Now, add augmented reality to print ads via Rev Media's mobile application

To launch fully AR-enabled monthly tabloid for high-networth individuals soon

Rev Media, a Hyderabad-based out-of-the-home (OOH) media start-up, has developed Rev Eye, a mobile application that enables transforming traditional forms of print media advertisements or collaterals into digital engagements using augmented reality (AR).

AR is a technology that allows for a digitally-enhanced view of the real world, connecting the user with more meaningful content in his/her everyday life. With the camera and sensors in a smartphone or a tablet, AR adds layers of digital information – videos, photos and sounds – to the rich content.

After downloading Rev Eye, all a user needs to do is aim a phone’s camera to an activated advertisement, and then have various images of a product and all the relevant details of it on the screen. The app was developed using a core image recognition engine licensed from a US-based technology provider and involving an investment of Rs 10 lakh.

“In our case, we are doing AR (print advertisement, posters, billboards and packaging) for brands. Rev Eye is currently live on five brands, including the Indian Luxury Expo scheduled to be held in Hyderabad from tomorrow. We should be hitting at least 100 brands in a year from now,” said. Vishal Reddy, chief executive of Rev Media.

Stating that the adoption of this technology was still in a nascent stage, he said AR as a market was at around $2 million in India in 2010, which was expected to grow exponentially to touch the $2.5-billion mark by 2015.

“The growth will primarily be driven by the ubiquity that the smart phones are achieving,” Reddy said, adding that the company’s immediate target was to generate revenues of Rs 1 crore a month from Rev Eye, starting next quarter.

Reddy said that the company was set to launch ‘The Luxury Box’, a fully augmented reality-enabled tabloid targeting high-networth individuals (HNIs) during this weekend. The 20-page monthly, priced at Rs 100, will have precise and situation-based content on “anything luxury” including hotels, apparel, jewellery and cars, he added.