Imagine opening your newspaper and watching a video.
Or instantly buying items you see in your paper from an advertiser's online store. Or seeing the story behind the story.
We can help you do that. We are erasing the line between print and digital media through the use of augmented reality.
It's easy for you to join the experience. All it takes is Layar, an app you can download for free to make the Richmond News come to life.
While Layar has been used by hundreds of magazines in Europe, Lower Mainland Publishing - our parent company - is the first media chain in the world to use the app across all its publications.
"Our plan is to increase engagement between our newspapers and our readers, increase the time they spend with us, improve the utility of the product, and seamlessly integrate our customers' digital assets into our newspapers," said Alvin Brouwer, president of Lower Mainland Publishing, a division of Glacier Media.
"It adds many different dimensions to a print advertising campaign or to the stories and photos that appear in our papers."
Layar uses your iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone or tablet to recognize images in the Richmond News that have been enabled for augmented reality.
It translates these images into buttons and notifications on your device's screen, allowing you to instantly view related videos, share articles on social networks, click on websites mentioned in stories and much, much more. The app takes you beyond the paper's pages.
It's easy to use.
Start the app, point your phone's camera at the page, tap the "scan" button and Layar's interactive buttons will appear on your screen. Tap any of them to be taken to video, image carousels, Facebook, Twitter and more.
Layar is extremely versatile. If you can imagine it, Layar can do it.
"The technology's finally here to bring print to life, and more and more advertisers have digital content that can be Layared," said Brouwer.
Layar uses the natural components of your newspaper. Newspaper pages, photographs, advertisements and other images can all utilize the Layar image recognition platform to allow the augmented reality components to appear instantly on readers' smartphones or tablets.
This makes it cleaner for designers and easier for consumers to use.
Advertisers can entertain and inform readers, and allow them to share deals via email, Facebook and Twitter, buy products and services, book appointments conveniently without them needing to put down the paper and go to their computer, or take out their laptop, log on and open a program.
Layar bridges the gap between traditional newsprint and the evolving digital landscape.
"This will allow print to come to life," said Brouwer.
"It's given us the ability to extend the story, to make the story more interesting, to turn a print ad into a video. It allows us to give readers and advertisers a lot more than they're getting today."
To join the more than 28 million people who have downloaded Layar, visit layar.com or your app store and start scanning your newspaper today (see page 6.) Look for the Layar logo throughout the paper, scan those pages and bring the stories to life.
