Folks from all around the Tribal DDB network have been getting more-than-acqainted with Augmented Reality (AR). To pick up where I left off with my last post about AR, here is a great example of AR in action, from our fellow Tribalites in Hong Kong.

In the few years it has been running, McDonald's Dip Jack promotion is one of the most popular programs in Hong Kong. To build on this success, and target for remarkable sales results this year, Tribal was asked to develop an integrated through-the-line campaign that strongly engages consumers in a way that highlights the uniqueness of Dip McNuggets.

Tribal DDB Hong Kong bet Augmented Reality (AR) technology would perfectly fit the Dip McNuggets promotion. And they were right. This McNuggets "Do the Dip" 3D game, not only extends the excitement long after the food is comsumed, but also playfully reinforces the "Dip action". (Click here to view in English, or here to view a demo video on YouTube.)

A unique AR code is printed on every puzzle card (received with purchase of a McDonald's McNugget meal), consumers simply visit the local McDonald's HK website, point their card at their web cam, and a virtual McNugget becomes a gamepiece for three different mini-games: Fast Dip, Follow & Dip and Catch & Dip.

Giving McDonald's fans a new way to play with their food seems to be paying off, too. Just one month after launch, "Do the Dip" has attracted more than 173,000 page views, over 8,000 people registered on the site and generated an astounding 30,000 game plays.

 
Thanks for the tip, Kaya!

I spent some time this afternoon researching Augmented Reality (AR) for a couple client initiatives, and for our own curiosity. What I found was too cool not to share...

Augmented Reality is working its way into everyday use, thanks to the likes of Google’s Street View, as seen from Android which uses the device’s accelerometer and compass to re-orient the on-screen view to the direction you’re standing or holding your phone. See it here.

Of course, we wanted to find more than just Street View... Next, an exploration of an iPhone app by Pankaku called Xmas Camera2. It was intriguing, but left something(s) to be desired. You’ll see what I mean once you compare to the next link.

ARf is an Augmented Reality pet application, still very much in development at Georgia Tech. Lucky for us, there’s a video of it in action – click here to view it.

A step beyond ARf is this amazing Augmented Reality program developed for Topps Baseball Cards. From Topps’ 9 March 2009 press release:

“For Total Immersion, Topps 3D Live trading cards represent the company's first consumer product available commercially, introducing a broad audience to augmented reality, an interactive experience where virtual components are dynamically merged into a live video stream in real time.

Interactive code cards can be found in every pack of Topps 2009 Baseball Series 1 pack and also in packs of the new Topps Attax baseball card game. Fans log on to www.toppstown.com, enter the Topps 3D Live section and select the player on the code card. Once the player is selected and the program is initialized, it's game on! By simply holding the card under a standard webcam, the player magically pops up from the card onscreen and springs to life. Players can then be rotated around, and fans can control the action with just a keystroke or two as it unfolds on the desktop.”