Layar Vision Opens the Door to the Next Generation of Augmented Reality Experiences

AMSTERDAM, August 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Layar, the largest open platform for mobile augmented reality (AR), today announced Layar Vision. Layar Vision enables the mobile phone to recognise real world objects and show digital content on top of them. When holding their phone over posters, magazines and newspapers users are able to view and interact with these digital experiences.

Layar Vision is an extension of the Layar platform, already used by over 10,000 developers worldwide to create Augmented Reality experiences for smartphones. With this extension the platform is now able to enhance existing media like print with augmented reality experiences. These experiences offer brands and publishers new ways to engage with customers. Layar is already installed on 10 million mobile devices ensuring an extensive reach across multiple platforms.

Layar Vision is versatile in its ability to instantaneously detect up to 50 target objects on which a wide range of augmentations can be displayed. These objects are easily combined with existing location-based layers, and, in concert with audio, video and animated 3D objects, can create truly immersive experiences.

"We are really excited about this release. Mobile devices can finally 'see'," said Maarten Lens-FitzGerald, Layar co-founder and General Manager. "By adding Layar Vision we are taking an important step towards making augmented reality more effective. With Layar Vision we enable developers to create easy and fast user experiences. It quickly detects multiple enriched objects around a user at any given time."

Documentation regarding Layar Vision is readily available on the site. Developers can expect the beta version of Layar's Publishing Platform together with a beta version of its browser, with Layar Vision features enabled, to be available within the coming weeks.

To kickstart the launch of Layar Vision, registration for the Layar Creation Challenge worth $55,000 in total cash prizes, has opened today. The 10 developers with the best concepts for useful and unique layers using Layar Vision will receive anywhere from $2,500 to $15,000. The winners will be picked by a panel of internationally acclaimed jurors.

The new features introduced with Layar Vision will also be added to an upcoming release of the Layar Player, which will be released in Q4 of this year for both iPhone and Android. The updated Layar Player will allow developers to incorporate Layar Vision features into their own individual mobile applications.

Please visit Layar.com for more information about Layar Vision and the Layar Creation Challenge.

About Layar

Layar is the world's leading mobile augmented reality platform with 10 million installs, 10,000 developers and the largest content catalogue with over 2,500 layers. Layar brings impactful augmented reality experiences into people's everyday lives. The Layar application is available on Android, iPhone, Symbian and Bada devices, comes globally pre-installed on millions of phones and is promoted by leading handset manufacturers and mobile providers like Samsung, Verizon and Sprint.

Layar was named as a 2011 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, a Disruptive Innovator at the 2010 Deloitte Fast50 awards, and received a Meffy Mobile Entertainment Award 2010 for Technology Innovation.

Layar is located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The company was founded in June 2009.

To learn more about Layar, please visit http://www.layar.com.

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SOURCE Layar