Zee Fear Files Goes Augmented With Metaio

Quick! Turn on zee tv before zee ghosts get us. 

South Asian Television broadcaster Zee TV and interactive agency Xenium  worked together to develop this wonderful augmented reality experience to promote the upcoming horror show, “Fear Files“, using the metaio Design software.

Installed at a popular shopping mall, participants were treated to a “ghostly” experience as they entered the darkened, covered area where they were greeted with only a large television screen featuring a live camera feed of the participants, mirroring their movements and stance.

When they stepped on the designated floor marker, a ghost child began to appear, as though he were there in real life, creeping out behind the person standing there. Then the scary music started playing, the child would make a “curse” gesture and the participant or participants would just disappear. 

 

 

Said a representative of Xenium, “In the end the participants were stunned with the experience, with long lasting fear lingering in mind.”

(Mission accomplished)

Check out the video and the links above for more information! And of course you’ll be able learn more about these awesome augmented reality projects, and more like them at our upcoming Augmented Reality conference, insideAR, Oct 1-2 in Munich. We hope you can join us!

 

Survive THE THING in New App from Universal and metaio

Mobile devices are evidently the warmest place to hide.

metaio had the opportunity to develop this very cool mobile application with Universal Pictures to promote the highly-anticipated prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter cult-classic of the same name, out in theaters October 14th. We wanted to create a game that drew on the same suspense, horror, and isolation of the film while generating excitement for its release.

After downloading and launching the free THE THING: Flamethrower application for Android or iOS, players assume the role of one of the surviving Antarctic scientists, trapped in a virtual laboratory and assailed from all sides by creepy alien hybrid versions of their former colleagues.

Sounds like fun, right?

We really mean all sides, because this game is played in 360 degrees- players will have to move their mobile device in real life to defend themselves from the attacking aliens. FYI- it’s dark, the lighting quality is very poor, and you only have a limited amount of flamethrower fuel.

Try to hold out as long as you can, but as fans and people familiar with the film know- it’s very difficult to survive THE THING.

After playing, check out the INFECT YOURSELF feature that uses our advanced Facial Recognition AR capability. Watch as THE THING literally rips your face apart. Even Danika of @twitt_AR fame succumbed to the crafty invasive life form:

This game utilized metaio’s advanced Mobile SDK, the most comprehensive solution to create Augmented Reality applications for iOS and Android. Featuring a high-level API and the latest image recognition technologies, it allows developers to produce high-quality applications with low effort. And best of all: we’re releasing a free version in the near future.

Once again- the film hits theaters this Friday, October 14, so get out to your local cinema and happily cringe to this great horror thriller that more than does justice to the 1982 film.

For more info, check out the press release and don’t forget to download  this amazing game.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

Hands On

Untill now my interface to The Fratellis was “Flathead”, a very nice example of their snotty style. Now I´ve found a nice promotion for a music festival by Radio 1 on BBCs Radiolabs featuring the band from Glasgow. It was called “band in your hand” and that`s what it is! After following a link integrated in an invitation mail the users were able to see a small animation and a video on a 3D screen via webcam and PC. In their hands. Besides some hardware blockers (downloading the software first, printing out a marker as optical reference, not running on a Mac) the promotion can be seen as a success. As innovation leader (best contemporary program in the world, blasting shows like Annie Mac´s Mash-up or Gilles Peterson´s Worldwide Show) BBC Radio 1 was also one of the first to bring augmented reality to their audience. Applause.