Widespread adoption of augmented reality is set to become a reality for the wine industry with the launch of a web-based platform created for wine labels.

The platform, which was purpose-built for mass adoption, is off to a flying start, with more than 80 wineries from across the globe enrolling in field trials, following a successful trial with a number of Australian wineries in April.

"Making technology accessible is our aim," says Dave Chaffey, co-Founder of Third Aurora, the startup behind the concept. "That means overcoming a lot of challenges - for AR right now, fragmentation is the biggest – which is why we chose to create one platform to serve the entire industry, rather than building lots of unique solutions. No-one wins when there are thousands of different apps for thousands of wineries."

The platform, in a nutshell.

The Winetales platform delivers augmented reality directly from the wine label, via a smartphone app.  It uses AI for label recognition, and cloud servers for data storage, to deliver customised augmented reality scenes, in real time.

Key features

• Free smartphone App with AI-powered label recognition
• One App for the entire wine industry
• Augmented reality tracking, where virtual displays are 'attached' to a label.
• Data-driven AR Scenes, with dynamic content, real-time information, and 3D objects
• Integration of sharing through social media
• Wineries add and edit content through a simple web interface
• A virtual call-to-action link directing users to the winery web page or online store.

Although the platform uses new technology, the user backend is built on Wordpress with a headless setup. The decision to use an everyday platform like Wordpress with cutting edge technology is actually quite clever – providing a familiar, easily supported interface for users, then delivering data to where it is managed, in the cloud.

Overcoming barriers to adoption

As impressive as it is, Chaffey openly talks about the need for trade-offs to deliver an accessible platform. "You have to work out the best approach to break down so many barriers. We agreed from the start that it had to hit the 3 E's - easy, entertaining and everywhere," said Chaffey.

"That was the foundation. Then we started asking questions like what can make this concept compelling for consumers, how can social media sharing be leveraged, and how can the experience continually evolve so that people keep coming back."

"And the challenges with wineries? Well, that was clear to us – the solution had to be affordable and simple to operate. And it had to be one platform to service the entire industry. Once we had that sorted, we turned to the technology and thought great, now how are we going to do this."

"We're still working on getting things on-point, but the big hurdles are knocked over, and we'll keep moving forward."

Wine takes is currently accepting applications for early release.

• Platform trials begin on July 2nd, 2019.
• Early release begins September 23rd, 2019.

For more information including demonstration videos, and images, please visit https://thirdaurora.com/80-wineries-AR-platform

Get the App | Google Play | iOS

About Third Aurora

Launched in January 2019, Third Aurora is a startup built on the track record of innovation, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurship - harnessing new technology to create solutions that impact, globally.

The three partners – Matt Hallberg, Luke Chaffey, and Dave Chaffey are recognized specialists in their respective fields of augmented reality, code, and digital strategy.

And in the true spirit of collaboration, the three are building a future together, even though Matt and the Chaffeys have never actually met face to face. Matt Hallberg lives in Pittsburgh, USA. The Chaffeys reside in Geelong, Australia.

Source: PRNewswire

Image Source: PRNewswire