SHAK the shelf story | Noel Jeffrey
Evolving technologies set labels and packages in motion
D
esigners create packages and labels to entice consumers. Until recently, that meant attention-getting, sometimes stunning, but basically static creations. Now, technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), QR codes and printed electronics can add elements that encourage consumers to interact with the product. In addition to sophisticated marketing efforts, these technologies also provide useful information, enable safety features and foil counterfeiting efforts.
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process
fall 2012
Interface for the Future
AR pioneer metaio’s website (metaio. com) states, “According to Gartner Inc., Augmented Reality is one of the top 10 strategic IT technologies of our time. And Juniper Research forecasts $1.5 billion revenue stream by 2015. But AR is even more than that…AR is the user interface of the future.” Trak Lord, head of marketing and media relations in the U.S. for metaio, says the company has been working with AR for 10 years now. Its first project was an industrial application for Volkswagen in Germany. Since that time, they have gained wide experience and the advent of smart phones has generated even wider interest in AR. They even host a technical conference— Inside AR—in Munich to the backdrop of Oktoberfest. This year’s event has just concluded. “We’ve had a great few years,” Lord says. “The free versions of our software developers’ kit and our mobile software developers’ kit have been downloaded more than 10,000 times, and I know of some 900 applications that are in development.”
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