianne Moore) for both editorial and international advertising campaigns. He is known for his shoots of L’Oreal and Maybelline global spokesmodels.

558 Gallery is a private, independent art space that is open to the public by appointment only. Works in the “Size Does Matter” exhibition will be available in editions of five.

If you can’t attend the exhibition in person, visit a Milk Made post about the “Size Does Matter” exhibit and use the 4D Viewer app to scan the codes included with two images in the blog post. (It’s fun!)

LINKS

Kenneth Willardt Photography

RELATED POST

Milk Made Blog: Kenneth Willardt Presents “Size Does Matter”

Will Augmented Reality Be a New Form of Mass Communication?

At the PRINT 13 Conference this month, Julie Shaffer of Printing Industries of America, discussed some of the technologies that will go beyond QR codes to make print more engaging and interactive. She started out the presentation listing seven forms of mass communications that have evolved since the Gutenberg printing press was invented:

  • Printing – (Late 1400s)
  • Recordings (1870s)
  • Cinema (Early 1900s)
  • Radio (Early 1900s)
  • TV (1950s)
  • Internet  (1990s)
  • Mobile smartphones and tablets (2000s)

Julie then suggested that this decade might see the rise of an eighth form of mass media: Augmented Reality (AR).

MetaioAugRealityCarManul.bmpAn augmented reality app on your smartphone can turn a printed ad, sign, or package into a portal to additional video, audio, or textual content. For example: See a poster advertising a concert by a new band, then use your smartphone to hear a sample of their music. Or, see a package for a new toy, then use your smartphone to watch a video of children using the toy.

After hearing Julie’s prediction, I have been looking for additional examples to support her claims. It didn’t take long to find some because it turns out that the InsideAR 2013 Conference is coming up. October 10-11 in Munich, Germany.

Some of the topics that experts will discuss at the InsideAR Conference include:

  • How Augmented Reality and Print Bridge the Physical/Digital Divide
  • Case Studies in Augmented Reality Marketing
  • How Augmented Reality is Affecting the Retail Experience.
  • The Future of AR and Wearable Computing

MetaioAugRealityCarManul2At the Inside AR Conference, Metaio will show a prototype for a hands-free interactive car manual for use with Google Glass and other wearable viewing devices. The interactive car manual might make it easier for the average person to perform some routine maintenance on their own vehicles.

Earlier this year, Metaio worked with McDonald’s Germany to develop the “McMission” AR app. The app takes a playful approach to educating restaurant visitors about McDonald’s commitment to sustainability. The app consists of four “missions” that teach kids about renewable energy, recycling, waste disposal, and product origins. The games are launched by scanning printed items such as a McDonald’s box of French fries or images in McDonald’s “Sustainability Report.”

McMissionApp2

In her presentation at PRINT 13, Julie Shaffer showed some examples of the different ways that Nellymoser is making print more interactive with mobile-activated campaigns. While some campaigns require prints to include digital watermarks, QR codes, or NFC (near-field communications) codes, augmented reality can be used with any photograph or printed image without altering the prepress process. . 

It seems to me that a lot of creativity will be required to make sure that customers are delighted (not disappointed) by the additional content they access through smartphones. (Otherwise, why bother “augmenting” printed materials at all?)

But once we all start wearing computing devices that don’t even require us to lift a smartphone, it’s easy to imagine that we might expect to see augmented reality everywhere we look.

What do you think? Have you seen any particularly creative applications of augmented reality that make printed pieces more interesting? more meaningful? more useful? 

LINKS:

McMission AR App

Inside AR 2013 Conference

Metaio

Nellymoser

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