CONVERSE / THE SAMPLER

7 December 2010

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Augmented Reality iPhone app puts shoes on your feet

Brand: Converse
Media Type: Apps & Widgets; Mobile; New Technologies
Product Category: Clothing & Footwear
Source: News
Tags: Augmented reality; Branded Utility; Converse

Converse has released an iPhone app that allows users to try on any shoe from the footwear brand's catalogue simply by pointing an iPhone at their feet. The app uses augmented reality (AR) to place a virtual shoe over the foot, giving users an idea of how those trendy kicks will look, minus piles of shoe boxes, tangled laces and disgruntled store assistants. When they find a style they like, a few clicks will take them through to the store where shoes can be purchased.

This smart app reminded us of another excellent AR shoe configurator by Rivolta, Italy, featured back in Contagious Issue 20, you can fish it out of the archives here. AR has been chastised by many as a faddy marketing gimmick, but with more utility based apps emerging (such as the USPS parcel measuring service) it is starting to prove itself as a useful branding tool.

The free Converse application, which has been developed by agency RG/A New York and software maestros Tacit Knowledge is available now in the iTunes store

itunes.apple.com/the-sampler-by-converse/