Augmented reality (AR) is moving beyond its experimentation phase and is getting “down to business”, according to former Google Earth director Dave Lorenzini.
Lorenzini, who was in Melbourne for Blue Star Interactive’s Inventing Tomorrow launch event earlier this week, believes it is only a matter of months until wearable technology such as glasses flood the market.
“Technology without a purpose is just a waste of time but where we are going is to a whole new world with AR,” he said.
Inventing Tomorrow was the launch pad for Blue Star Interactive’s AR technology at Melbourne’s Crown on Tuesday evening. The event gave attendees the chance to experience how AR technology can boost brands’ interactions with consumers. For example, in the video below Blue Star technology has given the humble assembly instruction manual a boost by offering consumers a 3D step-by-step guide.
“What Blue Star has done is not just another imitation of AR with stuff that pops up, makes you laugh and entertains you. It is literally technology that gets down to business,” Lorenzini said.
Creative technologist and head of Blue Star’s AR division David Francis believes that as AR matures brands will need to re-evaluate how they measure the effectiveness of their consumer interactions.
“There is a lot of change ahead,” Francis said. “How do you communicate those core values, your brand story in the most memorable way? Don’t just flash your brand up in someone’s vicinity and call it an impression, an eyeball.
“How do you innovate effectively and not just innovation for innovations sake? How do you become more contextually relevant to your consumer and have them opt in so that they choose to meet you half way?”
2014 will “undoubtedly” be the year where mobile technology, not just smartphones, but technology “on your face, in front of your eyes” becomes the primary way consumers interact with the world and brands, according to Francis.
