Enterprising users of the ‘We Are Autobots’ Augmented Reality experience have discovered that the Facial Recognition technology is so powerful that it will even work on photographs and non-human faces!

Introducing "Catiumus Prime"... (source)

And "Harry Pottiumus Prime"... (source)

In case you haven't yet experienced the site for yourself, here are a couple of kids showing just how easy it is to use, and what fun it is!

This project was developed for PPI by one of Total Immersion's development partners in the States. If you'd like us to do the same for you then please get in touch.

The Avatar i-Tag Web site (www.avataritag.com), developed in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox Licensing), features heroes, creatures and vehicles straight from James Cameron's much-anticipated film, Avatar, which is set for release in December 2009.

The Augmented Reality technology used for the project was developed by AR world leader Total Immersion. Each action figure, vehicle and creature in the 40-strong product line comes with a 3-D web tag, called an i-TAG, which consumers can scan using a home computers webcam.

Users take the corresponding plaque and hold it in front of the camera. A three-dimensional, animated representation of the figure will appear above the plaque on the screen. As the owner shifts the base or moves it farther from the camera, the size and perspective of the virtual entity also changes.

Adding to the experience, when a child covers one of the icons printed on the plaque, more information is revealed, or the elaborate onscreen creation is set in motion. For example, the Thanator rears back and then jumps forward with a ferocious growl and owners learn in a pop-up fact card that the creature has a massive, distensible armored jaw.

Further press:

"I have seen the future of toys, and it is Augmented Reality" says Daniel Terdiman on Cnet.com in response to the Mattel's i-Tag system, made possible by Total Immersion... more

Mattel’s Jason Horowitz talks to the L.A. Times about how the Avatar AR-enabled line of iTag action figures weds augmented reality and the fantastic reality of James Cameron’s blockbuster.  In this interview, Horowitz discusses how augmented reality expands upon the remarkable experience of the film.”... more

iMediaConnection elected Avatar Campaign as one brilliant Augmented Reality Campaign... more

To promote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Paramount Pictures International created an augmented reality website which allows you to wear a virtual Optimus Prime mask.

It’s pretty easy to set up if you already have a web camera attached to your computer. The website recognizes your face in the video using facial recognition technology and virtually inserts the mask, tracking the movements of your head. If you've never seen this kind of augmented reality in action, do check it out, as it's a lot of fun.

‘We Are Autobots’ was developed using the original 3D models of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee that appear in the film. Check out the following video demo or head on over to the website WeAreAutobots.com.

Dan Light, Head of Interactive at Picture Production Company, said: “We are always looking for new ways to engage with movie fans; however, augmented reality has exceeded all our expectations; it has allowed us to take fan interaction to a new level, creating an engaging movie marketing experience that has never been seen before.”

The website achieved 82,000 web visitors in 1 week, with users having a 3 minutes average experience time. To date over 2 million people have taken the AR experience.

This project was developed for PPI by one of Total Immersion's development partners in the States. If you'd like us to do the same for you then please get in touch.

Update Dec 24th 2009:

Augmented Planet today announced the winners of the 2009 Readers Choice Awards. This is the first year of the awards which have been designed for real users to vote on exemplary augmented reality solutions across both mobile and the web.

Total Immersion has been awarded by Augmented Planet Readers Choices Awards as Best Web Based Augmented Reality Demo for “We are Autobots” created for the Transformers movie with PPC.

In 2009 we saw some excellent examples of how augmented reality can be used as a marketing tool to promote Hollywood movies (District 9 and Avatar). We predict that 2010 will see augmented reality being used widely as a promotion tool for all major movies!

Use your webcam to experience the Enterprise like never before

London: May 5th 2009 – To promote the international release of STAR TREK on May 8th, Paramount Pictures International (PPI) is today launching 'Experience The Enterprise'; a groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) application placing a 3D interactive version of the Starship Enterprise in the palm of your hand.

Visitors to http://www.experience-the-enterprise.com are given the opportunity to take an extensive five minute tour of the Enterprise, including testing the ship’s weapons systems, impulse engines and warp drive. ‘Experience The Enterprise’ is built using augmented reality (AR) technology, which combines real world and computer-generated data to bring a 3D interactive version of the Starship Enterprise to life, on your desktop or in the palm of your hand.

Anybody with a webcam can take a tour of the Enterprise using the kind of futuristic technology that sits at the heart of perhaps the most popular science-fiction franchise of all time. Once underway, you are given a ‘cadet holo-simulation’ by Starfleet, the Academy in which new recruits Kirk, Spock and McCoy are enrolled at the start of the new film.

This is the first time AR has been used to bring a major film release to life in this way. The application itself was constructed using the original 3D model of the Enterprise appearing in the film, as well as featuring an array of special effects direct from the production. 

The release version actually uses the DVD case. This is what’s great about this technology – it can be made to recognise pretty much any image, whether it’s printed in a magazine, on a DVD, or even displayed on a mobile phone screen.

The site achieved 50,000 web visitors in 1 week, with 3.5 minutes average experience time, and 48,000 YouTube viewers.

This project was developed for PPI by one of Total Immersion's development partners in the States. If you'd like us to do the same for you then please get in touch.