Aurasma Lite

Aurasma Lite Review

by on April 20, 2012

Aurasma is an augmented reality app that takes specific still images, recognises them and delivers extra content. Here’s an example:

If you focus the camera over an ‘aura’ that the app recognises (in our case, the side of a Lucozade bottle), the app will match that image with the content connected with the aura, whether that be a streamed video, a link to a website or in this case, a preview of the latest Plan B single. For something that seems so complex, it all works very smoothly, and the interface is very intuitive.

You can create your own auras, by focusing the camera over an image and attaching content. This works most of the time, but lighting conditions and the angle of the image do make a difference and it’s clear that the technology is still in its infancy.

It’s difficult to find a real reason to use this app. Don’t get us wrong, the technology is quite cool and there’s masses of potential here. But outside of the occasional Aurasma logo, it’s hard to know where Aurasma can give you extra content and where it cannot and the reality, augmented or otherwise, is that there simply aren’t that many auras out there yet.

At the same time, we love the idea of being able to walk anywhere, see a billboard with something interesting, point our phone at it and get all the information we want instantly. We’re still a long way from that, but the potential is there.

Compatible with: Android 2.2 and above

Download this app: Aurasma Lite for Android

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