Augmented Reality—Just a Flash in the Pan for Ad Agencies?

Image courtesy Nigel Parry

AR sometimes even leaves Robert Downey Jr. going in different directions.

Flash in the pan? Well, probably not, although AR as advertising’s flavor du jour was just one of the thoughts tossed from panelists at the SobelMedia event held today at the Time Warner Samsung experience Center. (I discussed it in an earlier posting earlier here.)

Actually, it seems AR will be one of the new media moneymakers of 2010 since the technology builds off the proliferation of faster, higher screen rez smart phones. Meanwhile, you’ll start to see attempts by print media to reinvent itself with the new, sexy tech, such as Esquire magazine’s Robert Downey’d December issue, which was presented in a little depth at the event by Esquire’s Creative Director David Curcurcito.

For a quick, frothy wrap up of the event turn to Kelly Samardak’s posting here.

Maybe the coffee wore off, but Kelly doesn’t mention the one app noted by a panelist that just might be immediately useful for anyone in the industry who still has to ship videocassettes around: none other than the good old USPS offers an AR app that–as long as you have a Webcam–will show you what size box you need to ship that pile on your desk. Click here to see more on that.

With the many ad agencies headquartered in New York, expect to see any number of shows, panels, and other events during the year touting this or that approach as the most exploitable angle of the technology.

While there doesn’t seem much of an immediate play for video creators in AR, the Esquire venture–the first by a major magazine–shows how moving images might still play a part.

And if you’d like useful, ongoing information about AR, check out this blog from Tish Shute, founder of Ugotrade. I spoke with Tish at the event and was impressed by her enthusiasm, writing chops, and varied background, which includes anthropology and motion control for film production.

Want to see what everyone else in the world is doing with AR in one spot? She spots June’s ARE2010 conference in Santa Clara as the one not to miss. It’s the first global conference dedicated to “advancing the business” of augmented reality.

If you’d like to meet with other New Yorkers trying to figure out AR on an ongoing basis, you might want to check out ARNY (Augmented Reality New York), which hosts monthly meetings.