2015.05.25
Improving Media Business/Corporate Promotion Using AR
- NTT Comware's Image Base AR, Virtually Free AR Solution -
NTT Comware Corporation (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Shinobu Umino, hereinafter, NTT Comware) starts a new "SmartCloud (r) Image Base AR" plan to meet increased needs of AR (augmented reality) technologies to be used for media companies including newspapers and magazines as well as for corporate promotion.
Image Base AR is NTT Comware's AR solution, which is an application service to display images, so photos taken by smartphones become 'real'. With the new plan, corporate customers can create, register and use their own AR content by a "Self Registration" function, and even update them with new AR content per registration unit, allowing up to 100 pieces of content to be uploaded virtually for free.
NTT Comware significantly improves the usability of AR services for communication media companies such as newspapers and magazines, who continuously send out a vast amount of content and corporate advertising. This is a new opportunity to widen the capabilities of AR to meet the various needs of "cross-media marketing" and "fusion of paper and digital medias".
1. Background
AR services become popular for business users through the current trend of a wide range of uses for smart devices.AR attracts users because of its uniqueness of a 2D image coming to life. This application creates not only an atmosphere of "live" and "entertainment" but also opportunities to create real business value such as "guiding users from paper-based to digital media" and "user behavior analysis based on page view tracking of digital content". Accordingly, AR is expected to be used for new areas: cross-media marketing of corporate customers and a fusion of paper and digital medias of newspapers and magazines.
NTT Comware provides a service with usability at an affordable price in order to meet various usages of advertisements and press releases, which should significantly improve the value of the business and services of corporate customers and media companies with AR.
2. Features of the Service
(1) Premier usability: Self-Registration
Corporate customers can upload and disclose their original AR content on a real-time basis.
Images or movies can be uploaded to the application to check on the spot, wherever the information is collected or even photo studios. Furthermore, such digital content can be replaced whenever necessary.
This function realizes the usability optimized to various business promotions including press releases and corporate advertising based on the feedback obtained through trial operation of this service by major corporate customers such as newspaper companies.
(2) Fixed fee system as a "Virtually Free" solution
With the 1-year contract, users can have up to 100 pieces of content to upload at an annual fee of 600,000 Japanese Yen upwards* (50% discount from the regular fee), with unlimited access to content to replace and update. This is a "virtually free" service by updating the content within the term.
* The Self-Ready Plan is also available to meet various needs such as the frequency of use or length of the term.
(3) Highly reliable service platform
This service ensures high reliability of the system at a level required by corporate customers' advertisements and newspapers/magazines by utilizing the service platform in configuration with using the systems and operation procedures of NTT Comware datacenters, which are also used for the ICT communication services of NTT group companies.
3. Future Scenario
(1) More opportunities for media companies
This service has already been in tentative use by some newspaper companies.
NTT Comware's AR technologies continue to support media companies including newspapers and magazines to achieve a fusion of paper and digital media.
(2) More opportunities for advertisements and promotions of corporate customers
AR is an effective tool for sales drives and cross-media marketing, for retail goods and for real estate of particular interest or preference to end users with key words such as car, house, interior or resort. This type of appeal matches up the "want-to-see" of end users and the "want-to-show" of companies.
(3) A new way to showcase and express retail goods and services
NTT Comware pursues collaboration of new image expressions such as 360-degree views of panoramic photographs and Object VR (VR: virtual reality) and AR technologies to make retail goods of particular interest or preference to end users more realistic and attractive.
