Technology
11.11.09
Esquire: The Augmented Reality Issue
First they tried E-ink, next up for Esquire is their "Augmented Reality Issue."
Watch Esquire EIC David Granger show how a large bar code can activate digital content.
Video after the jump...
I've seen something like this before. It's called ... a website.
No offense - it looks experimental/creative/interesting, and I'm sure a lot of hard work went into it.
But in my opinion bells and whistles like this are not the answer to print's woes.
One of the great assets to print media is that you can throw it in your bag, read it on the subway, etc, etc. Who wants to take their magazine over to a computer and "interact"?
Great, great creative effort!
It’s a cool way to explore other applications for the Augmented Reality technology.
Great!
Remember the CueCat? Here's an old NYTimes story about it. It was a device that was used by some magazines in the early 2000s. Wired sent out 400,000 to their subscribers, and other magazines like Forbes invested heavily in it as well. You scanned something with it in the magazine and it sent you to related content online. The money quote from this 2001 Times article:
"Indeed, one of the main criticisms of the CueCat is that consumers generally do not read magazines or watch television while sitting next to a computer, and that installing special software and hardware to scan a bar code is not arguably easier than typing in a Web address."
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/15/business/new-economy-device-link-old-media-web-struggles-make-good-promise-internet.html
I'm torn about my opinion on this...
Fantastic execution and definitely has a wow factor. Yet both Ward and Robert make excellent points. I pick up a magazine based on stories and content not because of the bells and whistles. Esquire is asking a lot from their readers... Buy it, download software, sit by the computer... I enjoy reading my magazine on a park bench or my couch... not at my desk in front of a computer.
Yes! I remember the CueCat. It was going to be the hot next thing! Just what I wanted to do, scan a bar code and then go to my computer.
AR has a better chance with applications like the Layar iPhone App:
http://layar.com/
Don't get me wrong...I am a true traditionalist when it comes to throwing my magazine in my bag to take with me everywhere. But this is too fun to pass up. Conde Nast's Drew Schutte was quoted by Folio this week: "...there is a tremendous future in both print and digital, and especially in the two together, as more advertisers want integrated programs." So perhaps this is one approach to not only enhancing the reader's experience, but boosting those magazine sales? I'd much rather hear "integrated programs," than "print is dead."
I'm all for trying out new tech, but what on earth does AR have to do with Robert Downey Jr and the promotion of his new movie that takes place in the late nineteenth century. If they tried this out for James Cameron's new movie Avatar, there would be a stronger, more integrated conceptual tie-in.
Right now it just seems like a cool random gimmick.
Cool, yes. Random? I'm thinking the cover went to the highest bidder. Sad for editorial integrity. Great for the sales team I'm sure.
Has anyone who's commented above actually purchased the issue watched it in front of your computer? Its really very cool.