Esquire Launches First Augmented Reality Magazine

An anonymous reader writes "We've seen augmented reality applications for years (and seen the GE windmill replicated in PopSci), but now Esquire Magazine seems to be trying to show off the undying value of print by launching its 'AR issue' — which, from the demo video, looks pretty cool. Applications include a 3D cover with Robert Downey Jr., a weather-changing fashion portfolio with The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner, a time-sensitive Funny Joke from a Beautiful Woman with Community's Gillian Jacobs, plus a song, a photo slideshow, and a face-recognition ad from Lexus. From the behind-the-scenes geekery: 'Advancements to further involve the user were happening even as we produced this issue, and while motion-sensor recognition already exists, so-called "natural-feature tracking" technology could soon put you inside AR without any googly-looking [note: not in the Google sense] boxes at all.'" Enjoying Esquire's AR issue requires downloading software — Windows and Mac only.

Comments

That buzzing sound you hear....

[syousef]

...is Buzzword Compliance Magazine.

But it's still clunky and silly

[NoSleepDemon]

I fail to see what's so impressive about the magazine, they seem to have taken 'save PINs from bottle caps of Coke and enter them online to win!!' to a whole new silly level. Claiming that this is somehow augmented reality is ridiculous. Why would I want to buy a magazine and then hold it up to my PC? If I'm reading a magazine I don't have my PC handy, if I'm reading stuff on the web then I don't want to have my magazine handy. And I hear I have to download some spiffy software too? Why not just have the whole thing online? Ugh, this is almost as bad as when some tool decided to call Fear Factory's sound 'Terrorkore', almost, but not quite.

Re:But it's still clunky and silly

[Anonymous Coward]

Augmented Reality part is likely due to the fact that how you hold the thing in reality affects things as is viewed in the computer. It is clunky and silly, but this is still the beginning.

Baby steps, friend. Baby steps. The fact that media is slowly getting into this means we'll be getting a ton of funding. And the more funding, the faster it progresses.

Perhaps, in the future, we'll all have tiny monitors in glasses and all billboards, etc, will be flat and featureless. Depending on what programs we've got installed in our computer glasses, the ads will change. Some people will, of course, see nothing but the fact that you could sell infinite ad space on one billboard would probably be worth it.

The same could also go for magazines. You'd buy a yearly subscription and they'd send you a small tablet looking thing with an ir tag inbuilt. The tablet's ir tag would then be translated in our glasses to a magazine that changes monthly. Or so on. This is only the beginning!

Re:But it's still clunky and silly

[sexconker]

There's nothing impressive.

1: It's not augmented reality - it's a shitty flash site that scans a 2D barcode using your webcam and gives you some shitty ads and "content" deemed to shitty to go in the magazine proper.

2: Even if there WAS an aspect of augmented reality - augmented reality is shit. The ONLY area where augmented reality can ever be not shit is applying an overlay over a recorded image (or sound, I guess). Though this is only ever useful if it can be made completely dynamic.

Useful: A pair of glasses that tags the people in the board room with names and titles, since you can't be assed to remember their fucking names.

Useful: A car HUD that projects 2D tags on stuff as you drive by. That highway sign could have tags that always face you head on, with a larger font, etc. That gas station? Nobody buys premium - replace the whole price sign with the fucking cheapo price, so you can actually see it from far enough away to get off in time. Color code it based on prices further along your route, if one is planned. Again, the tag would always be facing you head on.

Useful: Headphones you lock onto your kids heads so you can swear all you want and have it get bleeped out. (Though I guess this would be more of a demented reality.)

Fun: Some games where characters dynamically react to real-world environs.

Shitty: Some games where characters simply appear with standard scripted animations as an overlay of a video of real-world environs (see that shitty PS3 card game).

Super shitty: Delivering fucking scripted ads based on real-world environs.

We're miles away from useful augmented reality, and we're going in the wrong direction. We're using it as a gate to shitty ad content, when it should be used to generate useful contextual content, or at least fun shit for games/porn.

Sounds like someone has never heard of . . .

[rev_sanchez]

a little periodical called High Times.

Re:Bah

[Interoperable]

I use Linux

You may not be in their target audience.

Re:sell:shoes,handbags,T-shirt,Jeans,sunglass

[Hamsterdan]

Now the fun begins...

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PunnyCode : coolforsale.com
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Updated Date : 2009-11-02 12:25:21
Expiration Date : 2010-11-02 12:24:27

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Administrative Contact:
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Technical Contact:
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    Address : lichengdadao
    City : putianshi
    Province/State : fujiansheng
    Country : china
    Postal Code : 351100
    Phone Number : 86-0594-5298858
    Fax : 86-0594-5298858
    Email : zminring@gmail.com

Billing Contact:
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Re:Bah

[apoc.famine]

I'm a 30 year old, college educated male. I'm seriously not their target audience?
 
I don't have a webcam. While I run linux, I have Windows and Mac available to me. But I'm still not going to download some random-ass application which requires a webcam to view whatever shit they are offering me.
 
If you're offering something other than The Internet, you damn well better have a FANTASTIC bit of information about how it benefits me. Esquire doesn't have that.

Download the software here to make Robert Downey Jr. pop to life on our cover and see other things in the magazine start talking and moving.

Really? That's your fucking hook? It's about a blowjob short of what I'd need to go for it. We have something called Flash which already does that. Tell me why again I need to download software for that?

This is not the Augmented Reality you're looking 4

[tomhudson]

Enjoying Esquire's AR issue requires downloading software -- Windows and Mac only

I use Linux, you insensitive clod!

It's LAME. Basically, it's some software that uses your webcam to recognize which page of the magazine you're holding up to the camera, and how the page is oriented - you're using the magazine as a mouse or pointer.

This is NOT "augmented reality" - it's print media going "OMFG I'M DYING HELP.Me.be.relevant.agggghhhhhh...." and FAILING!

This is about as "smart" an idea as the cue cat. Or for us really old farts, remember those weird graphics strips in PC Mag that you were supposed to scan in?

Why should I use a magazine as a controller? I'm going to look even stupider than the loon in the next cube with their light sabre.

Esquire jumps the shark, film at 11.

[tomhudson]

Actually, they're lying. Robert Downey Jr. doesn't come alive on their cover. You use their cover instead of the mouse. Orient it different ways and the image on your computer (not the dead-tree cover) moves.

If this is "augmented reality", a Wii+balance board+wimote+nunchuck is SuperDuperAugmentedReality. As an added bonus, with a Wii I don't have to look at Robert Downey Jr.

It's official, folks, Esquire has jumped the shark.

What does this have to do with augmented reality?

[Hurricane78]

Nothing. Period. Plain and simple.

As I work a bit in that field, I think I could define it like this:

If it's inside a computer, it's not reality. If it's happening in reality, it's not augmented. :)

What I see there, is him holding up the magazine, against what appears to be a camera with special software that reads the fancy bar code, and shows a silly animation of what a 70 year old guy from the last century would think is "this fancy virtual reality".

I wonder how that software got on there. And who turned on the camera and all that stuff? Veery "all by itself", those things...*cough*. ;)

It's basically just a normal feature detection combined with one of those completely pointless supposed-to-be-artsy Flash websites. And an old man of a dying industry, who, in his desperation to gain some attention from the youth, got beautifully ripped off by some guys on drugs.

I wouldn't hire those guys as augmented reality experts. I'd hire them as sales men, or perhaps con men. ^^

Re:Bah

[pmontra]

I belong to that cross section. Either I'm non-existent or your post has to be modded as flamebait or troll.

Whatever the case, Esquire made a mistake not using a technology that could be ported easily to any platform (Java?)