Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 12:59 GMT

Augmented Reality Signage

With plenty of buzz surrounding augmented reality, Jo Golding takes a closer look at the technology and finds out more about the additional benefits it can offer to signage projects

Out of this World

Despite having been around for a number of years, augmented reality is yet to fully establish itself as a mainstream technology in the sign industry. Some of the larger players have opted to use the technology in various projects with good results, but it is yet to make a name for itself in signage in the same way that it has in the print sector by, for example, using your smartphone to get extra content from a magazine.

However, with those who have featured augmented reality in signage campaigns having reported plenty of positive feedback, the demand for such technology is on the up. This is particularly true as the industry becomes increasingly more digital and brands are battling it out to stand apart from their competitors.

With this in mind, what success have sign companies who have dipped their toe in the augmented reality pond had, and do they think the use of such technology will continue to grow?

Hidden depths

JCDecaux, one of the largest names in the industry, is one company to have used augmented reality in a number of major brand projects. With consumer brands such as Pepsi, Cadburys, and Grolsch having turned to JCDecaux to create memorable campaigns, the firm has reported a significant demand for this type of service.


Cadbury and JCDecaux took over Waterloo Station with a digital out-of-home campaign that invited commuters to virtually burst 3D models of ‘chocolate joy’ above their heads



Steven Dennison, head of creative solutions at JCDecaux, says that the use of this technology can help add a new dimension to traditional static signs and encourage a lot more interaction with consumers.

He comments: “Augmented reality gives an added depth and dimension to an out-of-home placement. It is more engaging with the consumer, and you can amend actual spaces so you can do some really fun things creatively with it. It extends a regular brief into something a bit more developed.”

O Factoid: The sixth Augmented World Expo will take place in Silicon Valley in June 2015 where over 200 companies will share knowledge of augmented reality and wearable tech, alongside workshops and talks with industry pioneers O


Dennison went on to say that although augmented reality is not widely used at present due to restriction over its affordability, its usage will increase as the price of the technology and production costs fall.

He continues: “I think people interrogate technology a lot more now and expect really high quality and standards. But with Out-Of-Home (OOH) being short-campaigned, the cost of doing that and developing con-tent for one site is extremely expensive.

“Now that technology is coming down significantly in cost, and the production side of things as well, it will mean that more advertisers will have access to doing this. There’s only a small roster of clients who have those budgets to do these stunt activities. Once the cost comes down, the more clients and advertisers will be able to use it with their campaigns.”

With a few companies going down the augmented reality route, it is important to stand out. Glancing at  some of the projects JCDecaux has undertaken for a number of major brands, Dennison says that the company’s work so far is testament to what it can achieve.

He explains: “We invest a lot in research and development for these types of digital campaigns. We also have a lot of great spaces to do this in such as Waterloo Station, bus shelters, and we have quite a few experiential locations where I think a lot of these things will begin to happen more and more. That’s an advantage, and I do think our heritage in innovation, research, development, and investment is really paying off.”

Say cheese

Since working with Grolsch on a campaign where the public could display their filtered photos at Waterloo, Dennison has noticed an emerging trend towards Instagram-like augmented reality. “A lot of that type of technology is becoming more popular rather than gesture recognition, which again is all going to be down to costs,” he adds.

Since its campaign with Pepsi, JCDecaux has been sent a high volume of briefs, and it is currently working on two live projects, as well as one that is in its initial stages, meaning that the company will be in the spotlight more than once this year.

The firm’s work with Skoda was the first time a green screen had been used in an OOH project, and Dennison believes these multi-sensory experiences are becoming more popular, saying: “It was a full end to end experience. You could design a car and then you felt as though you were in it. On screen you saw yourself with the car and the seat vibrated underneath you. That added dimension.”


JCDecaux’s first campaign involved gesture recognition technology that enabled users to virtually explore the features of the car in collaboration with Ford CMax



Dennison also explains how digital projects need high levels of investment. He says: “On digital sites you need to have a domination, which means that you need to purchase all of the space on the slot. It’s very difficult to do these if you are sharing the screen with six other advertisers in a loop.

“There’s quite a large media investment for advertisers to do up front on the actual screen, so that’s usually where the barrier of entry would be. That is obviously going to come down.”

For JCDecaux, the idea is always the most important factor, as Dennison explains: “There is no point in shoehorning the technology. The brief always has to be right. We would never do it just for the sake of it being augmented reality as you wouldn’t get good consumer feedback for it.”

Marketing mix

Despite being aware of the advantages augmented reality offers, Mark Bartlett, managing director of Sign-box, wonders how much relevance the technology has in the sign industry.

He explains: “We looked at augmented reality amongst the marketing mix of communication technologies. It promised to give you a very nice, seamless, interactive media for your static sign. In reality, I wonder how much it has relevance to the sign industry, as opposed to being more of a marketing tool for poster advertising to supplement static poster advertising.”

In reality, I wonder how much it has relevance to the sign industry, as opposed to being more of a marketing tool for poster advertising”


While Bartlett acknowledges it can be a ‘rewarding’ experience, he believes people require faster interaction: “I think in reality, people that are looking for messaging from signage are after a much quicker interaction, and we probably won’t be using it moving forward with what we are doing but I can see it definitely having applications in what I would term proximity marketing.”

Surprised that augmented reality has not exploded in popularity already, Bartlett recognises that there are big players in the sector. He also argues it could be down to demographics, appealing to the younger generation of smartphone users.

He adds: “It is definitely part of the marketing mix, but in terms of the relevance it has in the sign-making industry, I can only see limited applications for it.”

In terms of alternatives, Bartlett highlights technology such a near-field communication (NFC) and BLE Bluetooth Beacons as better suited options for sign projects, commenting: “We use all new communication technologies, mainly NFC as it is cross-platform, so anyone with a Windows phone, iPhone, or Android phone can use NFC applications as they can also with Bluetooth. Unless we had a specific client with a specific requirement for augmented reality, then we wouldn’t embrace it.”

For the team at Signbox, improving indoor wayfinding is key. Bartlett looks ahead, saying: “I think we’ll be using the new communications technologies for wayfinding in the future and that is the real USP that these technologies will give us. You cannot use GPRS in indoor navigation as you can outside. Indoor navigation is possible with BLE Bluetooth Beacons as waypoints.”

World of information

However, Omaid Hiwaizi, president global marketing of Blippar, a company who are well known in the sector, believes augmented reality is a ‘huge trend’ and predicts that it is only going to get bigger.

He says: “We have developed our image recognition technology and added artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable Blippar to recognise static and moving objects in the world in addition to printed and branded objects and ads.

“This enables users to enhance everyday situations by being able to point at things and instantly get information and inspiration. This development was inspired by the fact that we found that after users had blipped a print ad or packaging they’d want to blipp other things around them—including doing selfies—and so we thought we’d see how we could fulfil this additional curiosity.”

The augmented reality app Blippar has worked with major brands such as PepsiCo, Heinz, Universal Pictures, Time, and Condé Nast. Hiwaizi reveals that there are ‘lots of exciting projects’ coming up soon.

Hiwaizi enthuses: “The latest version of Blippar includes almost every movie poster and DVD cover ever produced. We’ve also included many different kinds of food, cars, sports clubs, and even many breeds of dogs. In time, we’ll make the whole world blippable.”

While Blippar works on many print campaigns, the firm has also put its signature touch on signage. Its US Nickelodeon campaign to promote a SpongeBob SquarePants film allowed the public to access new information from signage installed in Walmart.


Blippar worked with Nickelodeon to promote a new children’s film in Walmart where app users could get involved in the action themselves



Blippar also worked with Tesco on an out-of-home project that promoted the supermarket’s big price drop campaign. The public could ‘blipp’ screens at bus shelters and on the underground, which mounted up to over 8000 billboards nationwide.

Hearing contrasting messages from experts in the sign industry about the usefulness of augmented reality in signage makes it harder to come to a conclusion about the sector. Perhaps, for now, it is just the big name brands that are benefitting.

However, with predictions that the technology costs will fall, it is likely that augmented reality will become more accessible and start to bring the creativity it has brought to so many print projects to more signage projects.

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