Thinking Outside the Box: Aurasma Lends a Hand to More than 64 million Consumers

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aurasma, the world's leading visual browser, found in a December 2011 survey that more than 64 million consumers are frustrated or challenged when reading instruction manuals. Aurasma responds by showing how brands can bring their static instructions to life and give their consumers a less stress holiday. As one of this year's hottest gifts for the holidays, Aurasma has created visual instructions on how to mount flat screen televisions. See video here.

"The holidays should be spent enjoying time with family not stressing over how to assemble a 1,000 piece train set or setting up this year's hottest electronics," said Jennifer Rapp, general manager of Aurasma.  "Our December survey confirmed our hunch that consumers are frustrated and overwhelmed by reading instruction manuals, so the Aurasma team decided to answer this problem using our cutting-edge technology.  By augmenting the instruction manual with Aurasma, we show just how easy it is to find the perfect spot to mount a flatscreen TV as well as step-by-step animated instructions to help interpret text heavy manuals."

By simply downloading the Aurasma app on smart devices and pointing at a trigger image, in the future consumers will be able to get information on the product and even animated audio and visual cues on how to assemble products. 

Rapp continued, "Aurasma is setting new expectations for consumers by easing the burden of buying a disassembled product and making setup easy and visual.  In 2012 we expect to see a significant behavioral shift in the way consumers rely on augmented reality in practical real world situations."

Aurasma uses advanced image and pattern recognition to recognize and understand real-world images and objects and then blends them with rich interactive content such as videos and 3D animations called "Auras."  Auras can be created for printed images, product packaging, clothing, and physical places.  Aurasma is available as a free app for iPhone3GS, 4, 4S, iPad2 and high-powered Android devices and as a free SDK for app developers.

The survey commissioned by Kelton Research found the following in relation to consumers being frustrated in assembling products:

• Battle of the Sexes: When reading instruction manuals to assemble products, women are far more likely than men to feel frustrated (34% vs. 21%), challenged (31% vs. 24%), confused (24% vs. 16%) and overwhelmed (18% vs. 7%). 
• Generational Gap: There's a similar gap in preparedness across generations.  Americans who are 45 and older are more likely than 18-44-year-olds to admit they feel frustrated (30% vs. 25%) and challenged (31% vs. 24%) when relying on paper-based instructions to put things together. 
• Parents Struggling: Unfortunately, many parents may be at a loss for what to do when they have to put together their child's toys this Christmas.  Only 32% of parents feel confident when tasked with product assembly instruction manuals.

Aurasma launched in June 2011 and has already reached over two million downloads.  One thousand brands around the world are now integrating Aurasma into their marketing campaigns including Buick, BMW, VW, Panasonic, dunhill, Hawaii Tourist Board, Hyundai, Mexico Tourism, Universal Music, Universal Pictures, GQ magazine, Paramount Pictures and Virgin Atlantic. 

ABOUT AURASMA

Aurasma is the world's first visual browser – a new platform technology that merges the physical world with the virtual. Available as a free app for iPhone3GS, 4, 4S, iPad2 and high-powered Android devices or as a free SDK for developers, Aurasma uses advanced image and pattern recognition to recognize and understand real-world images and objects in much in way the human brain does.  It then seamlessly blends the real-world with rich interactive content such as videos and animations called "Auras".  Auras can be created for printed images, product packaging, clothing, physical places and users can even use the app to create and share their own.

Since its launch in June 2011, Aurasma has had more than two million downloads. Over 1,000 partners in markets including retail, sport, automotive, consumer electronics, entertainment, advertising and publishing are using the free technology in their campaigns or embedding the technology in their own applications. Aurasma was developed by Autonomy – an HP Company.

SOURCE Aurasma