HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / November 22, 2019 / As a technology entrepreneur with over 20 years of start-up experience under his belt (think WhiteFence, CollegeDegrees, eNannySource, NannyTraining, FanReact, and Mainline.gg) Myers is also a SAG actor known for several web series that have been featured on YouTube, Amazon Prime, and Netflix (view his filmography on IMDB).
With the recent release of ARCore and ARKit from Google and Apple respectively, Myers came to the realization that it is truly possible for almost every viewer to get an enhanced experience through augmented reality.
By combining his passions for technology and acting to create Augmented Fans, LLC., Myers partnered with production companies from two of the previous shows he appeared into demo what his new platform is capable of powering.
Both shows that have signed with Augmented Fans, LLC. have taken a similar approach to enhance the viewer experience. Myers and each director have worked together to identify specific images, also known as markers, that the mobile app will detect. Once detected, the app will then provide fans with either background information on the show, special effects, or even an opportunity to gamify the viewing experience.
The idea behind Augmented Fans, LLC. is to allow viewers to go above and beyond just watching a show and allow fans to interact with their favorite characters or learn more about what was going through the actor's, writer's, or director's minds as they were creating the show. Kenney Myers believes that there are several advantages to leveraging AR that include:
- Differentiating your show from the thousands of other shows that viewers have available at their fingertips. Augmented reality gives viewers the unique opportunity to become more deeply connected to the show and its characters. From behind the scenes looks at how a scene was filmed, to the backstory on a new character, augmented reality allows viewers to engage with what they are watching in a new way.
- Increasing views of your show have always been a goal for producers and with YouTube and other streaming services, view counts are very visible and can influence how many fans are going to give your show the first look. With the AR experience, fans are likely to watch the same shows over and over again to ensure that they have found all of the Easter eggs that have been placed in an episode- with the side effect of naturally increasing views for your show.
- Gamification of your show is a real possibility. From a game that pits the good guys versus the bad guys, where who is good or bad depends on your perspective, to a game where team vampires and team aliens (this is a reference to Age of the Living Dead by Simon Phillips, one of the shows working with Augmented Fans, LLC.) compete to find the markers first to win, adding gamification to your show can increase viewer buy-in.
- Leveraging product sales is another advantage that can come with the AR experience. Markers can provide interesting product placement opportunities for advertising companies - which can increase your bottom line and fund bigger and better productions going forward. Want to wear the same outfit your favorite character is wearing? Simply scan the character to jump over to exactly where you can buy the same outfit for yourself.
- Increasing advertising opportunities for your show in a less intrusive way can trigger all kinds of actions from playing music or videos to displaying links to other sites. When most consumers have numerous ways to skip ads in their viewing experience, AR puts fans in control of finding what they may be interested in learning more about and allows advertisers to engage with viewers in a very direct way.
- Introducing other media channels into your show is another draw of the AR experience. Currently, Myers is piloting offering graphic novels as part of the AR experience. Since the Augmented Fans platform allows images from graphic novels to trigger different actions - including playing show segments where the character in the comic book is seen, Myers believes this is a novel approach that can keep the very large comic book market going strong for the next generation of fans.
Myers has developed all technology for Augmented Fans, LLC. in-house with his own development team. The platform leverages several Microsoft technologies heavily including deploying the application in Azure and utilizing Xamarin Forms for the mobile apps. Myers believes that Augmented Fans, LLC. is just scratching the surface of what is available, and he is in talks with several more shows to bring his technology to additional streaming platforms next year.
You can find out more about the shows Augmented Fans, LLC is working with by following Kenney Myers on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
CONTACT:
Kenney Myers
[email protected]
https://www.kenneymyers.com/
SOURCE: Kenney Myers