What’s New: Augmented Reality is the Gimmick That Works
Written on April 21, 2010 by admin
We’ve been hearing more and more about augmented reality lately, and we’re seeing more applications that use it. iPhone developers are jumping on the bandwagon to make free or pay augmented reality apps.
Tobi.com had a tool (that I wish I could find now) that would let you hold a piece of paper in front of you to see one of their outfits on you. Pretty smart way to get shoppers to buy.
Muscle Milk introduced an augmented Shaq that, if the bottle was held up to a webcam, showed Shaq goofing around on top of the bottle. I’m willing to bet that a lot of people bought the bottles just to see it work. I would.
Which leads me to my point. Augmented reality is a gimmick. But one that works, and one that I’m willing to bet more companies put money into. After all, having a bottle or book that pops up a hologram type image that moves (a la Tron from the ’80s) is a great viral message to share with your friends (“Yo! Come over and see the awesome X product I just got!”)
Despite the negativity that gimmicks have as a novelty, they do sell. C’mon, you know you’re more likely to buy McDonald’s food when they have their Monopoly game going on, or call the As Seen on TV infomercials because you can get not one but two for just $19.99! Marketers are smart to use augmented reality.
But remember: gimmicks fade. As soon as everyone is sick of augmented reality, they’ll stop buying the gimmick. And then we’ll be on to something else.
