Aurasma: Augmented Reality 3D Toy Packaging

A UK-based technology firm has teamed up with a major toy manufacturer to give an advanced new phone app its commercial launch. Named Aurasma, the app is an augmented reality 3D platform that brings to life Bandai's range of toys - Thundercats and Ben 10 figures among them.

The app gives to children the ability to basically "try before they buy", displaying in 3D how their toy will move and function. Set to provide toys with a whole new lease of packaged life, the Aurasma platform is the brainchild of the UK-based Autonomy Corporation.

Augmented reality 3D platforms display a real-life image boosted by artificial enhancements. Through recreating images it's been taught how to recognise, then layering other images and/or video footage on the top, Aurasma essentially works through memory and application.

Aurasma Augmented Reality

The Aurasma augmented reality 3D platform was first showcased in 2010 and, last spring, was released as an iPhone and an Android app. More recently, it's been exhibited at the London Toy Fair 2012, which opened on 24 January and finishes today.

In order for this technology to work, an Aurasma-enabled phone is needed, along with a special edition Bandai toy box, and the augmented reality display isn't just restricted to the point of sale.

3D Toy Packaging

‘Of course, the packaging itself continues to work as a trigger even after the toy has been purchased and taken home', Aurasma's developers explain in a company press release on the toy packaging partnership, while Managing Director, Martina King, adds: "Parents will now have to remember not to throw away the packaging which, thanks to Aurasma, looks set to become an essential part of the toy's experience and something kids keep returning to."

She continues: "Using new technology comes as second nature to kids today and whether using their parents' or their own mobile phone, this imaginative partnership between Aurasma and Bandai will delight the whole family. And best of all, because Aurasma is free to download, it means that now pocket money can be stretched just that little bit further."

Image copyright Aurasma