The popularity of augmented reality (AR) app Pokémon GO has thrust the technology into the public consciousness more than any other title before it. So it’s no surprise that other companies would try something similar, so Disney collaborated with Google and MediaMonks on an AR experience to promote Pete’s Dragon.
The movie has just released in cinemas and to compliment the film fans can go Dragon Spotting. Using the Google Cloud Vision API the experience brings Pete’s Dragon to life by recognising everyday objects and making Elliot the dragon appear.
To enjoy the app you’ll need to head to dragonspotting.com where there’s a QR code on the website. Scan it with a suitable QR code scanner and you’ll be taken into the app itself. It’ll then prompt users to find objects such as couches, doors, bicycles or trees, near their homes or around the neighbourhood. As long as you allow the app to use the smartphones camera Elliot will then appear.
Having been created in part by Google the main app itself is compatible with just Android products. Users with iOS devices can have the same kind of experience by taking and uploading images of items prompted, if the object is correct the website will display an image with Elliot superimposed.
To do this Dragon Spotting uses Cloud Vision API’s Label Detection feature that identifies objects termed ‘entities’. As Google’s blog post details: “The API returns the list of entities identified within the image. The website then checks if the desired object is in the list of entities returned from the API. For example, if the user needs to identify “couch,” the website checks against a list of possible responses: “chair, futon, couch, sofa.” As soon as the recognized entity matches the desired object, Elliot is revealed!”
AR apps are now likely to become a lot more prevalent as companies seek new ways to promote content, and VRFocus will bring you all the latest details.
