Evrythng and Zappar are teaming up to blend augmented reality with the internet of things (IoT). How’s that for combining some popular buzzwords?
New York-based Evrythng has created a smart products platform that collects, manages, and applies real-time data to drive IoT applications, or everyday objects that are smart and connected. London-based Zappar has created an AR platform that brings interactivity to these everyday objects. By combining the two platforms, product makers can make their IoT objects more interactive.
With the combined products, brands will be able to utilize scan codes on a product’s packaging to deliver rich, short-form content and gather real-time data. Consumers can interact with a soda can by pointing a smartphone at it, for example. The app scans a code on the product and triggers an AR animation that is visible on the smartphone.
Evrythng wants to digitally enable billions of consumer products by connecting them to intelligent software in the cloud. Though this partnership, codes on product packaging can now be connected to Active Digital Identities in the cloud to deliver rich short-form content, while also driving digital product life-cycle management capabilities and capturing real-time data throughout the life of the product. Brands can then use these insights, which are accessible via Evrythng’s cloud-based data management platform, to optimize their supply chain operations and strengthen customer relationships.
“Our partnership with Zappar is yet another way we’re bridging the gap between the physical and digital for brands and consumers,” said Niall Murphy, cofounder and CEO of Evrythng, in a statement. “This addition of augmented reality to our portfolio of rich digital applications powered by smart products allows brands to deliver interactive experiences that drive consumer engagement, insights, and business impact.”
For instance, a cereal brand can use data insights from an AR game to set up a reordering notification for a consumer. With increased dwell time, active engagement, table time, and increased rates of repurchase, the AR experience also provides insights into where and when products are being bought and used.
“Evrythng is the perfect partner for us. They bring big data and serialization to bear in a way that complements our approach to AR,” said Caspar Thykier, cofounder and CEO of Zappar, in a statement. “We strive to make AR truly mass market, scalable, efficient, affordable, and effective but also engaging and interactive for our partners. We share a common goal to build an always-on digital relationship between the physical world of things and devices that a brand controls to drive added value experiences, analytics, and results.”
Zappar’s ZapWorks platform is being used by customers such as Avon Cosmetics, Deloitte, InterContinental Hotels Group, Pernod Ricard, Coca-Cola, R/GA, Samsung, Thomson Reuters, and Vodafone.
