San Francisco, November 24th , 2010 – Independent of each other, two US publishers and one notable ad sponsor just launched their Augmented Reality campaign on junaio this week: Connecticut Magazine, amNewYork and the GSM Association, organizers of the Mobile World Congress.
Anybody with a smartphone and the free junaio AR browser can point the camera at these publications and enjoy the additional content. amNewYork presents readers with enriched editorials, such as flying balloons and the solution to a crossword puzzle. Connecticut Magazine reminds viewers of the coming holiday season with dropping snowflakes and a cocktail glass freezing over. But inside, Connecticut Magazine also brings several ads to life, showing recipes and videos. And GSM is placing a AR enhanced ad in a whole range of popular publications like TIME Magazine, Fortune, WSJ and others.
While traditional advertising is losing traction and people often pay little attention to commercial messages found in newspapers and magazines, junaio`s highly sophisticated image recognition and object tracking capabilities make it possible to recognise a print ad and call up additional digital content to delight the viewer and draw renewed attention to a sponsor`s message. These could display further product details, display a dynamic 3D moveable model, offer a coupon or trigger a game. The same principle of course can also be used to delight readers with enhanced editorial content. The multimedia power of the internet can now be extended to print publications and offer completely new opportunities for both editorial staff and commercial brands to communicate more effectively with their audiences.
CEO John Paton of Journal Register has this to say: "Augmented reality technology provides Journal Register Company another way to leverage the power of our brands and engage our readers and advertisers as part of our Company`s Digital First model. Connecticut Magazine`s readers will see — both from our editorial offerings and through our advertising partners — how augmented reality adds new dimensions to what they are reading. The Company sees potential with this technology beyond the printed page that ties to advertising and editorial content and the December edition of Connecticut Magazine is the beginning of realizing those opportunities."
amNewYork, Manhattan`s most distributed daily newspaper is becoming the first U.S. newspaper to present its readers with an augmented reality feature that will breathe life into its Thanksgiving eve paper. Through partnership with junaio, the world`s most advanced mobile augmented reality browser, amNewYork further bridges the gap between print and digital. On Wednesday November 24th, amNewYork will animate parts of the paper with 3D experiences. Readers can watch the Macy`s Thanksgiving Day balloons float from the pages of the paper and check out who`s invading Gotham.
"Our savvy young audience is hungry for cutting-edge, interactive and mobile technology to become extensions of our ever growing brand," said Paul Turcotte, Publisher of amNewYork. "This partnership with junaio is an example of how traditional print media will continue to be a point of entry for consumers to interact in digital formats. We look forward to exploring additional opportunities that will augment our readers` interaction with the paper."
The GSM Association represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. It is also the organizer of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February of 2011. GSMA launched App Planet to focus on the explosive growth in the mobile apps market while fostering direct communication between developers and platform owners. To advertise App Planet and the Mobile World Congress, GSMA places AR enhanced ads in key publications like TIME Magazine, Fortune, WSJ, The International Herald Tribune, Telecom2.0, Vanilla Plus, Wireless Week and others. When viewed through junaio the ad will trigger a 3D App Planet circled by satellites, which can be clicked to display further information about the conference`s scope and themes.
"As the global trade organization for the mobile communications industry, the GSMA seeks out cutting-edge mobile technologies to promote our events and initiatives", says Dave Bailey, Global Director of Marketing at GSMA. "With junaio`s augmented reality solution, we have found a new and innovative way to engage with our customers about Mobile World Congress and App Planet."
More images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metaio/sets/72157625299370461
About junaio
junaio is the world`s most advanced mobile Augmented Reality Browser and growing daily with interesting content relevant to a viewer`s location or triggered through images and objects the camera is pointing at. The unmatched ease of use, great choice of content and superior features make junaio everybody`s daily companion, an instant source of information about places, events, bargains or objects in the world around us. Features are: location based services using onboard GPS and compass, highly accurate positioning, even inside buildings or exhibition sites, object recognition and natural feature tracking useful for scaling and integrating graphic overlays or 3D models into the real world. Two-way interaction between the user and the displayed AR overlays for gaming and other virtual experiences. And of course the full range of multimedia displays, including text, image, sound, video.
junaio was created by metaio GmbH, the worldwide leader in Augmented Reality.