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Will you
allow “Aurasma” to impact your product? |
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How many of
you reading this blog post have ever heard of “Aurasma?” If you haven't heard
of this new technology, I would suggest you Google it and spend a minute or
two digesting what you are about to find. While technology certainly
continues to provide printed newspapers with immense challenges, I would
suggest that to those willing to think outside the box and view the world
through a different lens, it has also provided immense opportunity. The beauty
of TV years ago, and the Internet more recently, is that both can take the
topic and subject you are viewing and literally bring it to life; they can
bring it into your living room or the location in which you are viewing it.
Traditional newspapers, while offering an excellent reading experience, are
unable to provide the experience that live TV and the Internet can. Speed ahead
to the era of Aurasma. Now newspapers finally have the ability to provide
real action and visual enjoyment embedded in each story. Point your
smartphone or tablet at the picture on the sports page and watch the players
come alive and view action highlights. Point your smartphone or tablet at the
ad previewing a coming box office hit and watch as a theater quality preview
comes to life. All that and so much more are possible with technology. Point that
same smartphone or tablet at an advertiser's ad and watch a 30-second
commercial or, better yet, view a full-blown infomercial. The audience and
revenue opportunities from both the news content and ad content are
practically endless with this type of technology. It takes the latest fad, QR codes, and bumps
it up to a whole new level — without the ugly black and white square codes
all over your product. While still
not TV or the Internet, newspapers now have the ability through modern
technology to spring back to life. The million-dollar question, however, is
the same one that we have asked ourselves on more than one occasion: Will we
reach out and grab the lifeline or will we sit back and wait for the
technology to pass us by yet again? As I have
pointed out on more than one occasion, being willing to take risks is what
separates the “men from the boys,” via true innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. Many talk the
innovation or reinvention talk, yet are content to sit back and wait while
others “work out the kinks,” so to speak. As an industry, we can't afford
that type of thinking any longer — we must get out in front where it makes
sense and lead, taking smart and/or calculated risks in order to survive. None of us
knows where the Aurasma technology will go, but it is these types of
inventions that we need to embrace quickly in order to right the ship that is
listing badly to port. It will be interesting to see how and if the print
industry embraces such technology or if we squander yet another opportunity. |
