Jonas Jäger took the dying business card, rolled it onto its back and placed his palms on its chest. Taking his weight on his knees, he pushed down firmly with the heels of his hands an pumped three times. Leaning over, he put his mouth over the dying card’s face and blew. The card fluttered in the breeze, stiffened and then coughed. It was alive!
And so it was that Jonas extended the life of these ailing slices of dead tree. The Augmented Business Card uses tech similar to that already seen in baseball cards. On the front, it is a normal business card, but – like a mullet – once you get around back the fun begins. The rear is printed with a QR-code, one of those square, mosaic bar codes. Next to that is an AR (augmented reality) marker, a blocky black shape for tracking the card’s movement.
The card-owner uses software to make a presentation which is then uploaded to the web. When the lucky recipient puts the card in front of their computer (and fires up the Flash-based software), the card’s info is read by the webcam and they enjoy a 3D experience overlaid onto the card. They can then twist and turn it to control various parameters.
It’s a great idea, but users still need to navigate to a Web site before they can use it. Once this wrinkle is taken care of, though, the humble businessman’s comfort-blanket can live on for a few more years.
Product page [Toxin Labs. Thanks, Jonas!]
Post a Comment