Augmented Reality for Marketers and Developers: Analysis of the Leaders, the Challenges and the Future

Augmented Reality for
Marketers and Developers:
Analysis of the Leaders, the
Challenges and the Future

Written by Chris Cameron

Contents
What you’ll find in this report 2

Part 1: The AR Market Defined 3
What is Augmented Reality? 4
The Current Market Environment 5
Key Players in the Augmented Reality Market 7

Part 2: AR Supplier Profiles 8
AR Supplier Matrix 9
AR Developer Profiles 10
metaio 11
Total Immersion 14
Zugara 17
Layar 19
acrossair 21
Mobilizy 23
Tonchidot 25
Seac02 27
Inition 29
Presselite 31

Part 3: AR Implementation Lessons Learned 33
Survey: Mobile Augmented Reality 34
Survey: Webcam Augmented Reality 37

ReadWriteWeb Findings & Conclusions 40

ReadWriteWeb | Augmented Reality | 1

What you’ll find in this report
This report is divided into three basic parts.

PART 1:
The AR Market Defined – provides a succinct introduction to Augmented Reality (AR), its history,
current size, how fast it is scaling and key players in the market.

PART 2:
AR Supplier Profiles – profiles 10 leading companies specializing in the development of Augmented
Reality applications for their clients.

PART 3:
Summarizes results of a survey of AR developers providing insight on key controversies in the field,
project requirements, cost categories and duration of development.

We believe that this survey of experienced developers has unearthed some information about AR
implementations you won’t be able to get anywhere else.

• How important is it for companies to use existing AR browsers as opposed to building their own
stand-alone mobile AR apps?
• Hidden costs associated with AR app development.
• Developer experience requirements for AR app development.
• Timeline for development of AR apps.
• Total cost and cost break down for developing a Webcam AR project.
• When live video processing will be enabled on popular mobile phones? This is critical for the next
stage of AR because it will allow for apps that are responsive to what’s actually being looked at
instead of just what’s expected to be in a given location.

2 | ReadWriteWeb | Augmented Reality

What is Augmented Reality?
The term “augmented reality” was coined in 1992 by Boeing
aircraft manufacturing researcher Thomas Preston Caudell.
Caudell used the phrase to describe the head-mounted-
displays (HMDs) the company was using to aid in the assembly
and installation of electrical wiring. In the years that followed,
AR was primarily an experimental technology researched at
universities across the globe.

In 1999, Hirokazu Kato of the Human Interface
Technology Lab at the University of Washington
released the ARToolKit, a software library for
developing AR applications, which provided
the foundation for many of the first practical AR
applications. The release of the library opened
the door for widespread use and development
of augmented reality applications under the
toolkit’s non-commercial license.

ARToolKit allows a camera to track a 2D marker,
such as a sequence of simple black and white
squares, so that 3D digital models can be
displayed on a screen in real time. ARToolKit was
A 2004 photo of a heads up display inside an FA-18 Hornet in flight.
ported onto the Adobe Flash platform in 2009
(Public domain)
under the name FLARToolKit, which has been a
major catalyst in the evolution of AR. Additional variations include SLARToolKit (Microsoft’s SilverLight)
and NyARToolkit (Java/Android/C#/ActionScript3/C++).

In the last two years, in correlation with the rapid growth of smartphones, a new breed of augmented
reality has entered the marketplace. Mobile AR applications allow users to hold up their phone and see
a heads up display-style AR image of data associated with their local surroundings.

The technology works by synchronizing sensor input from the phone’s global positioning system
(GPS) chip, digital compass and accelerometers. Using the images captured from the camera as a
background, the applications then places icons on the screen positioned relative to where the user is
standing and facing.


Popular applications provide point-of-interest (POI) data for locations such as restaurants, subway
stations and banks, along with geo-tagged virtual objects like Wikipedia articles, photos and Twitter
posts. This newer field of AR is quickly expanding to provide an immersive and interactive platform for
local advertising. Development of more advanced mobile AR technology continues as well, including
markerless tracking and live mobile video processing.

The Current Market Environment
In 2008, augmented reality debuted on analyst firm Gartner’s Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies on
the steep incline of the primary stage. At that time, Gartner estimated that it would take more than 10
years before AR would see “mainstream adoption.” In 2009, however, Gartner moved AR up the cycle’s
slope to a within a close proximity of the “Peak of Inflated Expectation” and updated mainstream
adoption estimate to “5 to 10 years.”


AR production is a fast-growing market that includes a number of large, experienced development
shops and many small new entrants. The market is dominated by two international companies serving
big brands: France and L.A.’s Total Immersion, and Germany and San Francisco’s metiao.

The following points provide context around the current growth state and potential size of the
AR market.

• Potential consumers of AR apps include 25 million iPhone owners, 7 million Android owners
(possibly 440m+ Nokia owners someday), all consumers with webcam-enabled personal computers
and anyone who visits a public place where an AR kiosk could be displayed.

• Augmented reality developers estimate that at least 400 webcam AR marketing campaigns were
built last year, and that number is expected to increase this year.

• The number of stand-alone mobile AR apps available is growing quickly as well. There was a 50%
increase in stand-alone mobile AR apps in the iTunes App Store (up to 230) in the two months from mid-
December through mid-February alone. There are 53 AR apps in the much smaller Android Market.

• Mobile browser Layar said in mid-February 2010 that 375 data sets have been published on the Layar
platform and there may be as many as 100 other data sets published on other mobile browsers.

ReadWriteWeb Finding ReadWriteWeb estimates that more than 1,100 stand-alone AR apps and data
sets on AR browsers were published in the last year. There were more stand-alone apps built than data
sets published on AR browser platforms.

Above: North Kingdom and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners made this marker-based, webcam AR demonstration of windmills for
electrical power generation. It’s fun to turn it around in your hand and blow on the propellers. Neither of these companies are
profiled in this report.


Key Players in the Augmented Reality Market
The ten companies profiled in this report have worked with a substantial number and variety of clients,
including at least 24 of the 150 largest companies in the world by revenue. Most of those projects have
been stand-alone webcam augmented reality projects, be they for personal computer or public kiosk.

Among the 150 largest companies in the world, by revenue, the following have employed at least one
of our featured augmented reality development companies.
Toyota Microsoft Sony
BMW Chrysler ING
EADS Boeing CVS Caremark
Daimler Societe Generale Samsung
General Motors Nissan Motors Fiat
Peugeot Renault Johnson & Johnson
Siemens AG Saint-Gobain Hyundai Kia Automotive Group
Volkswagen Group Saudi Aramco Samsung Group


LAST ANNUAL CEO’S
MOBILE/ REVENUE NUMBER OF EDUCATIONAL
NAME WEBCAM FOUNDED LOCATIONS REPORTED BIG CLIENTS AR PROJECTS EMPLOYEES BACKGROUND

METAIO both 2003 Munich, San $5.7 million LEGO, Toyota, BMW, all 50+ Engineering
Francisco, Seoul many others
TOTAL primarily 1999 Suresnes, France, $10 million Chrysler, Intel, SAP, TOPPS was most 70+ Finance
IMMERSION but not LA, London, Hong Microsoft, many notable
exclusively Kong others
webcam
and kiosk
ZUGARA webcam 2001 Culver City, CA $6.8 million Non AR marketing: Webcam social 30+ Marketing
Toyota, Reebok, Sony shopper
Pictures, Hasboro,
Atari
LAYAR mobile AR 2009/ Amsterdam n/a but McDonalds, Mazda, Layar mobile AR 15+ Marketing
browser 2008 venture ING and other browser on Android
backed corporate data sets and iPhone
published
ACROSSAIR mobile AR 2008/ London, NY, ¬£200,000 Stella Artois, Beck’s, Acrossair browser, 6 IT
browser 2001 Mumbai (before most FedEx and other data TVGuideUK, Nearest
and apps high-profile sets published Wiki, Nearest Places,
deals) Nearest Tube,
Twitter AR and
many others
MOBILIZY mobile AR 2008 Salzburg, Austria n/a Lonely Planet, Ogilvy Wikitude AR 10+ Computer
browser browser, Wimbledon Science
and apps IBM Seer
TONCHIDOT mobile AR 2008 Tokyo $300,000 Sekai Camera 9+ Philosophy
browser + venture
backing
SEAC02 webcam 2003 Turin, Italy $1.8 million Prada, Samsung, Fiat, 15+ Aerospace
and kiosk AR and VR Engineering
INITION webcam 2001 London, Melbourne n/a BMW, Toyota, BBC, Magic Symbol 30+ Computer
and kiosk others Science


AR Developer Profiles
The following are brief profiles of the companies we
believe to be the top 10 augmented reality development
shops in the world. For each company you’ll find background
information and a summary of its work, as well as quotes
from founders on the future of the company. The companies,
individuals and clients in these profiles did not pay to be
included; they were chosen because of the significant role
they play in AR development.


metaio
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: Unifeye (software platform), Junaio (iPhone Application/Social Network)
MAJOR CLIENTS: LEGO, Toyota, BMW, Adidas
OTHER CLIENTS: Audi, Bosch, EADS, Daimler, Flensburger, GM, KMW, Kuka, MAN, Peugeot, Siemens,
Volkswagen, arsEdition, Bertelsmann, DNP, duo schreib & speil, Neue Digitale / Razorfish,
SHD, ICESTORM, Fraunhofer Gesellchaft, Technical University Munich, Lego, Popular
Science, Focus Features, Universal, Microsoft, Xcel Energy, Veronica Magazine
OFFICIAL NAME: metaio GmbH
CEO/FOUNDER: Thomas Alt, CEO (PhD in Engineering)
HEADQUARTERS: Munich, Germany
OTHER OFFICES: San Francisco, CA; Seoul, South Korea
LATEST ANNUAL $5.7 million (Company declined to confirm but said it was bootstrapped and had been
REVENUE: profitable for the last several years.)
FOUNDED: 2003
WEBSITE: http://www.metaio.com/
EMPLOYEES: 50+

Above: metaio made an AR game out of shoes for Adidas


OVERVIEW AND ANALYSIS
Founded in 2003 by Dr. Thomas Alt and Peter Meier, Munich-based metaio is one of the most
successful commercial vendors of AR products. After researching AR while working at Volkswagen,
Alt started metaio with Meier, a fellow Technische Universität München graduate. The pair funded
the company with €25,000 won in a business plan competition and have bootstrapped the company
without outside capital ever since.

In December 2008, metaio and BMW created the first major commercial augmented-reality
advertisement to be accessed on a user’s personal computer instead of a public kiosk display. It was
an interactive magazine advertisement that displayed a 3D model of the BMW MINI that readers could
rotate to look at.

Thomas Alt, metaio CEO, on the surprising success of the BMW MINI campaign1.

“ To be honest with you, being from research and doing all fancy engineering
type augmented reality systems, I really didn’t believe in this application.
I said, ‘Who would ever do that? Read a magazine, then go to a web
address, turn on his webcam to see the new product?’ [...] If you look it up
on YouTube, you have 450,000 users seeing user-generated content where
people actually film themselves with the little MINI in their hands in front of
a webcam.”
The company’s other major clients include LEGO, Toyota, Popular Science, Microsoft and Universal. The
applications metaio has built for these various clients are built on their AR software platform Unifeye,
which it offers in three versions - for large public implementations, for personal computer-based use,
and for mobile. The desktop version of the software is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh
operating systems, and the mobile version is compatible with the iPhone and Android operating
systems with plans to include the Symbian OS soon. In February of 2010, metaio launched the Unifeye
Mobile Software Development Kit, which allows developers to quickly and easily create mobile AR
experiences with their software.

In 2009, the company released junaio, an application for the Apple iPhone that they say is the “world’s
first social AR platform.” In fact, Mobilizy’s Wikitude was commercially available prior to junaio and also
contains user generated content but is more limited in content type. Users of the application can use
junaio to take photographs, insert 3D models into the scene and share their creation on the junaio
network, or on other networks like Facebook and Twitter.

1 http://nvidia.fullviewmedia.com/GPU2009/1001-cupertino-metaio.html


The data that is transferred using the Unifeye software can be encrypted. However, it must be set
up manually before the data is sent and received unlike other software platforms that automatically
encrypt information. The software also lacks support for facial tracking and Maya models, two features
metaio says are in the product’s roadmap for the future.

Metaio boasts more than 400 partners and clients and 50 pending patents. The company says that
60% of its work is developed in-house, while the remainder is licensed work through its Unifeye software
platform.

Other links:
http://www.slideshare.net/jwilker/metaio-mobile-augmented-reality


Total Immersion
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: D’Fusion (software platform).
MAJOR CLIENTS: TOPPS, K’NEX, Chrysler
OTHER CLIENTS: Air France, Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Avaiation, EADS, Eurocopter, Snecma SAFRAN Group,
Le Credit Lyinnais, Societe Generale, BBC, CBS, CNN, France 2, TV Asahi, BMW, GM, Infiniti,
Mazda, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Intel, Microsoft, SAP, Alstom, Schneider Electric, SNCF,
BRC, Europa Park, Futuroscope, Six Flags, Beneteau, FedEx, Gallimard, MEDEF, Saint-
Gobain, Saudi Aramco, SFR, Sony, Nike, Coca Cola, Paramount, Universal.
OFFICIAL NAME: Total Immersion
CEO/FOUNDER: Bruno Uzzan, Founder/CEO (Masters in Finance)
HEADQUARTERS: Suresnes, France
OTHER OFFICES: Los Angeles, CA; London, UK; Hong Kong, CN
LAST REPORTED $10 million
ANNUAL REVENUE:
FOUNDED: 1999
WEBSITE: http://www.t-immersion.com/
EMPLOYEES: 70+

Above: Total Immersion’s live 3D AR baseball game for TOPPS baseball cards


Brunno Uzzan, a former financial consultant, and Valentin Lefevre, an experienced simulation
designer, founded Total Immersion in 1999, making it one of the first augmented reality development
studios in the world. Throughout its 11-year history, Total Immersion has been at the forefront of
augmented reality innovation, bringing some of the first browser based AR solutions to market, as
well as developing the first implementation of markerless tracking (MLT) in 2004. The company’s
earliest clients, mainly in the automotive industry, first used AR to reduce simulation costs, but Total
Immersion has since switched focus to more forward-facing customer-oriented applications. Today,
Total Immersion is the clear leader in the augmented reality space with 260 projects and $10 million in
revenue in 2009 alone.

In early February of 2008, Total Immersion produced one of the first major commercial rollouts of
augmented reality advertising when they teamed up with Infiniti to present an interactive kiosk at
a roadshow that took place in major U.S. cities. By holding up different automobile brochures to a
camera, users could see a car displayed on a screen that they could then interact with by moving and
rotating the brochure.

Over the past decade, Total Immersion has expanded their client base beyond their early partners to
include retail, publishing, entertainment and technology companies. In March of 2009 they produced
interactive baseball cards for cardmaker TOPPS, which allowed users to view 3D animated models
of the players on the card via the webcams on their home computers. The users could interact with
the models, playing various games by moving the cards. The company has also grown beyond its
headquarters outside of Paris to locations in Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong.

Founder and CEO Bruno Uzzan on the company’s expansion to the United States:

“ Our first American subsidiary marks an important new phase in the global
growth of the company; it will enable us to be in close proximity to a
majority of U.S. players and key decision makers.”
Total Immersion builds its AR applications on top of its proprietary software platform, D’Fusion. Like
other AR platforms, D’Fusion has a number of versions for different uses. The deployment versions
include D’Fusion Pro for large installations such as kiosks, D’Fusion @Home for consumer use with
personal computers, and D’Fusion mobile for mobile location-aware applications. Total Immersion also
offers D’Fusion Studio, which is used to design the AR applications before deployment. Licensed work
makes up a significant portion of the company’s work, with 60 partners that develop AR content in 70
countries using their licensed software.

Total Immersions claims to be the first AR development studio to implement markerless tracking,
doing so in 2004. Markerless tracking allows a camera to track an object without the need of a specific
marker, barcode or glyph. Total Immersion’s markerless technology allows any 2D design, such as a
print advertisement or a baseball card, to serve as the marker, and can recognize the design even if it is
partially obscured either by the user’s hand or by any other obstacle.


The company’s software platform is currently compatible with both Macintosh and Windows on the
desktop and Symbian on mobile phones with plans to include the iPhone and Android operating
systems soon. In September of 2009, Total Immersion announced it would be partnering with fellow
French AR studio Int13 to improve its mobile AR solutions. With massive campaigns for corporate
giants like McDonald’s and Coke reaching hundreds of millions of viewers, Total Immersion’s products
have proven their robustness and further cement the company’s position as the worldwide leader in
augmented reality.


Zugara
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: ZugAR, ZugMO, ZugSTAR, Webcam Social Shopper
MAJOR CLIENTS: Reebok, Toyota, Hasbro, Atari, Sony Pictures (non-AR solutions)
OTHER CLIENTS: Tobi (online clothing boutique using Zugara’s AR)
OFFICIAL NAME: Zugara Inc.
CEO/FOUNDER: Matthew Szymczyk, Director/CEO (Marketing)
HEADQUARTERS: Culver City, CA
OTHER OFFICES: N/A
LAST REPORTED $6.8 million
ANNUAL REVENUE:
FOUNDED: 2001
WEBSITE: http://www.zugara.com/
EMPLOYEES: 30+

Above: Zugara is developing an API to power AR overlays in video conferencing


California-based Zugara is a relatively new player in the augmented reality space but the company has
years of experience with digital interactive marketing. Founded by Matt Szymczyk in 2001, Zugara has
provided non-AR solutions for Reebok, Toyota, Hasbro, Atari, Sony Pictures and many more.

Zugara made its first foray into AR with the release of the Webcam Social Shopper in June of 2009, which
is currently being used by the fashion site Tobi.com as the “Fashionista Augmented Reality Application”.
The app allows visitors to the site to use their webcams to virtually try on various articles of clothing by
holding up an AR marker in front of their bodies. The users can then use their hands to navigate between
items of clothing, change the color and take a picture to share with friends on Facebook.

That application makes use of two of Zugara’s augmented reality software development kits (SDKs)
- ZugAR, which works with the marker to place the models of the clothing on the video, and ZugMO,
which follows the user’s motions to control the navigation of the application. The company has also
developed a third SDK, ZugSTAR, which couples the virtual dressing room of the Webcam Social
Shopper with a video conferencing application so that users can share AR experiences with each other
in real time.

Zugara CEO Mathew Szymczyk on the public reception of the Webcam Social Shopper from an
interview on AugmentPro.com2

“ I think most people were surprised to see a utility-based AR application
as those seem to be very few and far between right now. Social Media
Integration and Utility were two key components of the Webcam Social
Shopper and this allowed people to see how these emerging technologies
could be integrated together and used effectively in an online retail
experience. Even though this application has been called a virtual dressing
room or fitting room, it’s more about replicating the offline shopping
experience when you’re at the rack, holding apparel up to yourself, and
soliciting feedback from friends or family.”
Zugara’s ZugMO SDK is also seen in the company’s Flash game, Cannonballz. The game uses the
motion capture from the ZugMO SDK to allow the user to control the game with gestures, similar to
the highly anticipated Project Netal technology expected from Microsoft this fall.

So far, Zugara has not produced any AR content for mobile devices, only for browser-based Flash
applications using a webcam.

2 http://augmentpro.com/zugara-ceo-interview-tobi-com-fashionista-augmented-reality-app/
http://weareorganizedchaos.com/index.php/2009/06/23/zugara-launches-online-shopping-app-utilizing-augmented-reality-
and-motion-capture/
http://weareorganizedchaos.com/index.php/2009/08/12/zugaras-first-webcam-based-augmented-reality-flash-game-utilizes-its-
proprietary-motion-capture-technology/
http://www.slideshare.net/MHSzymczyk/zugara-sime-2009-stockholm-presentation-augmented-reality


Layar
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: Layar (Open mobile AR browser)
SAMPLE DATA SETS PUBLISHED TO PLATFORM: Yellow Pages, McDonalds, Mazda, Yelp, BrightKite, ING, Hyves,
Trulia, C1000, Newbury St, HBSC ATM, TNT, OSM, UDR, Idealista,
RedBull, Foursquare, Iens
OFFICIAL NAME: Formerly known as SPRXmobile
CEO/FOUNDER: Raimo Van der Klein (Marketing)
HEADQUARTERS: Amsterdamn, The Netherlands
OTHER OFFICES: N/A
LAST REPORTED ANNUAL REVENUE: N/A
FOUNDED: 2009 (SPRXMobile founded 2008)
WEBSITE: http://www.layar.com/
EMPLOYEES: 15+

Formed in 2009 as an offshoot of mobile-creative-
services provider SPRXmobile, Layar has quickly
vaulted itself to the forefront of the augmented
reality community with its wildly popular Layar
browser mobile application. The Amsterdam-based
company was co-founded by Raimo van der Klein,
Claire Boonstra and Maarten Lens-FitzGerald and
employs a small team of developers located around
the globe.

Layar, which first launched in the Netherlands
in June of 2009, is a free mobile application that
allows users to view geo-located points of interest
(POI) on their phones in a 3D heads up view using
their phone’s built-in camera. Developers can use
Layar’s API to create layers of specific content, such
as (but certainly not limited to) ATM locations,
historical landmarks and restaurants.

The application launched worldwide on phones
running the Google Android operating system in
August of 2009, and quickly gained popularity with


over 75,000 downloads within its first three weeks of availability3. Layar has said it began developing
on the Android operating system because it’s an easier platform to develop for than other alternatives4.

In October of that year, Layar launched on the iPhone, quickly broadening its popularity. Just two
months later, the company announced it was withdrawing the application from the iPhone App Store
because of frequent reports of crashes.

Regardless of this setback, Layar has still held its position among the best of the AR browsers available
on mobile phones today. According to a February 2010 press release, more than 2,000 developers have
begun working with the Layar API, creating 375 data layers with over 1,200 more in development.

Layar co-founder Claire Boonstra on the opportunities Layar is creating for businesses large and small
to better reach their on-the-go consumers:

“ In the longer term it is very important for companies to be where the
consumer is – literally out there in the real world. You can be present on the
Internet, but if the consumer is somewhere in the street looking for a movie,
a pizza, a game, an ATM, you have to have a presence in reality so that the
consumer can locate you.5”
Layar re-released its iPhone application in March of 2010. Apps for the Symbian (Nokia) and Windows
Mobile operating systems are scheduled for release by year’s end, if not sooner. Because of Layar’s
open API, there are multiple ways for a company to publish content onto their own layer within the
application. Some companies publish their content to the Layar platform while others have selected
third-party developers to do that work for them.

Web-based services such as buildAR allow users to manually add geo-location data for their POIs,
which the service can then create a layer from, helping the user avoid all the dirty work. Other third-
party studios, like Muzar and Winvolve, have begun offering Layar POI development to their clients
looking to grow their presence in the augmented reality world.

Developers working with Layar content have begun to find truly unqiue uses for augmented reality.
In Japan, musician Sedda released a new single on Layar that would play when fans of the musician
traveled to within a specific location - in many ways an augmented reality scavenger hunt. Layar
itself has developed what it calls “experience domes”, a virtual AR bubble that when entered by the
user, visually and sonically transports them to another place. Layar is clearly on the cutting edge of
developing new ways for AR to enhance our everyday lives.

3 http://www.marketingfacts.nl/berichten/interview_raimo_van_der_klein_over_layar_update_madanmohan_rao/
4 http://econsultancy.com/blog/4274-q-a-claire-boonstra-co-founder-of-layar
5 http://mobihealthnews.com/4048/interview-layar-augmented-reality-and-wireless-healthcare/
http://techfluff.tv/2009/11/02/the-future-of-augmented-reality-an-interview-with-claire-boonstra-layar/


acrossair
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: Acrossair Browser (Closed mobile AR browser)
OTHER PRODUCTS: TVGuideUK, Nearest Wiki, Nearest Places, Nearest Tube, Twitter AR,
NY Subway, Barcelona Metro, Chicago Transit, SF Transit, Madrid
Metro, Washington Metro, Paris Metro, Tokyo Subway, Fruitloons,
Virus Killer 360, PhotosAR, Movember, WorkSnug London
MAJOR CLIENTS (BROWSER CATEGORIES): Stella Artois, Beck’s, FedEx, McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks, Ace
Hardware, CVS, Walgreens,
OTHER CLIENTS:
OFFICIAL NAME: acrossair
CEO/FOUNDER: Chetan Damani, Co-Founder/CEO (IT)
HEADQUARTERS: London, UK
OTHER OFFICES: New York, NY; Mumbai, India
LAST REPORTED ANNUAL REVENUE: £200,000 (Before browser partner deals)
FOUNDED: 2008 (Spun out of marketing agency Imano, founded 2001)
WEBSITE: acrossair.com
EMPLOYEES: 6

Much like how Layar formed from SPRXmobile, London-based
acrossair is an offshoot of Imano, an e-commerce and online
marketing firm. Imano founder and acrossair CEO Chetan Damani
formed the new company as a mobile application development
studio for augmented reality, gaming and data-intensive iPhone
apps. In 2009, acrossair released over a dozen iPhone applications
making use of AR technologies, most of which were based around
public transportation for specific cities.

By far its biggest splash came with the release of Nearest Tube,
an app that directs users in London to the nearest subway station
using heads up augmented reality display techniques. In short,
the user can hold their phone up and the application points them
in the direction of various subway stations nearby. The company
also released similar AR applications for viewing nearby photos,
Tweets and Wikipedia articles but eventually rolled them together
into the all-in-one acrossair browser in late December of 2009.


The browser allows users to select from various categories of geo-located AR data to search for nearby
locations. Some corporate brands like FedEx, Subway, Walgreens and Starbucks have already published
location data onto the acrossair browser. Alternatively, users can search by other pre-defined
categories using Google, Yelp or Qype, a London-based, Yelp-like service.

Other special categories allow users to search for third-party data, such as photographs from Flickr or
Panoramio, messages on Twitter, and articles from Wikipedia. There is also a handy application that
allows users to drop an AR marker when they park their car, making the process of hunting down your
car in a crowded parking lot much easier.

AR browsers like acrossair’s represent an interesting shift in how people find their way around. Instead
of the “head down” method of looking at a 2D map, users are able to get directions and information in
an immersive “heads up” fashion.

Chetan Damani, acrossai founder and CEO, on how AR is going to revolutionize the way we find our
way around in the near future:

“ It’s really picking up now because of the devices. AR provides a much more
intuitive interface to viewing mapping data, and the one thing that the
Internet era has taught us is that the interface drives interest6 [...] Traditional
maps can be tough to follow as they are in 2D. What we wanted to create
was something which was based on real life. By using the sensors inside the
iPhone we were able to superimpose Tube map locations on to the display7.”
Acrossair’s applications are currently only available for the iPhone, but the company has plans to port
the apps over to Android and other phone operating systems. Unlike Layar, acrossair does not offer
a public API for outside developers to create content for the browser. Instead, interested parties can
contact acrossair and submit their geo-tagged data that the company will insert into the browser.

The company says it does plan on opening a public API in 2010, but can today integrate any other
API to pull in data in two days. The next version of the browser will include support for 10 additional
languages, and the company says it plans to pursue extensive cross-promotion with data publishing
partners. Acrossair says its service has only soft-launched and is so far being used between 15,000 and
20,000 times each day around the world.

6 http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/15/augmented-reality-smartphone -- Chetan Damani
7 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23717390-iphone-that-shows-you-the-closest-tube.do -- Chetan
http://digital.venturebeat.com/2009/07/10/augmented-reality-subway-finding-app-comes-to-ny-sf/
http://www.augmentedplanet.com/2009/11/augmented-reality-in-one-hour/


Mobilizy
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: Wikitude World Browser, Wikitude Drive
OTHER PRODUCTS: Lonely Planet Tour Guides
MAJOR CLIENTS: Lonely Planet
OTHER CLIENTS:
OFFICIAL NAME: Mobilizy GmbH
CEO/FOUNDER: Philipp Breuss-Schneeweis, Founder/CEO (Computer Science)
HEADQUARTERS: Salzburg, Austria
OTHER OFFICES: N/A
FOUNDED: 2008
WEBSITE: mobilizy.com
EMPLOYEES: 10+

Founded in 2008 by Philipp Breuss-
Schneeweis, Mobilizy is one of
the earliest developers of mobile
augmented reality apps. The Austria-
based company released one of the
very first mobile AR browsers, the
Wikitude World Browser, in October
of 2008 on the Andorid operating
system and on Symbian shortly
thereafter.

Like other AR browsers, Wikitude
displays geo-tagged information as
icons displayed in the user’s field of view when they hold their mobile phone in their field of vision.
Wikitude brands itself as an AR tour guide, and uses Wikipedia to present information about landmarks
and POI in the user’s immediate area. Initial iterations of the application included mostly data pulled
from Wikipedia, hence the name Wikitude. Recently, however, the app has opened access to more
content called “Worlds”, such as Google Local Search, Twitter and YouTube. Commercial data, such as
BestBuy and Walmart locations, is available now also.

In an effort to become the de-facto mobile AR platform, Mobilizty offers an open API for Wikitude that
allows developers to incorporate the browser into their own applications. The company also provides


custom white-label solutions so that brands looking to have their own AR application quickly and
easily can do so without hiring their own developers.

Another arm of the Wikitude product line is Wikitude.me, which provides an online interface for users
to add their own POI to Mobilizy’s databases. For bulk uploads, the site also accepts KML files, like
those created using Google Earth. Mobilizy also offers Wikitude Drive, an AR turn-by-turn navigation
application.

Since its release, the Wikitude Browser has been downloaded over 300,000 times across Android,
Symbian and iPhone devices, making it the most successful mobile AR application to date. Mobilizy
says approximately 1.5 million POI requests are sent to their servers each week, and this number is
sure to grow. The company says in the first six months, Wikitude was downloaded over 85,000 times. In
comparison, Wikitude is growing at a much slower rate than Layar, which achieved 75,000 downloads
in just three weeks. Whereas Layar comes from a marketing background and is thus very good at
marketing itself, Mobilizy does not come from a marketing background and is not as good.

In addition to attempting to create the go-to platform for mobile AR applications, Mobilizy has
proposed to the Augmented Reality Consortium that a universal Augmented Reality Markup Language
(ARML) be used across browsers to interpret location data. This is an early effort to create standards to
aid the growth the AR community. ARML would be to AR browsers as HTML is to websites, and the AR
community is striving to avoid browser compatibly issues - the likes of which the HTML community has
struggled with for years.

From an innovation-centric perspective, Mobilizy probably has the most open commercial platform
offering among leading companies in this space, Acrossair has the least open, and Layar is somewhere
in between.

Other links:
http://www.slideshare.net/wikitude/mobilizy-wikitude-info
http://www.slideshare.net/momonorway/the-future-is-agumented
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqAPtreU-8o


Tonchidot
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: Sekai Camera
OTHER PRODUCTS: Sekai Camera eX
MAJOR CLIENTS: LEOWE
OTHER CLIENTS: Kyoto International Magna Museusm, Cite des Sciences et de
l’Industrie
OFFICIAL NAME: Tonchidot Corporation
CEO/FOUNDER: Takahito Iguchi (Philosophy)
HEADQUARTERS: Tokyo, Japan
OTHER OFFICES: Gifu, Japan (R&D Center)
LATEST REPORTED ANNUAL REVENUE: $300,000 (Has raised additional institutional funding)
FOUNDED: 2008
WEBSITE: tonchidot.com
EMPLOYEES: 9+

Japan-based Tonichidot was one of the first
companies to demo an augmented reality
application for mobile phones when they debuted
their product Sekai Camera at the September
2008 TechCrunch 50 event. Language barriers and
short answers from Tonchidot CEO Takahito Iguchi
lead some at the event to question whether or
not the technology was actually real or not, but
in September of the following year, the company
released in Japan the Sekai Camera for the iPhone.

Sekai Camera is similar to mobile AR browsers like Wikitude and Layar in that it displays geo-tagged
information in the user’s field of view using the camera on their mobile phone. Users can create what
is called an “AirTag” anywhere they go in the form of text, a photo, or an audio recording that can be
viewed by other users of the application.

The company has said it plans to focus on gaming, virtual goods and marketing on the platform. CEO
and founder Iguchi was trained in philosophy and is a very dynamic figure.

The Sekai Camera application was downloaded over 100,000 times within just four days of its release
in Japan, which Tonchidot claims represents 10% of the iPhone market in the country. According to


Tonchidot, the application was awarded Best App of 2009 by Apple Japan, and was nominated for
“Best Mobile App” at the 2009 Crunchies. In December of 2009, Sekai Camera was launched worldwide
in the App Store for iPhone users. Iguchi demoed an Android version of the app in March of 2009, but a
release has not appeared in the Android marketplace so far.

Tonchidot CEO Takahito Iguchi on Sekai Camera:

“ Sekai Camera is social, and so much fun! It is serendipity here and now.
Sekai Camera will become a platform for new games, entertainment and
communication. We are collaborating with many partners to create fun
content. So please, join us!”
In addition to their consumer iPhone App, Tonchidot also provides a white-label corporate solution
called Sekai Camera eX. It has already been used by Asian and European companies, such as the
fashion label LEOWE, the Kyoto International Manga Mueum, and the Cite des Sciences et de
l’Industrie.

In December of 2009, Tonchidot raised $4 million in venture funding from DCM (backers of About.
com, Sling Media, Bittorrent, RockYou and more) and Itochu Technology Ventures (which usually backs
enterprise and hardware companies).

Other links:
http://www.sekaicamera.com/
http://www.techcrunch50.com/2008/presenter.php?presenter=71
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/08/tonchidot-sekai-camera-funding/


Seac02
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: Eligo
OTHER PRODUCTS: Linceo VR
MAJOR CLIENTS: Prada, Samsung, Fiat
OTHER CLIENTS: Aermacchi, Alfa Romeo, Beiersdorf Italia, Carcerano, Centro
Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali, Comune di Torino, Ferrero, HCI
Lab, Infini.to, Mediaset, Ministero dei Beni Culturali, Pakerson,
Pininfarina, Provincia di Torino, Sardegna Ricerche, Treviso
Tecnologia, New Holland Construction, Pagine Gialle, Johnson &
Johnson, Rivolta, Wind
OFFICIAL NAME: Seac02 S.r.l.
CEO/FOUNDER: Andrea Carignano, CEO (PhD in Aerospace Engineering)
HEADQUARTERS: Turin, Italy
OTHER OFFICES: N/A
LAST REPORTED ANNUAL REVENUE: $1.8 million
FOUNDED: 2003
WEBSITE: seac02.it
EMPLOYEES: 15

Above: Seac02’s retail AR application that allows shoppers to “try on” different watches before buying


Italian company Seac02 uses its Eligo Virtual and Augmented Reality software platform to market
products in public kiosks and on the Web using personal computers.

Many of the company’s installations have been in the fashion industry, including “virtual mirrors” that
superimpose 3D-models of watches, shoes and sunglasses onto the customer using both marker-
based and markerless tracking techniques.

In the case of the virtual mirror for wristwatches, customers place an AR marker over an existing
wristwatch or use a special wrist band in order to view 3D designer watches placed around their wrist.
For the shoes, users visiting a shoe store could enter in a style and size and then stand in front of a
floor-level screen that would place a 3D representation of a shoe over their foot.

Similar 3D simulations exist for sunglasses and hair styles. These examples use markerless facial
tracking to follow the movement and position of the user’s head and face.

Founder Adrea Carignano has a PhD in aerospace engineering, and spent five years working in
research and development for an international industrial design company. In 2003 he started Seac02
with the goal of bringing virtual and augmented reality to designers, marketers and salespeople in the
general public.

Carignano on how augmented reality can be of benefit to designers:

“ Augmented reality is a new way to think design. We help designers create
objects and define them while they are in the real world. The designer
has every single second the feelings of how the real object will look in the
physical world.8”
Seac02 has worked with a number of large international brands, such as Samsung, Johnson & Johnson,
Fiat and Prada. The company’s Eligo software platform only provides browser and kiosk-based
solutions, but the company plans to announce mobile support soon.

8 http://blog.novedge.com/2009/11/andrea-carignano-seac02-linceovr.html
http://www.seac02.it/company/
http://www.seac02.it/


Inition
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
MAJOR PRODUCTS: Magic Symbol
OTHER PRODUCTS:
MAJOR CLIENTS: BMW, Toyota, The 02
OTHER CLIENTS: BBC, Kia, Wired, Olympus, Samsung, Top Trumps,
OFFICIAL NAME: Inition Ltd.
CEO/FOUNDER: Stuart Cupit, Managing Director (Computer Science)
HEADQUARTERS: London, UK
OTHER OFFICES: Melbourne, AU
FOUNDED: 2001
WEBSITE: inition.co.uk
EMPLOYEES: 30+

One of the earliest companies to use
augmented reality for marketing purposes,
Inition, a 3D products a services company,
was producing AR ad campaigns in
January of 2006. Inition’s AR software
MagicSymbol has been used by dozens of
companies over the last four years.

In January of 2006, MagicSymbol was used
by Samsung to promote a new mobile
device at the Winter Olympics in Torino,
Italy. Users could hold an AR marker up
to a webcam and see a 3D model of the
Samsung device displayed on a screen in place of the marker. In the summer of 2007, MagicSymbol
was used in a promotion for the grand opening of The O2 Arena in Lodon. According the Inition,
500,000 users participated in the promotion by holding small cards up to a camera that displayed AR
to see if the card had won the contestant any of a variety of prizes.

In April of 2009, Inition created a Web-based ad for BMW as an extension of its “Expressions of Joy”
campaign. In the original ad, a stuntman drives a BMW Z4 on a large white canvas as paint dispensers
coated the tires with bright colors, creating a vibrant and abstract work of art. Using MagicSymbol,
Inition brought this experience to the desktop, allowing users to let a 3D model of the Z4 roam around


their desk, creating their own works of art they could share online. Automobile brands have been
some of the earliest adopters of AR advertising, and the Z4 campaign managed to create a truly unique
experience. Brand Republic named the experience the top AR ad campaign of 2009.

In February of 2009, Inition created an AR experience for the Toyota’s IQ line of cars that broke the
mold of run-of-the-mill AR auto ads. Many auto campaigns using AR in the past had simply consisted
of generating a static 3D model on a marker or brochure. For the IQ, Inition created a more immersive
and innovative use of AR, displaying an animated and interactive 3D model. The IQ was shown driving
down a street with its lights on, and by tilting the marker a user could steer the car left and right.
Aditionally, it featured a view in which the car would “explode” out into over 200 separate parts, and
then come back together at the user’s discretion.

Other links:
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/914752/Behind-scenes-BMWs-augmented-reality-
campaign/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/913358/Augmented-reality-top-ten-campaigns-so-
far/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH
http://www.inition.co.uk/inition/wowlab_magicsymbol.php


Presselite
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
KEY FUNCTION: iPhone Application Development Studio
MAJOR PRODUCTS: Metro Paris Subway, Bionic Eye
OTHER PRODUCTS: Tweet 360, Washington D.C. Metro, London Tube, New York
Subway, Chicago Rapid TRansit, Metro Lyon, Metro Marseille.
OFFICIAL NAME: Presselite
CEO/FOUNDER: Antoine and Michel Morcos
HEADQUARTERS: Paris, France
OTHER OFFICES: N/A
LAST REPORTED ANNUAL REVENUE: $243,000
FOUNDED: 2004
WEBSITE: presselite.com
EMPLOYEES: 2

Presselite is a French iPhone development studio created in 2004 by Parisian brothers Antoine and
Michel Morcos. The pair of software engineers, 28- and 27-years-old, began by developing social
oriented websites, but in 2009 shifted their focus to the creation of iPhone applications.

The company’s first application was Metro Paris Subway, an application like other transit apps that
allow the user to find the nearest subway station using augmented reality. Uses can hold their phone
up in front of them and the application will place the location of the subway stations in their camera’s
field of view based on their location relative to the phone.

Released in October in 2009, Metro Paris Subway was one of the top selling applications on the French
iTunes Store in 2009, and Le Journals du Net awarded it the Best Application for the iPhone in 2009.
The applications integrates with Google Maps, and offers POI such as McDonalds, Best Western and
other restaurants, hotels and services. The app also features push notifications for subway service
disruptions.

Presselite has since released similar applications for the Washington D.C. Metro, London’s Tube, the
New York City Subway, Chicago Rapid Transit, and public transit in the French cities Lyon and Marseille.
In the companies’ AR app portfolio is Tweet 360, which displays geo-tagged Twitter entries, and
Firefighter 360, a game in which users put out fires simulated into their real-world environment.


Presselite co-founder Antoine Morcos on where he sees Presselite heading in the near future:

“ We like the idea to adapt the Augmented Reality engine we created to
different kind of applications, such as Tweet 360 for social use, Firefighter
360 to play a game, or Bionic Eye to find nearest points of interest, both
through an Augmented Reality vision. But we are currently developing
a new project, we think it will be the next step of Augmented Reality on
mobile. [...] Our goal is to focus on quality and accessibility; there are a
lot of good Augmented Reality applications now on the AppStore but we
feel that developers are not working enough on accessibility. Augmented
reality applications are still very hard for people to understand and use
unfortunately. This is very important for us. Hardware is not a brake
anymore - imagination will make the difference.”
Morcos says the company has requests to expand its development to Android, Symbian and Windows
Mobile devices, but due to its small size, the company currently focuses on the iPhone. Presselite
boasts over a dozen augmented reality iPhone apps and over two dozen other applications.


Part 3: AR Implementation Lessons Learned

Survey: Mobile Augmented Reality
26 respondents
14 have built, 5 have hired out for mobile AR apps

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTION ONE
In your opinion, is it more important to build a stand-alone mobile AR application or to publish a data
set to an AR platform that displays multiple companies’ data sets (an AR browser)?

Stand alone (1) or publishing to browser (10)?
6

5

4
NUMBER OF PEOPLE

3

2

1

0
1-2 3 4-5 6 7 8-9 10
SCALE

Arguments in favor of doing both:
• “I believe both approaches have their own merits – different purposes have different needs.”
• “The answer lies in integrating advantages of the two.”
• “Some mobile AR applications better fit the single-client bucket (e.g. browsers) while some others
fit more the unique app bucket (e.g. AR games).”

Arguments in favor of stand-alone apps:
• “Being an independent developer, I believe there is power in flexibility. While a platform in theory
seems nice, I see more value in using a standardized protocol and data accessibility method as
opposed to being locked in to a predetermined user experience.”
• “We need to own the data and the access to the user.”


Argument in favor of publishing to A mobile browser:
• “Stand-alone apps seem cool for 10 seconds and then cease to be useful. Data is far more useful in
analysis and comparison.”

QUESTION TWO: COST
There was not consensus about how much a standalone AR app should cost; it depends on its
complexity.

Cost categories discussed include: graphics development, programming interactivity, UI/UX, AR engine
license, data licensing, integration and testing, project management, maintenance, upgrades, hosting,
reporting fees, marketing materials, traffic fees, porting fee per platform

QUESTION THREE: DURATION
General consensus was that if all the data was already acquired, then development time would
typically range from three weeks to three months.

There was not consensus about one mobile platform being easier to develop than others. Some said
Android was the easiest, some the iPhone and some Symbian.

There was not consensus about one mobile platform being the hardest to develop for. Some
respondents said iPhone, some said Symbian.

Regarding development on different platforms, four respondents said there were cost differences
between platforms and two said there were not.

Where cost differences were cited, explanations included the openness of platforms and the
availability of tools and advice.

We asked: Who will submit the application to Apple/Google/Nokia? The developer or the client
company?
Most respondents said the client will, but others said that both are done and that it depends on the
terms of the contract.

We asked: Who handles customer support for the app? The ultimate client, the marketing agency,
contracted AR developer or someone else?
Almost all respondents said that the client would but several said that problems could be escalated to
the developer if that became necessary and according to the nature of the contract.

We asked: Are contracted developers expected to make updates to the mobile AR software they
build? How many or for how long?
One good response was: “For one-off marketing apps, it’s rare. For long term productivity apps,
certainly.”

Other respondents agreed that it depended on the contracts they had with clients but that it wasn’t
unusual. Duration and type of ongoing updates depended on contracts as well.


We asked: How many months or years do you believe will need to pass before live-video processing
will be possible in mobile AR, instead of just using location to presume what’s being viewed?
Most respondents believed it would be possible within the year 2010 on the iPhone. Others pointed
out that it’s already possible on some platforms (Symbian), and in some limited contexts (indoor/
outdoor, QR codes).

Arguments concerning what’s needed included better processing, software, computer vision and
cameras and for Apple to “wake up” and allow use of requisite APIs currently classified as private.

One respondent said: “General markerless recognition is still many years off. We need yet to handle
edge detection, object recognition, and depth cues in a variety of lighting and environmental
conditions. Overlay of useful information and models on live video is practical now, but will remain a
interesting gimmick pending application to practical problems - monetization will not happen in the
short term.”


Survey: Webcam Augmented Reality
Narrative Summary: A group of 20 people who have built
webcam AR applications said the following:
• most agreed that previous AR experience is important
• most said that AR markers were a minimal to moderate barrier to consumer adoption
• costs vary depending on degree of interactivity, generally between $10,000-$20,000 through
$75,000-$100,000 (see below for break-down)
• project duration range from between two and three weeks to two and three months

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
20 respondents from six countries

All have built or work for companies that have built webcam AR apps; 25% of them have also hired
out webcam AR work.

QUESTION ONE:
In your opinion, is it important to hire someone who has developed webcam AR before, or can a
good, experienced Flash developer build effective webcam AR without previous AR experience?
Please answer on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 being that it is not important that a webcam AR developer has
previous experience with AR, 10 being that it is extremely important that they have.

9

8

7

6
NUMBER OF PEOPLE

5

4

3

2

1

0
1-2 3-4 5-6 7-9 10
SCALE


The largest number of respondents think previous experience is very important, only a few think
experience is minimally important.

Among people who thought AR experience was very important, key arguments included:
• Webcam AR it is “totally different from Flash” due to the tracking and the image recognition issues.
• In order to create useful and usable AR apps, it is helpful to leverage AR experience in usability,
immersion and effective gameplay. Experience with AR also improves creativity in future work in
the medium.
• Some respondents argued that anyone can build AR but without experience in the field, all work
becomes R&D, deadlines are unlikely to be met and costs will be higher.

Among people who thought AR experience was not important, key arguments included:
• One respondent argued that they had learned fast (starting eight months prior to taking the
survey) and that developers with experience in AR are rare.
• ”For established AR models, the libraries are pretty straight forward and can be picked up pretty
quickly by inexperienced developers, but I wouldn’t suggest hiring someone with no experience for
research and development.”

QUESTION TWO:
In your opinion, is the requirement that they use a marker a significant hindrance to consumer
adoption of webcam-based AR? Please answer on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 being that markers are not a big
problem, 10 being that markers are very undesirable.

7

6

5
NUMBER OF PEOPLE

4

3

2

1

0
1 2-3 4-6 7-10
SCALE


Most developers thought markers were a minimal or moderate barrier to adoption.

Arguments against AR markers:
• Markers are big and ugly.
• Markers are tolerated right now but “as more and more people get exposed to the new medium
and the ability to experience it without markers, people will become more reluctant to printing
markers.”
• Unuseful webcam AR apps aren’t worth the trouble to print a marker for.

Arguments in support of the use of markers:
• Markers signal to users that there is an AR experience available.
• Markers are cheap, robust, fast computing and easy to use.
• Companies are willing to include markers in their products, print ads, receipts and other collateral.
• The industry is working hard on markerless AR but markers are acceptable today.

QUESTION THREE: COST AND TIME
Respondents said that webcam AR project costs varied widely, depending on the level of interactivity
included, much like a traditional Web site design project. Typical total costs discussed ranged from
$10,000-$20,000 through $75,000-$100,000.

Respondents said the following percentages of total costs could be expected:
• CG Development: 3x20-30%, 3x35-40%,3x40-70%
• Interactivity Programming: 4x20-30%, 3x40%
• AR engine license: 7x10-15%
• Integration: 6x5-15%, 2x20%
• Testing: 7x5-15%, 1x20%

Other costs mentioned: Commercial proposals, commissions, strategy, project management, Web site
production, databases, prize fulfillment, and indemnification if a contest is integrated

In order: CG development, interactivity programming, integration, testing, AR engine license, other

Time: respondents said webcam AR projects could be expected to be built in between two or three
weeks and two or three months after first real development day.


ReadWriteWeb Findings & Conclusions
• It is equally or more important for companies to publish data sets on existing mobile AR browsers
than it is for them to build their own stand-alone mobile AR apps. So far there are probably fewer
data sets published than stand-alone mobile and desktop apps built, but that will change as
mobile browsers improve in stability and UX, and as companies discover the ease and low cost of
publishing data sets to these platforms.

• Companies that build stand-alone mobile AR apps will see a number of different cost categories,
including development, licensing, hosting and maintenance. Those costs will be incurred in service
of a brand building experience that will be a challenge to promote in a sea of apps and a challenge
to retain users with unless the app creator is innovative in delivering utility.

• Previous experience in AR development, not Flash experience alone, was agreed by most survey
respondents to be important in considering a developer for webcam AR. AR is not like other Flash
development, there are unique challenges and opportunities.

• Development of a stand-alone mobile AR app or a webcam AR app can generally be completed in
between three weeks and three months after data is acquired, depending on complexity.

• Costs for developing a webcam AR project vary depending on the degree of interactivity, generally
between $10k-$20k through $75k-$100k.

• Most survey respondents believed that rudimentary live video processing will be enabled on
popular mobile phones within the year 2010.


If you liked this report, check out our other reports:

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