Wired -- AR Shaping the future of play.

The continued gaming of this, and it's enthusiastic reception is all good news.

It will be wanting better and lighter display, we're only going to need some of this market to be doing fantastic.



Hasbro Iron man

From Wired... 

......... “Their eyes pop,” he says. “They always ask me, ‘Where can you buy this?’”


Many companies see that reaction—the immediate "wow" factor—as proof that augmented reality is the future of play. It’s what legacy toymakers like Disney and Lego are banking on to keep their brands relevant; it's what Toys R Us hopes will keep its stores open. At Toy Fair, which kicks off Saturday in New York City, it's what many toymakers hope will make their products relevant in 2018 and beyond. Whether layered on top of teddy bears, board games, coloring books, or action fictions, augmented reality promises to make last year's toys feel new again. And all it takes is a phone.

Time to Play

For a glimpse of that future, look to the world's largest toymaker, Hasbro. The company is showing off its new Iron Man mask this weekend at Toy Fair, which uses augmented reality to stage a battle against Thanos. Slip on Iron Man's red helmet and gauntlet, set up the three AR markers around the room, and watch Thanos and his armies surround you. The suit is Hasbro's first foray into augmented reality, but follows the work of companies like Disney, which introduced its Star Wars Jedi Challenges AR experience last year. The consumer appeal of this stuff is obvious: In AR, you’re not playing as Iron Man. You are Iron Man.

Hasbro's Iron Man set-up relies on a phone, placed inside of the mask, which captures the real world through the camera and overlays the digital objects from Iron Man's world. As phone-based AR improves—especially with recent pushes from Apple, Google, and seemingly everyone else in Silicon Valley—those experiences will feel ever-more lifelike. That makes augmented reality something of a golden goose for toymakers. Take a well-designed app, pair it with a simple costume or a plastic toy, and you can create an immersive, interactive experience that kids love.

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Plus, unlike virtual reality or even videogames, augmented reality toys bring kids back into the real world. Kids can run around the house playing AR laser tag, or pretending to be a character from their favorite movie, rather than sitting slack-jawed in front of a screen all day. “There's a certain satisfaction with touching something and physically manipulating it. I don't think that's going to go away,” says Trickett. "But those physical objects are going to become a lot more interesting.”