ALKHOBAR: Augmented Reality — if you haven’t experienced it yet, chances are it will be coming to your computer or smart phone sometime soon. The idea behind augmented reality (AR) is to combine real and virtual worlds in a way that is interactive in real time in three dimensions. If you’ve watched a cricket match on television in which a huge sponsor’s logo appeared on the pitch — that’s AR. The pitch is real, the logo is virtual, and they appear as a combined image in the TV broadcast. The head-up display in the windshield of a car or plane is also AR. In fields from architecture, to gaming, to medicine, AR technology has begun adding value by combining the physical with the imagined. However, it is in the area of marketing that AR will quickly show the greatest impact.

International brands are using AR to make their advertising and promotion efforts more engaging for young, tech savvy consumers. Forecasts from ABI Research predict the global value of this market will rise from $6 million in 2008 to $350 million in 2014, with around half of this figure being generated by mobile ads. Consumers in countries where there is a high availability of broadband connectivity and a robust communications infrastructure are already being targeted by marketing campaigns incorporating AR. But the Middle East, with its limited bandwidth, has lacked appeal for such high tech promotions.

However, Paris-based Total Immersion (www.t-immersion.com), a software solutions provider with a proprietary AR technology that has been developed since 1999, thinks the time has come to spread awareness of the uses for this technology, particularly throughout the Gulf countries. The company believes that AR can enhance and add excitement to conferences and exhibitions, plus that the growth in PC penetration and the uptake of smartphones indicates that GCC consumers now have the capability to choose to experience AR personally.

“Since 2005, augmented reality has become more consumer oriented, taking advantage of high-definition technology,” said Nabil Assad, Saudi channel manager for Total Immersion. “Major brands have felt the need to increase customer interactivity. In conventional advertising you just look at an image. But with augmented reality, the consumer can have a 3D experience with the brand.”

What Total Immersion provides is the AR application which can then be used at home with a webcam and a PC, or at an event with a kiosk, or even in a shopping mall with a smartphone. At an exhibition, kiosks using AR would be available to interact with flyers or brochures distributed by exhibitors. To get an idea of how this would work, click to www.t-immersion.com/en,what-do-we-do,8.html. Specific websites can also be developed as part of advertising campaigns, where consumers go to the website and then use AR technology embedded in the site to interact with the product. AR interaction through mobile phones relies on the Adobe Flash platform, with no individual downloads needed. One area though that is still difficult in terms of AR marketing campaigns in the GCC is the use of an AR application with a webcam and PC. Such AR applications require a download of perhaps 6 MB and not every local consumer has high speed Internet access. To overcome this difficulty, Total Immersion has suggested to potential advertisers that the download be included in a CD that comes with the product.

“The clients we have approached are all mesmerized by the potential of AR technology. Although there hasn’t been an Arabic AR advertising campaign yet, we expect the first one to come to the market shortly,” said Assad. “From a cost point of view the most important aspect of advertising is cost efficiency. That means how many consumers an advertiser is reaching and the kind of reaction they’re getting. Marketing campaigns that add AR to outdoor advertising or television spots, start at 10,000 euros to achieve a Wow effect and create a strong impression. This compares favorably with purchasing regular advertising, spending a fortune and risking not making a long lasting impression.”

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