This year I once again had the privilege to attend WPP’s Stream, an unconference event hosted by Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, and Yossi Vardi. It was a month earlier than last year, which resulted in tropical weather. This contributed nicely to the event.

I like Stream because it is a very relaxed atmosphere where everyone is in shorts and flip flops, the egos are left at the door, and everyone is very open, willing to engage and share. For me it’s great to get an idea of what’s going on in the world of digital advertising. Almost all of WPP’s digital directors and managers are there, which is a lot, as WPP is one of the world’s biggest agencies. Next to that they bring their clients and partners. I get to talk to all parties in this ecosystem and learn from them.

A day at Stream has two parts. The first part, the daytime, is when workshops and discussions take place. I hosted a discussion on AR (see below for the learned insights and used demos). The second part is the evening program. Here everyone gathers in the Big Top (the main tent) for various entertaining activities. On Friday night it was time for the Ignite talks.

Ignite talk: Augmented Reality is the Great Equalizer

The format for the Ignite Talks was originally thought up by Tim O’Reilly. It’s a format where all can climb the stage and share an idea or vision, anything basically, as long as they adhere to the format: 15 slides that automatically forward every 15 seconds.

It was great to use this format to challenge myself to fit our vision about why Augmented Reality will be an important part of our life in the coming years, and what the effect will be, into only 5 minutes and 15 slides! Plus, the added pressure of being in the midst of other presenters like Esther Dyson, Andrew Keen and David Rowan. There is only one remedy for these situations, and that is to practice… and practice and practice (which i did). The presentation went well; people liked it. Anyway, the slides are below. Go here to see the transcript in a separate post.

Insights

The main insight that I gained from Stream is that Augmented Reality is about to break though with Vision. As soon as people see how it works, just holding a phone over an object or magazine page, they realize the potential. Readers, users, consumers, publishers, advertisers—everyone. As soon as they see it they get it, and start coming up with use cases themselves.

For Augmented Reality to break though, it’s important that large media titles as well as brands start adopting it in their work. That’s the way for the public to get acquainted with it. They will help and show that it’s worth doing by offering a valuable experience. I especially think magazines and newspapers will play a big roll initially. They know content and also have a great existing channel and audience.

Another learning, and advantage for publishers and brands to use Augmented Reality, is its short lead time and no need to change original assets. Packaging doesn’t need to be altered to add an experience on top of it. The Augmented Reality experience can be added later and much more quickly than it takes to produce the packaging itself or the article. For example, the poster campaign mentioned below was developed in less than a week.

Layar Vision Demos

I brought several demonstrations with me in the form of posters as shown below. If you have a beta build (Android only) of the Layar Browser then look for “Stream11” and hold it over the poster to experience it.

For those who don’t have the beta: with the girl you can try out several pick-up lines to get her attention. You see this when you hold your phone up to the poster. You can scroll though the pick up lines and try them out with different results.

The Lolcat poster had a lot of success. Everyone likes them 8-). In this demo you again just hold up your phone over the poster and see several options: share the cute cat love with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, watch a cute cat video, donate to a cat cause and… (yes the best one is the last) give the cat laser eyes!

Many thanks to WPP, the Stream team and all who were there. It was a great weekend!

Maarten Lens-FitzGerald
twitter.com/dutchcowboy

Below are the slides and the transcript of the Ignite talk Maarten Lens-FitzGerald gave at this year’s WPP Stream event (read what else he did, in his own words, here).

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Big news for all you Creation Challenge participants! After we opened the Challenge for submissions recently, we had such a strong response from developers needing more time to build their Vision concepts that we have decided to extend the submission deadline until September 29!

This means you now have two more weeks to turn your Vision concept into a reality! It also means that if you haven’t entered the Challenge yet, you now have enough time to jump in and get crackin’ on your idea!

You’ll want to use this additional time wisely by taking in all the Layar Vision tips you can through our tutorials and sample code as well as the following new resources we’ve created to help you!

Don’t forget about the Introduction to Layar Vision webinar this Friday; it will be especially helpful for developers who are considering entering the Challenge!

Last week we hosted a webinar to help developers with their concepts for the Creation Challenge. We had such a great response from new developers, brands and others who were interested but not yet in the Challenge that we decided to host another webinar for everyone who wants to know more about Layar Vision!

We will be holding our Introduction to Layar Vision webinar this Friday, September 9, at 5pm Amsterdam time (CEST). Both Veteran Layar developers and brand new Layar developers are invited to attend for concept inspiration and use case examples, as are brand managers or others who are considering an augmented reality element within their mobile application.

You don’t have to be part of the Creation Challenge (or even know how to develop a layer) to join the webinar, you just need to be interested. Sign up now!

On the first Thursday of the month, Layar hosts Augmented Reality Thursday (ART) at our headquarters here in Amsterdam. The objective of this monthly event is to inspire and update people about the current field of Augmented Reality and Layar’s position within it. 

Next to that, we want to connect developers, publishers, brands and (of course) our employees to exchange stories, visions and ideas. 

The setting is very informal (so NO chairs, long presentations or tea-breaks), and the event is free (plus, we supply the beer, wine and snacks) so it’s always a lot of fun! 

We took a short break from hosting ART this summer while bearing down on some exciting new projects, but we’re back with a vengeance on September 1!

Speaking of those “exciting projects,” this coming ART features an introduction by Layar Co-founder and General Manager Maarten Lens-FitzGerald as well as a presentation about the new Layar Vision beta from our R&D department’s Michael Hofmann. Also, just added to the lineup, ARtist Sander Veenhof will showcase one of his new projects, Augmentizer, that he recently introduced at the Lowlands Festival. Come check out the demos, ask questions, and tell us what you think!

After this (as we don’t like to hear ourselves talk and are very curious to hear what you are working on), we’ll resume asking the community to give a short presentation or two each month. If you’d like to present at one of our ART events, please drop us an email at events@layar.com. 

Cool demos, free booze and a chance to make some great connections—what are you waiting for?? RSVP now!