Alternate Reality applications

Chris Rawlinson and Dave Duarte were kind enough to invite me to speak at the most recent 27 Dinner in Cape Town. I spoke for a short while on AR applications, showcasing the December issue of Esquire magazine and talking briefly about the General Electric, Mini Cooper and the work we did for Wordsworth Books. The point that I tried to make was that for the most part, AR applications tend to be gimmicks – using the technology to attract the attention. The biggest problem with this is that we are using technology for the sake of technology – at best retrofitting the message or post-rationalizing why it is relevant – and end up with something that has initial wow factor, but no compelling reason to continue engaging and therefore ending up with something that is not sustainable.