Send a dancing Santa with an Augmented Reality mobile Christmas card

This is just too cool. I’m not sure how useful it actually is, but it’s maybe the most fun use of Augmented Reality I’ve seen to date. Mobile company Muzar has applied AR to Christmas cards – so you can deploy a fat, dancing Santa into your friends living room.

How does it work?

GoMo News has reported on Muzar before – or more accurately GoMo has reported on the Augmented Reality application that Muzar uses. It’s called Layar, and it works by adding information to the world around you through your phones camera. It displays a layer of information across the real world through your phone screen.

In this particular case, Muzar is using Layar to deliver 3D Santa’s to friends and families. You enter the co-ordinates that your friend is to be found at, and choose what 3D model you want to send. Your friend will then receive an email (why not an SMS?) telling them they’ve been sent a Santa, where it is, and how to see it. Once they’ve followed the instructions, they should be treated to a view like this:

What we think?

This not only seems to be the season to be jolly, but also the season to be Augmented. There has been a surge of interest in AR recently, as well as a surge in AR services available this Christmas. Now, this service is only going to hit a very small percentage of the population. According the Muzar service it only works on Android phones… in the Netherlands. But it’s still a marvelously amusing example of the kind of thing AR can be used for, and I hope to see more of it.Se