Augmented Reality Takes a Turn for the Silly [Whatchu Talkin’ Bout?]
I described my newfound philosophical interest augmented reality, and what the future may hold for us as this technology distributes across our periphery.
I clearly hadn’t thought through the implications thoroughly enough. Two downright silly (but fun) applications of augmented reality have come across my desk in the last twenty four hours.
The first was a short video and demonstration by uber-geek Chris Pirillo of an augmented reality pirate game (why is it that pirates, zombies and ninjas are always the first to invade new technological frontiers?):
It’s time for me to play with my balls – my cannon balls, that is. I was playing cannonballz the game. There’s no need to register or log in, but you can connect it to your Facebook account! It will snap your picture and upload it right to your Facebook page, so everyone can see how well – or badly – you did!
The other was a game from decidedly non-uber-geek Gary Coleman. Yes, that Gary Coleman.
Venturebeat has the ‘scoop’:
Want Gary Coleman to predict the next 25 years of your life? Right….
The 80s sitcom star is in an augmented reality Facebook application where you download and print a graphic, hold it up to your Web cam, and a 3-D bobblehead of him will appear in the feed telling your fortune along with the futures of 25 of your friends.
For its 25th anniversary, French fry vendor New York Fries tapped Coleman to appear in the campaign, holding a cup of fries with the slogan, “After 25 years, some things are still fresh.”
Incidentally, these are the types of campaigns and creatives that SiliconANGLE contributor Rick Gardinier urged marketers to pursue with their clients to push the envelope. With the rumored iPhone AR API coming down the pike, we may be in line for more such silly applications of the technology.
For more stories on Augmented Reality…
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