Video: augmented reality business card sells itself

Does your feeble mind recall those wicked awesome 3D Topps cards from earlier this year? How could you forget, right? It seems as if that very same technology has been shifted over to the wine and cheese crowd, and thanks to one James Alliban, now those all-too-boring business cards can also be equipped with augmented reality. Put simply, these cards have been imprinted with a 3D grid of colored planes on one side, and when placed in front of a PC webcam, a pixelated pop-up arrives to really make that first impression one that sticks. Hop on past the break to see exactly what we mean.

[Via GadgetVenue]

AR Business Card from James Alliban on Vimeo.

[Alan Strangis @ Jul 17th 2009 11:06AM]

If my mind were feeble, I probably WOULD have forgotten about them. :/

[Nikesh @ Jul 18th 2009 10:49AM]

As least those cards put up an image that was intelligible. All I see here is a multicolored splatter. Looks more like a Jackson Pollack than a business tool

[cjwild @ Jul 17th 2009 11:08AM]

WHAT

[Jonathan @ Jul 17th 2009 11:08AM]

So this is like that PS3 card game, except is looks all sloppy and pixelated as oppossed to beautiful and smooth.

I see.

[erwin @ Jul 17th 2009 11:12AM]

ok...now make it mainstream

[ambivalent @ Jul 17th 2009 11:16AM]

I need a shirt with an AR label that makes me look like a body builder.

[Eddie @ Jul 17th 2009 3:55PM]

I need a pair of pants with an AR label that makes me look like a have a big . . . oh nevermind.

[chansthename @ Jul 17th 2009 11:12PM]

ahh eddie, seems you have finally faced the truth that not even special pants will make it look big for you

/jk

[Ade @ Jul 17th 2009 11:25AM]

I can't imagine why the webcam was pointed at his wang :-s

[El Capitan @ Jul 17th 2009 11:20AM]

I... don't understand. How is that happening in real time? I can imagine making a 3D effect like that... but it would take FOREVER to render. Even in a cluster.

[LondonConsultant @ Jul 17th 2009 11:25AM]

It's magic.

[Penguin @ Jul 17th 2009 11:36AM]

That? Take long to render? No... that could be done in realtime on a very low performance processor.

[Templarian @ Jul 17th 2009 11:39AM]

You can do it with flash and a webcam. http://flash.tarotaro.org/blog/

GE released a site a few months ago that used a similar functionality.

[slamEVIL @ Jul 17th 2009 12:29PM]

@LondonConsultant you crack me up!

did anybody else see how he dropped it at the end?

[bolmedias @ Jul 17th 2009 11:20AM]

Imagine having dinner with the man who thought of that.

I know, it's not pleasant.

[sr @ Jul 17th 2009 11:26AM]

This is way crappier than those Topps cards.

[Hackettman @ Jul 17th 2009 11:35AM]

Still not practical......

[AT7 @ Jul 17th 2009 11:42AM]

''imprinted with a 3D grid of colored planes'' >> lolz..I dont think so. .. you make it sound like a holoprojection of Princess Leia. The symbol on the card is a tracking glyph that can used to spatially place visual media. They used it in 'prototype this', and has the similar principles as MoCap used in games and movies. Allibans other vids will illustrate this as well.

[Wwhat @ Jul 17th 2009 2:45PM]

Yeah you can take your pencil and doodle one on a piece of paper, it's completely irrelevant basically, it's just lines the software knows in advance how it looks and can determine what the rotation is when it sees it at an angle.

[raul @ Jul 17th 2009 11:45AM]

Andros form StarFox! =D

[Tyranor @ Jul 17th 2009 11:44AM]

This tech is being used more and more often, and it's awesome! I can't wait to use it myself frankly.

[Jovian @ Jul 17th 2009 11:46AM]

"This is the most impressive business card I've ever seen it's mine. It took me 25 years to design this."

[sinai @ Jul 17th 2009 12:18PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2mHkQUBEpM

in case you guys didn't get the memo

[jon @ Jul 17th 2009 12:06PM]

Until we have glasses, contact, or retinal displays AR is pointless. I don't want to watch myself interacting with something on a screen.

[jon @ Jul 17th 2009 12:11PM]

The other option would be transparent handheld displays that do AR overlays, like the couple of android and iPhone apps, without the "I'm looking at the world through a really crappy viewfinder" effect.

[sinai @ Jul 17th 2009 12:17PM]

what's the point of this? the point of a business card is to have a highly-pragmatic way to swap information.... this requires a computer, a web browser and an internet connection... fail.

[Vic De Zen @ Jul 17th 2009 12:30PM]

Agreed. Why would anyone need this? Unless they're so uninteresting they need to give people an excuse to keep their business card around...

[Kevin @ Jul 17th 2009 1:11PM]

This is a business card that people would show their friends and coworkers.

Why does anyone need this? Well, they don't. Business cards don't need color, or fonts, or pictures, or texture, or any of the other things that foolish people think makes them stand out. Just your name and business, and some contact information.

[Wwhat @ Jul 17th 2009 2:46PM]

No you don't show it, you show the back to the camera and nobody will pay attention to what's on the actual card.

[Emceay @ Jul 17th 2009 3:36PM]

boo. hiss.

[TheCow5 @ Jul 17th 2009 12:38PM]

does anyone remember back to the future 2 when the cd shark came out and bite Michale J. Fox. It look mutch the same but the same question remains.
How do you see it with your eyes without some sort of camera or eyeglasses?

[Wwhat @ Jul 17th 2009 2:59PM]

There is nothing to see, it is only visible on the computerscreen in the software/site you goto, the card is merely followed by your webcam to move the image like a virtual wiimote, or project natal if you prefer.

[Nelagster @ Jul 17th 2009 12:41PM]

you're hired!

[10minutehobo @ Jul 17th 2009 12:48PM]

This is kind of pointless...and ugly.

Fail.

[Trevor Gehman @ Jul 17th 2009 12:55PM]

Wow...

[El Erbmocnoc Euqsam @ Jul 17th 2009 1:34PM]

The scary part is that the only thing that's augmented is the boring factor. This is yet another solution in search of a problem, kinda like the bento box USB key except that at least the bento box is cute.

[coyo t @ Jul 17th 2009 1:50PM]

"here take my card and uh download this um software and uh hold my card up to um your computers camera and uh then move my um card around about and uh then like um call me when you uh want um more super great fantastic junk like that" - goof

[RainFire @ Jul 17th 2009 2:04PM]

It does not fit in a Rolodex because it does not belong in a Rolodex

[superdave @ Jul 17th 2009 2:20PM]

Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has a watermark.

[habib @ Jul 18th 2009 12:03PM]

is something wrong, patrick? you're sweating.

[Kai @ Jul 17th 2009 2:23PM]

Actionscript 3.0 is the last language i would use for AR

[Andy Li @ Jul 17th 2009 2:35PM]

Actually I make my card ARable too. That's a few months ago, which is made as a example in my blog post on how to use colored marker in FLARtoolkit. http://blog.onthewings.net/2009/05/23/flartoolkit-trick-use-a-colored-marker/

[Eric @ Jul 17th 2009 3:35PM]

For what it's worth, a friend and I came up with the same idea independently several weeks ago. Props to this guy for actually DOING something with the idea--I'm just too lazy.

I did have a better implementation of the idea in mind, though...

[InShadows @ Jul 17th 2009 3:45PM]

American Psycho anyone?

[AT7 @ Jul 19th 2009 5:25AM]

cmon... Carruthers card was awesome, you must admit

[Michael Kantor @ Jul 17th 2009 4:56PM]

Just getting my browser to remember my commenting password... can only do that by making a random comment... sorry guys. Only took me about a year to notice that they keep sending me a password in the "please confirm" email...

[Mike @ Jul 17th 2009 7:46PM]

Where can I apply to work for your company? This is awesome! Requires the Cam, but wouldn't anyone to show this?

[Adam @ Jul 18th 2009 5:10AM]

Nissan's 'Cube' brochure (you can request one on their website) has this built in, you have to install this special software, and it has like 4 different panes, you can look inside the car in 3D, just moving the card around. It's pretty fun to play around with, but you never touch it again

[Jonas @ Jul 18th 2009 3:45PM]

my semester project goes into a similar direction. i kept my focus on enhancing the paper business card with a more personal presentation and easy ways to directly get in touch with the person.
http://www.t-o-x-i-n.de/index.php/2009/07/18/allgemein/augmented-businesscard-english/

[TheScope @ Jul 19th 2009 6:28AM]

Look at the video and you can see clearly that at around 0:27 the video gets out of focuse but the so called card stays the same and so, well, we were had. PHOTOSHOPED!!
You got fooled XD
briliant ad for this guys website...