Augmented reality

Technology is starting to rule the world! It has now integrated its way between the physical world and digital world, combining into one called augmented reality. One way that I deal with augmented reality in my everyday life is at work. I’m a server and the way we put in food orders is through the computer. The computer screen is laid out exactly like the restaurant, even down to the shapes of the tables. When you first start working at a restaurant you have to quickly learn all the table numbers, so you can tell the sections apart. You also are given a log in code so that the system can record which section each server has. As a server, when you need to put in an order you can look at your table in the restaurant and easily find it on the computer. You can not only put in your tables order but can also see who has what other tables because your name appears on the table you have. The system is even precise enough to tell you how long the tables have been there.

I took pictures of the computer server so you would have a better understanding of what it looks like. First, you log in on the display screen. Then, when you seat a table, you click on the number and put in the order. The order then goes to the kitchen, where having numbered tables are a necessity so that people can run your food to the right place. The three green tables highlight your tables, the red tables are everyone else’s, and the blue tables are the open tables. In addition, the servers’ name is displayed on the tables they are currently helping. This is very helpful because if a guest says, “I need my server”, instead of asking everyone whose table it is, I can just look on the monitor and see.

“It’s only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are” by Clive James. I would very much have to agree with this quote because boy I had never realized how nice it is to have the computer system until they went down. Since our system is so old it’s gone down more than I would have liked. It causes so much chaos when it’s down because we have to hand write the orders, personally calculate the tax along with the change back, but the biggest downfall we have had was hand-swiping the credit card. Since we couldn’t swipe the credit cards through the computer, some of our money didn’t get calculated right, so many people got to eat for free. Technology makes things immeasurably faster than before since it’s all done instantaneously. Technology is a never-ending realm of improvement and I’m glad to say we finally got our computers up-to-date.

Along with working as a server I also go to college with a major in Advertising. Within advertising, they also use Augmented reality to promote products, like Kit-Kat for example. Kit-Kat printed an ad in The Times of India. The ad said if you scanned “the green Android with the PointART app on your smartphone”, you get to watch a fun video of the green Android turning into a Kit-Kat android. This is just one example of a newly popular form of Augmented reality advertising, but there are many more and some even create their own games. 

Augmented reality advertising is a great way to get consumers more involved with the products. It helps create more demand for the videos or games, which in turn would cause more demand for the product. Since people spend so much time on their phones, this is now a perfect way to integrate advertising with the thing that is most important to them.  The videos that the consumers’ watch or the games they play with augmented reality advertising have the product in it, thus reinforcing the consumer to buy it. Soon, augmented reality advertising will be an everyday thing that all people will know about and love to do.    

Advergames

What’s Advergames? It’s advertising combined with video games. Instead of advertising companies have started to created games on their website to increase consumers traffic on the companies website. Since most people don’t watch commercials because TiVo allows us to skip them, companies need to get their name out, but how? This is why Advergames have become so popular. This isn’t a new concept, in fact, Advergames have been around since the early 1980s but the name was not coined until 2001. This form of advertising helps brands drive home their name to their audience. When people play an Advergame, the company gets their name out there because the player constantly stares at their name. I remember playing theses Advergames on the Disney channel site when I was younger, little did I know that I would be learning about it later.

I remember that I would constantly go on the Disney channel website and play “Sandwich Stackers”, from Lilo and Stitch along with “Eddies Shot Clock Showdown”, from That’s so Raven. I would spend HOURS on the computer trying to reach the highest level. Of course when you go to the Disney website, you first have to go to their home page. That’s where they give you the lowdown of what’s happening on the Disney channel. After that you can go play your games. So I’d say that Advergames works because it gets you looking at their product not just the game. I know that I would easily get sidetracked and look around on the website, totally forgetting that I went there to play “Sandwich Stackers” or “Eddies Shot Clock Showdown”.  Along with that it would reinforces me to want to watch the Disney channel.

 That’s only one type of Advergaming; did you know there are three types of it? Howstuffworks.com went into detail about the different types. First one is like how I would go to the Disney website, it would make me want to watch their shows more since they’re advertising their brand while I was playing their games. The second one is a video game developed for a primary purpose. The example they used was a game called “America’s Army” that the United States Army sponsored to increase recruitment. Finally, the third one, and the one you are probably most familiar with is called product placement; subtly placing products in the audiences view. An example of product placement in Advergaming is if you “see a Ford Mustang cruising the game’s virtual streets.” As you can see Advergaming is not just for children on the Disney channel or adults easily persuaded into joining the army, it can be used to influence all age groups.

I think a lot of companies can and will use Advergames; an already huge company like Chipotle has their own Advergame. People want to be entertained so this is the best way to advertise while entertaining. Advergames will continue to exist and grow even larger than they are now. I believe soon every company will make an Advergame. This is the next logical step in marketing due to the decline of consumers watching commercials. The advertising industry must start changing in order to get their message across, and this was a big step towards getting the brand out there.