Augmented reality (AR) enables video marketers to make their marketing campaigns wacky, smart, and memorable, without having to be coercive. It is a form of technology that has the ability to blur the line between what is computer-generated with what is real.
Augmented reality works well with smartphones and tablet devices through apps, such as Wikitude,
Sights,
Layar, and
Blippar. The first two apps serve geo-location tracking purposes, informing users about the location they have just arrived at and identifying tourist landmarks, cafes, restaurants, museums, and theatres. The other two apps are used by creative professionals to design content for marketing and publishing purposes, without having to be at the office or studio.
Both Apple and Android have enhanced their location-tracking utilities (for instance, Yelp Monocle on the iPhone and Google
Maps on Android) with AR technology so that once users enable it on their smartphones, the apps can provide them with up-to-date, real-time information about the locations they are currently at. What this means for video a marketer is that they can promote their brands through AR technology by supplying relevant information to established AR-based apps.
Users utilizing the apps are made aware of nearby businesses automatically - without having to search for them on their smartphones. Small businesses that do not have a big advertising budget but are in need of some targeted promotion can now shell out the small fee charged by the apps to include them in their updates. In this way, video marketing is going to be more accessible to all businesses great and small, thanks to augmented-reality technologies.
Wearable Computing
With the increasing awareness of wearable computing, augmented reality is getting closer and closer to consumers. Video marketers can make the most of this by fostering relationships with app developers that integrate apps with wearable computing, such as Citeseer and
Futurista.
Presently, Google seems to be on the cusp of yet another life-changing piece of technology, called Project Glass. This is where users put on a pair of glasses that "remembers" all the information they store on Google Apps. These glasses will remind users of impending appointments, make and receive calls (via Google
Voice) from their connections (provided they are online), take photos and share them, give directions to users to locate a place when they are out and about, as well as update them on the availability of local public transport services.
If products like these are successful in the consumer marketplace, then it will not be long until brands, like Google, start to announce advertising spaces. This is something for video marketers should be aware of now, considering that wearable computing technology is already being made available. From 3D glasses at multiplex cinemas to Apple's soon-to-launched iWatch and Samsung's
Galaxy Gear smartwatch, video marketing is looking to get cooler.
The bottom line is that augmented reality is bringing technology to life and closing the gap between computers and consumers. It is beckoning video marketing to adapt to this phenomenon.
Dr. Manroop Takhar is the managing director of Qudos Animations www.qudos-animations.co.uk, a leading animation studio that produces high-impact animations for video marketing campaigns for businesses worldwide.