AR Business Cards
Welcoming in the Modern day business card, using AR! An augmented reality business card is an ideal solution to the boring networking problem. It offers a true WOW factor plus utility and convenience. With an AR business card, you can stand out from other people and make it really easy for the other person to find out more about you. All they need to do is point their phone at it and immediately engage with your card!
Your AR business card acts as a virtual ad for yourself, bringing people additional valuable content about you, which you couldn’t possibly fit onto a regular business card. This can range from videos about your business and fun 3D models to links to your social media and website and call-to-actions.
How an AR Business Card works:
To learn how an AR business card works, it is important to understand what marker-based AR is.
Marker-based AR uses image recognition to find visual “markers” in the real world. This allows mobile devices to anchor AR content into a fixed location in relation to the marker. Essentially, by visually tracking where a marker is through your phone’s camera, it “remembers” where AR content was positioned in relation to it.
This is exactly how an AR business card works. The business card itself acts as the marker that the user scans with their phone to access AR content hovering around it. This content appears above or around the card and the user can interact with it.
Using an AR Business Card with Image Target or Printed marker:
Creating an AR business card with a printed marker is the easiest, most affordable and most common approach. These cards look exactly like regular business cards, with one exception: the marker must be printed somewhere on the card. Typically this marker is a small QR code.
This approach is great because all it requires is that the user scan the QR code on their phone. The majority of smartphone cameras today support QR code scanning.
Once the user scans the code, they will be directed to a link, which will open up the AR effect in the app it was built for (typically Facebook, Snapchat or a web browser).
Using an AR business card with a printed marker is the easiest way to ensure that the largest number of people are able to easily scan your card, although it will require them to have the Facebook or Snapchat apps on their phone, unless it is a web-based AR business card.
The only downside of this approach is that it does require you to have a QR code printed on the card, which some people find unappealing. However, we are now able to design QR codes in a variety of styles and colours, so creating one that is physically appealing isn’t that difficult.
Elements to add to an AR Business Card:
In our experience, the most valuable types of content to include in your AR business card are:
- Contact Information
What is the point of including your contact information, when it’s already available on the physical business card? The answer is simple; by including it in the AR experience you can make it easier for them to tap on your email, website or phone number to contact you directly from their phone.
There is one notable exception: Facebook effects don’t currently support links, so users will only be able to view your information.
- Photos
As they say, an image is worth a thousand words. If you want the person to quickly remember who the card belongs to, what better way than to include a head shot? Alternatively, you could include pictures of some of your work, or of anything else that you think is relevant.
- Social Links
These can be icons linking to your Twitter or LinkedIn profiles, for instance. By simply tapping on the icons, users can quickly find you and connect with you on these platforms. Again, links don’t apply to Facebook, which doesn’t currently support them.
- Videos
Videos are great ways to give people a quick overview of what you do and how you can help them. Being able to get users to watch it straight from your business card is a really fast way to familiarise them with your work.
- 3D Models
If you’re feeling creative, a 3D model is a very cool way to impress people and really stand out. This could be an animated 3D model or a static one.
- Showcasing Products or Services
We encourage customers to be creative when thinking about what content to include. A great approach is to think about what kinds of things you could showcase to give them a vissionary display into your work, from animations to product demonstrations.