Augmented Reality: QR Codes on Steroids
Quick Response Codes have been a mainstay in the marketing world for a number of years. For those not familiar with QR Codes, they are unique matrix barcodes placed on marketing materials which can be scanned using a smartphone camera enabled by a QR Code reader. Once scanned, the QR reader reveals embedded information by linking to a website on your smartphone. We see QR Codes everywhere: adorning movie posters, on products at the supermarket and even on advertisements on the side of buses. There must be a better, more interactive way to share marketing information.
There is! Augmented Reality is like a QR Code on steroids. It's the process of viewing real world environments through a device - like a camera on a smartphone - that has been augmented to generate sound, text, graphics, video or GPS data. It's a new way for users to interact and enhance their real life experience using technology.
Companies are quickly developing interesting tools to leverage augmented reality for marketing purposes, the two major players being Google Goggles and Layar's Vision platform.
Google Goggles is a visual search application that runs on Android smartphones and iPhones. It allows users to take photos of any item (such as a painting in a museum or a famous landmark) and then use the photo to query its search engine for information on the pictured item. In offering this feature, Google has improved upon the QR Code by turning the object into the code.
Layar's new Layar Vision platform takes augmented reality a step further by allowing developers to essentially "hack" reality. Developers can choose any object (be it a book cover, a hotel facade or a movie poster) over which to provide information. Layar Vision turns real-world items that we can touch, see and feel, into QR Codes by overlaying information directly onto what we view through our smartphone screens. For instance, a hotel chain could display an overlay with pricing, booking information, special promotions and links when their hotel façade is in frame. Check out the video below for a demo of how Layar Vision works.
Imagine all the possibilities for augmented reality using these types of tools. With smartphone technology continually advancing, it's just a matter of time before we are all using tools like this to market our products/services.
Tell us: how do you envision using augmented reality in your marketing plan?
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