Esquire magazine is changing the way people read magazines. They have recently used IT to improve the quality of reading a magazine through augmented reality. The way Esquire uses augmented reality is by holding up different pages with a box of black and white designs on it to a webcam. This triggers a virtual reality to pop up on the screen. In December’s edition Robert Downey, Gillian Jacobs and Jeremy Renner are seen doing various things or telling stories and jokes. Esquire also uses this virtual reality for advertisements.
I think this new improvement in technology is very interesting. Users of augmented reality need to download a software so they are able to view parts of this magazine. The idea of holding the black and white designs up to a webcam is an advancement but not everyone has a webcam or carrying a laptop or near a computer. Augmented reality is not readily available on the go like magazines are. Most people enjoy reading magazines because they are portable and not a hassle. To get the entire stories, ideas or points that Esquire is trying to get across a computer is needed.
I saw a video on YouTube of how Augmented reality worked. It looked really cool and it felt as though the actor or feature story was made just for you. Jeremy Renner is seen walking through different varieties of weather, putting on a coat and throwing snowballs and Gillian Jacobs tells a joke about hunting. It feels like the magazine was purposely there to accommodate the user. Will this affect how much the customer reads magazines and will magazines eventually become mostly augmented reality? I wonder if this augmented reality would be able to work on the new iPad or Amazon Kindle? Will different magazines try to use augmented reality in upcoming editions or will augmented reality be a fail?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704222704574501122991439500.html
I think augmented reality magazines are an interesting concept. I agree with Christine and don't think they will be successful because magazines are meant for people that are on the go and easy to carry around. Without the augmented reality the magazine itself isn't as valuable and desirable as a stand alone. It's also a hassle to have to download the software for it to work and probably isn't for free. Overall I think it's an exciting new idea but the excitement will die fast once people find out how much effort they will have to put in to actually be able to use the magazine.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of what augmented reality magazines were until now. They seem like they would be very interesting to look at because they take reading a magazine to a whole other level. but like christine said, they are definately more of a hassle. It is a unique idea that im sure will beign to become more popular. Expecially because we are in a time where everyone is trying to conserve paper and recycling. Print magazines are not the most economically green things to create. I think once the spread of laptops increase even more than it already is, people will definately look closer into the augmented reality magazines. Hopefully they will try to incorporate them into kinda and ipad too!
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