WSI Introduces Augmented Reality Product To Fundamentally Change Local TV Weather and Traffic Reports

ANDOVER, Mass., April 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- WSI, the professional division of The Weather Company, today announced the launch of Max Reality, a dynamic augmented reality product that fundamentally changes the way local television (TV) stations show weather and traffic reports. Max Reality creates unprecedented 3D images of storms and traffic events, visualizing weather and traffic data in a whole new way, helping local TV stations attract and hold viewers while providing an experience that cannot be matched on mobile devices.

Augmented reality can be a very challenging, time consuming and expensive solution to implement despite the anticipated benefits of increased audience engagement and time spent viewing. However, as the newest addition to the Max EcoSystem, Max Reality utilizes the same user interface with which WSI customers are already familiar. It integrates easily into a station's workflow so that customers can create an augmented reality presentation quickly and effortlessly without adding staff, saving both training time and labor costs.

Max Reality's 3D imagery is fully compatible with WSI's interactive storytelling tool, Max Studio, enabling a station's on-air talent to stay on camera and take viewers inside weather and traffic events. This allows more engaging storytelling, especially during mornings and severe weather coverage. It enables the creation of immersive and mesmerizing content that holds on-air audiences longer, making even routine weather and traffic look fascinating.

"Augmented reality is something of a Holy Grail for local newscasts," said Mark Gildersleeve, president, WSI.  "Max Reality is the first product that provides a full augmented reality experience for local stations, without having to add staff or learn new systems. And when viewers see these incredible images, they will stay longer, particularly during the critical morning hours when they watch for weather and traffic updates."

Max Reality is the only augmented reality product on the market that can incorporate traffic data and graphics, adding another dimension to the story to show how weather affects viewers' daily lives.

To learn more about WSI's Max Reality, visit the WSI booth #SL4610, South Hall Lower, at the 2015 NAB Show, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, April 13 -16.

About WSI
Weather Means Business™. WSI is the world's leading provider of weather-driven business solutions that enable enterprises to make better decisions using the most accurate and precise weather data available.

WSI serves some of the world's biggest brands in the aviation, energy, insurance, and media markets, as well as federal and state government agencies. We are proud to be a part of The Weather Company, which focuses entirely on the weather, delivering billions of discrete forecasts per day around the world, through a media portfolio that includes The Weather Channel®, weather.com®, WSI and Weather Underground. Learn more at www.wsi.com.

SOURCE WSI

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