The author makes a great point in reference to marketing technology: there is a time and place for everything. Like with QR codes on highway billboards and other poor executions that also added little or no value to the audience, is it of any value to use an iPAD to enhance newspaper content when you could just read the newspaper on the iPAD?
I dont think I need to disclaim that I am all for any technology that enhances the printed experience, or bridges print to digital. However, I have to agree in this case its a bit redundant. I cannot imagine myself reading a newspaper and having an iPAD next to me so I can point it at certain content (like ads and photo’s) to get some bonus ad or video of the photo… well maybe I will do it once to have the experience. But I dont “see” myself engaged with it, so already Im not excited about it, or looking for it in my newspaper, or personally invested in sharing this particular execution with the same amount of entusiasm I have shared others.
This is what Aurasma says: “The Philadelphia Inquirer will be the first newspaper in North America to offer consumers an enhanced reading experience. By pointing their iOS or Android devices loaded with a customized app, powered by Aurasma, at the pages of the newspaper, readers will unlock enhanced editorial content such as animations, videos, and audio that complements the print content.
The Philadelphia Inquirer readers will have access to interactive content from the printed page. Readers can use the app to engage with the content throughout the day and watch breaking news updates as the story develops.”
What do you think? Is this “enhancement” overkill?
Philadelphia newspaper adds augmented reality via iPad app
Video showcases new features of its iPad-enhanced newspaper. By Keith Shaw
I love the videos that Aurasma posts on YouTube, highlighting its very cool app that adds augmented reality (AR) to physical objects like paper, posters, etc. In this video, we see a demonstration of the AR-enhanced Philadelphia Inquirer. By pointing an iPad or iPhone at the newspaper, the app adds multimedia components to the physical paper – such as showing a video instead of a flat photo, or playing a movie trailer on an ad.
While this is an interesting concept, the whole part seems to be redundant. If a person already owns an iPad or an iPhone, there’s a browser on their device that can point to the newspaper’s website. There’s probably a mobile app that could be developed for the phone and tablet that produces the same thing. Adding this interactivity to a physical newspaper by requiring a device that can also access the same content online seems to be just a cute parlor trick.
The Aurasma technology is more interesting for things beyond newspapers – it’s for things like movie posters, or museum attractions, things that don’t necessarily have an immediate online presence, but can enhance an experience for someone in that specific location.
via Philadelphia newspaper adds augmented reality via iPad app | ITworld.
