At first glance, the front cover of the December issue of American Esquire looks like that of any other glossy magazine. It's got the requisite A-list star in the form of actor Robert Downey Jnr, and the magazine's cover lines promise the usual wealth of entertaining and engaging articles. All very conventional. However, download a software app and hold the magazine up to a webcam and the magazine is anything but conventional. Suddenly Downey and the words surrounding him spring to life as the actor delivers the line "we are currently engaged in an AR environment". The ‘AR' to which he refers is ‘augmented reality' - a phrase coined by Boeing worker Tom Caudell in the early 1990s. Augmented reality is the layering of data like audio, graphics and animation over live video, and it can be used to quite literally bring print to life.
Esquire's innovative use of the technology proved to be a massive hit with its readers. User feedback ranged from "this new generation of functional tools based on AR can make me buy print for a few more years" to "wow, so cool - very creative way to keep the magazine industry alive in print".
Esquire's not the only publication hoping that it will receive a lift from the use of AR. The US edition of women's glossy InStyle is trying a similar trick in its December gift issue with advertisers footing the bill for the enhanced reader experience. In addition, high-end book publisher Kraken Opus is about to release a book on recently deceased pop mega-star Michael Jackson, featuring AR video footage of the him strutting his stuff on stage.
Saviour or gimmick?
It appears as if the technology could have reached a tipping point with other publishers rumoured to be weighing up the possibility of using AR in upcoming projects. But is it really shaping up to be the saviour of print or is it merely a gimmick that will disappear into the archives just as quickly as it reared its head?
Market intelligence company ABI Research recently investigated the technology's potential and the resulting study suggested that the total market for AR will explode over the course of the next few years - from a base of $6m in 2008 to a market worth more than $350m by 2014.
Much of this growth will be driven by marketers who were the first to embrace the technology and have been quick to push the boundaries, creating increasingly eye-catching campaigns. Earlier this year, General Electric unveiled what was considered a breakthrough piece of AR marketing collateral, promoting the company's green credentials. When a code, which was printed on a piece of paper, was viewed through a webcam, a virtual windfarm sprung up, complete with its own sun and turbines, and seemingly allowed users to power the turbines by blowing into their computer speaker.
Other notable marketing mentions include Mini, which created a DM piece featuring a 3D ‘mini' Mini, and Ford, which launched a mobile phone app with a 3D model of the car generated on the phone's screen when pointed at a QR code (a ‘quick response' 2D barcode). Retailers have also been quick to cotton on to the potential benefits of the technology. Lego introduced an in-store AR experience for shoppers - when held in front of in-store kiosks, special packaging showed shoppers a 3D image of the assembled toy - and collectable card brand Topps took interactivity to a whole new level with AR baseball cards that let the consumer control a miniature 3D version of the selected player, pitching, hitting and catching the ball in his individual playing style.
New era for publishing
Another innovative use of AR was unveiled at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October by Leovation, a subsidiary of the Leo Paper Group. It has created a product called Augmented Reality Interactive User Experience - or ARIUX for short - with AR software developer Total Immersion. "ARIUX can be applied to all kinds of books, educational and entertainment materials and a wide variety of printed products to enrich the physical reality with dimensional digital imagery displayed on a monitor or screen", according to the company, which claims that, by integrating print and digital media, "ARIUX is helping to create a new era for publishing and making it an integral part of the digital age".
Andrew Pang, managing director of Leovation, says that ARIUX caused quite a stir in Frankfurt thanks to its ability to "bring books to life". The added attraction to publishers is that the enhanced reader experience doesn't carry a high price tag. "We are trying to make ARIUX services affordable and accessible for all publishers," explains Pang. "A recent customer paid less than US$0.50 per book [to use AR technology], excluding royalties and the cost of the book's production."
As with any technology, the price of AR will inevitably come down as more people use it, with a key driver for volume growth anticipated to be mobile phones. Matthew Oxley, technology director at digital communications agency Tribal DDB, believes that AR truly comes alive when the technology is used on the move and not locked to a static desktop. "Examples that spring to mind are the obvious ones, such as the tube station-finder on the iPhone," says Oxley. "They show real utility on the move. You also have a number of programming frameworks and pre-built apps like the Layar AR browser and, as the development community grows further, you'll see more and more of AR next year."
Mass-market dynamics
There are already a handful of AR apps available to download from Apple's App Store, including Layar's browser, which is proving incredibly popular, plus the new capabilities of handset platforms such as the iPhone, as well as rival platforms, create an explosive opportunity for AR's take-up in the future, according to ABI Research analyst Joe Madden.
"Existing technology suppliers will have to adapt as rapid growth will transform the AR ecosystem. Today's customised, direct business-to-business AR supply chain will continue to see incremental growth in military, automotive and entertainment applications, but those businesses will be overshadowed by the mass-market dynamics of mobile handset application sales and advertising revenue streams."
So what impact will all of this have on print? Tribal DDB created a simple AR piece for the Financial Times (FT) earlier this year, which featured a code that was printed in the paper and could be activated by a piece of software and a webcam. Oxley says that, in the wake of the FT piece, the company fielded a number of enquiries not so much surrounding the use of AR technology, but around the fact that it had been combined with print.
Despite such interest, Oxley is sceptical as to whether or not AR will help to secure print's long-term survival. "AR could be integrated into papers, yes, as value-added content, but expense and time to deliver will get in the way of anything that would make a change. I don't think that print's existence has gone; it just needs to change its shape quicker. Content is king and subscription downloads to e-books will surely sort them out. Then again, we still don't have a paperless office and I work in digital and have an e-book."
While Oxley is unconvinced, Pang feels that the technology will bridge the gap between print and digital and help to prolong print's future. "Using AR, we can combine analogue and digital together without moving too fast and creating a techno-shock," says Pang. "It is a natural combination where we still have the authenticity of a classic book - the flipping of the pages - without putting batteries in the book as the power of AR resides in the reader's computer or mobile phone."
Like any communications channel, used in the correct manner, AR may be an incredibly effective way of engaging with consumers, thanks to its unique combination of print, audio and video that can be brought to life via a mobile phone or webcam. But, in common with other innovative means of communication, AR on its own doesn't sell. It's the way in which it is employed by creatives that will ensure its success or see it cast into the archives as a clever gimmick.
HOW DOES IT WORK: ESQUIRE'S AR ISSUE
In spring this year, Esquire magazine, which released an E Ink cover in October, started working with digital services firm The Barbarian Group to make the magazine interactive. We wanted to create something that wasn’t just about showing off the technology, but actually added value to the story, explains Barbarian’s chief executive Benjamin Palmer. It was decided that six AR experiences - including the 3D cover and a fashion shoot - would be embedded into the magazine.
Video content was shot for each of the different experiences, which was then edited and merged with other effects such as animation. Barbarian created black and white AR ‘markers’ or codes for each of the individual video segments, which were printed onto the relevant pages in the magazine. When readers purchased the magazine, they were invited to download specially created software from Esquire’s website. Then readers simply held the AR-enabled markers in front of a webcam and the images captured triggered a number inside the digital recognition software that they’d just downloaded, thus bringing Robert Downey Jr to life on their screen.
