FlippAR reveals huge potential of Augmented Reality

Clicking a pic can trigger a splash of old photos through social object tagging

You walk into a coffee shop, spot a mug that triggers a memory. You take out your smartphone and take a snap. In a jiffy, videos, audio and pictures pop out dramatically reigniting every moment of your last visit there, five years ago! This is precisely what Bengaluru-based startup, FlippAR, can do with its Augmented Reality application, unveiling a whole world hitherto trapped in nostalgia.

FlippAR’s co-founder Vivek Jain calls it social object tagging. “In this case, it is about tagging all your experiences to a cup of coffee. Initially, it would be a logo of the coffee shop. Later the glass, or a piece of furniture in the shop can be a target image,” he explains. This potential to smartly link the past, captured in all glory by a million photos and videos, with the present could alter the way we look at reality itself.

The technology, showcased recently at startup accelerator NUMA’s ‘Demo Day,’ had its pilot at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technology Museum here. Visitors only had to point their FlippAR app camera at a dinosaur exhibit to get a 3D-model of the same. 

“People take millions of pictures in their mobile phones. Twenty years down the line, those visuals will still make sense if they are appropriately tagged,” says Jain.
   But this is not all about social tags and connections. As a customer, you walk into a furniture shop. You wouldn’t need to imagine how that sofa would look in your living room. FlippAR, says Jain, will help you visualise it in real time.
 The same Augmented Reality technique works with art galleries, too. “Customers can visualise art pieces on the walls of their homes and share it with their friends and family to get feedback.” The method is simple: Download the branded application, pick the artwork from a catalogue and shoot a picture of your room with the artwork embedded on the mobile screen. 

Since its launch a year ago, the FlippAR app has been downloaded about 11,000 times so far. To get a glimpse of the possibilities, click on the “Scan” button and point it to a set of a AR samples uploaded at http://flippar. com/sam ples.html. Pointing it to the car image gives a 360-degree view of the vehicle right on the mobile screen. You could spin it around or zoom into it. 

The app says you could also watch trailers of Hollywood / Bollywood movies by just pointing the device to select posters at the theatres or newspapers.