Red Bull Gives You Augmented Reality Wings and Saves Magazines with Print 2.0

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Ori Inbar

They gave you wings, extreme sports races, and Flugtag – and now they want to save print magazines with the bold concept: Print 2.0.

bullseye

Guess which one of these is a true fact?
1) In 2006, more than 3 billion cans of Red Bull were sold in over 130 countries

2) Red Bull publishes a printed magazine (2 million copies per issue)

3) Red Bull is an Austrian company

Answer: all of the above!
Can’t say which fact is more shocking, but they certainly explain why Red Bull decided to partner with Imagination (an Austrian company) to create a webcam augmented reality experience where:

This magazine sings, dances, flies and even scores a touchdown…

The cover and multiple pages (any page with the Bull’s eye) can be activated by pointing to a webcam thanks to Imagination’s natural feature tracking software.

Try it yourself.

If you don’t have the printed magazine – don’t worry – you can download and print at home.

Or just watch it here…

The magazine editor dives into more autophilia:

PRINT GOES LIVE

It’s not often that a magazine can call itself revolutionary,  but we’re delighted to say this one can.

This very issue of The Red Bulletin takes us from print  to Print 2.0, thanks to the incorporation of some nifty  software known as ‘augmented reality’…the  fun stuff is this: simply by holding the mag up to a computer you can take it ‘beyond the page’ and into the world-wide web. So, for example…[the cover] will link through to a video package explaining exactly how augmented reality can enhance your reading experience in a way you almost certainly never imagined, with music, film, animations and more.
Then turn to page 5 and Red Bull Air Race ace  Paul Bonhomme will give you an ‘as live’ introduction to  the magazine and the world of augmented reality. Head to our Now and Next pages, find the story about Black Gold  on page 20 and do the same again with the mag. Lo, you’ll
find the band’s latest video on the website. Clever, eh?
Further in, you can read about Burcu Cetinkaya and Cicek Güney – the girls putting the glam into rallying – then link to exclusive interviews with them and videos of them driving flat-out… and crashing!
And we’re not done yet, no way. Our Reggie Bush cover story, on page 48, combines with an exclusive mini-movie  of Reggie at home, as he talks to correspondent Jan Cremer, while page 62 will take you right into the pocket-rocket  world of the Red Bull Rookie motorbike racers.
No other magazine has ever tried anything like this,  and we have plenty more ideas for the future. But for now,  just get your magazine and computer primed and prepare  to be amazed…

…And Daniel Wagner certainly shows his skills in the video above…

Filed under: AR Advertising, AR Demos | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »