ARSI Augmented Reality Studios Inc. Bringing Your Message To Life
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
What Is ARSI? ARSI Augmented Reality Studios Inc. (“ARSI” or “the Company”) is a unique advertising agency specializing in applying Augmented Reality (“AR”) technology in conjunction with new media art to dramatically enhance clients’ marketing communications programs. ARSI works with all sizes and types of advertisers – from small companies operating on a local scale to organizations with a global marketing presence. ARSI also works with traditional advertising agencies on a “wholesale” basis when they require the Company’s specific skills.
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
And What Is ”Augmented Reality”? Augmented Reality (AR) is the artificial, seamless, and dynamic integration of new content into, or removal of existing content from, perceptions of reality. The best example of practical augmented reality today is still the yellow first down line used in TV broadcasts of American football games, even though this implementation of AR dates from the late 1990′s and makes very little money. If TV viewers don’t stop to think about it, they believe that the first down line is actually on the field. It moves with the field, not the TV screen, and it disappears behind players as they walk across it, just like the white yard lines that really are painted on the field. Similar technologies are used in TV broadcasts of other sports, sitcoms, and talk shows to add useful information or advertising to the TV video streams. Examples of AR implementation that are more fashionable and better fit usual definitions of AR are the iPhone app Star Walk and the Starbuck’s promotional app used around Valentine’s Day in 2012. Or the McDonald’s app currently used in Australia, which is probably the best mobile promotion using augmented reality created to date. A history of AR is provided in Schedule B.
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
And What Is ”Augmented Reality”? AR is, however, in its infancy, so a definition of AR needs to be broad enough to include more than what is available today. If the augmentation is not seamless and dynamic, it’s not augmented reality. The provided information or stimulus should appear as part of reality, otherwise it’s not augmenting the reality...The content can, of course, be computer generated, like the first down line or the images in the iPhone apps mentioned above, but it could also be any form of new content that does not already exist in the reality being perceived. Disney famously produced an AR event in New York City’s Times Square in which passers-by interacted with Disney characters (people in costumes, not computer generated images) that everyone in Times Square could see on giant monitors placed above the entrance to the Disney Store (no PC or mobile device required), but were actually in a studio outside Times Square. That’s clearly AR, so the definition needs to encompass such implementations. Source: http://www.jamesfahey.com/2013/01/16/augmented-reality-towards-a-better-definition/
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
And What Is �Augmented Reality�? Also, AR is not restricted to PCs and mobile devices for delivery. The heads-up displays planned for near future generations of automobiles, like those on a modern fighter jet, are not exactly the sort of PC or mobile device envisioned in many definitions of AR, but most of us would agree that a heads-up display qualifies as augmented reality. The TVs used to see the yellow first down line are neither PCs nor mobile (for the most part). Any delivery mechanism is acceptable, as long as it results in an augmentation of reality. Going a step further, why does AR have to be visual? Auditory information, for example, can be communicated through headphones. An app for blind people could provide street names and building numbers through a headset. Deaf people could be given a tactile sensation when a car honks or a siren approaches. At the other extreme, noise canceling head sets are, arguably, augmented reality devices because they change the perception of reality, in this case by reducing the perception of extraneous real sounds that interfere with perception of other sounds, real or artificially introduced, or simply a perception of quiet. Indeed, any sense could be subject to perceptual change. One can conceive of olfactory augmentation to alter the taste of food. A definition of augmented reality needs to encompass these ideas as well.
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
What Is ARSI? In the end, we’ve eliminated from common definitions of AR the restrictions imposed by requiring a) computer generated content, b) visual systems such as a camera, and c) a PC or a mobile device for delivery. We have maintained, however, AR’s tight connection with a) reality, b) the altered perception of reality, and c) the addition or removal of content. The better definition gives augmented reality researchers and product developers a broader and more accurate spectrum for innovation while maintaining the connection with existing products, services, and technologies. Augmented reality is the
artificial, seamless, and dynamic integration of new content into, or removal of existing content from, perceptions of reality.
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Why Now And Why Arsi? Although, AR is in its infancy it is rapidly becoming an important way to enhance the communication of ideas. This is because in the past few years, there has been a convergence between: • The wide-spread availability of low-cost software and other tools for developers to produce AR; • The emergence of cloud-based computing enabling the storage, management and processing of AR images for delivery to consumers – on demand; and • The public penetration of low-cost mobile devices (e.g., 50%+ have smartphones) and the availability of high-speed wireless networks required for consumers to access AR. At the nexus: ubiquitous AR – available to everyone, anytime, anywhere! ARSI is at the forefront of delivering AR-based marketing communication campaigns as it delivers a unique dimension to its AR campaigns. Specifically, with its in-house artistic capabilities, ARSI will be incorporating new-media art in all its AR-based marketing campaigns. Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Advent of cloud based computing, image storage, management and processing.
New low-cost tools to develop and deliver AR applications.
Easy access to AR via low-cost, high speed data networks on multiple mobile devices
Marketing ARSI As a new agency, ARSI will be investing in its own marketing campaign to attract clients. This will include a dynamic web-site, highlighting the Company’s unique capabilities. ARSI will participate in relevant trade shows and it will advertise its services using appropriate media. A large component of ARSI’s marketing program will be direct sales to potential clients. ARSI will focus its sales and marketing efforts on clients whose customers are inclined to appreciate AR, which may be just about anyone at this point (nearly 50% of North Americans already have the technology to access it – smartphones, web cams and other devices – and this number is growing daily). This means almost all sectors can benefit from deploying AR as an important component of their marketing communications programs; including companies providing hard goods and services – restaurants, auto dealers, furniture retailers, appliance manufacturers, and the list goes on. The Company’s three year marketing budget breaks down as follows:
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Schedule A: Our Team Stephen White, Principal Stephen White has been involved in contemporary art since he became a partner in a downtown Toronto Gallery in 1990 at the age of 25 and ran his own galleries in Toronto from 1995 until 2010. White has been instrumental in producing numerous cultural projects from cutting edge environmental installations, performance-art shows and new-media exhibitions. Stephen has also orchestrated the sale of multiple six and seven figure art collections and philanthropic donations to prestigious institutions; especially involving historically significant photographic collections. Gregory Roberts, Principal Gregory has over 10 years’ experience in sales and marketing for multiple companies including Black Tie Creative in which he is an owner. Black Tie Creative provides interactive/social media marketing services to entrepreneurial organizations. His primary goal is to create high impact messaging and visibility for his clients. This has led him to focus on Augmented Reality as a medium for robust marketing communications. His success is based on an in-depth understanding of interactive technologies and social media and their application in advancing client marketing objectives. Gregory is a proud alum of Albany State University where he was a member of the National Business Honors Society, Marketing Club, and President of the Dean’s Advisory Council. He has also been a volunteer with Job Corps, and Habitat for Humanity. Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Napoleon Brousseau, Principal & Senior Creative Director Napo is an art-media director who has worked on his own and within art collectives re-defining ideas about individual identity in the making of art and its potency as a tool for social transformation. His work includes interactive wireless installations, eco-political installations, digital portraits, and giant tenants on the Cameron Art Bar in Toronto. Napo graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) in 1976 and just a few years later, co-created Fastwurms, producing installations and films that garnered raving accolades in Canada, the USA, Europe and Japan. After leaving the group to travel through South East Asia and Europe, Napo enrolled and graduated from the Canadian Film Centres, Media Lab. He followed this up with an assignment in Los Angeles where he worked on the Panels Art Committee directing the Digital Senses Show “Sensapalooza”. In 2006, Napo became a director of Emmersive Gallery, with its mandate in exploring and presenting exclusively New Media Art. Napo has been exhibiting his art continuously from the mid 1970’s to the present at galleries across Canada and internationally (including France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, China, and the United States)
Adam Oliveira, Lead Developer
Adam grew up with a true-love for design, technology, and games, and was a child of the golden-age of computer games in the 1980s. These obsessions lead him to pursue industrial design at art college, but rather than moving into toy design as he expected, he became one of the early pioneers of interactive media. His first company, mOcean Inc., created highly innovative work for Sony, Honda, and Rogers, and developed the first graphical production workflow system for pre-press. During the 2000s, Adam was a highly regarded digital creative director and architect for bigname agencies including Organic and Blast Radius, working on industry and market changing projects for BMW, Air Canada, BMO, RBC, TSN, and AOL. At Saatchi & Saatchi, Adam was recognized as the most innovative creative director in Australasia, and began to explore ground breaking new ideas for the agency’s clients, including the first motion-controlled virtual changing room for New Zealand’s biggest apparel brand Hallensteins, and the first interactive wall for Emirates airline. He returned to Toronto to start-up the innovation agency Quizative, helping clients to “think different” on everything from business modeling to product design. Adam’s primary role at ARSI is to assist in idea generation and oversee concept fulfillment. Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
James Rae, Science & Engineering James has always been inspired by the possibilities of technological innovation, and the means by which technology has been able to turn learning, creativity, and imagination into a playful experience. He began applying this philosophy of constructive entertainment to interactive media in the mid-90s, working on projects such as trackable Flash-based emails and multimedia e-learning apps, earning him accolades on many development platforms from Flash to PHP to HTML. In 1998, James founded IITI, helping clients like Microsoft and RBC develop innovative digital properties. Later as an independent guru, he consulted both at a strategic and hands-on level for top-notch digital agencies, government, not-for-profits, and enterprises, often engaged to solve difficult engineering challenges involving extensive creative layers. More recently, James has developed iOS children’s games, and has been building compelling gaming experiences with Unity and AR (augmented reality) kit. This knowledge and experience is directly related to his role at ARSI. As chief scientist and engineer, James will lead ARSI in technical engineering and development.
Fil Magnoli, Studio Operations Fil is one of Canada’s most highly respected and well-known operational masters of enterprise information systems. For more than two decades, he has helped companies plan, implement, and maintain mission critical operating infrastructures that rely on technology. He has succeeded at this not by following the dreadful bureaucratic practices of conventional technology managers, but by consistently breaking free of them. His perspective is grounded on the belief that systems, both technical and human, must be approachable and useful. In his numerous roles as CTO and CIO of companies from creative agency Arnold Worldwide to international media conglomerate Aegis Media to leading accessibility network AMI, he has constantly been tasked with the challenge of redefining and building technical operations from the ground-up to work cohesively with a company’s culture. This, along with his deep passion for new ideas and new technology that contribute toward social innovation, are the reasons Fil believes in ARSI’s mission where he will take a lead role operations. Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Sandra Cook, Major Accounts Sandra has 18 years’ experience in the design and advertising industry. She has held business and senior appointments as Account Director in a number of international award winning agencies in Europe and Australasia, USA, working with a variety of leading consumer, entertainment/music, IT and hospitality brands like Vodafone, InterContinental hotels, Air NZ, Brenner’s Park hotel, United Internet, BMW, Skoda, Opel, Siemens, KPMG, Nobilo wines, WWF, NZ rugby Union etc. In the late 90s Sandra established her own design agency in Munich. She enjoyed significant media exposure due to the agency’s considerable success with her projects for clients like German Telecom, Siemens and others. As a consequence of this high profile, Sandra began working with the BBC in London. Sandra then joined Saatchi and Saatchi in early 2007 and was appointed Interactive Director. At Saatchi, Sandra was involved in the strategic planning, brand development, project management and development and delivery of web projects and initiatives for clients such as TVNZ, DB breweries, Westpac Bank, Telecom NZ and others. In the United States, Sandra was engaged as a Media Director, identifying media platforms for US/European companies and successfully acquiring inventory for Internet marketing campaigns on the German and UK market. Due to her bilingual language skills and her extensive network in these countries, this was a huge success resulting in the acquisition of clients like AOL, Amazon, Axel Springer and others.
Ian Hochberg, Consultant As a management consultant for 20+years, I have prepared strategic business plans and detailed financial forecasts; presentations for consideration of venture capitalists, financial institutions and government agencies; and taken on interim executive and business development roles with entrepreneurial organizations. Prior to establishing my own consulting practice, I provided similar services on behalf of Connect.IT – an Ontario Government initiative – designed and funded to assist start-up and early-stage companies to develop strategic, marketing and financial plans. I have also worked with private venture capital companies to assist in due diligence and prepare business plans for their investees. Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Schedule B: A Short History of AR The term "augmented reality" has been around since 1990 but that doesn’t mean that it was never there before. The moment that man made gadgets that could relate to their environment and supply their users with information based on that, AR was there. It’s just that nobody thought to call it that. From 1957, a gentleman known by the name of Morton Helig began building a machine called the Sensorama. It was designed as a cinematic experience to take in all your senses and, shaped, rather like arcade machine from the 80s, it blew wind at you, vibrated the seat you sat on, played sounds to your eyes and projected a form of a stereoscopic 3D environment to the front and sides of your head. It was supposed to be impressive with its demo film of a cycle ride through the streets of Brooklyn but it never sold commercially and was very expensive to make films for largely because it involved the camera man having three cameras strapped to him at all times, and while it was really more an adventure in full virtual reality, there are clearly elements of AR involved with both the devices in place between the user and the environment and that fact that the environment itself was, itself, the real world viewed in a real time situation - even if recorded. Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Schedule B: A Short History of AR In 1966 Professor Ivan Sutherland of Electrical Engineering at Harvard University invented the first model of one of the most important devices used in both AR and VR today - the headmounted display or HMD. It was a monumental piece of kit that was too heavy for the human head to actually bear and so hung suspended from the ceiling of the lab instead which was how it got its nickname as The Sword of Damocles. Being early in the scale of computer technology, its graphical prowess was fairly limited and provided just simple wireframe models of generated environments. Nonetheless, it was the first step in making AR a usable possibility
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Augmented Reality Is Born While it might have been around for a few years in one shape or other, the phrase Augmented Reality is supposed to have been coined by Professor Tom Caudell while working in Boeing’s Computer Services' Adaptive Neural Systems Research and Development project in Seattle. In a search to find an easier way to help the aviation company’s manufacturing and engineering process he began to apply virtual reality technology and eventually came up with some complex software that could overlay the positions of where certain cables in the building process were supposed to go. It meant the mechanics didn't have to ask or try to translate from what they found described in abstract diagrams in manuals. At the same time, in 1992, two other teams were making big steps into this new world. LB Rosenberg created what’s widely recognised as the first functioning AR system for the US Air Force known as VIRTUAL FIXTURES where fixtures were what he described as cues to help guide the user in their task and did so in very big letters. Source: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/38803/the-history-of-augmented-reality
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
Augmented Reality Is Born A second group, also fond of capping things up, made up of Steven Feiner, Blair MacIntyre and Doree Seligmann - all of whom now lead in the field of AR - submitted a paper on a prototype system they called KARMA (Knowledge-based Augmented Reality for Maintenance Assistance). The team from Columbia University built an HMD with Logitech-made trackers attached to it and the object they were dealing with - a printer. The project was then to develop 3D graphics of a ghost image to show people how to load and service the machine without having to refer to instructions. The paper went down rather well and was widely cited within the science community. And just to prove it’s not all work, work, work, AR hit the arts world in 1994 as Julie Martin became the first person to bring the concept into public performance. She created a government-funded show in Australia, sounding rather like an ITV celeb show, called Dancing in Cyberspace where dancers and acrobats interacted with virtual objects projected into the same physical space as themselves. Sadly, we haven’t been able to track down any reviews.
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
The App Revolution Until 1999, AR remained very much a toy of the scientist. Expensive, bulky equipment and complicated software all meant that the consumer never even knew of this growing field. As far as they were concerned, explorations into virtual worlds had died along with the Lawnmower Man. All that was to change though when Hirokazu Kato of the Nara Institute of Science and Technology released the ARToolKit to the open source community. For the first time, it allowed video capture tracking of the real world to combine with the interaction of virtual objects and provided a 3D graphics that could be overlaid on any OS platform. Although the smartphone was yet to be invented, it was what allowed a simple, handheld device with a camera and an internet connection to bring AR to the masses. Almost all of the Flash-based AR you see through your web browser will have been possible because of the ARToolKit. Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
The App Revolution In 2000, it was the turn of another consumer favourite to get involved with the AR revolution. Bruce Thomas and his team in the Wearable Computer Lab at the University of South Australia demonstrated the first outdoor mobile augmented reality video game. With an aim to remove all the monsters and guns and place them on top of a real environment that the user could actually walk around rather than using any kind of joystick, they came up with ARQuake. All you needed to do was strap a computer backpack on, have the gyroscopes and GPS sensors work out where you are, flip down your head-mounted display and suddenly you’d find the parking lot of the University of South Australia teaming with demons on their way to a good fragging. While Bruce and the WCL team are still developing the experience, there are no plans to commercialise it as yet. We’ll be hearing more from them later in AR Week. Years later in 2008, the first AR apps come to smartphones where the world can actually begin to enjoy the experience somewhere close to what it’s supposed to be. Mobilizy was among the pioneers as it brought its Wikitude app to the T-Mobile G1 allowing Android users to take in the world through their mobile phone cameras and see augmentations on the screen of points of interest nearby. Wikitude soon hit iPhone and Symbian platforms as well and launched an AR navigation app called Wikitude Drive. Once ARToolkit was ported to Adobe Flash, the journey reaches where we are today with AR possible through the desktop browser and your webcam as well.
Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
The Future Of Augmented Reality ARSI With the phrase only coined in 1990 and the practice just reaching consumers two or three years ago, augmented reality is barely out of its embryonic stage. Relatively speaking, the devices are crude and the applications have only just started to get written but dawn has arrived in the AR world and it’s just beginning to get warm enough out there for people to enjoy. As databases of rich information grow and the speed and ease of connections to them rise, this field is really going to come alive but if you want to read more about where it’s all going and what we can look forward to, well, that’s the subject of lots of other piece of AR Week on Pocket-lint. Stay tuned. And for more on AR
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Augmented Reality Studios Inc.
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