At Mohn Media, the refinement or revaluation of a product is no longer limited to haptics and visuals but can now be done digitally. Together with the startup Raumtänzer the magazine division at Mohn Media developed “Amazing Magazin” for clients of the printing group. It is the first magazine produced at Mohn Media with augmented reality content.
Augmented reality (AR) describes a computer-based perception that expands the real world with virtual features. A smart phone or tablet and the appropriate app are required to use AR content. In the case of a print product, users direct the camera of their mobile device on a content page that serves as a so-called marker. The AR app accesses a data server where the content linked to the marker is stored – for example 3D models, videos, pictures or texts. The real world of the magazine page mixes with the virtual data world on the user’s screen.
“Amazing Magazin” will serve as a source of inspiration and sales tool for the clients of the Mohn Media group and demonstrate how print communications can be further developed. In addition, the magazine deals with virtual reality as a future issue and explains contexts and current trends.
The interlinking of print products with the digital world is one of the key challenges for agencies and marketing managers, according to Mohn Media’s client survey in the year 2016. AR offers an appropriate solution for this issue: with the assistance of this technology, interactive advertisements, 360-degree videos or 3D animations can be integrated in a print magazine or catalog. As Mohn Media states, the technology has progressed to the point where content can be realistically represented and long download times avoided.
Mohn Media’s AR project team consists of Thorsten Terhechte and Julian Schagen, both Sales and Business Development, and Heinrich Reker as Product Line Manager Magazines.
