Sounds like a science-fiction movie, but the technology is here and now. It is Augmented Reality, and your wireless provider has a team dedicated to its strategy and market pollination. Several apps are already available — offering travel-type data overlaid on your phone’s camera display. See Yelp’s iPhone Augmented Reality app. And geo-specific overlays are only one piece of the augmented reality pie. The resource can be used with packaging, clothing, print — you name it.

Augmented Reality (AR), as the name suggests, is the blending of virtual information and 3-D graphics with the real world. To experience it, you need a video device (like the camera on your handheld), a visual cue (a symbol marker or motion that unlocks the animation), and a connection (wifi). Bring the marker into the camera’s view and the 3-dimensional animation is triggered. The fun part is that marker can be as simple as a black and white symbol or as specialized as your product’s packaging. Lego uses AR in a store kiosk to provide a 3-D glimpse of their built models. See the video demo below.

Source: Orlando Attractions Magazine

Beyond the bells and whistles, AR has the power to offer a complete visualization of product, service, or concept. View the United State Postal Service application of AR for selecting the best shipping box. This type of functionality enables the end-user to streamline their postal tasks and eliminate confusion, saving time and money.

An AR component can be appropriate for campaigns ranging in size. Use a marker that is familiar with your audience, keep it simple, and explore the idea of bringing the AR experience beyond your site. Burger King used a dollar bill as the marker for their Dollar Menu campaign, which was implemented across web banners. See Burger King’s Dollar Menu Promotion.

The technology can connect real world experiences with the messages your campaign aims to convey. From taking a demonstration to the next level at a tradeshow to offering a unique visualization of your product online or in store, the opportunity to create an intimate and high-tech brand experience with your consumer can be found with an augmented reality solution. See how Belding Associates can help make Augmented Reality for you!

PDFs are the standard these days for invites, flyers, guides, instructions, and a plethora of other business documents. Why not spice them up a bit? Now this universal file-type can be enhanced with numerous new features. Here are just a few ideas:

• Navigation menu: Add a navigation menu to lengthy PDFs for easy navigation between sections. You can design a home page listing all sections, and even create a menu bar at the bottom of each page of the document with “forward” and “back” buttons.
• Email integration: Do you want your audience to be able to share the PDF easily? Add the email feature and with a click of the mouse, readers will be able to email the PDF as an attachment through their preferred email client. Another handy email feature allows you to create a form and have the results emailed directly to you – just like any web form. Check out the “Request Brochure” page on our sample.
• Embed videos: There are two ways to embed videos into PDFs. One requires an internet connection, but keeps the actual file size down to an easily emailable size. The second method actually saves the full video file in the PDF. This method doesn’t require an internet connection, but the file size can get rather large, depending on how big the video is. Check out our sample for the internet connection-required version.
• Page-turning animation: Make your PDF look like a magazine or book with the page turning animation feature. This feature will change the end format to a SWF file, but you can design and create the entire document in Adobe.

Check out our sample: History of the Phone