MONETISING MOBILE: Somo talks Audi augmented reality apps

Product director Maani Safa on supercharging branded applications with AR.

Some big brands are getting into mobile augmented reality, with Audi one of the more high-profile to dip its toes in the virtual waters this year. It worked with agency Somo on an app for the Le Mans race in June.

Audi wanted users of the app to experience "all the race has to offer", and they wanted it to be available across iPad, iPhone and Android. "The objective, essentially, was to build a fully immersive mobile experience around the Le Mans race across iOS and Android," said Somo's Maani Safa.

The result: an app providing a countdown to the race before it took place, a live leaderboard during the race and a live stream from Radio Le Mans, geo-location features for fans at home and at the race itself. And then the augmented reality features.

"We took very precise CAD drawings to render the cars in full 3D, and while it was a great experience, it didn't really achieve what we wanted," said Safa. Users could spin a virtual car around to look at it from various angles. Cue AR.

"The idea was to use augmented reality to bring the cars alive in true Audi VDT fashion," he said (VDT? That'll be 'Vorsprung Durch Teknik', the company's famous slogan'). The feature saw a virtual 3D Audi Le Mans racing car pop up seemingly in the real world, on top of a printed-out marker. They could tap on hotspots to find out about different parts, or drive it around their desk or table.