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Printing_News_June_2016

Editor’s Note Alter Your REALITY It’s time to bring life to print with augmented and virtual reality The next big thing in print might already be here—and it might be just what you need to diff erentiate your business from everyone else. Th ere’s one caveat, though: it’s not print. But print is a component of it. According to Digi-Capital, augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are forecast to reach a combined $120 billion by 2020 and these technologies are just getting started. But while VR could be big ($30B by 2020), AR could be bigger ($90B by 2020). VR Viewer. According to the company’s blog, “Th e introduction of inexpensive VR headsets has made it possible for brands to deliver the ultimate interactive experience to consumers, allowing them to literally walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” (Check out this video to learn more: PrintingNews.com/12208807.) But then, there’s the question of content—for both VR and AR. Once you get the viewer or you’ve created the AR-enabled print piece, what then? In terms of AR, the challenge isn’t necessarily the mechanics of adding AR to a printed piece, but generating the rich media content that the AR triggers. Developing the rich media can be costly even if the AR soft ware itself is inexpensive or free. For some brands, creating the VR/AR content might be easy. But what if it’s not? So the real question is: Can you provide those services? As you can see from the numbers, these areas are big now and are only forecast to get bigger. Printers today can’t aff ord to ignore this revenue stream. It might be time to break out of our current “print” mentality and consider the much larger and augmented world out there. Find this article at PrintingNews.com/1220995 Consider this as well: Brands like McDonald’s, GE, and Samsung have already adopted VR technology. Even Lowes has gotten into the VR kick. Lowe’s Holoroom, according to the company’s website, is a “digital power tool for kitchen and bath design. Th e Holoroom is an immersive experience that allows you to design your dream kitchen or bath in minutes, and then virtually step into your design and share it with friends and family.” Facebook and YouTube allow users to view 360-degree videos by utilizing the gyroscope on their mobile devices. We’ve already started to see a lot of buzz surrounding both technologies. Th ere have been an infl ux of VR headsets (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift , Sony PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard, Microsoft HoloLens, Razer OSVR, FOVE VR, Zeiss VR One, Avegant Glyph, and Freefl y VR headset just to name a few). But with the technology evolving so quickly those products may come and go even before you fi nish reading this column. Is there another option for brands that might be more cost eff ective in the short-term? Google Cardboard could be one of those cost eff ective options. Structural Graphics, though, just released its own viewer: the SleekPeeks By Denise Gustavson Editorial Director An 18-year industry veteran, Denise parlays her journalistic experience with her in-depth knowledge of the issues, challenges, and technology of the graphic and visual communication industries. Was It Good for You? For the Top 100, 2015 was a good year In 2015, 75 businesses listed in the 2015 Printing News Top 100 quick and small commercial printers posted positive growth. With total sales of nearly $512 million, this year’s Top 100 includes companies with sales that ranged from $2 million to $19.6 million. As a group, the average sales-per-shop was $3.8 million and average sales-per-employee was $161,322. 6 Printing News ® June 2016 PrintingNews®com


Printing_News_June_2016
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