The company Zugara which is an interactive marketing and advertising agency specializing in augmented reality applications, has introduced a new concept of their Fashionista technology using Augmented reality to create an immersive and interactive experience. This time extending it to the possibility of augmented reality conferencing. Zugara calls their new product: ZugSTAR which is short for “Zugara Streaming Augmented Reality”.

Source: http://www.zugara.com

AugmentPro interviewed Matt Szymczyk, CEO, Zugara about their Fashionista Augmented Reality application. Now it appears they are using the foundational technology from the Fashionista application to a much broader marketing opportunity than just “social shopping”. According to the blog post from Zugara’s website:

“While integrating ZugSTAR into the Webcam Social Shopper is a natural extension of the tech, it’s certainly not the full extent of our vision.” said Matt Szymczyk, CEO, Zugara. “Gartner predicts that by 2015 200 million people will be paying for desktop video conferencing. Now, I don’t want to sound hyperbolic, but this tech has the potential to impact virtually every single industry. Anywhere distance is a barrier to real-time collaboration, ZugSTAR has the potential to provide a tremendous amount of value.”

Their are a few examples that the ZugSTAR application can be applied to:

• EDUCATION (DISTANCE LEARNING): A science teacher can field questions and twist and turn a DNA helix as he/she explains their answers.
• MEDICINE: 3D models of an fMRI will allow a Dr. to either consult with other Dr.’s, or explain the test’s results directly to a patient.
• PUBLISHING: Augmented Reality Pop-Up Books can enable a parent that’s on the road to help their child to learn how to read.
• PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: A 3D model (e.g. of a shoe or a building being developed) can be shared, and discussed, with colleagues, clients, vendors, and partners.
• CASUAL GAMING: Augmented Reality based casual games can now be multiplayer.

To illustrate the technology view the demo video below:

Demo Video