CENTER STAGE: Augmented Reality Points To Profits; GeoVector CEO Talks Commerce & Advertising
In brief: Moving on with another in the “best of” selection of executive interviews from the Netsize Guide 2010. This week John Ellenby, CEO of GeoVector, a pioneer in the Augmented Reality (AR) space, looks at the opportunities for AR in business verticals. Will we point and buy? Sure looks it…
What you see is what you get? Advances in AR are transforming this idea into an ideal business model. This was a message that came across loud and clear at the Mobile Marketing Forum in June (an event organized by the Mobile Marketing Association) when agencies such as The Hyperfactory outlined recent marketing campaigns and impressive results.
But it’s not just about impact. Swedish retail giant IKEA has cleverly harnessed AR to take its 2010 catalog to mobile. The AR app for iPhone allows people to select a piece of furniture from the IKEA catalog and then check out how it looks in the room around them. What’s more, people can change the size of the furniture to fit the room by using the phone’s camera. The app, which takes the pain out of shopping for that perfect sofa, is a blockbuster success and a sure sign that AR is moving from novelty to utility.
INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ELLENBY, GEOVECTOR CEO
What is the future outlook for this new form of immersive marketing?
We catch up with John Ellenby, CEO of GeoVector, for his views. Headquartered in San Francisco, GeoVector has been inventing, developing and fielding innovative pointing and AR capabilities for mobile devices since 1991. Since then the company has experienced much success in Japan, where it launched the first commercial AR offering on the KDDI network with the help of local partners. In 2009 GeoVector released its first application for the iPhone and Android platforms aimed at the U.S. and European markets. The World Surfer application does more than hyperlink the real world; it also provides an attractive vehicle for marketers to connect with consumers on the go.
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Q: GeoVector has a long track record in directional searching and AR. Please walk me through some of the milestones and key learnings you can share.
A: We provided a commercial service in Japan beginning in 2006. As you know, this is a technology-savvy market. But it’s also a market where users are concerned about user-friendliness and personal privacy. They want to have a service that’s 24/7. More importantly, it should be easy to use and useful. The Japanese will also not put up with spam. So, if the phone grunts out or delivers some message like ‘lovely lattes here’ when you pass a coffee shop, that’s a service that they will kill immediately — and with good reason.
What we have learnt from Japan is that there is a requirement for carrier-grade services, offering up-time, privacy and security. Our operations in the U.S. and Europe, where we have launched World Surfer, leverage our experience in Japan.
The World Surfer is a product that brings local search applications together with pointing and Augmented Reality to a variety of handsets, not just top-of-the-line smartphones. We’re interested in reaching the middle-grade phones, if you like, and so are businesses and brands. So, we’re trying to position ourselves as a highly-reliable service provider with an imaginative, easy-to-use and secure product that can be provisioned and be made available on a large variety and volume of phones.
Q: How does combining pointing and Augmented Reality add value to the service? And what is the end-user experience?
A: Accurate pointing underpins the service. It knows which way the user is pointing the phone and delivers the user information along the vector that the phone is pointing, hence the company name GeoVector. That information can be visualized in a variety of ways. We can visualize it as lists. We can visualize it on a compass. And we can show the things that at in that direction as well as the things that meet your criteria.
So, we can display this as a list. But it can also be shown in graphics, which is what World Surfer does. In addition, we have the ability to visualize information in other ways that are covered by our patents that harness various kinds of Augmented Reality. In fact, Release 2 of our World Surfer will have augmented reality as a part of that visualization, allowing users to retrieve information in camera view. This will also make entertainment content very engaging.
Q: Can you provide an example of how entertainment fits in?
A: Let’s take the example of a billboard advertisement for a movie. You point the phone at the billboard to receive some related content on your phone, as well as the times the movie is playing at a nearby theater. It’s also easy to imagine that one of the leading characters in the movie joins you on the device screen and guides you – and you are in the form of an avatar on the screen – to the theater. As you know, one of our co-founders is from Pixar, so our company has a strong connection to animated entertainment and the scenario I described is not too far away.
Q: What are the key business drivers?
A: I think the timing is right because the devices are available. Another driver is the strong interest we are beginning to see from advertisers. They are beginning to produce more imaginative content and campaigns for mobile. I’m excited about this development because these advertisers are going to bring considerable creativity and imagination to this space and produce some very engaging content.
A third factor is the willingness of people to use data services. But usage is no longer just about checking the weather or retrieving information about your bid on eBay. Now it’s about discovery and ways to use my phone to find out what’s interesting or what has changed.
We’ve had positive feedback from users of World Surfer and people say it’s actually rekindled their interest in the world around them. They use it to find out more about the area they’re in, and this also represents an extraordinary opportunity to the merchandiser, the advertiser or the enterprise that wishes to serve them at that place and meet their needs. Moving forward, more of these services will be triggered through pointing and they will be personalized services available to you if you’re willing to identify yourself to them. That’s where the offer and the infrastructure that we’ve created in Japan comes in to provide people privacy and security, making them feel comfortable about identifying themselves to companies that want to reach out to them.
Q: What kinds of services do you support now and what services do you envision?
A: In the U.S. Papa John’s [pizza] and Starbucks are featured on our World Surfer application on the iPhone and Android platforms. Users can click the Papa John’s or Starbucks channel and interact with the brands on several levels, including obtaining a guide to the nearest location and coupons. In the case of Starbucks this could facilitate the ordering and paying process, which beats lining up for service.
So, instead of standing in line and having to say, ‘I want a double latte with a cinnamon twist and a cinnamon bun,’ you pre-order it by pointing at the location of the coffee house. As you come closer it’s ready for you. This is what is happening now and what we’ll see more of in the future. Consumers will be able to do more than ever — order things they way they like them, access information they need and even buy books from Amazon related to the landmark where they’re standing –all this and all at the point of action.
Q: What do you expect in 2010 and beyond?
A: I expect the industry to experience massive growth. There will be more money invested to promote and provision these pointing and Augmented Reality services, and we’ll see major carriers and portals offering them as well. This will happen because of the obvious value they offer to advertisers, enterprises and the venture capital companies the industry needs to get this started.
For GeoVector it will be an exciting year. We already partner with NEC and Mapion in Japan and we’re interested in partnering with other companies on a revenue share basis. Advertising will be another focus. I am excited by the number of advertising agencies that are speaking with us because, to me, that’s a sign that we have a real winner here.
THE NETSIZE GUIDE
The Netsize Guide – which features exclusive interviews with 28 industry senior executives at leading companies and organizations including Havas, M&S, MMA, Nokia NAVTEQ, PayPal and Sony Music Entertainment — provides unique perspectives and reveals how players across the mobile ecosystem are preparing to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities ahead.
The Netsize Guide 2010 also includes the results of Mobile Trends Survey 2010, an online survey asking +1,000 mobile professionals and practitioners across 67 countries their views on these key themes and their insights into trends that top the industry agenda, including the advance of mobile applications stores, progress towards global mobile commerce and the increasing importance of mobile across a range of business verticals.
Finally, the Netsize Guide 2010 presents detailed data on the wireless telecoms sector in 41 countries, including revenues, market shares and value-added service offerings for messaging and billing of 194 mobile network operators worldwide.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE NETSIZE GUIDE HERE.
Disclaimer: Netsize is an MSG supporter. Peggy Anne Salz is author of the Netsize Guide 2010.
