This week Esquire magazine caused a massive buzz surrounding traditional magazines implementing augmented reality into their publications. A few weeks ago when I discovered this issue was coming out I was hoping it would bring the attention that it did. It was even more refreshing to see that main stream media were now exposed to augmented reality for the general consumer.

Download the Augmented Reality software and experience here.

On November 10, 2009 David Granger the editor of Esquire magazine gave a great overview to The Today Show’s Meredith Vieira on the reason behind why Esquire chose to use augmented reality in their issue.

It is interesting to note the two known companies that worked on this AR experience. The Barbarian Group (Best and Brightest 2008) and digital animators Psyop. According to an interview with Esquire by Thomas Carpenter at The Future Digital Life, the augmented reality experience cost Esquire approximately $100,000. Will this help the magazine in the short term? With all of the buzz, sure. Will it help it out in the long term? We will see.

What this investment will do is expose the general consumer to augmented reality. This can only mean that it is only a matter of time before integrated marketing companies and digital agencies begin to implement more and more AR experiences into their work. Exciting things are ahead for augmented reality in the marketing world.

Full Video Review

Now I would like to share with you a full video demonstration of the December 2009 Esquire magazine. There are 5 locations within the magazine where you can experience augmented reality. This includes the Cover, pages 52, 136, 148, and 151. For those that cannot get a copy of the issue or will not have a copy in the future, I believe this will be a great reference for us all. Curious to hear your thoughts! Enjoy!