Author: William Newell

How to Make Money with AR: Introducing “SpectatAR”

25 Jul 2019, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

Over the past two years, we have seen numerous examples of how AR is becoming a game-changer for many industries. Among those examples/pilots some have actually made a lot of money, others a little bit, and most have served just as  examples of things to come. This year we have focused on working with companies that are ready to integrate AR as part of their business model. The first adopters for business uses have come from retail, advertisement, entertainment, and hospitality vertical markets, and on a smaller scale, from training and education. Today I want to introduce you to “SpectatAR”…

Augmented Reality Highlights from Digital Hollywood—What We Learned!

22 May 2019, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

I just finished day one at Digital Hollywood. What an exciting day! I had the honor of kicking off the day moderating an amazing panel with Raffaella Camera (Accenture), Tony Parisi (Unity), Olivier Koelemij (Media Monks), Nigel Tierney (Ryot), Silke Meixner (IBM), and Michael Leventhal (Holmes Weinberg). Our conversation focused on real use cases, opportunities and challenges, and what we can expect in the near future. We ended the session distributing a PowerPoint loaded with information about the industry, success stories and more. You can download a copy free (no tracking, no login, no sale J) by clicking here: https://news.sparxworks.com/2019/05/21/dh_may2019/…

Augmented Reality Advertising Strategy—a Must!

20 May 2019, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

If you are working in marketing, advertising, PR, or retail, now is the time to develop an AR strategy for your brands and clients.  Everyone knew that AR was a powerful tool for gaming when Pokemon became an amazing success and created a billion dollar company in just 60 days.  And today, the success stories in retail and advertising are so numerous it’s hard to keep track all of them all.  L’Oreal, Ikea, 19 Crimes, Ellen’s Game of Games, and so many others have already proven the impact AR can have on a brand or campaign.  If these stories aren’t…

How XR is Changing Retail, Fashion, and Entertainment

14 May 2019, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

2019 is turning out to be a really interesting year for those of us working in the XR field (XR meaning AR, MR, and VR). The past couple of years we have seen an uptake on the enterprise side, with companies like Boeing, Coca Cola, Caterpillar, and many others adding AR and/or VR to the tools they use for manufacturing and design. But this year I am particularly excited about consumer facing applications. Recently Mercedes Benz and BMW have started to replace owner manuals with AR applications on select models. Vuforia launched Chalk, a type of “you see what I…

Publishing AR Content? It’s as Easy as 1, 2, 3 Introducing Hoodoo SDK!

02 Apr 2019, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

I usually don’t post about my own technology but I think I have to make an exception this time. We just added an SDK (software development kit) to our AR platform and publishing system.  This is a major addition to our AR offering. It will allow developers to add all the power of our AR platform into existing and new apps. Our main goal is to make AR accessible to all companies big and small. To achieve this, we have created the most flexible and innovative publishing system coupled with a business model that can match almost all needs and…

Is 2019 The Year for Augmented Reality to take off?

04 Jan 2019, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

As the holiday season ends a new year full of opportunities stands before us! On the augmented reality front, I expect AR to continue to grow in the enterprise market at a steady pace. I think we are going to see the biggest changes on the consumer side. New products and services are already rolling out with regularity and I expect that the pace will increase significantly in the second half of 2019. But, as with any other technology, before you jump on the proverbial bandwagon it is important to think about how you’d like to use the technology. What…

9 Key Benefits of AR

11 Oct 2018, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

For the past three years I have been focused on augmented and mixed realities and to a lesser degree on virtual reality. I have conducted scores of demos, spoken at various conferences and immersed myself in these technologies. These experiences have led me to the following observations about the benefits of AR. 1. Customized Choices: personalization is essential for marketing and media now and AR provides it. 2. Engagement: AR offers a deep level of engagement visually and interactively. It is a must for retailers since it can provide just in time information at the point of sales. 3. Real Time: this is…

Don’t Be Left Behind! 7 Tips to Develop an Extended Reality Strategy

15 May 2018, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

I remember that in the late 90’s everyone realized they needed to have a website. Unfortunately for some of the largest businesses it was too late. Many big retail stores failed to recognize the impact of the web for business. As a result of this lack of vision, chains like Bullocks, The Broadway, Robinsons, etc. closed down while newcomers like Amazon gained momentum every month. We all know the rest of the story. We are now once again at one of those key moments in history where a significant leap in technology is happening.  If you don’t believe it just…

Augmented Reality: Don’t Forget Audio!

09 Oct 2017, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

When you attend a conference, a launch, or perhaps just a private demonstration of augmented reality (AR), a new mobile app, or the latest game, you are often wowed by the amazing graphics, and how realistically sports, battle scenes, or information is presented. You leave the presentation jazzed, thinking about what you may be able to accomplish with the service or product you just saw. But remember not to overlook the importance of audio. Even the flashiest visuals would not have the same dramatic impact they have on us without quality audio. Whether it is music, effects, dialogue, or a…

Augmented Reality: AR Anywhere!

05 Oct 2017, Posted by William Newell in Technologies

One of the very first augmented reality (AR) companies I learned about was DAQRI, which is located here in Los Angeles. Years ago I met with them because I wanted to use the ARToolkit, an open source platform they had acquired. I was immediately impressed with their vision for AR and what they had already accomplished with their human body and chemistry applications, which were featured just a few years ago at Apple’s main event. Over the years I have worked with Roy Ashok Chief Product Officer at DAQRI, and more recently, with Mike Hildebrandt, VP of Corporate Development, and…