Augmented Reality in Print Advertising

Search “augmented reality” and 1,380,000 results show up – each slightly different from the next. There’s an iPhone app, a fashion program that lets you visualize what an article of clothing would look like on, the list could go on and on. Print publishers have even given this a shot.

A recent cover of Esquire Magazine has Robert Downey Jr. sitting atop a box with an odd, almost (original) Nintendo-esque, symbol on it. It is that symbol that brings about the augmented reality. Once you log onto Esquire’s website and download the program, all you need to experience AR is a webcam and the December issue. Hold up the front cover to the webcam and Downey jumps onto the screen. Flip the magazine on its side and other scenes appear; one of which promotes Downey’s new movie “Sherlock Holmes.”

Throughout the pages of the issue, the Nintendo-esque symbol continually appears. You can look at a Lexus ad for the new HS Hybrid. Wiggle it to one side and an infrared screen appears. Wiggle in the opposite direction and a proximity sensor beeps.  Actress Gillian Jacobs tells a joke when you hold her AR symbol up. If you visit after midnight, she tells a different joke than if you visit before midnight. Another code lets you change the weather and clothing that actor Jeremy Renner is wearing by moving the symbol to the left or right. The next AR code lets you scroll through a photographer’s photos from Paris, Brazil, Spain and Israel. By flipping the symbol on its side, it enables you to go to the left or right photos. The last AR code in the issue lets you listen to a sample of Robert Glasper’s new jazz album.

Talk about giving an advertiser some quality time with the consumer! I sat and flipped through this issue just waiting to see what the next AR code gave me. I would have to say the Robert Glasper one is my favorite. I am not a jazz listener, so I couldn’t tell you if this artist is well known or not. But if he is not, what a great way to get his name out there and let people sample his music, which was actually quite good (at least to my novice ears).

While this is still a new technology, advertisers will be able to get away with simply supplying informational videos about their products. But once the novelty wears off, and we all know it will, advertisers will need to create something interesting enough to get the consumer to take the time to turn on their computer and download the appropriate program. I foresee some awesome AR contests forming in the future. What new and interesting things do you think AR will be used for?

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