A Taste of AR in China

By Lingjun Kong

Although Augmented Reality (AR) is not a new term in the Virtual Reality field, recently to consumers, this technology has been popping out of nowhere and attacking with force. Marketers are now keen on knowing more and getting involved. In China, there are increasingly more and more agencies exploring AR innovation.

Augmented Reality has come to life with the flexible publishing platforms and powerful camera-equipped devices. Vendors are anxious to learn the next new way to connect with consumers. They are striving to get involved and see how AR can be applied to their products successfully. The current face of AR seems to only be the tip of the iceberg and will only be a matter of time before it reaches a tipping point, becoming indispensable in consumers’ lives.

Like the rest of world, China is innovating and accepting AR into their mobile technology swiftly. In May 2011, Senscape launched China’s first indigenous AR platform, which is currently compatible with Android and iOS. The platform is intended to be a universal API for developers to build AR objects, which users can then access through the Senscape App. The upcoming applications of the Senscape platform will be expanded to include applications in ecommerce, branding, tourist information and interactive game plays.

The project’s developers have mentioned many possible applications for the software: branding and e-commerce functions, interactive games with GPS, virtual tourist information booths, and educational tutorials. Similarly, AiSIDE is an alliance of software developers that support using AR for iOS and Android development and licenses technology from the German-based AR company, Metaio. Along with the gradually established AR platforms, more and more AR applications have started to penetrate into people’s everyday life.

Volkswagen China is a frontier at this arena. Volkswagen recently demonstrated the power of AR by launching its first AR-based marketing campaign in China. They featured a pull-out steering wheel in their company’s magazine advertisements. Readers could enter into an AR “race” via the company web site and compete to win prizes. Notably, of the 50,000 people who participated in the virtual race, nearly 7% signed up to take an actual test-drive of a Volkswagen vehicle. Advertisers are finding new ways to utilize AR and tie it back to oldfashioned methods of marketing to increase their effectiveness and sales.

Another AR app from Volkswagen is “Electric Café” which educates and inspires people in China about the energy efficiency of the Volkswagen Golf electric car. Users of the app are able to scan everyday household items, such as a refrigerator or toaster, and an AR experience would be created around that appliance, showcasing just how far you could drive a Volkswagen Golf on the same power it takes to run that appliance.

Tencent recently launched an AR mobile Chinese translator, “Intelligent Eye.” Simply by aiming the camera at text in need of translation. Tencent’s product offers Mandarin learners a free, valuable tool that can translate English, French and German into Chinese and vice versa. Tencent plans to add other features like AR landmark tagging, and logo recognition in the near future.

Although current efforts are still in their infancy and it will take time to see how the technology rolls out, this is an exciting advancement. The implications and consumer involvement are far too interesting for it to simply come and go. Plus, the number of users of computers and smartphones are massive in China. The potential for AR technology in marketing, the social sector, entertainment and healthcare is huge and most organizations have yet to investigate this digital phenomenon. The technology is so new and revolutionary from the consumer point of view. I am really excited to see AR become mainstream in China. – It should happen soon!

Lingjun Kong, PMP                                                                                                         Virtual Reality Medical Center                                                                                         San Diego, California                                                                                       lkong@vrphobia.com                                                                               www.vrphobia.com