Something is up. Majorly up, with the new issue of Esquire. They claim that by holding up your copy of Esquire to your computer, these little encoded bar code-type do-hickeys will bring the thing to life on your computer. Robert Downy Jr. just my dance… DANCE FOR YOU. The new Sherlock Holmes doing a jig for you on your laptop? Neat-o. Right?
Well. Not really.
Here’s what you need to have to make this work. You need to download some program from esquire.com And you also need a webcam. And then you need to start up the program and point the webcam at your magazine and then… stuff starts moving.
Neat. Will it save the print industry? I can’t imagine that it will. Seems more like a Little Orphan Annie decoder ring sized disappointment. Product placement, webcam giveaways, hits on the Esquire.com website to fuel online web ad sales. I’m a guy who loves print media. And loves Esquire. And therefor, sees this entire Augmented Reality distraction as just that. A distraction. Cool? Sure. But a gimmick none the less.
Here’s Esquire’s editor in chief, David Granger, with a preview.
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