Augmented reality is an engaging way of combining live video with computer-generated data, visualizations and sound for a live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment. The magazine will release the details of how to use this technology with its website tomorrow, but let me explain how it will most likely work.
The September issue of Tatler (to be released Thursday) will contain a page with a seemingly generic image of a ring. Just cut out the image and place it on your finger. Then you need a computer and a webcam. Go to the Tatler website, find the “Try Me” page. Following the directions, place the paper ring on your finger in from of the webcam and an image of an actual will appear on the computer screen. It will be as if you are looking in the mirror trying on the actual ring. There will most likely be screen prompts that will allow you to try on different rings.
And what an assortment of rings you’ll be able to virtually wear. International jewelry brands featured in this AR-enhance piece of editorial are Boodles, Cartier, Chanel Fine Jewelry, Chopard, De Beers, Fabergé, Graff, Harry Winston, Louis Vuitton, Mikimoto, Tiffany and Van Cleef & Arpels.
The AR is being provided by Holition, a U.K.-based company that provides 3D augmented reality solutions and specializes with luxury providers. It’s a name that regular readers of Jewelry News Network will no doubt recognize as it has graced these electronic pages through its projects with De Beers, Tissot, Tacori and Boucheron.
Tatler, which claims its roots to 1709, calls itself the oldest magazine in the world.
“What excites me is that we have brought together the oldest magazine in the world with an industry steeped in heritage and tradition—and combined the two to create a digital innovation,” said Jessica Walsh, Tatler’s jewelry editor. “Digital technologies are changing the way in which people interact with both media and brands and I am excited to be contributing to this shift.”