As if publishers haven’t enough to be trying to get to grips with – from next-gen websites, blogs and mobile and TV apps to social media-sharing strategies – now Layar has come along with a US$55,000 competition for developers to create next-generation augmented reality concepts for publishing.
Amsterdam-based Layar, the largest open platform for mobile augmented reality (AR), last night announced the official launch of the Layar Creation Challenge.
Starting today, developers around the world can compete for $55,000 in total cash prizes, to be rewarded to 10 developers with the best concepts for useful and unique layers using the recently launched Layar Vision platform extension.
Layars will be judged around the following categories: magazines, books, self-publishing and the special wild-card category. Developers are encouraged to think big and create layers that highlight the best and brightest ideas in augmented reality.
Can augmented reality add value to the publishing industry?
“Augmented reality is at the stage it can add real value to existing businesses,” explained Maarten Lens-FitzGerald, Layar co-founder and general manager.
“This is what we are focusing on with our challenge, were not looking for just a cool layer using Layar Vision, but for creative smart business ideas which will provide lasting value for both user and publisher,” Lens-FitzGerald said.
Winners will be selected by a panel of internationally acclaimed jurors, including Layar co-founder and CEO Raimo van der Klein, Wired UK editor-at-large Ben Hammersley, sci-fi author and AR guru Bruce Sterling, former AdMob evangelist Russell Buckley and author/futurist Gerd Leonhard.
