Aurasma Catches Waves of Interest and Announces 1000th Partner — Shark Watches

SAN FRANCISCO and CAMBRIDGE, England, December 13, 2011 -

** Iconic surf brand is 1000th company to use world’s leading augmented reality platform **

** Aurasma reaches milestone of 1000th partner just over six months from launch **

Aurasma, the world’s leading augmented reality platform, today announced its 1,000 commercial partner - iconic U.S. surf brand Shark Watches.  Shark Watch advertisements running in magazines through December and January become interactive with the free Aurasma app by pointing smart phone or tablet devices over the images.  The Aurasma experience, known as an ‘Aura,’ allows the static print advertisement to transform into video showcasing the Shark brand and driving sales by allowing viewers to “Buy Now” from the ‘Aura.’ 

(Photo: photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111213/SF21653-a)
(Photo: photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111213/SF21653-b)

To watch a video of this ad coming to digital life click here.

Aurasma launched in June 2011 and has already reached over two million downloads.  1,000 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. 

Chad Labass, Marketing Manager at Shark Watches said, “Our brand is very much about energy, activity and motion so Aurasma’s a perfect fit because it lets us take our conventional static print ads and inject them with dynamic digital content.  By partnering with Aurasma, we are taking our marketing strategy to the next level and engaging with consumers in a completely new way. Consumers consistently demand more from their smart phone and tablet devices and soon they’ll be demanding more from the print ads in their favorite magazines too - we’re stoked to be ahead of the curve in bringing this to our customers.”

“In just over six months since our launch, we’ve caught up in a huge wave of interest from global brands operating in pretty much every vertical market you can think of - entertainment, advertising, publishing, education, tourism, fashion, real estate, automotive and retail,” said Jennifer Rapp, General Manager at Aurasma. “Whatever the market they operate in, our partners all share one thing in common and that’s a desire to bring their offline and online activities together into one integrated customer experience.  Our 1000th partner, Shark Watch is a case in point - they’re delivering high-impact digital assets through conventional print ads and in the process, creating a dynamic and memorable customer journey to an online point of purchase.”

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.  Users can even use the tools within the app to create and share their own Auras.  Aurasma is available as a free app for iPhone4, 4S, iPad2 and high-powered Android devices and as a free SDK for app developers.

FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE STEPS TO BRING IMAGES WITH THE AURASMA SYMBOL TO LIFE:

1.       Download Aurasma from the App Store or Android Market
2.       Open the app on your device and point at the photographs attached to this press release
3.       Watch as the statics ads come to digital life

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 iPhone 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 and is part of software company Autonomy - an HP Company.

ABOUT SHARK BRAND

Founded alongside Freestyle in the early 80’s, Shark Brand has since developed its own iconic youth influenced style.  Ultimately fueled by energy of the board sports generation, Shark Brand is built upon innovation and durability with a keen eye on the styles and trends of today’s youth.  Forever inspired by the athletic feats of the sport of kings, Shark Brand supports a growing team of athletes including surfing greats Cory Lopez, Bede Durbidge and Sage Erickson.  For more information on Shark Brand visit www.sharkbrand.com.

Links to Editors
Aurasma (Shark Brand Ad in Action):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WIo6MzlUm0&feature=youtu.be

Aurasma (App Store):
itunes.apple.com/gb/app/aurasma-lite/id432526396?mt=8

Aurasma (Android Marketplace):
bit.ly/tHibPU

Aurasma:
www.aurasma.com
www.facebook.com/aurasma/
www.twitter.com/aurasma/
www.youtube.com/user/AurasmaLite
aurasmalite.tumblr.com/

Meghan Fintland of Ogilvy PR, +1-415-677-2704, Meghan.fintland at ogilvy.com; or Lauren Offers, +1-415-852-8998, lauren.offers at autonomy.com, both for Aurasma