Esquire unveiled its latest use of augmented reality technology and further established its eye for innovation with two unique experiences that extend the magazine well beyond the printed page. In an effort to form an active and engaging experience for its readers, Esquire has joined forces with GoldRun, an augmented reality platform, to create two interactive adventures using "geo-tagging" technology. For the first time ever, a magazine is using GPS technology to place a virtual image of a cover subject in a remote location. Esquire's February cover model, Brooklyn Decker, can be "found" in over 700 Barnes & Noble stores across the country.
In partnership with Barnes & Noble, Esquire and GoldRun have made it possible to locate, interact with, and take pictures alongside the beautiful Brooklyn Decker in any Barnes & Noble store. Once users download the free GoldRun app onto their GPS enabled iPhones and hold up the device within 50 yards of that store's magazine area, they can view Brooklyn on their screen as though she were actually present in their surrounding environment.
"At Esquire, we continue our effort to merge print and new forms of cutting-edge technology," said Editor-in-Chief David Granger. "We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with GoldRun to use this radical next phase in Augmented Reality to engage our readers like never before and allow them to interact with one of the sexiest women in the world, Brooklyn Decker."
Find Esquire's Logo Letters, Win iPads
In addition to the Brooklyn Decker "geo-tagging" program, Esquire has asked GoldRun to help create an interactive user experience in which readers can track down the letters of the Esquire logo (as re-imagined by New York City-based creative studio Tronic) in a city near them. GoldRun has assigned specific latitudes and longitudes to the seven letters that make up the Esquire logo in seven cities across the U.S. Within New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, and Philadelphia, users can use the GoldRun app on their iPhones to locate and take pictures of the letters near or around seven iconic landmark locations in each city. Readers are encouraged to take a variety of interesting photos with themselves interacting with the letters at locations ranging from the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles to the Empire State Building New York City. Users can enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win an iPad by simply uploading their logo letter images at www.esquire.com/scavenger-hunt.
"It's exciting to see how companies are using GoldRun in such diverse ways," added Vivian Rosenthal, GoldRun CEO. "With these two Esquire initiatives alone, there's an incredible range - extending the reach of the magazine into the virtual landscape with Brooklyn Decker literally leaping off its pages, and creating an evolving gallery that reflects the character and personality of Esquire's vast readership through the Logo Sweepstakes."