Last week at SXSW Interactive, I was shut out of a session that I (and everyone else) was excited to attend called Extending Your Brand? There’s an App for That. In Tuesday’s SmartBrief on Social Media, we featured a Mashable story on a few fashion brands that are doing interesting things with location-based marketing and augmented reality. Meanwhile, the top spot of today’s newsletter is dedicated to an interesting article called “Can Augmented Reality be a commercial success for e-commerce?”
Does all this buzz mean that augmented-reality applications are the next big thing in marketing?
By now, most folks have seen some version of AR in action. There are many downloadable iPhone apps that allow you to hold your phone up to the world and be directed toward the nearest Burger King or Starbucks. To get a real sense for the promise of the medium, however, check out Microsoft Bing Maps architect Blaise Aguera y Arcas demonstrating augmented-reality maps at this year’s TED Conference. And if you really want your mind to be blown, watch this TEDIndia video of inventor Pranav Mistry demonstrating SixthSense tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data.
Without a doubt, the technology is amazing, but the jury’s still out on whether it will be applicable beyond the world of retail. What do you think? Does augmented reality have a place in your business? Is this technology going to transform marketing as we know it?
We welcome your opinions in the comment box below. And who knows, maybe we’ll interview you as the next thought leader to watch!
Image Credit, shank_ali, via iStockphoto